Chapter 328: Cooperation |
Following Guo Xiaochun to the eastern lagoon.
The lagoon was essentially a body of water partially separated from the main ocean by barrier islands, sandbars, or coral reefs.
Based on their degree of enclosure, lagoons could be classified as closed, semi-closed, or open.
The lagoon before them was one separated by a sandbar.
During high tide, seawater would pour in. After the tide receded, the lagoon would be cut off from the ocean.
It was currently the most tranquil moment after low tide. The lake surface was as smooth as a piece of pale blue soft jade, the water clear and transparent, allowing a view straight to the bottom.
Qin Ziwen saw two fishing boats moored on the distant water, with fishermen casting nets at the stern.
Arriving at the lakeshore, beneath the pale blue seawater, the bottom was visible at a glance.
Under the water, schools of silver fish swam leisurely. Among the corals, small clownfish with bright yellow stripes darted in and out.
On the sandy seabed of the shallows, sea cucumbers could be seen everywhere, slowly moving about. Fist-sized cone snails crawled on the ground.
Looking further out, a vast underwater seagrass bed swayed with the water's movement. Scanning the area, he could see at least four or five large groupers patrolling within the seagrass bed.
Guo Xiaochun added from the side, "The deep parts here are about over ten meters deep, the shallow areas around two to three meters."
Qin Ziwen's expression was calm, but inside his chest, emotions surged like tides.
He had heard Guo Xiaochun say the resources here were relatively abundant. Although he had mentally prepared himself as much as possible, he was still astonished by the fertility of this place.
He now had only one thought: while there was still time, harvest as much as possible!
"Mmm, this place does need proper development. You all should also pay attention to safety during development," Qin Ziwen instructed.
Returning to the disembarkation point, several bonfires had been built on the sandy ground in front of the wooden cabin.
Many workers had stopped their work and were sitting around the bonfires, chatting and laughing.
Large iron barrels nearby contained the evening's food.
Since arriving here, the diet had been all seafood.
Wild seafood, considered a luxury in the modern metropolis of the past, was now everywhere here. Skewered on wooden sticks, they were placed over the fire to roast.
Even with just simple grilling, it was a fresh and tender delicacy.
"It's fresh alright, just a bit too nourishing. I feel restless and overheated all day long," one worker grinned, the firelight reflecting off his flushed cheeks.
"Hahaha, why don't you bring your wife over too."
"That won't do. The conditions here are still a bit tough. I'll bring some abalone back for her when I'm off duty tomorrow."
"Going back to eat abalone?"
The bonfires crackled as a group of men joked and shared risqué banter.
A male university student sat nearby, listening with a flushed face. He kept his head down, silently eating his fish while secretly pricking up his ears to listen.
"I remember Xiao Tong is still a virgin, right? Not dating anyone?" An older worker steered the topic towards the male university student.
Tong Bo coughed twice, nearly choking on a fishbone.
"Working on it, working on it."
"You said that last time too. How far have you gotten?"
Tong Bo's face felt hot, but his voice carried a smile, "We've held hands."
Amidst the boisterous laughter of the crowd, the ferry coming to pick them up arrived at the shore, riding the waves.
Qin Ziwen boarded the boat. Some of the people who had been chatting by the bonfire also came aboard.
Qin Ziwen found a seat towards the back and sat down. Sitting next to him was that male university student from earlier.
"G-Guild Leader." Sitting beside Qin Ziwen, Tong Bo seemed somewhat nervous.
Although their age difference wasn't large, for some reason, Tong Bo felt very tense.
"Did you volunteer to participate in the island development?" Qin Ziwen asked gently.
"Mhm, I heard the treatment was good."
"It's not bad." Qin Ziwen nodded. Jia Liangcai had given him a proposal earlier. Because island development had uncertainties and they might have to live on the island later under harsh conditions, the compensation wasn't low, and the daily quota for seafood and meat was high.
"How do you feel about the difficulty of developing the island? Is it dangerous?"
"It's alright. Aside from being tiring, there aren't any problems," Tong Bo shook his head.
When the boat docked, a girl with a round face, wearing an apron, stood by the simple pier, rubbing her hands and breathing out white puffs of air.
As soon as she saw Tong Bo, she happily came forward to meet him. The two naturally held hands and merged into the flow of people.
"Brother!" Qin Ziwu's large hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. "What are you looking at?"
"Oh, I was thinking, when will you bring a sister-in-law back?" Qin Ziwen moved his younger brother's hand off his shoulder with disdain.
Hearing this, Qin Ziwu glanced at his older brother suspiciously. "Brother, you weren't like this before! Could it be that you're the one feeling spring fever?"
"Get lost. How's your fish-man language learning going?"
"Not bad. Mogu says my learning progress is fast." Qin Ziwu sounded somewhat proud. It seemed he had quite a talent for learning, just hadn't applied himself in this area before.
"Mmm, learn the foreign language sooner. I'll have to give you more responsibilities later."
"Ah, please don't. I feel like my back is about to give out already."
"You're still young. You can handle it."
...
Early the next morning, Qin Ziwen brought Mogu with him and headed to the underwater fish-man tribe.
He had an idea, also born from yesterday's encounter with the hermit crab. This sea area had a rich variety of marine life. Previously, they had encountered a Superhuman giant clam on the seabed. There was no reason there wouldn't be other Superhuman creatures.
At the fish-man tribe, seeing Qin Ziwen leading Mogu, the Fish-man Chieftain asked, "Qin, are Luoen and the others being disobedient?"
Qin Ziwen got straight to the point. "They're living quite well now. I came this time to cooperate with your fish-man tribe to hunt Superhuman creatures. There should be quite a few on this seabed, right? I'm not talking about ones on the level of the Thousand-Eyed Death God. Even weaker ones, even those with just a tiny bit of Superhuman ability, will do."
The Fish-man Chieftain slowly nodded, deep in thought. "Qin, your Shedding Abyss has a need for these Superhuman creatures, right? When other Shedding Abysses descended before, sometimes they also needed our help to find Superhuman sea beasts."
"It's a personal need of mine." Qin Ziwen was concise. He was currently still short six slots.
"Let me think." The Fish-man Chieftain pondered for a moment. "I know the locations of a few sea beasts. I can take you there."
"Then I'll trouble you." Qin Ziwen said happily.
"Haha, we are friends. Between friends, there's no need for such formality." The Fish-man Chieftain said, then inquired, "So when do we set off? Is it now?"
Qin Ziwen glanced at Mogu. "We can go now."
With Mogu here, there shouldn't be a problem.
Ordinary Superhuman sea beasts probably wouldn't be a match for it either.
Even the Ten-Eyed Snake was suppressed like that. The only thing that could probably suppress it would be the Primordial Giant Snake, ranked in the fourth tier of the Hunting Ladder.
But the deep sea was so vast. What were the chances of just happening to encounter the Primordial Giant Snake?
The Fish-man Chieftain led them away from the tribe, swimming westward.
After about ten minutes, a raised undersea mountain range appeared ahead.