Space Odyssey from Abandoned Mining Space Station

Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Hamster

The first hunt resulted in four prey falling under his gun, yielding a harvest that satisfied Chen Ming greatly.

Soon, the corpses of the four Floribunda Antelopes were dragged back to the riverbank by him.

Before starting the processing officially, Chen Ming returned to the spaceship to fetch the small cart he had sneaked from the Space Station earlier, for ease of transport later.

The four Floribunda Antelopes were indeed quite heavy.

Each Floribunda Antelope weighed about eighty jin (approximately 40 kilograms).

Even after removing the internal organs, skinning and deboning, only retaining the firm meat, the weight left was still over twenty jin (approximately 10 kilograms) each.

Moreover, there were parts that couldn’t be eaten that could be juiced as Nutrient Liquid, so apart from the not-so-easy-to-collect blood, Chen Ming didn’t want to waste a bit.

Especially the skin of the Floribunda Antelopes, with its smooth, dark fur dotted with pale purple floral spots, looked quite nice.

Also, Chen Ming remembered seeing a book on leather tanning in the terminal.

Though he seemingly did not have the materials needed for leather tanning at hand, temporarily freezing them, these furs should not spoil.

They might prove useful someday.

After bustling around for several hours, due to having not processed animals in a long time which led to rusty skills, Chen Ming finally returned to the spaceship with the four completely dismantled Floribunda Antelopes.

The vast majority of organs and bones were shoved into the Nutrient Liquid Extraction Device by Chen Ming.

Since organs are very prone to rotting, Chen Ming dared not eat if they had been frozen for several months, so he straightforwardly processed them this way.

Moreover, the efficiency of extracting Nutrient Liquid using this type of method is much higher than using a spade to shovel dirt outside.

However, Chen Ming deliberately kept some of the organs.

He took them to the woods on the east side of the spaceship, learned from the book ”Simple Environmental Trap Layout,” and set a few simple trigger traps.

Animal organs and ordinary soil can both be used to juice for Nutrient Liquid, but soil unlike organs cannot be used to attract carnivorous animals.

Exchanging something of low value for a chance to harvest meat, even if failed, does not cost much.

If successful, it’s a big win.

Chen Ming was happy to engage in this kind of trade.

A morning of hunting and processing prey followed by setting traps after returning, the whole morning quickly passed.

On the sixth day since the spaceship landed, by noon, Chen Ming finally ate his first meal with meat after arriving in this world.

Even though there were no seasonings, only Purple Bean found earlier as a side dish, the taste of Purple Bean stewed with antelope meat was much better than the overly sweet Orange Pulp Fruit that Chen Ming had started to tire of after consuming over the past couple of days.

After all, no matter how delicious something is, eating it every day leads to getting tired of it; being able to have a slight change in taste was already a very luxurious enjoyment for Chen Ming.

After lunch, Chen Ming spent the afternoon reinforcing the fence.

Nothing else said, Chen Ming thought that the fence he built should at least withstand the impact of the group of Purple-tail Deer from yesterday.

Otherwise, a fence that collapses easily is as good as not having one.

Until nightfall, before resting, Chen Ming spent the last bits of time reviewing various books on the terminal that he might need for surviving on the Planet and other professional books that would be useful later.

Thus, one day passed.

The seventh day since the spaceship landed arrived the next day.

Chen Ming, as usual, first tidied up the plots he had planted outside, then went to check on the traps he had set yesterday.

The traps did not catch any animals, but the organs placed inside by Chen Ming were entirely consumed.

It seemed animals were smarter than he thought.

Chen Ming was unsurprised by this outcome and harbored no ill feelings; this failure was merely a minor episode.

Anyway, animals are never as smart as humans, and a failure this time gave him the opportunity to make another attempt next time.

As the one setting traps, he could afford many mistakes, but once the animal made a mistake, it would become his meal.

Chen Ming tidied up the mess within the trap and, using what he read in a book last night, slightly improved the trap.

He placed the rest of the organs that had been in the cold storage overnight in the trap as bait.

If this trap did not produce results, then he could only wait for the next hunting success to continue.

Handling fields and checking traps were regular chores.

What Chen Ming truly aimed to do today was still hunting.

After yesterday’s successful hunt, Chen Ming finally thoroughly understood how someone with no experience like him should hunt.

Coincidentally, there were more than one trace of animals drinking by the river that he had discovered before.

The herd of Floribunda Antelopes would surely not return, but other animals might come to drink water.

Chen Ming went back to the spaceship, put on the crude camouflage suit he made, and headed to the riverbank.

However, shortly after Chen Ming left the spaceship.

A small animal resembling a hamster suddenly appeared in the woods; it peeked at the spaceship for a few glances, then darted towards the fence.

It stealthily passed through the gaps between the fences, along the bottom of the spaceship with the space supported by the landing gear, and ventured into the field Chen Ming developed beside.

With a few paws, it dug up a sprouting Flower Rice seedling and took a bite with its big front teeth.

The little hamster had a human-like satisfied expression on its face, enjoying the stolen food.

However, in the next moment, a shadow suddenly appeared over its head.

A basket made from wire mesh directly trapped it by the head.

”Caught you,”

Chen Ming’s voice sounded as the basket hit the ground with a thud.

He had just walked out not far when he noticed a suspicious little creature on the surveillance.

If he had gone on hunting without noticing, the entire field would have been wrought havoc by it.

Just after the cage trapped this little fellow, its small paws desperately scraped at the ground, quickly digging a small pit large enough to accommodate itself.

But soon, it was lifted by Chen Ming, holding it by the back of its neck.

”Hamster?”

This little creature was covered in fluffy fur with a pair of white large front teeth partially exposed, seemingly giving up struggling when held by Chen Ming, making it appear quite cute.

Chen Ming casually tossed this hamster-like thing into the wire basket used to trap it, put on the cover, and locked it.

After spraying the entire cage with disinfectant herbal juice, he shoved it into the storage chamber.

He would deal with it later.

Some animals drink water by the river early, so Chen Ming couldn’t waste too much time and had to hurry over.

Today’s hunt would be ideal if it yielded results; if not, then it would become his dinner tonight.

By noon, Chen Ming returned to the spaceship empty-handed once again.

Today’s hunt did not go as he wished, evidently, the commotion he made by the river yesterday discouraged many animals from drinking nearby for now.

Though a bit regretful, Chen Ming quickly adjusted his mood.

However, when Chen Ming boarded the spaceship and opened the storage chamber door, he found that the basket used to contain the hamster caught earlier in the morning was broken.

The broken part of the wire basket bore traces of being gnawed by something.