Of the 21 pearls, the first 20 small pearls combined were only worth a hundred thousand, which Jiang Ye sold directly.
The last one, a pearl the size of a lychee, had a tender green surface.
[Estimated Value: 187,800 yuan]
Jiang Ye decided not to sell it. Such a good item, he would keep it for himself for now.
He opened the storage compartment of the base vehicle and placed it in the innermost interlayer.
Leaving the base vehicle, he headed to the dock and out to sea!
After ten minutes of driving, he reached the vast expanse of the ocean.
No land was visible in any direction, only endless seawater with white waves surging.
Jiang Ye tapped the screen to stop the ship.
Then, carrying a shovel and a sack, he went to the cargo hold.
In a corner of the cargo hold, thousands of small fish were piled up.
These small fish had been caught many days ago. They were not sold at the time but were stored in the cargo hold. After so many days, most of the fish had dehydrated and shrunk, emitting a strong stench. Kicking one of them with his foot, many sparkling fish scales fell off and scattered on the ground.
Jiang Ye wielded the shovel and quickly filled a sack with the rotten fish.
Carrying it to the deck, he dumped the entire sack of rotten fish into the sea!
Then he returned to the cargo hold, filled another sack with rotten fish, and continued to dump them into the sea.
He poured seven sacks of rotten fish in succession.
A pungent odor rose from the sea, permeating the entire fishing boat.
Large and small white rotten fish drifted on the blue-black sea surface, like fallen leaves on the water.
Jiang Ye returned to the captain's cabin and waited silently.
He was conducting an experiment.
Although the bait purchased from the Galaxy Mall was very effective at attracting schools of fish, it always attracted only small fish. While a large net of small fish was not insignificant in value, Jiang Ye's ambition was greater; he wanted to catch some big ones.
For example, sharks, or other large predatory fish.
Therefore, he specifically prepared a large batch of rotten fish, with a strong odor, and scattered them into the sea to see if he could lure some big fish.
The sonar screen in the captain's cabin was already on, and Jiang Ye stood still, waiting.
One minute.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
Finally, several walnut-sized red dots converged from the southeast!
According to the scale conversion, the size of these red dots was at least that of a car tire, already qualifying as large fish!
Jiang Ye's mood was complex. The rotten fish had indeed attracted some big fellows, but the quantity was too small, only about a dozen in total, and they might not even be worth as much as the rotten fish he had thrown in.
In the blink of an eye, these dozen or so large creatures arrived at the fishing boat.
They eagerly began to tear at the rotten fish floating on the sea surface.
Just as Jiang Ye was about to rush to the deck to see, a sudden change occurred!
The red dots on the screen collectively turned and left.
Their speed was so fast, it was almost like they were fleeing in panic.
Immediately after, a vast expanse of dense red dots surged from another direction.
The number was in the tens of thousands!
Jiang Ye felt his hair stand on end. The most terrifying thing wasn't the presence of predatory fish, but that the predatory fish looked behind you and then turned away.
The red dots on the screen quickly surrounded the fishing boat, scrambling for the rotten fish floating on the sea surface.
The sound of splashing water could be clearly heard.
Jiang Ye decisively clicked the screen and cast the net!
The fishing net plunged into the seawater, immediately ensnaring more than half of the red dots.
But strangely, the other red dots did not flee in fright; instead, they converged towards the fishing net.
The crane immediately went to work, pulling the heavily laden fishing net upwards.
Jiang Ye quickly ran to the edge of the ship, leaned over the railing, and looked down.
Holy crap. His expression was one of extreme terror.
Amidst the splashing water, the fishing net was being raised from the sea surface. This catch was substantial, the contents weighing at least as much as an elephant.
But the critical part was that many creatures were clinging to the outside of the fishing net, desperately biting!
They were neither fish nor any kind of shrimp, crab, or turtle, but large insects!
Brownish-black beetles, each as big as a cantaloupe, with segmented scales all over their bodies. Faintly visible were countless small white legs on their undersides.
Jiang Ye had never seen such creatures before; they were exceptionally ugly.
The fishing net was lifted onto the deck.
Splash!
The large insects clinging to the outside of the net fell off, curling into balls the size of watermelons, rolling all over the deck.
Jiang Ye, terrified, bolted and quickly returned to the captain's cabin, shutting the door tightly.
He didn't know if these large sea insects could harm humans, but judging by their size, a bite would be disastrous.
He clicked on the screen, making the fishing net slide into the cargo hold.
A moment later, the scan results came out:
[Item: Giant Sea Louse]
[Item Description: Animal Kingdom, Phylum Arthropoda, Class Malacostraca, Order Isopoda, Family Cirolanidae. Can reach up to half a meter in length. Their blood is blue due to copper in the plasma. They feed on carrion and can survive long periods without food. Their flesh is non-toxic and edible.]
[Note: Giant Sea Lice are timid and tend to huddle together. Although they have a grotesque and terrifying appearance, there are no recorded instances of them attacking humans. These creatures are rarely found alone; they gather with their own kind for courage, thus their numbers grow. If you encounter one, it means there are thousands nearby. The largest aggregations can exceed 200,000 individuals.]
[Estimated Value: 785,000 yuan]
Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed these things were just scary-looking and not aggressive at all.
He clicked to sell!
His account balance increased to 891,000 yuan.
Carrying a sack, he pushed open the door of the captain's cabin.
On the deck, dozens of giant sea lice were scurrying about, waving their numerous small legs.
Jiang Ye walked over and stepped on one.
The sea louse, startled, attempted to curl into a ball. This reaction was somewhat similar to that of pill bugs or hedgehogs.
Jiang Ye gave it a swift kick, flipping it over.
The sea louse lay on its back on the deck, revealing its white underside. At least twenty small legs were frantically moving about.
Ugh, how disgusting!
Jiang Ye picked it up directly and threw it into the sack.
There were more sea lice running around nearby, moving faster than rabbits. But when they reached the edge of the deck, they dared not jump off; instead, they turned and ran in another direction.
As they ran, Jiang Ye caught them and threw them into the sack.
It took him half an hour to catch all the lice on the deck and sell them.
He sold another hundred thousand yuan, and his account balance became 991,000 yuan.
Next, Jiang Ye went to the cargo hold, took out another sack of rotten fish, and threw it into the sea.
Before long, the red dots on the screen increased. He cast the net and, as expected, caught another group of brownish-black giant sea lice!
Jiang Ye worked tirelessly for the entire morning.
All the rotten fish in the cargo hold were thrown out to attract the giant sea lice.
By eleven o'clock in the morning, he had hauled in over a dozen nets of sea lice, and his personal account balance had risen to 8,127,000 yuan!
There were no more rotten fish, but the sea lice seemed to be coming continuously.
Jiang Ye scanned the seabed with sonar and discovered that the deepest part of the seabed here was only fifty meters.
He decided to put on a diving suit and go down to see how many more timid sea lice were left to be caught. If the numbers were large, he would continue fishing in the afternoon.
It took him five minutes to put on the entire set of diving gear. He walked to the edge of the deck and dove into the water with a backflip!
The midday sun was brilliant, and the seawater was clear and transparent.
Jiang Ye descended thirty meters in one go, took a brief rest, and then descended another twenty meters, reaching the reef-covered seabed.
"Wow!" He stared at the scene before him, unable to refrain from cursing.
Although he didn't see any sea lice, the seabed was covered with another very familiar type of creature.