Chapter Fifty-Five: Words Left Unspoken

Duan Yu’s worries proved unfounded. These six little monsters were not the real Calabash Brothers. Among them, four could breathe fire, two could spray water, and those were their only extraordinary abilities. Their power was mediocre at best, and once they realized the threat posed by Shen Lie and Du Lili, they were easily driven away.

Indeed, they fled—these little creatures seemed to be parasitic mutations that had emerged from the calabash. After witnessing Shen Lie and Du Lili’s prowess, they all scattered into the water. Strangely, the fish in the water did not attack them, so Shen Lie and his companions made no attempt to wait on the shore.

Though they lost six mature calabashes, it was not a total loss. About twenty green calabashes remained. Shen Lie had already taken the pearl from the toad monster, so he only took five of these green calabashes. Du Lili took nine, Duan Yu took four, and the last two were given to Duan Yu’s two subordinates. Since they had come along, it was only fair to let them take something home.

These green calabashes, according to experimental capacity estimates, could hold about five times the normal volume. A regular calabash could hold roughly one bottle of beer; these could hold five. It seemed rather miraculous, though their practical use was limited. The weight of whatever was stored inside was only that of the calabash itself, which was a definite advantage.

The group began returning to camp, but before leaving, Shen Lie cut down the three calabash vines. He intended to bring them back for Professor Liu’s research. Mutated plants like these were rare; perhaps the professor could extract some useful substance from them.

The off-road vehicle roared toward the camp. Shen Lie’s hand never left the small dark green calabash he had pocketed earlier. He was wary of the little thing suddenly exploding like the six mature calabashes, unleashing another “seventh brother,” which would be quite troublesome.

Yet he couldn’t bear to discard it. Those green calabashes already had fivefold expansion capacity; if this little calabash possessed a hundredfold capacity, that would be an incredible find.

After a tense journey, the vehicle finally arrived at camp. Shen Lie eagerly got out, then hurried alone to his own vehicle and began to work on opening the small dark green calabash.

The tiny calabash was only about a thumb’s length, its stem barely as thick as a pinky finger. Shen Lie doubted that even if the interior space was vastly expanded, it could hold much beyond liquids or perhaps grains like millet or rice; not even corn kernels would fit.

Still intrigued, he prepared for the task. Holding his black spear in his left hand for protection, he took a small hacksaw in his right, fixed the calabash firmly, and began to saw at the stem.

“No way, this hard?” Shen Lie sawed for quite some time but not a single shred of debris came off.

The unexpected hardness surprised him greatly, but then he grew excited. The more abnormal the calabash, the larger the possible interior space. As for making an opening, that was not a problem—though supplies were scarce, they were not nonexistent. He carefully put the calabash away, went out, and returned with a small cutting machine.

Borrowed from Commander Zhang Kaitai, the electric cutting machine was powered by a battery. Thanks to Professor Liu’s connections, no questions were asked about its use. Shen Lie fixed the calabash once more, connected the cutting machine to the battery, and started cutting.

“Screech…”

“Damn, this thing is so hard?” The saw blade wore down a notch, yet the calabash’s surface remained untouched. Shen Lie turned off the machine, scratching his head in frustration.

Even the cutting machine couldn’t handle it. Though this meant the calabash’s value was higher, if it couldn’t be opened, it was useless. Was he supposed to make a hammer out of it to bash enemies?

“Looks like ordinary methods won’t work. Maybe it needs some extraordinary measures!” Shen Lie whispered as he gripped his black spear firmly. He noticed strange patterns on the calabash—physical force alone wouldn’t suffice. To open it, supernatural energy was necessary.

What was supernatural energy? It could be the power of bloodline or the mysterious energy in the forehead. However, bloodline power lacked a suitable weapon, so he relied on the black short spear.

“Come on, little calabash, today you’ll witness the strength of the Starlight Clan!” Shen Lie channeled the mysterious forehead energy into the black spear. The spear gleamed with black light, halos radiating outward. With a swift strike, the sharp spear tip sliced through the calabash’s stem. The patterns on the calabash suddenly glowed brightly, then trembled as if restrained by some force, before dimming again.

Looking at the calabash’s stem, Shen Lie smiled—he saw that the plug had been severed cleanly, the cut smooth and shining, with faint extraordinary energy emanating from within.

He did not act rashly. Holding the spear, he waited cautiously, and after a long while with no calabash brother emerging, he lightly lifted the calabash with the spear.

“Zhang Jing, bring me a bucket of water!” Shen Lie called to Zhang Jing, who was standing guard outside the vehicle. When she returned with the water, he began pouring it into the calabash.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Freshwater was scarce now, so Shen Lie used a funnel to avoid waste. Yet after a long time, not a single drop entered. It was as if the calabash had an invisible lid—the water ran off the rim and down the sides, no matter what he tried.

“Well, this is really strange!” Shen Lie examined the calabash closely, looking inside the opening. There was no blockage; only darkness deep within made visibility poor.

Now Shen Lie was truly puzzled. If water wouldn’t go in, what use was the calabash’s large interior space? All this effort for such a useless thing—he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He turned the calabash over in his hands, rubbing it thoughtfully, trying to reason out the cause. Then his gaze fell on his black spear, and an idea suddenly struck him.

“Maybe the calabash needs some kind of energy to activate it?” Shen Lie noticed the similarity between the patterns on the calabash and those on the spear, sparking the notion.

This was likely correct, but Shen Lie feared it might require the mysterious forehead energy. His reserves were scant, barely enough for critical moments; adding this would leave him hesitant to experiment.

Fortunately, luck was on his side this time. Under the infusion of bloodline power, the calabash easily activated. Its patterns glowed again, and Shen Lie instantly felt a connection forming between himself and the calabash—a space roughly five cubic meters in size appeared in his mind, a hazy, almost illusory realm.

Emulating a monstrous gesture from the classic Journey to the West tale, Shen Lie pointed the calabash’s mouth toward a water bottle on the seat, then willed a command silently: “Collect.” A faint light shot from the calabash’s mouth, enveloping the bottle, which then vanished.

In the next moment, Shen Lie saw the bottle resting quietly in a gray space inside the calabash. He instinctively tried moving it with his mind and found he could reposition it at will. Another thought brought the bottle back outside onto the seat.

If not for the other survivors resting nearby, Shen Lie would have laughed wildly. This was a true treasure—a five cubic meter space! With food stored inside, one person could probably survive for a whole year. No more worries about running out of provisions!

Carefully tying the calabash with a sturdy cord, Shen Lie first hung it on his waist. Then he felt uneasy—what if it fell off during combat? He put it in his pocket but still felt insecure. Finally, he hung it around his neck.

Now somewhat at ease, his hand found another object—a metallic token-like piece revealed after his family heirloom pendant broke.