Chapter 356 - 353: Coral

Several more days of salvaging went by.

Everyone except Yun Jiao looked completely drained.

The combination of such intense work and living entirely on the boat was becoming unbearable.

Yun Linhe said, "We’ve only been out at sea for a short while and we’re already at our limit. I can’t imagine how the crews on those long-haul voyages manage."

Yun Linhai stuffed a Baozi into his mouth. "That’s why I’ve heard about so many incidents happening on those long-haul ships."

Yun Jiao looked at her dad curiously. ’How come I’ve never heard about this?’

Yun Linhai said, "This was before you were born. People at the docks were talking about a murder on a long-haul vessel. But don’t worry, it wasn’t one of our country’s ships."

Back then, our country had very few ships capable of long-haul voyages.

It’s only in the last two years that we’ve started seeing more of them, and even now, there aren’t that many.

After all, a ship for a long-haul voyage has to be huge. They aren’t something an ordinary person can afford.

Yun Jiao hummed in understanding, then stood up and stretched. "Dad, I saw a lot of jellyfish earlier. I’m gonna go catch some."

"Go on, go ahead."

Watching Yun Jiao, who was full of energy, Yun Linhai and the others couldn’t help but marvel. ’Jiaojiao was truly born for the sea.’

During this period, all the grown men on board had developed minor health issues, like colds or flare-ups of rheumatism.

But Yun Jiao was completely fine. In fact, she was more energetic than anyone.

Fortunately, Sun Yaotong had brought a doctor on board, so those minor ailments were quickly taken care of.

He paid well, so unless they absolutely couldn’t take it anymore, no one wanted to leave early.

As Yun Jiao jumped into the sea, someone sidled up to Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe.

"Yun Jiao is incredible. With a daughter like that, you guys won’t have to worry about her future."

At least when it comes to eating and earning money, she’ll be set.

With her skills, selling what she catches from the sea would be incredibly easy.

Hearing the envy in the man’s voice, Yun Linhai swelled with pride.

"You have no idea. My Jiaojiao loved the water even when she was just a baby. She learned to swim incredibly fast, and don’t even get me started on her diving..."

In short, he was showing off.

They didn’t, however, mention that Yun Jiao was adopted.

"ACHOO..."

Just then, having caught a jellyfish, Yun Jiao sneezed. ’Who’s thinking about me?’

’A cold is impossible,’ she thought. She could adapt to any temperature in the ocean.

"Here! Can’t you even look properly? That was a plastic bag you were eating just now! Are plastic bags edible?!"

She shoved the jellyfish in her hand toward the hawksbill sea turtle’s mouth, then started nagging it out of sheer frustration.

She finished with another sigh.

Sea turtles have poor eyesight, and a plastic bag floating in the water does look quite similar to a jellyfish.

’What a tragedy.’ Plastic bags make human life convenient, but when they end up in the ocean, the animals are the ones who suffer.

She crumpled up the plastic bag and stuffed it into her net bag.

Whenever she came across plastic products, fishing nets, or fishing lines now, she would always take them with her.

The ocean in this world didn’t need her to slay powerful and tyrannical Sea Demons to maintain its balance. It just needed someone to pick up trash.

’She’d rather be slaying Sea Demons.’

Indignantly, she popped a jellyfish into her own mouth and watched the two large sea turtles swim off to hunt.

Once she’d had her fill, she went to check on the Whale Shark and the Manta Ray.

The two of them were still living in the same area of the ocean and even cooperated when hunting.

The Manta Ray was getting bigger and bigger. It was a rare pink color, which Yun Jiao was quite fond of.

At Yun Jiao’s arrival, the Manta Ray acted as cheerful as a puppy, circling around her and occasionally rubbing against her body.

Aside from not being furry and looking nothing like a dog, its behavior was identical to one.

After playing with them for a while, Yun Jiao said her goodbyes. "Alright, you two go play on your own. I have to head back now."

During her time at sea, Yun Jiao had much more time to play with them. She even frequently ran into another pod of killer whales.

The two killer whale pods were practically neighbors now, and both of them loved to seek out Yun Jiao to play.

And sure enough, she ran into one of the pods on her way back.

The young killer whale she had rescued was especially fond of her. Spotting her from a distance, it swam over at top speed.

"Eeeeeeee~~~"

The little one circled her happily, constantly nudging her hand with its head to show affection.

Yun Jiao stroked its head.

"What’s up?"

"Eeeeeeee~~~"

"Follow, follow..."

The other killer whales were also calling insistently for Yun Jiao to follow them.

Curious, Yun Jiao swam after them.

The killer whale pod automatically formed a protective circle around her, leading her onward for quite some time.

Yun Jiao began to wonder if they were going a bit too far. ’How long will it take me to get back?’

The killer whales let out a cheer. Yun Jiao looked over, and the first thing she saw was an enormous, tree-like formation of red coral.

Yun Jiao’s eyes widened in amazement.

There was plenty of coral in the sea, and she had seen it before, but it was all relatively small. Most pieces were only finger-length, and their colors were never this beautiful.

This particular coral was on the deep seabed. It was massive, nearly four meters tall, with branches that spread out like a tree’s.

Most importantly, its color was a stunning, blood-like red, making it stand out spectacularly among the other corals.

Coral came in many colors, but red was the rarest.

Especially a red this vibrant and blood-like.

Yun Jiao couldn’t resist swimming closer, circling the blood-red coral several times.

’It’s beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous.’

’Coral is a type of gemstone, too. How much would this be worth if I took it?’

However, Yun Jiao had no intention of harvesting this magnificent red coral.

’It looks so beautiful here. I’ll just have to come back and visit it more often.’

But...

Her eyes darted around, and soon, among a small cluster of coral at the base of the large one, she found a broken-off piece of red coral.

This piece alone was as long as her forearm and shaped much like a deer’s antler.

’Beautiful.’

Yun Jiao’s eyes curved into happy crescents as she held the piece, examining it over and over. ’I’m taking this back with me. Definitely taking it back.’

Yun Jiao also gathered a few other corals of different colors that she found pretty in shape and shade.

The young killer whale nudged her again.

Yun Jiao asked, "What is it?"

"Eeee~"

’I’m supposed to keep following? So they didn’t just bring me here for the coral.’

Yun Jiao looked back at the giant red coral, clicking her tongue in admiration.

’It’s a shame my camera isn’t waterproof. Otherwise, I would’ve definitely brought it to take some pictures to show Dad and the others.’

She followed the killer whales for a while longer. The seabed here was truly stunning.

It was like a fantastical, colorful world.

While there were coral clusters closer to shore, they were all tiny, and most were a drab, dusty gray. It was mostly just reefs back there.

This place was truly like a fairy-tale world; every inch was dazzlingly beautiful.

Lots of colorful fish swam around her, and Yun Jiao even spotted a huge swarm of shrimp.

They were white shrimp, a small species with translucent bodies.

A huge swarm swam past her. Yun Jiao snatched a few and popped them directly into her mouth. CRUNCH. They were crisp and delicious.

It was a shame she hadn’t brought a proper net; the mesh of her bag was too wide to hold these tiny shrimp.

So she could only watch helplessly as they swam away.

"You brought me all the way here for this?"

Yun Jiao stared in surprise at the sea cucumbers not far away.

That’s right. It was sea cucumbers. A lot of them.

They came in all sizes, but they were all genuine, wild sea cucumbers.

’This stuff isn’t cheap.’