Chapter 292 - 192: He Who Has Seen the Ocean

Chapter 292: Chapter 192: He Who Has Seen the Ocean

Gu Nan had worked out a detailed plan for this trip before they even set out to sea.

Seeing that Yi Chen had no intention of resting just yet, he outwardly agreed. "Alright, I’ll head back first, then."

"Oh, are you hungry? Should I make you a late-night snack first?" Yi Chen nodded, then remembered the huge fish he’d just caught. ’He must have used a lot of energy,’ she thought, so she asked again.

To be honest, Gu Nan was a little hungry, but first things first. It wouldn’t be too late to make a snack after they were... finished.

"I’m not hungry. I’m going to sleep. It’s been a busy few days, and I’m wiped!"

"Okay, you go get some sleep then."

Gu Nan returned to the cabin, went straight to Yi Chen’s bedroom, took her key, and locked the door from the outside.

’When she can’t get the door open, she’ll have to come find me. Once the little lamb is in the wolf’s den, how could I possibly let her get away?’

Of course, the yacht had more than one bedroom. To prevent Yi Chen from catching on after finding her door locked and sneaking off to sleep in another room, Gu Nan simply locked all the other rooms, leaving only his own accessible.

Back in his room, he took a quick shower. His clothes were soaked with sweat and sticking uncomfortably to his skin.

After his shower, Gu Nan drank some water and lay down on the bed, conserving his energy for what was to come.

Time slipped by. Although Yi Chen was having a blast, she didn’t fish too late.

At half past eleven, she reeled in her line, turned off the deck lights, and headed into the cabin.

Fishing with the electric reel wasn’t tiring, so she hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Besides, the nights out on the open sea were quite cool, and she had even put on a thin, long-sleeved jacket.

But after handling fish, she inevitably smelled a bit fishy.

Yi Chen headed straight for her bedroom. Gu Nan was sleeping in the master suite, so she was in a guest room.

Since they had rented a luxury yacht, even the guest room had a decent-sized private bathroom. It just didn’t have a bathtub like the master suite, so she couldn’t take a proper bath.

But when she got there, she found that her bedroom door wouldn’t open.

Yi Chen panicked for a moment. ’Why is it locked from the outside?’

Unsure if the key was inside, she hurried toward Gu Nan’s master suite.

But halfway there, something suddenly dawned on her.

’She had left her door open after tidying up earlier. It wouldn’t be strange for it to be closed, but for it to be locked from the outside... that was strange.’

A couple of days ago, when Gu Nan had suggested this trip out to sea with just the two of them, Yi Chen had wondered if the scoundrel would take the opportunity to try something.

Knowing her boyfriend, she was sure he wouldn’t let an opportunity like this slip by. The locked door was all the proof she needed.

Yi Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry. She might have gone along with things with a little token resistance, but resorting to tricks like this... ’How childish can he be?’

But since Gu Nan wanted to play games, she decided she wouldn’t let him have his way so easily.

The beds in the other rooms might not be made, but they had blankets and pillows. She headed for another guest room, only to find that all three were locked from the outside.

"..." Yi Chen was speechless. If she didn’t need a shower, it might have been fine, but as it was, she had no other choice.

When she entered the master suite, she found Gu Nan lying on the bed, playing on his phone. A thin blanket covered only his lower half, leaving his bare torso exposed. His prominent pecs and abs were so eye-catching that her face flushed red.

She was still a young woman, after all. Even though she’d touched them a few times, seeing them still made her blush.

"Well, well, done fishing for the night?" Seeing her enter, Gu Nan could tell from her expression that she knew exactly what he was up to, so he couldn’t resist teasing her.

Yi Chen held out her hand irritably. "Why did you lock my room? Where’s the key?"

Gu Nan just chuckled. ’She’s already here. No way I’m letting her run away now.’

He got out of bed and walked toward her.

Yi Chen’s heart hammered in her chest. This man was so shameless, walking right over to her in his current state. She didn’t know where to look, but she couldn’t help but want to peek.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think?"

Gu Nan chuckled wickedly, sweeping her up into his arms and heading for the bed.

Yi Chen immediately started to struggle. "I haven’t showered yet!"

"Oh?" Gu Nan’s eyes lit up. ’That sentence... so my dear girlfriend is ready after all!’

He immediately changed direction and headed for the bathroom.

Two hours later...

Gotta say, the recovery speed from the game’s reward was seriously impressive.

It wasn’t Gu Nan’s first time, but this experience was on a whole other level.

Yi Chen was snuggled lazily in his arms. After a moment, she seemed to feel something. Her body went rigid, and she panicked. ’Again?’

’Am I going to be able to get out of bed tomorrow?’

"I... I want to sleep!" Yi Chen quickly pulled her hand back, her voice on the verge of tears.

’A few more rounds of this, and she could forget about getting out of bed to fish tomorrow.’

Gu Nan felt a little awkward himself. At twenty-five, he was in his physical prime. Plus, it had been a long time since he’d had a ’taste of meat,’ so he was ravenous and wanted more.

But they had plenty of time in the future; there was no need to rush it all tonight.

"Are you hungry? I’ll go make us something to eat," Gu Nan offered, glancing down at Yi Chen’s rosy lips. ’Probably best if we don’t stay stuck together,’ he thought. ’We should cool down a bit.’

"Okay..." Yi Chen rubbed her stomach. After more than two hours of... strenuous physical activity, with only a ten-minute break in the middle, she was indeed hungry.

Gu Nan was hungry too. He got out of bed, his physique, which had been slowly enhanced by the game, on full display.

Yi Chen shyly pulled the blanket up, but only high enough to cover the lower half of her face, her large, alluring eyes still fixed on him.

Gu Nan raised an eyebrow at her, got dressed under her bashful gaze, and headed out to the kitchen.

’What should I make for a late-night snack?’

Gu Nan checked their supplies. The vegetables seemed like too much trouble for a late-night snack, but he did have a couple of pounds of handmade noodles he’d bought specifically for the trip.

’Noodles it is,’ he decided. Besides, they had caught plenty of deep-sea fish that evening, and he had also bought some prawns. Plus, the crab and shrimp pots were still soaking in the water.

Gu Nan went out onto the deck and grabbed a two-pound long-tailed sea bream. Its meat was tender and would be a perfect substitute for yellow croaker in seafood noodles.

He scooped out about a dozen prawns, then had a thought. He decided to check the crab pot to see what it had caught; maybe he could add another special ingredient.

A buoy for the crab pot was floating near the bow.

Gu Nan grabbed a gaff and had to lean halfway over the side to hook it.

He hauled the buoy aboard, dragged the line to the aft deck, wrapped it a couple of times around the crane’s pulley, and switched it on to reel in the pot.

A winch would have been much better for this, but the rented yacht wasn’t equipped with one.

He couldn’t find one no matter where he looked. It was normal for a fishing yacht to have a crane, but winches were typically used on commercial fishing boats for hauling nets.

Gu Nan’s new boat, on the other hand, had a winch installed on the port side, which was not only useful for hauling in large fish but also perfect for pulling up deep-sea crab pots.

But he still had to wait another two months. He should be able to take delivery of the boat after his engagement.

The crane whirred to life, slowly reeling in the rope.

The crab pot had been soaking for quite a while. With any luck, there should be something inside.

The pot came up slowly. After waiting for a while, Gu Nan finally saw it break the surface.

He leaned over for a look and saw flashes of orange-red inside. His eyes lit up. ’Not bad, not bad at all. I actually caught something. I just wonder if it’s valuable.’

The crane continued to lift the pot out of the water. Whatever was inside seemed to feel the change and began to thrash about wildly.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was incredibly lively. It definitely wasn’t a crab.

The pot was hoisted into the air. Gu Nan went over to get a better look and froze.

If he wasn’t mistaken, there were several enormous mantis shrimp inside, nearly as big as the large Spotted Prawn Shrimp he’d caught while foraging in the game’s map. They were easily as long as his forearm.

’There are mantis shrimp in the deep sea?’

That was something Gu Nan genuinely didn’t know.

Filled with curiosity, he maneuvered the pot over the deck, lowered it with the crane, and opened the hatch.

They were indeed mantis shrimp, but a species Gu Nan had never seen before, with bright orange-red shells.

He counted seven of them in total, all roughly the same size. Even the smallest one was probably as long as Yi Chen’s forearm. They looked absolutely delicious.

But it was best not to eat unfamiliar seafood. It would be one thing if it just tasted bad, but he was more worried it might be poisonous.

Gu Nan didn’t dare to be careless. Fortunately, he had his identification function.

[Rough-Spined Deep-Sea Mantis Shrimp. A species of deep-sea mantis shrimp with a maximum body length of thirty-five centimeters.]

’Thirty-five centimeters... that’s a little shorter than a Spotted Prawn Shrimp!’

Gu Nan picked one up to feel its weight. The shrimp was hefty. It wasn’t as long and slender as a Spotted Prawn Shrimp; it was noticeably wider.

’Maybe this Rough-Spined Deep-Sea Mantis Shrimp is the heavyweight champion of the mantis shrimp world,’ Gu Nan thought as he continued reading the description.

[The Rough-Spined Deep-Sea Mantis Shrimp has a sparse distribution in the domestic East Sea and South Sea. Due to its rarity and exquisite flavor, it commands an extremely high price on the market.]

[Suggested price for a single, live, thirty-centimeter specimen: 2,000 yuan. Suggested price for a single, frozen specimen: 1,000 yuan. Flavor Rating: Seven Stars.]

"Hiss... Two thousand yuan for a single one?"

Gu Nan glanced at the pot. There were seven Rough-Spined Deep-Sea Mantis Shrimp inside, all about the same size. ’That’s fourteen thousand yuan right there?’

But he was starving at the moment, and the sight of the mantis shrimp made his mouth water. The craving was unbearable.

Gu Nan couldn’t be bothered to overthink it. He took out two for their late-night snack and placed the rest in a perforated plastic crate, which he then lowered into the livewell.

If he just tossed them in directly, he was afraid the big fish in there would destroy all five of them. That was ten thousand yuan’s worth of shrimp!

Even if they didn’t survive, the five of them would still sell for five thousand yuan chilled.