Falling into the Cretaceous

Chapter 87 Unexpected Discovery

Shen Ye has been busy with many things lately and completely forgot about this matter.

Dinosaur meat is still available, but it cannot be eaten as a staple food. After all, they were not savages. Without starch intake, the brain would lack sugar, leading to inattention, irritability, and excessive water loss.

Over the course of a few days, incomplete breakdown of fat produces ketones, resulting in bad breath, increased body odor, urine smelling like rotten apples, the brain switching to ketones for energy, slower reaction time, decreased logical thinking, depletion of muscle glycogen, and a precipitous drop in athletic ability.

The only benefit might be that your vision and intuition become sharper.

But these useless things don't improve survival ability at all.

"I understand. Let's skip one meal for the next couple of days. The workload isn't heavy, just enough to keep everyone from starving."

Shen Ye said.

"So from now on we won't eat breakfast, and we'll eat two meals a day, one half a packet of tree pith and some meat broth to fill us up?"

Lin Ruochu asked.

"Yes, let's arrange it like this. That way we can eat for at least three more days. I'll think of something else by then."

F

Shen Ye nodded and said.

"Why don't we do what they do and go find some tree pith?"

Lin Ruochu suggested.

"This method is feasible, but it is also quite risky, because to find so much tree pith, we would definitely have to camp out outdoors."

Shen Ye said that Lin Ruochu had never thought about this issue and thought that finding one or two fern trees or palm trees with pith outside would be enough.

"Is it that complicated?"

Lin Ruochu said awkwardly.

"That's for sure. Moreover, some of these tree piths are from ferns, and some are from palm trees. These kinds of plants are likely found near the river. When we collect them, it takes us a whole morning to process just one tree. If we want to feed so many people for half a month, we'd have to stay away for five or six days straight," Shen Ye nodded.

Lin Ruochu never expected things to be so difficult.

I should never have made everyone eat three meals a day!

This grain could probably last a savage more than half a month; just thinking about it is too extravagant.

Knowing that food is hard-won is the beginning of cherishing it.

It's not too late for her to know now; she'll soon be the ladle-shaking auntie in the school cafeteria.

Currently, Shen Ye only has two choices: one is to lead a large force to dig for tree marrow outside, and the other is to invade the savage camp and plunder their food.

He learned from the savages that they had taken more than thirty survivors to other tribes in exchange for a lot of food.

Therefore, their tribe definitely had food.

Shen Ye decided to gather the core members together to discuss the matter.

After all, this is a matter of great importance.

Shen Ye instructed Ningbo to notify Cui Zhengxi, Zhou Jian, the reporter, the photographer, Mike, Jack, and Zhang Qiming to all gather for a meeting.

Shen Ye was smoking a cigar when they all arrived within minutes.

"Brother Ye, what's the topic of this meeting?"

Zhou Jian came up and asked.

Shen Ye was sitting on a large rock, the slope of which was about a quarter the size of a basketball court. Women usually used it to dry their clothes, so the rock surface was very clean. Everyone sat there.

"Food is running low. We have two options: either we have to move up the invasion of the tribe, or we can go out and collect tree marrow ourselves. But that would mean working outside for five or six days, which is also very dangerous."

After Shen Ye finished speaking, he took a drag of his cigarette.

"I want to discuss this decision with everyone."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Zhou Jian spoke first: "Brother Ye, which thing would you prefer to do first?"

Shen Ye glanced at the savage at the wreckage.

"I originally planned to attack the savage tribe three days later, because by then the savages should be better trained."

Shen Ye said.

"Brother Ye, I think you've tamed this savage really well today! He's as obedient as a dog—no, even more obedient than a dog! You're amazing!"

Zhou Jian said excitedly.

At this moment, the reporter raised his hand.

"If Brother Ye wants to attack the tribe, I think it's best to launch a night attack, because those savages are too difficult for us to deal with during the day when they enter the forest, especially since they can jump around in the trees!"

Cui Zhengxi looked at the reporter.

"But nighttime is also disadvantageous for us. Even if we set off in the afternoon, it will be difficult for us to fight at night. If we can't wipe them out in one go, we will also face the risk of being ambushed."

"Old Cui, we have those vines! Dr. He has already done experiments; they're harmless to our eyes, but we can only use them sparingly!"

The reporter said.

Shen Ye was taken aback.

"When was the experiment conducted? Whose eyes were used to conduct the experiment?" Shen Ye asked, puzzled.

"Brother Ye, it wasn't an experiment using anyone's eyes. It was an experiment conducted voluntarily by those two diabetic patients. It was just a small-scale, risky experiment," the reporter said tactfully.

There's no point in telling Shen Ye about this; it might just increase his psychological burden.

Shen Ye didn't suspect anything, he just shook his head.

"However, that doesn't mean repeated use won't cause harm —"

Shen Ye then looked at everyone and asked, "Does everyone also mean to invade the savage tribe?"

The group exchanged glances and finally nodded.

Shen Ye believes that such an invasion may still be very risky, but there seems to be no better way. Even if they prepare for another two or three days, the situation may not improve, and they may be even more exhausted.

He had another worry.

That's the Homo sapiens footprint that was discovered earlier.

There's been no movement from them, and we don't know what their plans are.

"In that case, let's discuss the tactical issues first. I won't participate in the discussion; I'll follow your arrangements!"

After Shen Ye finished speaking, he got up and left.

Shen Ye, with a cigar in his mouth, arrived at the dinosaur enclosure, intending to look at the dinosaurs to cheer himself up.

The shrubs that Cui Zhengxi cut down have been almost completely eaten.

However, there are a few plants they don't eat.

Shen Ye picked up the plants with a puzzled look and noticed that the leaves had three thick vertical veins. They seemed somewhat familiar. After a few seconds, Shen Ye's eyes lit up.

"Isn't this a plant of the Strychnos nux-vomica genus?"

Shen Ye was quite shocked. This plant would be considered a tropical plant in modern times, but North America during the Cretaceous period did indeed have a greenhouse climate, making it possible for such a plant to exist.

Shen Ye went into the shed and collected all the Strychnos nux-vomica plants.

This stuff is highly poisonous.

These are all saplings of the Strychnos nux-vomica genus, so they don't bear fruit yet. At this time of year, the Strychnos nux-vomica trees should already be bearing fruit, and may even be producing ripe orange fruits.

Shen Ye took the few strychnos nux-vomica plants to the rocky slope.

"Old Cui, where did you get these plants?"

Shen Ye asked, "It's normal that Cui Zhengxi, as a Korean, has never seen this kind of plant before. He looked puzzled and didn't know what was wrong with these plants."

"The trees were cut down in the woods around the sphere, what's wrong with that?"

Cui Zhengxi reached out and touched it, asking curiously.

"This is nux vomica, and it's poisonous all over. If you cut it and have a wound on your hand, the poison will enter your bloodstream and you'll die. Everyone, please recognize this plant and don't touch it again."

Shen Ye showed this to everyone so they could identify it.

Cui Zhengxi was startled upon hearing this.

This is way too dangerous!

Zhou Jian also took it and looked at it carefully, his expression changing.

"I recognize these nux vomica seeds. I saw them when I was herding cattle as a child. Some children died after eating them. I almost ate some myself because the child in front of me ate some and said it was very bitter. He spat out a flat, black, hairy seed that looked like a coin!"

"You're from Guangdong, so it's normal for you to have seen strychnine."

Shen Ye nodded and said.

At this moment, Zhang Qiming raised his hand.

"Brother Ye, how potent is this poison?" Zhang Qiming asked.

Shen Ye wasn't quite sure either, because he only knew that this thing was very poisonous, as poisonous as blood-sealing throat, but he had never actually seen anyone poisoned by it.

"It's extremely poisonous. Eating that fruit will cause convulsions throughout the body, respiratory arrest, and death within two or three minutes!"

Zhou Jian said he clearly remembered the scene when the young man from the same village died.

He had nightmares about it for a long time.

At this moment, the reporter remembered something and said, "I remember an African documentary. Among the indigenous people of South America, they boil this into a black paste and apply it to arrowheads or blowguns. If prey is shot in the neck, it will stop breathing in a few seconds. If it's shot in the body, it will only last a few minutes at most!"

The reporter's words sent a chill down the spines of everyone present.

The reporter thought for a moment and then said, "The poison inside is called something like Strychnine."

When Shen Ye heard the reporter say this, he seemed to have some recollection of it. When he was learning about wilderness survival, he did watch some documentaries about wilderness survival, including those about the survival of indigenous peoples.

"It contains strychnine and strychnine."

Shen Ye added, "However, that's strychnine, the poison of arrows, which looks very similar to this. I don't know if it's the same kind; I can't tell the difference. Brother Zhang, are you suggesting using this to make poisoned blowguns?"

Zhang Qiming nodded.

"Yes, I'm talking about blowguns. If we use them well, maybe none of us will get hurt in this battle!" Zhang Qiming said excitedly.

"Damn, this thing is pretty good! By the way, why don't the savages know how to use it?" Zhou Jian was excited at first, but he immediately realized that this thing would be very dangerous in the hands of the enemy!

Shen Ye shook his head and explained, "Because there is no bamboo, and even grasses are scarce, and if they are, they are in dangerous areas like swamps, so they did not invent blowguns or bows and arrows. Moreover, spears can kill people without poison, so poison is unnecessary."

"I see, that's really good news for us!"

Zhou Jian was even more excited. His arrows were actually not powerful enough, but now that he had these poisons, he knew he could become a god with just a bow.

He felt that savages and dinosaurs were no match for them.

"Zhou Jian, take this and boil it in a new iron box until it becomes a gel-like substance. You can then apply it to your arrowheads. As for blowguns, I doubt anyone knows how to use them, but you should still ask any of the survivors if they know how!"

Shen Ye handed the strychnine seeds to Zhou Jian.

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