The Double Drop Buff Surviving The Endless Ocean novel Chapter 103

Chapter 103

The chicks in the mystical cherry grove had already hatched.

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Leeanne was overjoyed. She walked over, gently stroked the chicks, and counted them one by one. “One, two, three… seven, eight!”

Eight chicks hatched in total. The hatch rate was pretty good.

Now, it was time to figure out how to take care of the newborn chicks.

Leeanne remembered helping her grandma hatch chicks using blankets as makeshift incubators when she was a kid, and she’d helped raise them, too.

She recalled that chicks didn’t need to eat right after hatching, but she had to teach them to drink water.

Plus, chicks were sensitive to cold. They needed to stay warm for the first week after hatching, and for the first couple of days, they needed a temperature of around 95°F.

The mystical cherry grove always felt like spring, but right now it was only about 80 F, and the chicks couldn’t handle it.

Outside the mystical cherry grove, the temperature on the raft fluctuated a lot between day and night, which wasn’t suitable for raising chicks either.

She needed to make a warm brooder box for the chicks. Right now, they were huddled together, and their constant chirping meant they were feeling cold.

Leeanne went over to the incubator and took out the eggshells and unhatched eggs.

The temperature inside was still the same as when the eggs were hatching, a little over 98°F. She could keep the chicks here for now while she figured out something else.

She carefully picked up each chick and put them back in the incubator. Then she left the mystical cherry grove, made a small lid with thin wood sticks, leaving some space between them, and brought it back to cover the incubator.

The incubator’s original lid was no longer usable.

Honestly, this was just a temporary fix. She still needed to quickly make a proper brooder box to keep the chicks warm.

Leeanne stepped out of the mystical cherry grove.

She left the mystical cherry grove and rummaged around in the warehouse.

Finally, she found an empty wooden chest that would work perfectly as a brooder box.

It was a bit big, but she could add more bedding to make it cozy.

Ideally, she’d line it with dry grass or straw, but of all the things she’d brought back from her adventures, she hadn’t picked

up any grass.

“What should I do? Forget it, I’ll ask in Local Chat, she decided.

She then asked in Local Chat, ‘Does anyone have wild grass? I need some and will trade it for wood or water.

Grass wasn’t worth much, so trading for common supplies like wood or bottled water was enough.

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Chapter 103

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Unfortunately, nobody had any grass. The Local Chat blew up with gossip, and everyone kept pestering Leeanne about why she needed grass, asking her over and over.

Leeanne was about to lose it.

‘Seriously, why hasn’t this game added a trading system yet? Every time I need something. I have to say it in Local Chat, and it’s such a pain. All the players won’t stop chatting about it, Leeanne grumbled to herself.

But she only asked that question in Local Chat to check her private messages, hoping someone would actually message her.

The first person to contact her was Emmett. He said, “Leeanne, if you need grass, come to me. No, actually, go and find Gideon.

“He was stubborn and insisted on opening a chest himself, and guess what? He fished up a chest that was filled with solid grass. Go talk to him before he throws it all away!”

Emmett paused and added, “I’m telling you, he kept the grass. Leeanne, listen, nobody else can get grass except Gideon. Just check your private messages. I’m sure no one else has messaged you about it.”

Leeanne checked her private messages, and sure enough, everyone was only talking nonsense. No one had any grass.

After all, wild grass could be found on just about any island, so who would’ve thought of gathering it?

Just then, she got a private message and a friend request from Gideon.

Gideon sent over an entire chest full of grass, with just two words, “Take it!”

Uh… seriously?‘ Leeanne thought, a bit taken aback.

She spent a while wondering how to return the favor. If she sent him some wood or bottled water, Gideon probably wouldn’t even care. But if she didn’t give him anything, it felt like she was mooching.

After thinking it through, Leeanne replied, “Okay, thanks a lot!”

she knew she’d cross paths with Emmett and Gideon again, so she decided to let it slide for now. After all, there’d be time to Day them back later.

Leeanne accepted the grass.

The grass was pretty good, dry, slender, and soft, just right for making a chick nest.

she lined the chest with the grass, covering the sides as well, making it look just like a proper nest.

Then, she drilled several holes around the wooden box to allow for ventilation.

in this way, if the wooden box were covered, it would definitely be much warmer than before. However, the temperature was till not high enough.

How should I make it warmer?‘ Leeanne was at a loss. She couldn’t use charcoal or a brazier for heating inside the chest, and ven if she put them outside, they couldn’t be too close. Otherwise, she’d risk setting the whole chest on fire.

What should I do about it? Leeanne wondered, feeling totally stuck.

Then, as she watched the purified water drip from the seawater filter, a sudden idea popped into her head.

Wait, this could work, she thought to herself.

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Chapter 103

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Leeanne boiled some water, poured the warm water into a bunch of empty bottled water containers, and set them on top of the dry grass lining the bottom of the chest.

Then she laid a plastic sheet over the bottles and added another layer of grass on top.

In this way, it could retain heat for a long time while also keeping the temperature from getting too high.

Once the makeshift brooder box was ready, Leeanne carried it into the mystical cherry grove.

She had no intention of taking the chicks outside. She didn’t want to risk not being able to bring them back.

Besides, the temperature inside the mystical cherry grove was much more stable.

After setting up the brooder box, Leeanne carefully placed each chick inside and closed the lid of the chest.

Through the holes in the chest, she could see the chicks gradually becoming more lively. It was obvious they were really happy with the temperature.

Newborn chicks didn’t need food right away, but they had to learn to drink water. So, Leeanne needed to set up something for water and food in the brooder.

She thought for a bit, grabbed some thick wood, and made four shallow bowls. She figured out a way to fix them inside the chest, two on the left, and two on the right

Then she set the height just right so the chicks could reach them easily.

She poured a little water into the two bowls on the left, hoping the chicks would drink. But to her surprise, they just kept chirping and didn’t even try to drink.

Could it be they really don’t know how to drink?‘ Leeanne wondered, starting to worry.

She remembered that every time she’d seen chicks before, there was always a mother hen around to teach them how to drink. These little guys had just hatched, and they probably haven’t learned how yet, Leeanne realized.

What should I do now?‘ she wondered, totally stumped. ‘Am I supposed to find them a mother hen? But chicks at chicken farms don’t have moms either, do they? Whatever, I’ll try to find one and see.

Leeanne left the mystical cherry grove, caught a hen from the chicken coop, and tried to bring it back into the grove.

The system notification popped up. [The mystical cherry grove isn’t developed enough to let living creatures in.]

Sure enough, she couldn’t bring any living animals inside.

Leeanne hadn’t expected much in the first place, so she wasn’t really disappointed. ‘Still, there’s something more to that system message,’ Leeanne thought. ‘It feels like a hint.

‘Not developed enough? So if I level it up, does that mean I can bring animals in?‘

Leeanne decided to expand the raft and develop the mystical cherry grove as soon as she could.

Since she couldn’t bring the hen inside, Leeanne had no choice but to head back into the mystical cherry grove, crouching down and keeping a close eye on the flock of chicks.

Finally, she grabbed one little chick, gently dipped its beak into the water again and again. Before long, the chick figured it out and started drinking on its own.

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Once one chick learned to drink, the others would quickly follow suit.

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Leeanne watched as each chick took turns drinking water, but soon she started to worry again. ‘What are these little guys supposed to eat?‘ she thought, feeling troubled.

Based on her experience, newborn chicks could eat cooked millet or chick feed. She decided to go and look for some.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Leeanne glanced at her watch. It was exactly nine o’clock, time for the points

settlement.

At the stroke of nine, the chat screen was forced open, and a game announcement flashed across the display.

[Points settlement has begun!]

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