Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 361: Chapter 359: Mirror Image

The feeling of suffocation was overwhelming. She could feel the salty, bitter seawater she had accidentally inhaled.

So, she had no choice but to immediately return to the Jiezhi Space.

She found some diving gear in the space and exited the Jiezhi Space again.

At that moment, the beluga whale that had been swimming around nearby was already approaching.

It moved slowly, as if it hadn’t spotted its prey yet, just leisurely swimming about.

Based on the mirage in the desert earlier, Chen Xing determined this beluga whale must also be a mirage.

’But... a mirage can hurt me.’

Chen Xing remained vigilant, looking around her.

She saw many small fish in the distance, desperately swimming away as if something terrifying was chasing them.

Then, the beluga whale beside her opened its mouth and inhaled.

Those small fish that had already fled far away were instantly sucked back and pulled directly into the beluga’s mouth.

Chen Xing was also caught by the suction and nearly fell into the beluga’s mouth herself.

However, just before she went in, she kicked off one of its teeth, launching herself away.

Although she was safe, Chen Xing couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

The beluga’s tooth was bigger than her entire body. If it had bitten her, there wouldn’t have been a single scrap left.

As the reality of the situation sank in, her fear intensified.

Before, in the desert, it was like an image that she couldn’t touch at all.

But she had just made real, solid contact with the beluga’s tooth.

’So... am I in a real ocean now?’

Instantly, Chen Xing started swimming away.

The behemoth beside her felt even more terrifying now.

But her movements had already caught the beluga’s attention.

It swished its tail and turned, swimming rapidly toward Chen Xing.

Its fangs were bared, sharp and deadly.

This beluga had mutated.

As the beluga swam over, Chen Xing noticed its eyes had turned red.

Parts of its bared fangs were already rotting.

Chen Xing instantly entered the Jiezhi Space to hide.

When she reappeared, she was above the beluga.

She had already condensed her Gold Attribute Superpower in her hand, forming a long bayonet that she plunged directly into its back.

The bayonet piercing the beluga’s back continued to lengthen as it went deeper.

The beluga didn’t seem to feel pain, but it knew something was on top of it and began to thrash its body, trying to shake it off.

Seeing the bayonet had pierced through its body, Chen Xing made the blade change direction, turning it toward its head.

This was her first time encountering such a sea monster. She didn’t know where its Crystal Core was, nor did she know its vital weak points.

However, as the bayonet twisted, it found the Crystal Core.

The mountain-sized beluga monster stopped moving and began to slowly float upward.

Carried along with it, Chen Xing also slowly floated to the surface.

As she ascended, the azure surface of the water, brilliantly lit by the sun, was so bright she couldn’t open her eyes.

Just as she tried to get a clear look at her surroundings, she felt herself sink.

Along with the beluga, she began to descend rapidly.

Plunging back underwater, Chen Xing immediately looked down and saw countless small fish gnawing on the beluga’s corpse, dragging it deeper.

Looking closer at these fish, each smaller than her palm, their heads took up two-thirds of their body size, and their sharp teeth were chilling to behold.

’Piranhas... and mutated ones at that.’

Although Chen Xing had never seen piranhas before, she could guess what they were just by looking at them.

To the piranhas, the mountain-like beluga was nothing more than a snack to sharpen their teeth on. In the blink of an eye, not even bones were left.

Chen Xing was speechless.

Terrified, she immediately swam upward.

Seeing the piranhas already chasing her, she had no choice but to quickly duck back into the Jiezhi Space.

She realized something serious. Her Defense Ability hadn’t activated automatically, not in the desert and not here in the sea.

It was as if these things posed no threat to her.

’But... I clearly sensed their malice.’

Especially these piranhas—they were fast and extremely vicious.

If she weren’t worried her Defense Shield couldn’t block them, she wouldn’t have needed to hide in here.

Seeing their prey disappear, the piranhas dove back into the depths.

Chen Xing, meanwhile, used the Jiezhi Space to appear directly on the surface of the sea.

The boundless, azure sea was utterly still, without a wisp of wind—calm and seemingly peaceful.

Staring closely at the water’s surface, Chen Xing discovered something else amazing.

The sea was so calm there wasn’t a single ripple. ’Like a mirror?’

’But... didn’t I just emerge from under the water?’

She reached her hand into the air, wanting to feel it more closely.

Who knew that her hand would seem to be sucked in by something, disappearing from her sight as if it had entered another dimension.

She immediately pulled her hand back.

In that instant, she saw a minuscule ripple at the boundary where she’d withdrawn her hand.

In the water, she couldn’t get any leverage.

So, she used the Jiezhi Space again.

When she came out of the Jiezhi Space, an entirely different scene lay before her.

It was a sea of flowers.

A field of pink moss phlox spread out everywhere, so refreshing and beautiful it felt like a paradise.

It was as if someone had accidentally spilled spring all over the place, leaving one in awe of the sight.

In all her memories, Chen Xing had never been to, or even seen, such a sea of flowers.

She had plenty of flower seeds in her space, but she couldn’t bear to sacrifice the land for them instead of fruits and vegetables, so she had never considered planting flowers.

It was rare to see such a delightful scene, so Chen Xing lost herself in it, treading lightly on the flowers as she slowly walked forward.

She didn’t know how long she walked, but she never grew tired of the view.

But after a while, Chen Xing started to feel hungry.

So, right there in the sea of flowers, she set up a table and chairs, took out some ready-to-eat food, and began to eat.

As the aroma of the food wafted over, Chen Xing suddenly realized that these beautiful flowers had no scent at all.

After hastily filling her stomach, Chen Xing reached out and grabbed a flower.

Though it seemed to be a fresh, living flower, the moment she grabbed it, it was like a switch had been flipped. The moss phlox around her began to grow at an explosive rate, soon becoming as large as towering trees.

The overgrown branches then stretched out, reaching to entangle Chen Xing.

Chen Xing activated her Wood Element Ability and gently touched the mutated moss phlox.

At her gentle touch, the hostile plants instantly withered and retreated back into the mesmerizing sea of flowers.

At that moment, the clear, sunny sky suddenly changed, becoming overcast with dark clouds.

Bolts of lightning struck down from the dense clouds, accompanied by deafening thunder.

Seeing the sea of moss phlox rapidly withering in the distance, Chen Xing reached out and collected a large patch of the flowers in front of her into the Black Cat Space.

The garden in that space had green grass, but the area stretching into the distance was just a patch of dirt, as it hadn’t been fully upgraded yet.

Chen Xing planted the sea of moss phlox there before exiting the space.

There was still a thunderstorm waiting for her.