As planned, they could spend two days on White Star Sea.
After leaving the jungle, they made their way to the beach. Unfortunately, probably due to the presence of strangers in the area, the water was calm and uneventful. Not even a mermaid's tail was visible.
Sofia didn't understand what they were waiting for, but with her wilderness survival skills at full strength, she took this as a perfect opportunity to show off her abilities. She inserted a detector in the water to confirm there was no danger, then turned her slender hand and zipped down the tights at her rear.
Large patches of pale skin were exposed, revealing a sexy black skin-tight dress. By the looks of it, Sophia was planning to get into the water.
Wen's eyes turned cold as he turned his head, "Since Teacher Sophia is ready to go into the water, let's go and look for edible ingredients elsewhere."
As soon as he mentioned ingredients, implying there was no need to eat the nutrient solutions, several half-grown boys cheered and surrounded the chef as they went to the forest. They even asked cheerily, "Can I catch a meaty animal?"
"No," Wen ruthlessly refused, "it's too cumbersome to deal with."
The others were aggrieved. Astra also adjusted the sleeves he had just rolled up and sighed in disappointment.
Wen said helplessly: "If you are willing to deal with it—"
"We are willing," Simon giggled, hooking his shoulders with a smile, "I like you so much, Wen~."
The entire Dream Team painted a weird picture since they began teasing Astra.
Was this how boys express their likes these days?
Si Wo Lin wondered, then plucked up his courage and quietly held the hand of JiYu beside him.
He lowered his head. The tips of his ears were red. He had never been so close to a friend before. He was embarrassed.
Except for Sophia, the six boys were all there because they were too embarrassed to watch Sophia strip down and get into the water. Besides, they knew that Sophia was more capable than them, so they scattered, happily searching for edibles while looking for quest targets in the process.
There were multiple lakes in the middle of the forest. Unlike the extreme winter and summer conditions of Broken Star, there was no autumn and winter on White Star Sea.
They were surprised to see the white fish the merfolk gave them last time in a clear lake.
After seeing it, they were so greedy that they gulped. They still remember the feeling of the tasty, juicy deep-fried fish exploding in their mouth after one bite!
Astra took off his coat and threw it to Wen, testing the water temperature with his fists while the others encouraged him, "Bring more! I can eat five by myself!"
"Four for me." Linus immediately followed.
JiYu felt sorry for Astra, "Then three are enough for me."
He really felt sorry for him!
Aatra looked at them, "Come together."
Wen tossed his jacket to JiYu, took off his clothes, flexed his wrists, and dashingly jumped into the water one step ahead of Wen.
"Yo!" Someone whistled, and the teammates applauded, "Handsome!"
Astra grinned and jumped into the water after him splashing water in the process. He was then surprised to find that the lake that seemed shallow on the surface was unexpectedly deep. He tried to measure the depth of the water with his height_ even his one-meter-nine height was totally submerged underwater.
The white fish that had been floating before had disappeared by now. But looking at the shore through the swaying water waves, Linus and his group were still the same as before, pointing in the direction of the white fish with their gestures.
Astra's heart sank, and he gestured to Wen beside him, who had also noticed something was wrong, signaling to go over in the direction pointed by the person on the shore and take a look.
Wen nodded, gesturing a few times as well.
Astra: ???
The question marks were evident on his face. Wen could only try again. Astra directly tugged Wen in the direction their teammates had pointed.
The clear water was so quiet that there wasn't a living thing in it, but the few people on the shore wondered how the two were oblivious to the small fish and shrimp swimming by.
Under the water, Astra felt like he was running out of oxygen. The two of them had reached where the white fish had appeared earlier, but the land was clean. Not to mention the fish; there wasn't even a blade of grass.
However, Wen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he pushed aside the black soil feeling for something. Astra also followed suit, putting his hand in the mud, and just as he was about to run out of breath, he finally touched two round stones.
His heart skipped a beat, then on impulse, his feet struck the ground, breaking through the water by momentum, "Hoo…"
He gasped for breath.
wen appeared at his side the next second, hair dripping down his face and breathing equally heavily, "Guess what we found?"
The expression carried the joy of a teenager, a smile bending his eyes.
Even a fool would know something was wrong. Linus crouched down and flicked the water. The fish previously swimming in the water under his hand followed the water's body fluctuations; the illusion was broken, and the same fish appeared out of nowhere in front of him on the other side.
The few people on the shore stared in disbelief, "..."
Speechless. What kind of high-tech holographic projection is hidden underneath?
"Come and give me a high five."
Astra wiped the water off his face and high-fived Wen with a resounding clap. The crisp sound aroused the teenager's excitement and joy as the youths faced each other and laughed, then braced themselves against the edge of the lake and went up the shore.
"How many did you find?" Wen asked.
Astra compared; it was two. Wen smiled mysteriously and spread out his palms. His palms still had the black soil at the bottom of the lake. But hidden amid the soil were three silver-white glowing pearl-sized stones.
The teammates rounded up and looked at Linus, who looked solemn, staring at the bead and frowning.
"It's energy crystals," Wen said softly, his gaze sweeping over Si Wo Lin, whose eyes were full of surprise and wonder.
Energy crystals, a rare item in the eight galaxies that could directly increase mental power, were extremely rare and worth a lot of gold.
But now they found five in a simple lake in White Star Sea!
They turned their heads to look at the lake in amazement. Their eyes seemed to be looking at a treasure.
But Wen ruthlessly broke the thoughts in their minds, "Energy crystals have the effect of confusing other people's mental power, thus causing them to hallucinate. You can't find a single energy crystal now even if you drill into the bottom of the lake and turn it upside down."
He and Astra were lucky to find the real energy crystals by chance.
The group wrang their wrists. But they believed their teammates' words and stopped staring at the lake, saying joyfully, "I'm content you have it. You and Astra use it quickly and grow your mental powers!"
At this moment, this group of stupid guys, who also knew the preciousness of energy crystals, surrounded them, vigilantly surveying the surroundings for fear of a surprise attack, urging under their breath, "Hurry up!"
A little moved.
A little warm and uncomfortable.
Astra tossed the energy crystal and casually said, "I have no intention of using it."
Wen threw the three in his hands at him, showing a handsome smile that could make girls squeal.
"One for JiYu, one for Linus, one for Simon, and one for Si Wo Lin," Astra counted, "Okay, there's one more to give to the school authorities."
Si Wo Lin sprang back several times and waved his hand desperately, "No, no, no ..."
He has never hated himself so much for his poor eloquence, "I don't want it, I'm not…"
"Come on," Astra interrupted him, walking over and vigorously patting him on the shoulder. He then gave him ideological education, "Master, just take what is given to you. How can you be a teammate if you are so polite?"
"And you guys," Wen smirked, staring at Linus and the others with great interest, "moved to tears?"
Linus turned his head away and only sighed after a while.
He also turned his face away to prevent others from seeing his expression. JiYu had never lost in being straightforward. His face was full of emotion, and he nodded instantly, "You and Astra are so good to us."
The straight ball hit Wen, making him uncomfortable. He coughed and turned his head to look at Astra.
The youth was teasing Si Wo Lin, his eyebrows raised.
As expected of his favorite companion.
Wen thought with satisfaction that Astra had given away the energy crystals without a hint of reluctance.
But no matter how moved they were, the teammates still didn't want it. They wanted Wen and Astra to use it if it may be of value to them.
"You need it more than us," Astra was silent for a while and suddenly became very emotional, "I don't want to lose any of you."
He couldn't have asked for better teammates than them.
He couldn't have been more unhelpful with his life-saving golden finger, the plot had veered off, and he wasn't sure his teammates could stay as safe from beginning to end as they had in the original book.
As soon as these words came out, Linus was the first to take an energy crystal from his hand, as shamelessly confident as ever, "I will become strong."
Then came JiYu and Simon. Si Wo Lin also fixed his gaze, raising his hand to take a silvery-white energy crystal from his hand.
Astra suddenly remembered the couple of hand gestures he and Wen made, becoming chicken and duck at the bottom of the lake, and held his forehead, "Let's set a code word to escape."
Wen remembered this as well, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
"Yes, it should be set," the others asked, "What should be set?"
"Three short and one long whistle means danger and run," Astra, "Let's set the most important one first. We'll take our time to think of the rest."
The few people nodded and took notes.
The last one was kept by Astra. Initially, Wen wanted him to use it for himself, but he didn't say anything in the end.
He respected Astra's decision.
They all put away the energy crystals, but just as Astra was about to put the one in his palm away, a squirrel jumped from the tree next to them and rushed straight into Astra's hand.
When its two front paws hugged the energy crystal, Astra had already grabbed its tiny neck.
Astra shook the little thing with a smile, "What, even you can see that this is a good thing?"
The black pupils of the squirrel's eyes were lifeless.
Wen suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart, "Throw it away!"
This sentence was not finished, the squirrel seemed to be ordered, it struggled violently, threw the energy crystal into Astra's mouth, and the whole mouse rushed out quickly.
Wens eyes darkened as his riotous mental power penetrated the squirrel, which still had another person's mental power hidden in its head. It was strangled by Wen alive.
"Astra—" He gritted his teeth and looked at Astra.
The energy crystals have to be used with another special drug. Otherwise, the rampant energy can shatter the mental powers and kill in extreme cases.
Astra didn't hear this call. He just felt that the moment the energy crystals touched him, they turned into invisible energy, fighting with his mental powers. His brain was suffering from headaches, and as the heavy pressure hit him, he fell with a black eye.
JiYu rushed over and held him up with a bewildered expression, "Astra?"
The fallen man did not respond.