He had a full thirty years of wilderness survival experience, but he’d spent most of that time in the forests of America and Canada. As a result, he mainly specialized in handling cold weather.

Surviving in a tropical rainforest like this was truly a first for him.

He carried a bamboo basket on his back, inside which were two large pineapples, streaked with orange-yellow and brown, as well as a few papayas, mottled with green and red.

At the bottom of the basket was a pile of small red berries, an unexpected haul from his journey.

As for the two grouse, he had already cleaned them and wrapped them in banana leaves, ready to be tonight’s main course.

If possible, he planned to catch some crabs and oysters as well for a nutritious feast.

Over the past month, his culinary skills had advanced by leaps and bounds. At the very least, his cooking had gone from being lethally poisonous to merely edible. The few simple dishes Lin Chen had taught him, in particular, turned out quite decent.

He was confident he could roast a chicken or make some seafood soup.

The way down the mountain was much easier than the way up. It only took him about half an hour to reach the vicinity of the river valley at the mountain’s base.

He didn’t rush down, but instead took a look around the area.

’The trees in the river valley aren’t as dense as the ones on the slope, but the temperature and humidity are better. There should be a lot of fruit trees growing here. But where there are fruit trees, there are also more signs of animal activity. To be safe, it’s better to build the shelter up here.’

He found a few Y-shaped pine trees with low forks, planning to build an aerial treehouse here. But that would require making some tools first, which wasn’t quite possible yet.

’Forget it. I’ll go pick some coconuts first. Worst case, I’ll just make do on the beach for a night. The weather’s so warm, sleeping in the open won’t be a problem.’

...

Lin Chen had just arrived near the adjacent river valley. Before he could even go in to investigate, he froze on the spot.

He had been too lazy to climb the mountain, so he had taken the long way around via the beach, which required passing through the Mangrove Forest.

But right there on the mudflats at the edge of the Mangrove Forest, several massive monsters were lazing about, basking in the sun.

If he had encountered another species, he might not have been able to identify it, but upon seeing these few Godzilla-like behemoths, he called out their name almost instantly.

"American Crocodiles!"

’Dammit, why of all places did they have to be in the Mangrove Forest near me? What rotten luck.’

The thought of himself happily shucking and eating oysters in the waters of the Mangrove Forest just last night instantly drenched his back in a cold sweat.

After calming down and thinking about it, he realized it wasn’t actually that bad.

This Mangrove Forest covered a large area, with a depth of at least a kilometer. It had taken him nearly an hour just to get through it.

He had tested it before while walking on land: given his stride, a normal walking pace for forty minutes covered a little over a kilometer. Considering the path through the Mangrove Forest was relatively difficult, it was probably about a kilometer long.

To be honest, discovering a few American Crocodiles at the far end of such a large forest area didn’t really pose a threat to his side of it.

Still, he would need to observe more carefully on the way back to see if there were any tracks from these big guys in the central part of the Mangrove Forest.

With no other choice, he was forced to take a detour. No matter how much he didn’t want to climb the mountain, he had to.

After climbing up the small slope, he could see another river valley area.

This area was much vaster than he had imagined; he couldn’t see the end of it with a single glance.

A quick scan with his eyes immediately revealed the broad leaves of four or five Banana Trees hidden among the dense thickets.

’Good stuff!’

’The last Banana Tree I found didn’t have any fruit. Now that I’ve found so many, there’s no way they’re all empty, right?’

’Even unripe bananas are fine. You can eat them if you roast them in the fire.’

’Banana leaves can be used as tablecloths, mattresses, food wrap, and even wallpaper. They’re a truly all-purpose tool.’

’And that’s not even mentioning the banana heart.’

’Wait, I almost forgot the purpose of this trip—to find Mulberry Trees and vines. I’ll come back for fruit next time.’

He picked a route that passed close to some of the Banana Trees. As he got nearer, he saw that each tree indeed had a bunch of green bananas hanging from the top, and below that dangled a huge, red, artificial-looking flower bud.

’Not ripe yet? Good timing. I can take a bunch back with me later. Can’t let the banana pith go to waste either.’

As he continued forward, he glanced at his watch screen.

[You’re going to chop down the Banana Tree and dig out the core every time you find one? Won’t all the Banana Trees die then?]

[Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Isn’t that a little extreme?]

’As expected.’

Lin Chen smiled faintly and explained patiently, "Don’t worry, everyone. The Banana Tree is a monocarpic species, meaning it only fruits once in its lifetime. After the fruit is harvested, the plant naturally withers and dies."

"Don’t be fooled by its tree-like appearance—it’s actually a herbaceous plant. The part you see above ground is a pseudostem; the true stem is hidden underground."

"After the fruit is harvested, the pseudostem not only continues to absorb nutrients, hindering the sprouting of new shoots, but it also gradually rots as it dies, breeding bacteria and eventually contaminating the underground rhizome."

"However, by chopping down the Banana Tree after harvesting, we can preserve nutrients to promote the sprouting of new saplings. The rotting pseudostem will also turn into fertilizer that further nourishes the new shoots. This is the most common practice when harvesting banana and plantain-type crops."

"So, once it has borne fruit, it will die regardless of whether the fruit is harvested by me or by other wild animals. Leaving the core inside is just a waste. By cutting it down, I not only get to replenish my own nutrients and water, but I also help it sprout new growth more effectively. It’s like saving two lives, a win-win situation."

[Oh, so that’s how it is. This is the first time I’m hearing about this.]

[Learned something new again. I just looked it up online, and it’s true.]

[With so many banana leaves, he can not only decorate his shelter but also preserve food and use them for windproofing and warmth at night. It’s a huge score!]