Li Haochen did not return to the previous treasure trove when he went underwater this time. Although there were still many scallops, he did not want to be too greedy. He preferred to take things slowly and steadily.
The new spot was also a treasure trove. More than a dozen round, dark wooden piles occupied a considerable area, arranged in a haphazard manner for reasons unknown.
The wooden piles were covered with densely packed mussels. Perhaps due to the density, their size was not very large, but their sheer quantity was astonishing. Li Haochen estimated that each wooden pile weighed at least two dan.
Looking at the wooden piles, a thought flashed through Li Haochen's mind. He ignored the mussels and swam around the pile of logs, testing and pressing each one. The hardness and stability of the logs delighted Li Haochen. "I wonder what kind of wood these are, they are so hard, and not much has rotted."
Li Haochen swam out of the water from the center of the wooden piles and surveyed the entire Butterfly Bay. "Is this actually the center of Butterfly Bay? It's currently high tide, and the highest point of the logs is only half a meter above the water. If I were to build a small platform here, it would be an excellent transit point. I need to plan this carefully."
"Plop~"
Li Haochen dove back to the seabed. He only broke off a small clump of mussels and moved to another spot. Butterfly Bay was indeed a treasure trove. The sandy seabed contained many large whelks, likely old ones that had lived for many years, weighing at least one and a half jin.
If not for his sharp eyes, and the faint muddy water ripples from their spitting, it would have been difficult to spot them against their grayish-black sandy surface.
With a strong pull, the shell lip quickly closed, and the operculum sealed. The conical red whelk, the size of a fist, looked like a black pear made of stone at first glance.
Wild ones of this kind were rare now, most were farmed, and the price was not cheap, around thirty to forty yuan per jin. A wild specimen like the one Li Haochen held, large and pure wild, would fetch at least sixty yuan per jin.
"Heh heh, good stuff. I'll find more and put them in my spatial storage. These things breed like crazy, and each one will weigh about a jin."
Li Haochen moved up and down, constantly searching the seabed. In half an hour, he found seven or eight large red whelks.
"Almost got me."
A large red whelk, camouflaged in gray and black, hid in a pile of mud. If it weren't for a trace of mud stirred up by the water current revealing its sharp dorsal spine, it would have been missed.
As Li Haochen happily reached out to grab the large red whelk, two black beans emerged from the nearby mud, blinking at Li Haochen's outstretched hand.
Li Haochen froze and suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He quickly withdrew his hand.
"Whoosh... Whoosh..."
Two streaks of green and yellow flashed by.
"Good heavens, is this a Blue Crab King?"
Li Haochen broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of its large claws, as thick as a baby's arm. If it weren't underwater, he might have been chilled to the bone.
The large blue crab shook off the mud, revealing its ferocious face, raising its two large claws towards Li Haochen, showing no fear and appearing ready to attack at any moment.
Li Haochen was overjoyed at the sight of the basketball-sized blue crab, his mind racing to find a proper way to safely capture it.
It was a lie to say he wasn't afraid of such a large blue crab. If those large claws clamped down, his fingers would likely be broken. Fortunately, this fellow was single-minded. If something was placed in its claws and pulled hard, it would not let go, as if it had slept with its mother.
Li Haochen stared intently at the blue crab, opened his net bag, and emptied the red whelks inside. He drew out the long iron clip from his waist. The mouth of the net bag was large enough to fit the blue crab inside.
As soon as Li Haochen pulled out the iron clip, he sensed a killing intent. The large blue crab raised its huge claws, its black bean-sized eyes glaring fiercely at Li Haochen, adopting a stance of "If the enemy doesn't move, I don't move; if the enemy moves, I strike first," playing the Art of War to perfection.
Li Haochen held the iron clip towards the blue crab and waved it a few times provocatively. Li Haochen's actions further ignited the blue crab's ferocity. It raised its body on its eight legs, and its small mouth puffed out seawater from side to side.
Before the iron clip could reach it, one of the blue crab's large claws lunged forward and clamped tightly onto the iron clip. Li Haochen was pleased and tugged at the iron clip a few times, but the stubborn blue crab held on even tighter.
"Heh heh, with your IQ, you think you can compete with me?"
Li Haochen was gleefully preparing to put the blue crab into the net bag when, to his surprise, the blue crab performed a "dragon's tail" maneuver. Its other large claw swept out quickly and accurately clamped down a few millimeters from the handle, making Li Haochen jump and almost drop the blue crab.
"Damn, you scared me to death."
Li Haochen slowly moved the blue crab towards the mouth of the net bag, afraid it would suddenly realize what was happening and attack him. That would not be a laughing matter. When the entire body of the blue crab was inside the net bag, Li Haochen swiftly pulled the drawstring, breathing a sigh of relief.
The blue crab, having realized its predicament, regretted its actions. It struggled inside the net bag, its small mouth opening and closing angrily, spitting water as if cursing Li Haochen for lacking martial ethics.
"Heh heh, shout all you want, no one will hear you."
Li Haochen dared not hang the net bag at his waist. If it were to jab him there, his future happiness would likely be ruined, much like that young man who lost a testicle when trying to buy four jin of apples, and now had difficulty taking care of himself.
In the water, with the buoyancy, the large blue crab did not feel that heavy. However, as soon as he came ashore, its weight became apparent, about seven or eight jin. The blue crab, struggling inside the net bag, caused Li Haochen to stumble and nearly fall face-first into the mud.
"So it's a female?"
Seeing the fist-sized round abdomen on the underside of the blue crab, he grumbled, "Damn it, you still dare to show off? I'll catch a few males to keep you company 24 hours a day."
For a fisherman who lived by the sea, tying crabs was second nature. Li Haochen quickly bound the blue crab tightly. However, seeing the still struggling blue crab, he felt it wasn't secure enough and tied another knot before feeling somewhat relieved.
He emptied the scallops from the bucket, put the blue crab inside, and then covered the blue crab with scallops. Seeing that everything was in order, he put on his equipment and returned to the seabed to retrieve the pulse red whelks he had found earlier.
"Good thing I didn't go far, or I would have lost a fortune."
Seeing that the pile of red whelks had not moved far, Li Haochen breathed a sigh of relief. He reached out and rummaged through them, and more than ten large red whelks fell into the net bag.
"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"
Two streaks of green and yellow flashed again. This time, Li Haochen was not so lucky. He was scraped by the edge of a blue crab's claw, resulting in a long cut. The salinity of the seawater made the wound sting.
"Damn, there's another one?"
Seeing that this blue crab was also of considerable size, Li Haochen was pleasantly surprised. "Could this be a blue crab nest?"
Li Haochen used the same trick and soon guided this blue crab into the net bag.
Good luck seemed to be coming in waves. In the same spot, Li Haochen caught four male crabs, each weighing one to two jin.
"You really know how to enjoy yourself, keeping four boyfriends. It seems I'll have to let you continue making babies in my spatial storage, heh heh!"