During the day, Yang Yi had only explored about a third of the island, harvesting a total of 20 adult spider corpses and 327 units of fluff. If he searched the entire place, that number could easily quadruple.Besides, there had to be a spider nest on the island, and it was likely crawling with them. If he could gather all the fluff from those spiders and knit it into sweaters, he could make a killing.As the sky began to darken, Yang Yi steered the ship away from the island, planning to return the next day. It wasn't wise to stay too close at night; who knew what kind of unknown creatures might be lurking on a place he hadn't fully explored. Tomorrow, he would wake up early and get here before dawn to ensure he had a full day of sunlight."Suna, go get some rest!" Yang Yi called out as he entered the cabin. The woman had no self-control; once she started researching, she'd completely forget to eat or sleep. A quick glance showed her Sanity was already down to 53.After nagging her several more times, Suna finally stumbled out of the lab, a look of disbelief on her face as she muttered to herself."It only has one organ in its entire stomach—a single, massive stomach. All its other organs seem to have been ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) digested… those fluids were all stomach acid… even its brain was directly connected to the stomach, like the stomach was controlling it. If it kept going, it might not even need a brain anymore…""Alright, that's enough, just look at your Sanity!" Yang Yi pushed her up onto the deck. "There are still two gacha pulls left. Give them a shot."Suna had zero enthusiasm for the gacha. She pulled the lever with a complete lack of soul, casually tossing in some corpse chunks, giving the handle a few turns, and then walking away, not even bothering to pick up the capsules that dropped on the ground.Yang Yi reluctantly picked them up for her.【You obtained Wood x5】【You obtained Crystal x1】Just basic materials.This confirmed that crew members on the same ship shared their gacha pull count. After the first two guaranteed drops, the quality went to shit.With that sorted, Yang Yi went back to the cabin. He still had one more thing to do: turn the 300-plus units of fluff into sweaters. In reality, Yang Yi had no fucking clue how to knit, but the system would force the knowledge into him.Fifteen minutes and some magical hand-wringing later, he had produced a pair of wool trousers. The whole process was bizarre; Yang Yi had no idea how he did it, but he just could. He spent another forty-five minutes at it, losing 9 energy points and producing another pair of wool trousers and a sweater.He placed these three items alongside the two sweaters left behind by Hu Wei, setting them aside for his own use.Afterward, he returned to the captain's room and, as was his habit, opened the world chat channel. The number of people looking to buy fire-starting tools was as high as ever. It seemed nobody had figured out a way to mass-produce them yet.Yang Yi tried his luck and posted a message: "Paying a premium for fire-starting tools."Immediately after, someone started repeating his message like a parrot. It looked like it would be tough to get his hands on any.Yang Yi wasn't in a rush, anyway. There was still a while before the arctic sea spread to his location. He drank a bottle of Vitality Coconut Refresher, locked the door, and fell asleep on his bed.The next day, Yang Yi was up before the sun. He checked his status; everything was full except for his energy, which was at 93.After eating breakfast, he packed everything he would need: 2L of fresh water, a few long-legged sardines (to activate his greedy stomach), two sausages, the crystal ball, a potion, a bottle of Coconut Refresher, his weapons and gear, including the newly acquired heartguard. A few spare items, like the silk sac and a backup regeneration potion, were stored in his greedy stomach pouch.Once he was packed, he checked his attributes again and saw that his Strength and Constitution had both risen to 5, the average for an adult human.He steered the Nightmare Star back toward the island. Suna wasn't coming this time; she was completely absorbed in studying the Taotie Guest's corpse.Ten minutes before sunrise, Yang Yi arrived at the island. His goal this time was to find the spider nest, eliminate any potential threats, and create a safe environment for his future activities. Plus, the spider nest was likely where he'd find the answer to his "Spider's Kiss" condition.The moment the sky brightened, Yang Yi set foot on the island and made his way toward the center. He recalled that the density of spider corpses had been higher there, so the nest was probably nearby.As he walked, Yang Yi picked up a few Tinder Spider corpses along the way. The greedy stomach pouch showed no pickiness, opening on its own to swallow the bodies, consuming the flesh and blood, and leaving only the carapace and fluff behind. Even if the corpses were rotting, it ate them.As he walked further, a question popped into his head."What the hell do these spiders eat to survive? I haven't seen a single small animal on this entire island… it's just spiders."And they can't exactly go fishing in the sea.The whole thing felt strange.After circling the island's center for a bit, he finally discovered a cave opening. It was a vertical hole in the ground, about two meters deep, with a dark tunnel sloping downward. The entrance was wide, suggesting that whatever used it was not small. The area around it was completely devoid of weeds, a clear sign of frequent traffic.As Yang Yi approached, he saw a few dead, palm-sized spiders lying at his feet, their bodies already dried and hardened. If he wasn't mistaken, this had to be the nest. He tried to smell the air coming from the cave; it reeked of rot. This meant there was a large number of corpses inside. The spiders must have suffered heavy casualties, or they might even all be dead.This was good news.Yang Yi picked up a dead spider from the ground and fed it to his pouch, then took out the crystal ball he had stored inside. Besides displaying the sea chart, the ball itself emitted a faint glow. It wasn't as bright as a candle, but it was better than nothing.He jumped in, holding his gun in one hand and the crystal ball in the other.There was no danger inside, only the bodies of more spiders scattered on the ground.Yang Yi delved deeper. The tunnel widened to about five meters across and over three meters high, large enough for a giant spider to pass through without even needing to crouch. He remained cautious until he was about 100 meters in, where he made a discovery.Growing on the rock ceiling was a type of mushroom, clustered tightly together and emitting a red fluorescent glow. Each one was nearly identical in size.【Name: Firefly Mushroom】【Description: A special type of mushroom that glows red in the dark and grows rapidly. Its juices are somewhat toxic and not recommended for consumption. Some species of ants and spiders use this mushroom as their primary food source.】After reading the description, Yang Yi immediately understood. These mushrooms were likely cultivated by the Tinder Spiders. They knew how to farm!Under the red glow, the light from his crystal ball became redundant. He stored it back in his greedy stomach, swapped it for the Sea Serpent's Fang, and continued inward.Another hundred meters passed.The tunnel grew wider still, now seven or eight meters across. The bodies of dead adult Tinder Spiders began appearing along the path. Yang Yi also noticed a faint breeze in the cave, its source unknown, which was quite strange. He didn't stop to collect the corpses; ensuring his own safety was more important right now.As Yang Yi pushed further, the density of corpses increased. He found two Giant Tinder Spiders, both of which had human parts grafted onto them. One even had a complete human arm, not just a bare torso. They were both dead and their bodies were already decaying, posing no threat. He collected a tissue sample from them. Unlike the adult spiders, these giant ones could be used to upgrade the Nightmare Star, so it was best to take them when he saw them.As he passed by another cavern opening, Yang Yi witnessed a horrifying sight.Dismembered pieces of human bodies hung from the ceiling by threads of spider silk, like cured meats left out to dry in the wind. A few of the bodies were still relatively fresh, likely having been hung up recently."They dry the bodies… and then attach them to themselves?"Yang Yi couldn't comprehend the spiders' behavior, nor did he understand how they even managed it. Suna would probably have been thrilled by this, launching into a deep investigation, but Yang Yi… he just wanted to kill every last one of these disgusting creatures.

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