Chapter 27: 27 Upgrade
Baldy's crew brought a huge gift, but Ma Lu didn't forget the real harvest.
Just as he was about to take the chef's knife to deal with the Giant Claw Lord, he was stopped by Boggy.
"How about I do it this time?"
"Hmm?"
"The value of the Giant Claw Lord is very high. It has to be handled properly. If key parts are damaged, it will sell for a lot less."
Actually, when Ma Lu was chopping up the Two-Headed Hyena last time, it had made Boggy frown deeply as he watched.
Processing and preserving prey is an essential skill for every hunter. It would be a pity if a high-grade catch lost its value due to improper handling.
Agreeably, Ma Lu handed the chef's knife back to Boggy upon hearing this.
He watched as Boggy approached the Giant Claw Lord, inserted the knife into a joint, and gently dislodged a hind leg with just a couple of flicks.
Next, he didn't rush to harvest the meat. Instead, he removed the remaining legs and that giant claw, then opened up the shell on its back, made a cut on a white membrane, and caught the purple liquid that flowed out with an empty water bottle.
"This is the lung fluid of the Giant Claw Lord. Just this small bottle can sell for 800 electric degrees," explained Boggy. "However, it's not a food ingredient; the clothing stores in the city will buy it."
After collecting the lung fluid, he cut away the stomach and heart, leaving behind the gills...
As he worked, Boggy explained the process to Ma Lu, and in less than twenty minutes had the Giant Claw Lord fully processed.
He extracted about 700 pounds of meat, sorted by parts. In addition to this, many valuable organs were also harvested.
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Ma Lu felt like he had just watched a surgical operation, as Boggy's movements were both fast and precise, without a single unnecessary cut.
"I've already taken the Wind-walking Prairie Wolf cub, so all this meat is yours. As for the bottle of lung fluid and the other stuff, you don't need, I can take them back to the city to sell and then split the money with you."
"Let's do that then."
Ma Lu had no objections to this arrangement, yet he stopped after filling less than half.
"What's wrong?" Boggy asked.
"It's full."
Ma Lu wasn't surprised that the Collection Bag had a capacity limit, as neither game backpacks nor storage rings could be filled endlessly.
However, this limit was reached sooner than Ma Lu had anticipated, considering the 22 Bloodsucking Tail Weasels and various other prey items already stuffed inside. He estimated that this plastic bag could only hold up to about 400 pounds at most.
The Universe's Number One Snack Stall had already made a name for itself at the West Gate of Aerospace University. Every time he set up his stall, it sold out quickly. Last time, he brought back over 300 pounds of ingredients and sold out in less than 5 days. Although he had 100 pounds more this time, it still didn't seem quite enough.
Scratching his head, Ma Lu had to replan and took out the lower-star ingredients he'd put in before, ultimately only fitting 350 pounds of Giant Claw Lord meat and 50 pounds of Sickle-horned Antelope meat...
Back at the rental house, Old Wang was already waiting in the kitchen.
Ma Lu took out the harvest from the plastic bag and chose [Colossal Claw Lord Roast] as today's menu item.
This dish had a Deliciousness Index of ★★ and could provide 146 chef experience points.
Old Wang listed the necessary ingredients, but instead of heading out immediately, Ma Lu asked.
"By the way, can you give me another plastic bag? Actually, I collected more ingredients than these, but the Collection Bag is already full."
Old Wang shook his head, "You can only carry one Collection Bag, and even if you brought more, it wouldn't increase the total capacity."
"Is that so? It's still okay to set up the stall for now, just earning a bit less, but if I open a shop in the future and can only bring back 400 pounds each time, it doesn't seem quite sufficient, does it?"
"Although bringing extra Collection Bags is useless, we can increase the maximum capacity by upgrading the existing Collection Bags."
"Upgrading, Collection Bags can be upgraded?" Ma Lu exclaimed in surprise, "Then can you help me upgrade it now? That way, the next time I can bring back more ingredients."
"I don't know how," Old Wang shook his head.
"Only Artisans can create and upgrade High-Dimensional Artifacts. However, their numbers are scarce. As far as I know, there are less than 10,000 Artisans throughout the Multiverse, and most of them have joined Creation Technology, while the rest live in seclusion throughout the universe.
"The chances of encountering them in one universe are less than one in ten billion trillion, and considering our current plane is still outside The Grand Alliance, that number is probably even smaller."
"So, does that mean my Collection Bag will never be able to be upgraded?" Ma Lu said, stroking his chin.
"It seems that way for now, but I can try to contact them. I believe I've dealt with them before, and I still have their contact information in my sector."
"We'll have to settle for that for now."
After discussing the upgrade, Ma Lu went to the farmers market and spent 165 yuan to buy all the ingredients, handed them to Old Wang, and then went back to bed to catch up on some sleep.
He had played on the Switch with Old Wang for almost ten hours yesterday, and then went hunting under the scorching sun with Boggy. He was genuinely exhausted at this point.
He slept until two in the afternoon before crawling out of bed, drank a bowl of Sand-Spray Qiang clay pot soup, and also tried a freshly cooked [Colossal Claw Lord Roast]. He felt refreshed and gave Old Wang a thumbs-up.
After a quick tidy up, the two of them set off again on the tricycle.
On the way, Ma Lu received another message from Shen Yue asking why he hadn't arrived yet.
This was the sixth time she had urged him today.
——Are you coming? Haven't seen you in days, I miss you.
——It's almost lunchtime, where are you?
——Brother, my dear brother, why haven't you opened your stall?
——No way, big brother, how many days have you missed work now? Even the work team's donkey wouldn't dare to take such a break.
——I'm dying here, if I don't get fried meat pies, I'm going to die.
——Would you just say something, daddy!
Ma Lu typed with one hand on the handlebars.
——I'll be there in ten minutes.
——Holy crap, you're still alive, that's great! Then I want to pre-order a fried meat pie, no, make it two.
Shen Yue replied instantly and even transferred 36 yuan, but Ma Lu didn't accept it.
Ten minutes later, he and Old Wang arrived at West Gate of Aerospace University. The spot where they had set up the stall before already had people lining up, probably because they heard the news early.
Shen Yue was there too, and she had called over two junior students from the Ancient Poetry Society to help maintain order.
Her eyes lit up when she saw Ma Lu, but she was taken aback when she saw Old Wang bring out the grill.
"Eh, weren't you selling fried meat pies today?"
Ma Lu nodded. Now that he had money, even though the grill was second-hand, he had it delivered to save the back and forth hassle.
"I already said that the fried meat pies are limited-time offerings. When they're sold out, that's it."
"Ah, how can they be gone just like that?! I have to criticize you for this, senior," Shen Yue protested, "As a merchant, you also have to consider the customers a bit, right? You can't be so capricious. How can you just stop making a popular delicacy everyone loves?"