Herta stared with a burning gaze at Fu Zhu, who was chopping down the remaining Logs. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she reached out and tugged his sleeve.
"Fu Zhu, Fu Zhu! Your technique for making plants grow instantly is certainly amazing, but something similar can be achieved using the Power of the Paths. Do you have any operations that are even more magical?"
Hearing this familiar phrasing, Fu Zhu almost subconsciously replied.
"Yeah, bro, yeah! There are tons of techniques like this in MC."
The moment the words left his mouth, Fu Zhu stopped. He turned back to see Herta's face had darkened. She retorted, slightly miffed.
"This isn't my true body, just a puppet I made based on my childhood self! When my real body comes out, you'll know what a Big Herta looks like!" (Translator's Note: Implying well-endowed)
"But more importantly... quickly tell me what other magical techniques there are!"
Compared to Fu Zhu indirectly calling her flat-chested, Herta was far more interested in the latter half of his sentence.
Fu Zhu looked troubled. While it was true that various item-farming machines in MC had heaven-defying effects, he currently lacked the materials for any of them. Even the simplest string farm was beyond his current resources.
However, Fu Zhu quickly thought of something else – a Cobblestone Generator!
Now that he had Logs, Saplings, and Dirt, an Oak tree only cost a few Bone Meal. For Steve, this essentially meant infinite wood.
A Wooden Pickaxe's mining speed was too low, and he didn't have enough resources to make many Iron Pickaxes. Caught between the two, the Stone Pickaxe was the most economical and practical choice!
As for Golden Pickaxes... What? Aren't those things you only find in loot chests?!
What proper Steve makes a Golden Pickaxe for mining?!
Seeing Fu Zhu spacing out again, Herta had no choice but to speak up again, pleading softly and gently.
"Fu Zhu, show us a little something, please?"
Fu Zhu looked 'troubled' and said, "I don't have the materials on hand. I'm afraid it'll be difficult to recreate the magical operations you want to see."
"Just tell me what materials you need!"
Herta puffed out her chest and promised, "No matter how rare the materials are, I... uh, I'll have Asta get them for you!"
"Really?"
Fu Zhu turned half-believing, half-doubting towards Asta. After all, the promise wasn't coming directly from her, lacking some credibility.
Asta smiled and nodded. "Yes, just like Ms. Herta said. Whatever materials you lack, you can tell me."
"Alright then. First, get me a bucket of lava, needs to be two or three liters. Then two more iron buckets. As for the demonstration site, let's go to the swimming pool."
Coincidentally, Fu Zhu was also planning to go fishing at the pool to see if he could catch a Mending enchanted book. That way, he could repair the broken Godfall Sword.
"Two or three liters of lava and two iron buckets... Okay, I'll have someone prepare them right away. Fu Zhu, you, Ms. Herta, and the others can go wait for me at the pool first."
"Okay."
"I'll take you there."
Herta volunteered to act as guide. As long as she could witness those never-before-seen techniques, she was willing to do anything!
Never mind being a guide; having her puppet act as Fu Zhu's maid for a day wasn't out of the question.
"Here we are. This is the swimming pool Asta built for those researchers to rest and relax."
After leading Fu Zhu, March 7th, and Xing around the space station for a bit, Herta walked into a room occupying a vast area. Pushing open the door, a large pool filled with clear water greeted their eyes.
Even March 7th, who had visited the space station several times, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise upon seeing such a large pool, "This pool is huge! It's easily big enough to host a swimming competition!"
Herta just shrugged. She hadn't built the pool, nor had she ever gone for a swim in it. She didn't care much about these things. She simply turned to Fu Zhu and asked.
"Well? Does this pool meet your demonstration requirements?"
Fu Zhu walked around the pool, paying particular attention to the deep end, which was a full three meters deep – perfectly meeting the MC requirement for fishing up treasure.
"It's more than enough."
Fu Zhu glanced around again, casually pulled over a nearby deck chair, sat down, took the Fishing Rod out of his inventory, and casually cast the line, sending the bobber into the deep end.
Herta and the other two girls stared blankly as Fu Zhu suddenly started fishing.
Seriously, buddy? This is a swimming pool!
It's not a fish spa; where are the fish for you to catch?!
March 7th glanced at Herta's darkening expression and kindly reminded him.
"Fu Zhu, this is a swimming pool..."
"I know. This much water is exactly what I need."
Xing suddenly covered her mouth, whimpering softly. "Sorry, my brother got skunked too many times back in the day. Now he gets obsessed whenever he sees water. Don't worry, bro! If you don't catch anything later, I'll just throw little March in! Catching a pretty girl doesn't count as getting skunked!"
"Stop making up memories that don't exist!"
Fu Zhu rolled his eyes exasperatedly at the drama queen Xing, then explained to the three girls, "Thanks to the technology from my hometown, as long as there's water, you can catch fish."
Herta's mouth couldn't help but twitch. That explanation was even less convincing than Xing's story just now!
Sure, Fu Zhu could make a sapling grow into a towering tree in an instant, saving years of time, but that was because he used that magical powder called Bone Meal.
Although Fu Zhu hadn't given her any Bone Meal to study, Herta firmly believed that powder definitely contained Path power similar to [Abundance].
But now Fu Zhu wanted to catch fish in a fishless swimming pool? That was no less difficult than creating something from nothing – a skill beyond human grasp.
If Fu Zhu's hometown truly possessed such technology, it would have become famous long ago, not be unheard of by both her and Asta like it was now.
Seeing Fu Zhu staring intently at the pool's surface, the 'unreasonable module' installed in Herta's puppet couldn't help but act up.
"If you can actually catch a fish in this swimming pool, I'll drink this entire pool of water right here on the spot..."
Before Herta could finish her sentence, the bobber floating on the water surface suddenly dipped downwards, exactly as if a fish had bitten the hook.
Herta froze instantly, immediately looking below the bobber. The pool water was very pure, containing no impurities, allowing a clear view beneath the surface.
And below that bobber, there was absolutely no creature biting the hook!
"Is it haunted?!"
March 7th and Xing, who also noticed this, instinctively shrank behind Fu Zhu, clinging to his arms from the left and right.
Fu Zhu only felt a soft and warm sensation on both shoulders, nearly making him forget to reel in the line.
Fu Zhu yanked the fishing rod upwards sharply. A yellow, spherical fish was pulled out of the water. He subconsciously reached out and caught it.
[Pufferfish]
The next second, a green hue spread across Fu Zhu's face, and he spurted out a mouthful of blood.
[Poison I: 00:09]