He hadn’t gone far before a dense patch of rock-like objects on the thick aerial roots of the Mangrove Forest ahead caught his eye.

’Could it be...’

His eyes lit up. A possibility occurred to him, and he eagerly moved closer.

Sure enough.

In this part of the Mangrove Forest, the surface of every aerial root was covered in a thick layer of palm-sized, irregularly shaped oval ’rocks’.

"American Oysters!!!"

He cried out in surprise, an irrepressible smile spreading across his face.

American Oysters are the most common type of oyster throughout the Americas. But not all oysters can be eaten raw; "raw oysters" are just a premium subset, the kind you can eat fresh from the shell.

Whether you can eat wild oysters raw depends mainly on the environment. Those near cities are a definite no-go. For those from the pure wilderness, it depends on the growing area; ones from clean water are relatively safer. Tasting one or two will most likely be harmless.

To be on the safe side, cooking them is definitely the safest option.

"Oysters are great. Back home, they’re called ’a man’s gas station and a woman’s beauty salon.’ As for whether they actually have those effects, I’m not too sure."

"I just know that oysters are incredibly nutritious. Their protein content is as high as 15%, and they’re also rich in various minerals and trace elements. They even contain the eight essential amino acids the human body needs. They’re one of the easiest to obtain and most nutritious food sources in the wild."

He took out his combat knife, his gaze sweeping across the surface of the roots. He soon locked onto a long, palm-sized, kidney-shaped oyster.

First, he used the sharp tip of the knife to slice into the part of the shell firmly attached to the root. Then he wedged the spine of the blade in and gave it a twist, pulling the oyster shell outward with his left hand at the same time.

SNAP

With a soft snap, the huge oyster broke free. It felt heavy in his hand, seawater constantly dripping from the gaps in its shell.

These oysters are submerged at high tide and likely fully exposed at low tide. It’ll be easier to gather them then.

He couldn’t help but gulp at the thought of the plump, delicious oysters.

’Maybe... I’ll open one?’ 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

A deep craving showed in his eyes; he hadn’t had any protein in two days. At that moment, primal, physiological instinct instantly overwhelmed his reason.

The main issue was that starting a fire without tools was also quite difficult—it was physically demanding, and the success rate wasn’t high.

"Oysters filter water, and this whole area is packed with them, so the water quality should be excellent. Given my iron stomach—I can wolf down a hundred slices of salmon at a Japanese buffet—eating one should be perfectly fine."

He hadn’t even finished speaking when he grabbed the oyster and began smashing it hard against the others still attached to the roots.

CRACK

CRACK

The thinner edges of the oyster shell shattered, sending fragments flying and water splashing everywhere.

"If I had a proper oyster knife, I could just stick it in the hinge right here, give it a twist, and slice the adductor muscle to open it. But it takes skill; someone inexperienced probably couldn’t even find the spot."

"The tip of my combat knife is too sharp, though. If I used it to pry the shell, the tip might snap off. I can’t risk my only tool."

He held the oyster’s broken edge up to the light and quickly found a dark crack.

He slid the tip of his knife into the crack, keeping it pressed against the inner shell. He could clearly feel it hit an obstacle.

That was the oyster’s adductor muscle. It’s the part that becomes a dried scallop, though dried scallops are usually made from the adductor muscles of actual scallops, not oysters.

Without the adductor muscle holding it shut, the tight shell instantly loosened. With a gentle pry...

POP.

The plump, tender white oyster meat quivered under the light. Its translucent, jelly-like texture made his eyes go wide.

A faint smell unique to oysters wafted into his nose, carrying the salty, briny scent of the ocean.

He scraped away the remaining shell fragments from the edge, then slurped the meat and its liquor straight from the shell.

SLURP

It was just as he’d imagined. The fresh oyster liquor wasn’t overly salty—not bitter like seawater—and even had a faint sweetness.

The meat melted the moment he pressed it with his tongue, and an unparalleled umami flavor washed over him in waves.

"This is the flavor!"

He swayed his head in ecstasy, nodding again and again. The satisfaction of his first taste of meat in two days was far beyond what the mangoes could offer.

[Enjoyed delicious oysters in the Panama Mangrove Forest. Happiness +3]

The oyster’s texture was just as it looked—like jelly, it melted in the mouth, yet it had a slight crispness and that unique raw oyster flavor.

He had no problem with raw oysters, so to him, the flavor was pure umami, not fishy at all.

Someone who couldn’t handle it, however, would probably be nauseated the moment it touched their tongue, finding the taste unbearably briny and rank.

Savoring the aftertaste, he licked the juice from the corner of his mouth, his eyes instinctively drawn back to the vast patch of oysters on the roots.

"No. Oysters are good, but I can’t get greedy. I’d better take some back and figure out how to cook them."

He spent the better part of an hour prying off more than a dozen palm-sized oysters. Wrapping them in his jacket, he decided to look around the area some more and see if he could scavenge anything else useful.

The powerful beam of his Hat Lamp left the clear seabed completely exposed, illuminating the creatures hiding among the dark clusters of roots.

Colorful, unknown species of fish, drifting blue crabs, translucent white jellyfish, and prawns that darted away in a flash.