Chapter 306 - 202: How Could I Possibly Be Empty-Handed?

Chapter 306: Chapter 202: How Could I Possibly Be Empty-Handed?

Forget seafood, he couldn’t even see his own feet.

’With this kind of visibility, how the hell did you find an octopus??’

Refusing to give up, he continued searching the area for a while. Although he still couldn’t see the seafloor, he did come across a sea turtle that had been washed ashore by the waves.

’This poor bastard...’

He reached out and grabbed its shell, only to discover the sea turtle was about the size of a durian husk. It had vigilantly withdrawn its entire body into its shell.

He showed it to the camera.

"Sea turtles are usually a protected species. Even back in Great Xia, they’re rarely used as a food source. The shells, on the other hand, can be used in medicine. I’m not sure if the sea turtles here in Panama are edible, so to be safe, I’ll just release it."

In the spirit of our ancestors’ wisdom, he raised his arm and forcefully threw the turtle shell far into the distance.

"Off you go!"

The oval-shaped shell spun through the air, flying a great distance before hitting the sea with a PLOP, sending up a spray of water.

"What was that?"

Hearing the sound, Erica looked over in confusion.

"An unlucky sea turtle."

’Can’t eat it, but I guess it’s still a catch of sorts.’

Lin Chen turned around, gesturing with his hands. "It was about this big. I just counted the concentric rings on its shell—it was about twelve years old."

Twelve years is nothing for a sea turtle. For a species with an average lifespan of fifty to one hundred years, its life was only a quarter over. It was still a young turtle.

Lin Chen had wanted to show off his good luck. After all, sea turtles usually float in the vast open ocean and rarely come ashore except to lay eggs during the breeding season.

Encountering one on the beach was indeed a rare event.

However, just as he turned around, he saw Erica holding a shimmering silver beltfish in her hands.

The smile on his face froze.

"????"

’Wait, beltfish are a deep-sea species. Where the hell did you find one?’

The unique physiology of beltfish means they are adapted to the high-pressure environment of the deep sea. If they are brought to the surface too quickly by an external force, they are unable to regulate the pressure difference inside their bodies in time, causing their internal organs to expand and explode, killing them instantly.

"This fish looks so weird. It was just floating on the surface, not moving at all. Is it dead? Can we eat it?"

Erica stared at him with her big, pure, and innocent eyes. There was no trace of showing off in her gaze, only pure curiosity.

"...It’s edible," Lin Chen nodded silently. "Not only is it edible, but it’s also delicious and nutritious. It’s very popular in Asia and is a highly valued edible sea fish."

After finishing his little science lesson, he walked over to Erica’s side, his gaze sweeping across the nearby sea surface. But he didn’t see any other silver figures.

"Just this one?"

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"Of course there’s a problem. Beltfish are schooling fish, with schools ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands. They live tens, even hundreds of meters deep on the ocean floor. The only way it could have appeared on the shore is if the waterspout flung it here."

"If one appeared, it means the entire school was caught by the waterspout. There should be a lot more of them around here."

"Oh, is that so? Well, let’s go look then."

As soon as she heard it was tasty, Erica’s spirits lifted, and she began searching the surrounding area.

Lin Chen, still refusing to believe it, followed beside her.

’This was a whole school of beltfish. Even if they were scattered by the waterspout, they should be spread out over a specific area. There’s no way there’s only one.’

He followed next to Erica, and the two of them searched for a full ten minutes, but they couldn’t find a single other beltfish.

Forget beltfish, they didn’t see any other fish at all.

"How strange. This is just spooky."

Lin Chen frowned, looking toward the deep-water area not far away.

’Could it be that the waterspout sucked up seawater along with them, giving the beltfish time to adapt? Maybe they were still alive when they landed and swam right back out?’

Although he knew the basics about seafood, he was completely ignorant about special situations like this and their consequences. He could only make bold guesses like this one.

’The water pressure in the shallows isn’t much different from on land. These beltfish probably died before they could swim very far. Maybe I’ll find something near the border between the shallow and deep water.’

With that in mind, he turned and headed for deeper water.

The water, which had been at his knees, gradually rose to his thighs, then submerged the entire lower half of his body.

He didn’t dare go any further. The force of the waves was already very strong at this spot. If he went on, he would likely be swept away by the surging tide.

With his current half-assed swimming skills, the doggy paddle was about all he had mastered. He probably wouldn’t make it back.

Besides that, the border between shallow and deep water often has a sudden, cliff-like drop-off. It’s very difficult to spot from the surface; you’d need a drone filming from above to see the clear difference in the water’s color.

If he kept walking and took a wrong step into the abyss, being swept away by the waves would only be a matter of time.

In the beam of his Hat Lamp, the seawater was still murky.

Although it was much clearer than in the shallows, the water was now deep enough that he still couldn’t see the bottom.

"Lin!!"

Just then, a joyful cry came from Erica’s direction.

Lin Chen’s expression froze. He turned his head stiffly and, sure enough, saw Erica holding another silver beltfish. It shimmered with an iridescent sheen under the beam of light.

’This makes no sense!!!’

He screamed internally.

’My luck is so good, how could I come up empty?!’

’I’ve never even touched a fishing rod in my life, so how could I get skunked!!!’

The two of them wandered along the shore for over half an hour. The downpour had weakened to a drizzle, but it still hadn’t stopped.

Most of the dark clouds in the sky had dispersed, and in some places where the cloud cover was thinner, you could even see the bright sun hidden behind it.

By the time they returned to the shore, their faces were a bit blue—a sign of hypothermia.

"Lin, can you carry this for me? It’s too heavy. If I carry it any longer, I feel like my shoulders will be rubbed raw."

Erica took off the heavy bamboo basket, which landed on the reef with a heavy THUD.

Lin Chen peered over to take a look.

Four shimmering silver beltfish, two groupers, one red snapper, two palm-sized blue crabs, a sea cucumber, and a thick moray eel.

He looked up blankly. "Are you here to stock a warehouse? You even caught a moray eel?"

Moray eels also like to live near reefs and coral, and they’re known for their agility and ferocious attacks. Even with professional fishing tongs, they aren’t easy to catch.

’Erica caught one with just a wooden spear?’

’That’s complete bullshit!’

"Strictly speaking, I didn’t catch it. I clubbed it."

Erica held up her now-broken wooden spear and stuck her tongue out a little, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I saw a dark shadow in a crack in the reef just now. I was going to stab it, but it was too fast and ZIPPED away. In my panic, I rushed over and gave it a few good WHACKS, and it just rolled over belly-up."

"...You’re something else."

Lin Chen silently gave her a thumbs-up, truly at a loss for words to describe the complex feelings swirling inside him.

Compared to Erica’s bountiful, triumphant haul, his own bamboo basket seemed exceptionally pathetic.

Other than two finger-length sardines, he had caught nothing else.

He had hoped to gather some kelp, but after a long search, he came up empty. He also recalled not seeing any on the seafloor when he was fishing a few days prior. The only kelp he’d ever seen here was that single piece he’d found before.

Out of curiosity, he spent a long time searching through his information on marine fish and discovered that kelp was not on the diet list for fish in the waters near Panama.

He couldn’t help but make a bold guess: could it be that kelp doesn’t grow in tropical waters?

If that were true, it would mean the piece of kelp he’d found before had drifted from who knows how far away.

No wonder his stomach had been RUMBLING nonstop for those two days. He had thought he’d caught a cold or something, but it turned out the kelp was the problem all along!