Culinary God in Wilderness

After enjoying the tender and juicy drumsticks and wings, Lin Chen tore off a piece of the breast meat to taste. He immediately gave up on the impulse to pick up the whole thing and gnaw on it.

"It’s breast meat, after all. Without brining it, making it both tender and juicy is obviously impossible, so I’m going to prepare it a bit differently."

His hands moved as if equipped with precision radar. He gripped the breast, and with a gentle pull, the entire piece came off whole.

The wild mushrooms hidden inside the grouse’s cavity spilled into the pan, carrying with them delicious, fragrant juices. The aroma was richer than anything he’d smelled on his journey so far.

He shredded both pieces of breast meat. He also carefully picked off the remaining meat from the carcass—the wishbone meat and the meat around the pelvis.

He moved the carcass, bones, head, and feet to a smaller pot. Then, he took the pile of shredded chicken, which resembled a small mountain, and tossed it thoroughly with all the chicken fat, juices, wild mushrooms, and scallion leaves at the bottom of the pan. He simply arranged it into the shape of a volcano.

"Behold! An Alaska Jungle limited edition: Shredded Roast Grouse Breast with Wild Mushroom Salad!"

Hearing the long string of words come out of his own mouth, Lin Chen couldn’t help but laugh, speechless.

He gave the camera a close-up. He didn’t care if anyone was watching; the production team was definitely recording everything, so as long as he provided them with footage, it was fine.

He grabbed a handful of shredded chicken mixed with juicy slices of wild mushroom and stuffed it into his mouth. The dry, stringy texture typical of breast meat was gone. Every fiber was soaked in the savory chicken and mushroom broth.

Paired with the thick, full texture of the wild mushrooms, every bite brought the pleasure of juices bursting between his teeth.

The addition of the scallion leaves was the masterstroke. Their unique aroma, similar to garlic leaves, perfectly elevated the umami of the wild mushrooms to a whole new level. Even the normally unpalatable chicken breast had become incredibly delicious.

After devouring the entire grouse in one go, Lin Chen let out a satisfied belch and lay back on the wooden floor behind him.

"Ah, that’s the stuff!"

[Enjoyed a delicious grouse meal in the wilds of North America. Happiness Points +5]

’Only 5 points? Hmph, just as I expected.’

After so many days of experimentation, he felt he had a better grasp of the pattern for gaining high or low amounts of Happiness Points.

As a new type of prey, and the most anticipated meal to date, the grouse was bound to give a decent amount of Happiness Points.

Plus, with the hunger he’d built up from having to ration food during the storm, the resulting burst of happiness should have been at least 6 points.

The problem was that he ate the giblets first, and then the meat, which split the Happiness Points, leaving only 5 in the end.

If he had endured his hunger and not eaten them, the total amount he could have gained in one go would definitely have been 6 points or more.

After a short rest, feeling strength slowly returning to his body, he sat up again. He picked up his combat knife, turned it over, and used the spine of the blade to crack the carcass and bones one by one. He split the head in half.

Using the small amount of chicken fat left in the pan, he quickly stir-fried the bones until dry, then poured in a large amount of fresh water and set it over the charcoal fire to stew.

"The marrow hidden in the bones is mostly fat. By cracking the bones and boiling them over a high heat, you can force all the marrow out. Just like the fish soup I made before, it will turn a distinct white color."

Since there weren’t many chicken bones and the soup pot was already filled with apple soup, he had to use the pan this time, adding water occasionally to make sure it didn’t boil dry.

The purpose of stewing the carcass was simply to get more fat. Drinking the soup wasn’t the main goal; in fact, the thicker, the better.

After eating and drinking his fill, he did as he always did: he slung all his weapons over his back, pulled on a raincoat, and plunged into the fine drizzle.

He spent the entire afternoon gathering all the branches that had fallen in the heavy rain, and also chopped down a few dead, rotten trees to haul back as well.

After being soaked by the rain for so long, the insides of these branches and logs were thoroughly waterlogged and impossible to light.

He planned to use the dry, warm indoor temperature at night to dry out as much of the new firewood as possible before his current supply ran out.

"HUFF... Man, I’m exhausted."

He collapsed onto a log, panting heavily. Carrying a heavy load while walking through the damp mountains had nearly killed him, but looking at the scene of piled-up firewood, a deep sense of pride swelled in his heart.

As for how long it would take for this firewood to be usable, he wasn’t about to waste time thinking about it.

"Looks like I’ll have to start expanding the shelter to a second floor after the rain stops. The first floor is too small; it’s already a squeeze just storing firewood and food for the winter."

"With a second floor, my line of sight will extend over the fence, giving me a clear view of the surrounding hundred meters. I won’t have to worry about being attacked either."

Not only that, but once he redeemed the Archery Proficiency, if he ever found himself in a situation where a beast was blocking his door, he could fire arrows from the second floor and solve the problem without even leaving the house.

"I have firewood now, but I might not be able to use it in the short term. I have to prioritize for the worst-case scenario, which is freezing at night."

These days, he woke up every morning at the crack of dawn. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to keep sleeping, but the temperature inside the shelter would drop to freezing, and it was simply too cold for him to stay asleep.

To ensure he got enough sleep, he had to go to bed early every evening before the temperature dropped too much.

Lin Chen muttered his plans for the near future to the camera, organizing his own thoughts in the process.

"As the weather gets colder, more and more animals will come out to forage. Otherwise, once the first snow falls, Alaska will officially enter winter, and hunting will become increasingly difficult."

"I have to store at least a month’s worth of food before things get worse. To get that much in a short time, my target should undoubtedly be a moose."

The thought of a moose made him give a wry, helpless smile.

"According to my pre-competition research, the Alaska moose, like the Yukon Wolf, is the largest of its kind in the world. Adults weigh between two hundred and eight hundred kilograms, with a shoulder height of two meters. You could rightly call them walking trucks."

"Especially the bulls, with their massive, branching antlers. Backed by their armored-vehicle-like weight, even wolf packs, tigers, and brown bears will give them a wide berth."

"Trying to hunt such a behemoth with a limited number of arrows isn’t a sure thing. Accuracy aside, if a single arrow doesn’t cripple its mobility, it’ll most likely just be a wasted arrow."

This is especially true for moose in the autumn and winter. To cope with the extreme cold, they, like bears, build up massive fat reserves beforehand, which causes their weight and size to increase dramatically.

With all that fat as a cushion, an arrow sticking into it would be like acupuncture for a human. It really might not do much damage.