Ch 38 – Mouthwatering Delicacies Leads to Fortune

The fluffy clouds in the sky lightly drifted along the blue sky like fishes swimming along the open blue sea, and below the sky and on top of the ocean was a wooden raft slowly moving through the rough tides and crashing waves.

Sitting on the raft was a young man with white hair and white eyes, a peculiar trait that very few people would have in the world of Gu, much less so back on Kaleido's home world and universe, Earth.

As he sat on a chair made of straw, he yawned and stared at the fishing pole he held in his hand whose string was dipped deep into the sea.

The fishing pole was green in color and had a cold feel to the touch, and the string that was plunged into the sea was a strange silver-white color like it was made out of metal yet soft like silk.

"Jade Bamboo and Metal Devouring Spider Silk. Two of the finest mortal materials were used to craft a fishing pole of the highest quality. Hehehe, with it, any fish would be attracted by the aura it gives off, allowing me to fish with ease!" Kaleido smiled lightly at the pleasure of wealth before he then sighed now that his wealth has lost its meaning now that he is drifting alone in the sea at the very edge of the Central Continent.

Just as he was lamenting the lack of luxury he used to have back at his hotel room, he felt the hook of the fishing pole was suddenly bit by something, and his eyes widened.

Tightening his grip over the jade-green pole, his muscles bulged under his wide white robe, and he pulled with a grunt. Reeling in the string hastily, he divided his concentration and started to multitask, wielding the invisible formless bubble surrounding his body to form a little "bowl" to prepare for the fish that was caught by the hook.

Second, after second, he felt the fish nearing closer and closer to the surface of the sea.

When he felt that the time was ripe, he grunted and hoisted the pole. As the sound of water splattering everywhere entered his ears, he saw a catfish-like organism get pulled out of the water, with dazzling blue scales similar to crystal, and eyes resembling clear gems.

As it flapped its tail in midair, trying to regain back its freedom and return to the sea, Kaleido controlled the invisible "bowl" near the air beside him and wrapped the struggling catfish around it.

"Nice! A Gemstone Eyes Catfish! Heh, if I were to sell this back a hundred years ago, it would easily nab me tens of golden coins considering it's a rare fish to catch."

Waving his finger, the formless bubble that wrapped around the struggling catfish floated down towards him and landed on the floor right before his foot. Extending out his hand, he summoned a long black blade and, without any hint of mercy in his pure-white eyes, he swung his blade casually and watched as the catfish was killed in less than a second.

Rolling up his sleeves and coating his body fully in an invisible barrier, he grabbed the dead gemstone eyes catfish with a smile and hummed a carefree tune, thinking to himself, 'It seems like this day's lunch is gonna be abundant!'

Turning his body around, he stared at his expanded raft and saw all the modifications he has done.

To his right, he saw a kitchen-like area, with grills and campfires ready to be lit up, along with fishes hanging over a drying rack to dry out their moisture for Kaleido's future snacks.

Near the kitchen area, there was a place where numerous pots were laid everywhere. Some of those makeshift pots were made with old shoes or just a large wooden bowl, a sight that proved Kaleido's "gather anything that can be useful" mentality was proving to be true.

From those makeshift pots, little green sprouts were already growing, and some were already nearing maturity!

'In a few more days, I would be able to bear the fruits of my own garden and eat fresh vegetables and fruits. Even if I do have a literal mountain of food inside my storage space, I'm way too paranoid to not be self-sufficient because who knows, I might get stranded and lost inside the sea for years if my luck is terrible.' Dismissing his internal ramblings, Kaleido walked up to the plans while holding the dead catfish in one hand.

As he stopped in front of the garden area, he stretched out his free right arm and poured primeval essence to the blue markings around his right forearm, and from it, water poured out and watered the plants.

"Heh, even if my dao marks made Gu from other paths severely weaker, I can still spam them with my nigh-infinite primeval essence. Because of that, I don't have to worry about not having clothes, because who would have guessed that there are Gu that can even produce clothes," Kaleido sighed at the weirdness but usefulness of the Gu of this strange world he found himself in, Kaleido inspected his aperture that held many Gu inside it.

'Because I'm in the sea, I managed to nab a lot of wild water path Gu in passing these past few days, but the space inside my aperture is limited so I can only store them on my body. Because of that, if they were to get attacked, they would be easily destroyed, but who cares! They're water path Gu, not space path or time path Gu.'

After watering his plants, Kaleido resumed walking and stopped once he arrived in front of a fireplace inside his raft's kitchen area.

Walking towards a place with an abundance of knives and tools needed to dissect and gut out a fresh fish, he removed the Gemstone Eyes Fish innards and other useless stuff until he was left with a fish he can eat and cook!

Licking his lips, he grabbed a metallic rod from the side and punctured it into the fish. After that, he then grabbed the other fishes hanging on metallic rods and approached the fireplace once again.

Snapping his fingers, a Gu activated inside his aperture, and a small fiery spark emerged from the void of space.

Manipulating it with his mind, the small fiery spark shot out and went towards the wood and charcoal, and from a small spark, a burning flame was lit ablaze.

Noticing that the fire has stabilized and calmed down from its previous excited state, Kaleido grabbed another hanging rock and placed the fishes punctured by a metallic road on it to cook them slowly and evenly atop a burning flame.

Next, he walked back to his countertop and manipulated several bottles and jars to slide towards him using an invisible barrier that wrapped around the entire raft.

Opening the jars and bottles that stored spices and seasonings, he poured specific amounts into a mortar and used a pestle to mix and combine the different spices. Kaleido then dip his fingers into the liquid mixture and licked, tasting the sweet and sour taste it held that would blend well with the fish he was currently cooking.

Kaleido nodded his head, grabbed a brush from a nearby cabinet, and walked back to the cooking fishes with a mortar and brush in hand.

Soaking the brush in the black liquid mixture, he slowly coated and wiped the fishes he was cooking with the brush, and a dazzling aroma exploded as oil and fat melted and dropped to the burning flame below.

Feeling his stomach grumble in anticipation of the mouthwatering meal he was preparing, he smiled and muttered with arrogance, "Hehehe, of course, a genius such as I would also be good at cooking… and also because my mother is a great cook."

Suddenly recalling his family once again and the warm meals his mother prepared, Kaleido quietened down and walked back to the counter and onto the sink to wash the mortar and pestle. Sighing softly, he muttered, "Even though it's only been months, I missed them so much already."

Splashing his face with some water and shaking his head, he wiped his face dry and smiled, "Heh, I'm such a pious son~"

Turning around, he waved his arm and made the straw chair he was previously sitting on float towards him, and he made it land near the burning flame where the fishes punctured with a metallic road were resting and being cooked.

As he stared at them slowly turning tender and crispy, he waited for quite a bit before he felt that they were already cooked to perfection.

Splashing the burning flame with a ball of water that magically appeared from nowhere, he then waved his left arm where numerous green marks were resting and activated several Gu to create soft gusts of wind to cool down the piping hot food he just made.

Finally, after his stomach has roared and suffered with intense pangs of hunger for tens of minutes, he grabbed a metallic road and neared the appetizing fish near his mouth, and bit into it with a loud crunch.

Juices and flavor overflowed within his mouth as his eyes lit up with surprise, muttering as he chewed, "T-This… This is sho good!"

"Mmm!" He couldn't help but moan as his senses were overwhelmed by the succulent and enchanting taste of the meal he just prepared.

It felt as if he was a fish flying over the blue sea, with soft gusts of wind hitting against his body as he flapped his webby wings to defy the inherent nature of fishes and hover into the air!

The skin was crispy while the meat was tender and filled to the brim with fat and juices; each bite felt like he was eating a meaty watermelon that tasted sour and sweet. And his enjoyment wasn't disrupted by any bones as he found that even the bones were crunchy and brittle, meaning he can eat the whole fish without worrying about any tiny bones that he might accidentally swallow!

…

"I'm…" Kaleido stared listlessly at the air above him with a blank but satisfied gaze, his usual scholarly demeanor was gone as nothing but a pig with a bloated belly remained, "Happy as hell."

"Now this is what it's like!" Kaleido burped as he drank a glass of water, "Fuck that cruel life back in the forest, being isekaied to another world should be like this! Eating delicacies as you roam around unhindered and unbothered, not being chased down by a nigh-omniscient entity who is out for your blood."

As he patted his bloated belly, Kaleido waved his arm and lazily watched as the scattered bone remnants and other useless junk floated off the ground and into the air, only to then fly towards a makeshift trash bin placed near the counter in the kitchen area.

After tidying up the place, Kaleido yawned and felt his whole body relax; a phenomenon he used to feel back when he was a child after eating lunch and going to a quick nap, then unknowingly slept for two hours and woke up with a sour taste in his mouth, his whole body feeling like it just fell down to the ground and other strange sensations.

Blink.

As he blinked his eyes, he felt his eyelids turn heavy as he yawned once again. Feeling that it shouldn't be too much of a problem, Kaleido went and solidified the barrier covering his raft to ensure his safety while he goes to take a nap.

But just as he was blinking and staring dazedly at the distance, he suddenly saw a little dot appear, and that dot became bigger and bigger with each passing second until it expanded in size to resemble a floating raft of green.

"Eh? A raft?" As he muttered with a groggy voice, he suddenly widened his eyes and stood up with a jump, fully waking up as he finally processed what he saw, "Land! There's land!"

"There's an island!"

AN: This chapter has 2026 words.

Hehehe, at least this novel would theoretically reach 1k collections before its eternal slumber.

(February 8, 2023 – 440th day of writing)