The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 181: Chapter 181: A Surprise from the Seabed

Han Xiaorui lifted a basket of small chub mackerel. They weren’t worth much and just took up space, so she dumped them out. ”Here, Xiao Dai. It’s on me.”

It might not have been Xiao Dai’s favorite food, but she had infused it with a bit of her Water Ability, making it a powerful tonic for the turtle.

Han Xiaorui threw them in two at a time. Xiao Dai would quickly swallow one, then dive down to gulp the other.

Once it was nearly full, Xiao Dai started calling its friends.

The little sea snake, having eaten its fill, hid under the boat.

Soon, the boat was surrounded by numerous sea turtles of all kinds, so many that Han Xiaorui couldn’t tell them apart.

She tossed all ten baskets of small fish to these sea turtles.

Liang Xiaoyu watched, a look of reluctance in her eyes. ”Xiao Rui, those ten baskets are hundreds of pounds of fish. I know they aren’t worth much, but that’s still a few hundred bucks!”

Han Xiaorui chuckled. ”You said it yourself, they’re not worth much. If we keep them, they’ll just take up space in the fish hold. When we catch better fish, we’ll have to haul them out and dump them anyway. What a hassle.”

”Last time, we found that reef and harvested so many scallops, sea cucumbers, and oysters. This time, if I feed these sea turtles a bit more, maybe they’ll lead us to even more fish.”

Thinking about these intelligent creatures, Liang Xiaoyu nodded in agreement. ”You’re right. There’s another basket over there, I’ll bring it over.”

With that, she backed up Han Xiaorui’s decision with action.

As if they had heard Han Xiaorui, the sea turtles ate their fill, dove down, and began swimming around, herding schools of fish toward the boat.

Just then, Han Xiaorui’s eyes felt sore. She closed them, then opened them again.

She discovered her perspective wasn’t just on the sea’s surface, but below it as well.

Wherever Xiao Dai went, she could see.

This discovery left Han Xiaorui utterly shocked!

’It can do this?’

Before, while she could sense things underwater, her range was limited to a depth of about 30 to 50 meters.

But now, Xiao Dai’s perspective was her own. She could have the turtle swim around and look at anything she wanted, seemingly without any limit to the range.

To test this, Han Xiaorui directed Xiao Dai to keep diving deeper.

The sea in this area was about 150 to 200 meters deep. Following Xiao Dai, Han Xiaorui could actually see the fish, shrimp, crabs, and many shellfish on the seabed.

As Han Xiaorui was reeling from the shock, a giant Tridacna appeared before her eyes.

Xiao Dai circled the Tridacna, nudging it with its front flipper as if it didn’t want to leave.

Han Xiaorui paused. ’Could there be something good inside?’

But Xiao Dai was smaller than the Tridacna. How could it possibly get it to the surface?

To her surprise, Xiao Dai actually gave the Large Tridacna a hard shove. Finding an angle, it squeezed underneath and began pushing it upward.

Xiao Dai actually started swimming up with the more-than-a-meter-long Tridacna on its back, determined to bring it to the surface.

Han Xiaorui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Xiao Dai was even more enthusiastic about fishing than she was.

There were many other good things on the seabed, but they were too deep for her to retrieve.

But this Large Tridacna... with Xiao Dai’s help, she could take it!

After all, anything Xiao Dai recommended was bound to have a treasure inside.

From the six baskets of scallops last time, she had found half a basin’s worth of scallop pearls, and most of them were a magnificent purple.

This Tridacna might hold a surprise as well.

Furthermore, Han Xiaorui noticed that this Tridacna was old enough that it was already nearing the end of its natural life.

Because of that, she felt no guilt about taking the Tridacna.

While Xiao Dai was huffing and puffing its way up with the Large Tridacna on its back, the other sea turtles were busy herding the surrounding fish into the nets.

Only two hours had passed, and the nets were already full of fish—and valuable silver pomfret at that.

Han Xiaorui immediately called out to Chen Yishui, ”Sister Shui, let’s pull in the nets now!”

Chen Yishui was confused and wanted to ask why, but her mother had told her to listen to Han Xiaorui on the boat. Since Han Xiaorui didn’t offer an explanation, she knew not to ask too many questions.

”Alright!” Chen Yishui nodded and immediately began operating the net winch. The deckhands also started to get ready.

Han Xiaorui was surprised. ’I thought she would ask a few more questions.’

’It’s better that she didn’t ask. Saves me from having to explain.’

She had run out of excuses and had no idea how she would explain it anyway.

When the nets were hauled up and the deckhands opened the codend, the fish tumbled out, followed by a crewman’s cry of surprise. ”Whoa, silver pomfret! And they’re huge!”

Chen Yishui was also thrilled. The last haul wasn’t worth much. If this one was a bust too, this trip’s earnings would have been far worse than the last one.

”Sort them quickly! Silver pomfret are delicate, so be careful,” Chen Yishui called out, her voice filled with undisguised joy.

As everyone was cheerfully sorting the pomfret, Xiao Dai surfaced, dragging the Large Tridacna with it.

Seeing such a huge Tridacna, Han Xiaorui was in a bind. She couldn’t get it aboard by herself, so she quickly called for backup. ”Sister Shui, hurry and bring the small net! Xiao Dai is amazing, it brought me another treasure!”

Hearing this, Chen Yishui forgot all about the beautiful silver pomfret. She immediately grabbed a net and rushed over. ”Where? Where’s Xiao Dai?”

When Chen Yishui reached Han Xiaorui’s side, she saw Xiao Dai somehow carrying a Large Tridacna.

’That thing is also worth a lot of money!’

Chen Yishui cast the net over the Tridacna. Xiao Dai deftly slipped out from under it, leaving the clumsy Tridacna caught.

(Listed as a Class I protected animal in 2017. Don’t touch it, or you’ll face jail time.)

Both Han Xiaorui and Chen Yishui were very strong. Working together, they hauled the Large Tridacna out of the sea.

Chen Yishui judged by the Tridacna’s shape and other features. ”Xiao Rui, this Large Tridacna is probably over a hundred years old and near the end of its life. Not only that, but in my experience, there’s a Tridacna Pearl in here.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui was astonished. ”Sister Shui, how can you tell there’s a pearl inside? Don’t you have to open it to know for sure?”

Chen Yishui smiled. ”Tridacna Pearls are different from other pearls. Other pearls grow in the flesh, but a Tridacna Pearl is actually a large clam pearl—a white concretion that forms inside the shell. It might have the shape of a pearl, but it lacks any pearlescent luster. That’s because Tridacna Pearls aren’t composed of nacre; they have a porcelain-like appearance.”

”The Tridacna shell itself is an organic gemstone. As one of the Seven Treasures of Buddhism, it’s highly prized by Buddhists. It can be made into many things and is very expensive. It used to be difficult to harvest them, but as fishing techniques improve, more and more are being caught. They’ll probably become much rarer in the future.”

Han Xiaorui said in surprise, ”Since it’s so valuable, I won’t sell it. I’ll keep it.”

Hearing this, Chen Yishui lowered her voice. ”In that case, don’t let too many people know. I’m afraid if the wrong people find out, they might try to rob you.”

Han Xiaorui smiled at that. ”Thanks for the warning, Sister Shui. I understand.”

The other deckhands kept glancing over while they sorted the fish, their eyes wide with amazement when they saw the Large Tridacna.

This one Tridacna alone would sell for a lot of money.

However, since Xiao Dai had delivered it, it didn’t count as part of the boat’s official catch.

Everyone sped up their sorting, eager to finish and get a closer look at the Large Tridacna. It had been a long time since any of them had seen one so massive.