"Yo, you're back. How was it today?" Seeing Jiang Hai walk into the hotel with Bell Lester and Harriman Fells, Old Toby couldn't help but smile and speak up. After getting along yesterday, Jiang Hai had gotten on quite well with the old man.
"It was alright, haha." Thinking of his harvest today, Jiang Hai couldn't help but chuckle.
"It's good that the harvest was nice, but let me give you a piece of advice: you'd better take it easy. If you attract the Coast Guard or people from the Fisheries Department, you'll be in trouble." Hearing Jiang Hai's words, Toby couldn't help but whisper to him.
"Huh? What does this have to do with the Fisheries Department and the Coast Guard?" Hearing his words, Jiang Hai looked at him with some confusion.
"Uh, aren't you catching sharks and bluefin tuna?" Hearing Jiang Hai's confused words and seeing his gaze that didn't seem fake, Toby couldn't help but be stunned, then looked at him with some confusion and said.
"Who said that? Isn't that just nonsense?" Hearing his words, Jiang Hai exchanged a look with Bell and Harriman behind him.
"Hmm? Weren't you asking where you could see Great White Sharks? And this is a production area for tuna; you aren't going to tell me you're just here to hang out, right!" Hearing Jiang Hai's confused words, Toby smiled. He felt like he had almost been fooled by Jiang Hai. The fact that this guy was asking around for Great White Sharks in the bar yesterday was known to almost everyone in the small town; it wasn't a secret. Asking about Great White Sharks—he couldn't just be here to play; he definitely had an agenda.
They were right; Jiang Hai did indeed have an agenda, but unfortunately, they didn't know what Jiang Hai was plotting.
"Isn't this framing us? I'm really just bored. I live around here, but I've never seen a Great White Shark, so I specifically brought people out to see them, to see how big they get, that's all. I caught three Great White Sharks today, but I let them go after taking a look. The cameras on my boat can prove it." Shaking his head helplessly, Jiang Hai shrugged and said to Toby, speechless. Hearing Jiang Hai's words, Toby was also a bit confused. His sixth sense told him that what Jiang Hai said might be true.
After all, he knew about Jiang Hai's boat. If he were just someone stealing shark fins and tuna, he shouldn't be able to afford a boat like that.
"Fine, fine. What do you want to eat tonight?" Waving his hand, the truth was that this matter had nothing to do with him, so he just smiled indifferently and asked Jiang Hai. Jiang Hai then looked at Bell and Harriman.
"I want to eat beef!" Seeing Jiang Hai's gaze, Bell Lester was the first to speak up.
"I want to eat Cod." Hearing Bell speak, Harriman Fells also smiled and said in a muffled voice.
As mentioned earlier, Harriman Fells didn't have it too easy when he was young and often had to beg for food at other people's houses in the small town. Compared to beef, frozen Cod was cheap and tasty, so he preferred fish over beef.
"I want to eat shrimp. Tell Old George to handle it!" After thinking for a moment, Jiang Hai said to Old Toby. Hearing that Jiang Hai and his group had finished ordering, Old Toby walked to the kitchen and told Old George about their request. Then, the kitchen started getting busy again. Before long, plates of dishes were brought out, and Jiang Hai and his group had a good meal.
After dinner, the three of them went back to sleep. They didn't need to deliver food to Edward Anderson and the others tonight.
Because they had already eaten on the boat. Compared to Bell Lester and Harriman Fells, Edward Anderson was a good hand at cooking. After all, he had lived alone for so long, and he used to go out to sea often.
So it was inevitable that he had a good skill set. By the time Jiang Hai and the others got off the boat, he had already finished cooking.
The salmon was made into sashimi and pan-fried. With Edward Anderson there, Jiang Hai didn't have to worry about them going hungry.
Early the next morning, after Jiang Hai and the others finished breakfast, they went out to sea again. This time, they drove to the southernmost tip of Jiang Hai's fishery again, because Great White Sharks weren't stupid. Although the overflowing spiritual energy in the fishery made them drool, they preferred to live in warmer waters. Don't look at Massachusetts and New York State as neighbors; New York is indeed warmer than Massachusetts, so these Great White Sharks usually hang out in this sea area. At least Edward Anderson was very clear about this. The boat arrived here at noon. After Jiang Hai and the others had a simple meal of fresh fish noodle soup, they started working. Fishermen on the ocean really like eating this kind of noodle soup. One, it's easy; two, the taste is not bad. Although it's a chaotic stew, the body feels very warm after eating it, plus it replenishes enough water. The seafood is caught on the spot, so as long as the ingredients are sufficient, the taste naturally won't be bad. And most importantly, you can put a lot of vegetables in it.
On ocean voyages, the scariest disease is scurvy, which is caused by eating too little fruit and vegetables.
And eating vegetables alone requires stir-frying a plate, and most importantly, few people like to eat them. Americans are carnivores. In such a situation, stewing them in a pot is a good choice. Jiang Hai also suffered in the past, so he is a super loser; he likes to eat the best beef, but he also likes to eat this.
"Boss, let's start!" Seeing the boat arrive at the location, Edward Anderson said to Jiang Hai.
"Drive a bit further, let's do it after we get to our territory." After thinking about it, Jiang Hai said to Edward Anderson. Hearing Jiang Hai's words, Edward Anderson looked at Jiang Hai with some confusion. He couldn't quite understand why Jiang Hai wanted to go into his sea area to do it, but it didn't matter; it wasn't that far away, so he quickly turned the steering wheel and entered Jiang Hai's sea area. As soon as they entered, the radio over there rang.
"Please pay attention, please pay attention, you are now entering private waters, please state your identity, otherwise we will carry out expulsion." Hearing the voice on the radio, Edward Anderson couldn't help but smile and picked up the radio.
"Tommy, you bastard, look clearly, this is the boss's boat, it's us!" Pressing the button, Edward Anderson shouted loudly. Hearing Edward Anderson's words, Tommy Charles also awkwardly drew out his tone.
"Alright, I'll say I wasn't fully awake just now. I don't know if the boss will believe me." Hearing Tommy Charles's words, the people on the boat all laughed. After chatting for a few sentences, everyone started the activity of fishing for sharks.
Because of yesterday's success, they didn't have anything to struggle with this year. They put down fresh beef offal and waited for the sharks to come up. Soon, a Great White Shark nearly five meters long took the bait. Compared to the ones around four meters caught yesterday, this guy was much harder to deal with. This guy kept circling around Jiang Hai's boat, trying to pull off the fishhook, jumping up and down, flipping back and forth. This fish struggled for nearly an hour before it settled down, then it was pulled to the side of the boat. Jiang Hai touched it and threw it back into the sea. The Great White Shark that entered the water rested for about five minutes underwater before plunging into Jiang Hai's fishery. However, if it had been before yesterday, once it entered the fishery, it would have eaten to its heart's content.
But this time, it lived in peace with most of the fish, unless that fish happened to block its path, then it would eat it; otherwise, it wouldn't take the initiative to hunt. And from afar, Big Fool and his wife and the Dolphin patrol team were also moving forward.
But similarly, when these naval forces saw this guy, they didn't pay attention to it and let it enter the hinterland.
After entering the hinterland, this big guy met up with the Great White Sharks from three days ago. After these four sharks met up, they started patrolling in the opposite direction of Big Fool and the others. If they met fish, they would eat them; if not, they would continue to swim. If there were some large fish outside the range of the fishery, they would rush over to tear at them, and then drive most of the fish into the range of Jiang Hai's fishery. A small part naturally went into their stomachs. These were all taught by Big Fool.
When this shark started patrolling, on Jiang Hai's side, after half an hour of waiting, the next shark took the bait. But unfortunately, it was a Tiger Shark. Jiang Hai thought for a moment, and after pulling it over, he prepared to let this shark go. However, before letting it go, the fishhook had to be removed, otherwise this shark would get infected.
But just as Jiang Hai and the others had tired the shark out and flipped it over, three boats rushed over quickly.
"This is the Coast Guard, the boat in front, please stop all actions and accept investigation." Before they even arrived, the loudspeaker and radio rang together. Looking at the three boats rushing over, Edward Anderson glanced at Jiang Hai, then quietly gave Jiang Hai a thumbs up. He was also wondering, how did Jiang Hai know that these guys would come?
And looking at these guys, Jiang Hai also smiled. It looked like his guess was indeed correct!
Just as Jiang Hai and the others put down their work, these three boats also approached. Among them, there were two boats that Jiang Hai recognized. One was the Coast Guard, and Jiang Hai often dealt with them, and the relationship was not bad.
One boat was from the Fisheries Department, which was specifically for managing those individual anglers. And the people who came down from another boat were just ordinary people, wearing ordinary clothes, with a black mark on the right side of their chest. (To be continued.)
After these people disembarked, they immediately boarded Jiang Hai's yacht, taking photos as they walked towards him. Seeing them taking pictures of him and his group, who were stroking the sharks, Jiang Hai became annoyed and frowned.
As he frowned, Connorsen Peters, who was behind him, immediately stood up. The person taking photos was still pressing the shutter when Connorsen Peters snatched the camera from him.
"You, you, what are you doing? We have permission to film and the right to know. Are you allowed to do it, but we're not allowed to expose it?" The person shouted loudly as his camera was snatched, but Connorsen Peters ignored him. Even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to pounce. Instead, he handed the camera directly to Jiang Hai.
"You have permission to film? I don't recall giving you such a privilege." Jiang Hai took the DSLR camera, removed the memory card, and then, in front of them, snapped it into several pieces before throwing it into the sea.
"You, you! Aren't you going to do anything about this?" Seeing Jiang Hai throw his work into the sea like that, the man's face turned green. He knew that the memory card contained not only the photos he had just taken but also many other things... These people were from the World Animal Protection Association, as indicated by the English word 'Animal' on the black badge on their chests.
However, the World Animal Protection Association is not a very official organization. Although its head is official, most of its members are people who originally had other jobs, either to pick up girls, or because they genuinely liked animals, or for some other reason. They joined here. Like this guy, he used to be a photographer, and his main job was to photograph young models and such. That memory card contained many of his masterpieces. Now that it was gone, he was finished.
But looking at Jiang Hai's build, and Connorsen Peters' build, he didn't dare to cause trouble. He could only look at the Coast Guard, shouting at them loudly. However, the Coast Guard looked at Jiang Hai and his group with some embarrassment... "Mr. Jiang, is this your boat?" Hearing the man direct his gaze at them, the people here couldn't just stand there. After a moment of hesitation, the captain of the squad came over and said to Jiang Hai with a smile.
"Yes, it's mine. I believe I registered it!" Hearing the captain's words, Jiang Hai also said with a smile.
Jiang Hai was deeply influenced by his home country. Although in America, the wealthy are kings, Jiang Hai was still accustomed to maintaining good relationships with officials, especially those in law enforcement. So, he had, if not directly 'managed', at least donated a considerable amount of money to the Winthrop Police Department, the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Coast Guard.
Among them, Jiang Hai donated a total of 12 million US dollars to the Winthrop Police Department over three years. It could be said that from the Winthrop police's daily expenses to their weapons and ammunition, every single item had Jiang Hai's money and taxes in it.
Therefore, the Winthrop police were almost like Jiang Hai's personal guards.
In Boston, Jiang Hai donated 3 million, and in Massachusetts, he donated 8 million. These were small sums for Jiang Hai, but they made these police officers look at him with 1.2 million points of respect. In Massachusetts, within the police agencies alone, a fart from Jiang Hai might be more effective than the governor's word. This is American politics.
The same was true for the Coast Guard. To ensure the safety of his coastal area, Jiang Hai donated 6 million US dollars to the Coast Guard over three years, including ten helicopters and five speedboats. Their boat just now seemed to have been donated by Jiang Hai.
It's said that those who eat from others' hands speak softly, and those who take from others' hands are weak. Moreover, Jiang Hai was truly their benefactor. When they saw Jiang Hai, they had no choice but to force a smile. Now, hearing Jiang Hai's question, they could only offer fawning smiles and had no other recourse. Seeing their demeanor, the other two groups knew that these guys were unreliable.
"Stop the nonsense, who allowed you to fish here? And you dare to fish for sharks? Someone reported you for illegal fishing, for shark fins. Show me your fishing licenses, and also, you guys go inside and search! If you find shark fins, impound this boat!" Seeing that the Coast Guard was somewhat unreliable, the environmental protection agency people looked at the fisheries law enforcement. It turned out that the fisheries law enforcement people were indeed effective. Seeing the Coast Guard not stepping up, one of the fisheries law enforcement officers stepped forward and said arrogantly.
"Search the boat? I'd like to see who dares." Just as the person finished speaking, many people were ready to search the boat, but Harriman Fells and Connorsen Peters were not to be trifled with. They instantly stood up, blocking the way of these people.
These few people looked at the two iron towers in front of them, unconsciously swallowed, and then looked at the Coast Guard. The fisheries law enforcement officers were also armed, but with the Coast Guard present, they dared not draw their weapons.
"Alright, let them search. It's as if we're really after shark fins. Let them search. Edward, go get our fishing license..." Seeing the tense situation, Jiang Hai smiled, told the two men to continue holding down the shark, and then walked in front of these people, signaling Edward Anderson to retrieve the fishing license.
"Hmph, at least you know our power. Search it for me." Seeing Jiang Hai yield, the man also shouted loudly.
"Search away, it's fine, you can even smash this boat, but I need to make one thing clear first. Do you see those buoys over there?" Hearing his words, Jiang Hai also said with a chuckle, then pointed to the distant buoys and spoke to the people in front of him.
Looking at the buoys Jiang Hai pointed to, these people also looked over, and the leader of the fisheries law enforcement officer's heart skipped a beat.
"You see them, right? Let me tell you, what those buoys enclose is my fishing ground. In other words, the area you are currently in is within the scope of my fishing ground. According to American law, this part of the ocean is mine!" Jiang Hai continued to say with a smile to the people in front of him. Hearing Jiang Hai say this, the man felt his heart inexplicably pound twice.
America does indeed emphasize that fishing requires a fishing license, but there are exceptions. That is, if a river or a sea belongs to someone, it is their property, and they can do whatever they want with it.
This is like someone buying a house in China and then making dumplings in their own home, only for government officials to show up and ask, "Why are you making dumplings? It's not New Year's yet! Who told you to make dumplings to eat?" Isn't that baffling?
Forget about fishing here, even if Jiang Hai fished all the fish out of here, it would have nothing to do with them, because it's Jiang Hai's.
"I am a very reasonable person. You have now trespassed into my fishing ground without a search warrant. Losing your jobs, becoming unemployed, is 100% certain. I will definitely sue you until you are unemployed. Now, it depends on whether you can find the shark fins you mentioned. If you find them, you will only be unemployed, because this sea is mine. If you don't find them, then you are slandering me. Without saying anything else, you will definitely have to spend some time in prison." Jiang Hai continued to say with a smile, looking at the fisheries law enforcement officer whose face had already turned quite ugly. Hearing Jiang Hai's words, the man's legs went weak. He knew, he was finished!
He looked for help at the two groups behind him. The Coast Guard, of course, pretended not to see them. Now, even if Jiang Hai asked them to testify, they would testify for Jiang Hai. What did these fisheries law enforcement officers have to do with them? As for the people from the animal protection association, many of them took a step back. At this moment, these people were all cursing inwardly. What the hell? What the hell is this? How did this place become his? He's in his own home, let alone fishing, even poisoning fish has nothing to do with them. This time, they even brought fisheries law enforcement and the Coast Guard, and they've completely offended him.
"We are not fisheries law enforcement, you can't threaten us, you butcher! Whether or not shark fins are found here today, your conscience will condemn you. Don't tell me you don't know, eight killer whales died here a few days ago!" Just as the fisheries law enforcement officer was in despair, a person from the animal protection association stepped forward and said in a sharp voice.
Hearing the person's voice, Jiang Hai looked at her. It was a woman, who didn't seem very old because she was quite short, about 1.5 meters tall, and dressed like a middle school student. Looking at the girl, Jiang Hai raised an eyebrow, then smiled at his subordinates.
"Little friend, you need to understand one thing. You are standing on my territory right now. Don't talk about conscience or lack thereof. What you are doing now is illegal trespassing. Do you know what happened the last time someone illegally trespassed here? He was sunk to feed the fish." Looking at the girl in front of him, Jiang Hai grinned broadly and said to her with a smile.
Hearing Jiang Hai's words, a trace of fear flashed in the girl's eyes, but she quickly regained her footing.
"You, you, you, you are lawless, your conscience will condemn you, you villain..." The girl started spewing at Jiang Hai. Listening to her, Jiang Hai picked his ears, feeling baffled. He could only say those few words now.
Because it was truly baffling. Shaking his head, Jiang Hai decided to ignore this person. Just then, those who had gone in to search came out, but unfortunately, no shark fins were found. They did find some fish that Edward Anderson had just caught. They had no idea what Jiang Hai and their leader had discussed after they went in. In their eyes, taking some of Jiang Hai's things was inevitable, because this thing was also called evidence! But as soon as they came out, they saw that the atmosphere seemed a bit off.
"Oh, another charge has been added. It looks like you'll have to live inside for three to five years!" Looking at the fish in their hands, Jiang Hai smiled. These guys were really cooperating with him! (To be continued.)
Mercy? Impossible!
"What are you doing? What are those things in your hands!" Hearing Jiang Hai's words and seeing the items his subordinates were holding, the fisheries officer nearly went insane, roaring loudly. His subordinates, hearing him, were equally bewildered.
"Boss, aren't these the evidence?" An older subordinate, who seemed to be on good terms with him, asked confusedly, "This is what we always do!"
"Evidence my foot! I told you to look for shark fins! Where are the shark fins? This is his private fishing ground! What he chooses to catch has nothing to do with you! Are you authorized to regulate the fish inside his boat? If you want to commit career suicide, don't drag me down!" The fisheries chief's neck veins bulged as he glared at his men and roared furiously. Most of them were still confused by his shouts, but a few of the quicker ones instantly had a moment of clarity, their hearts dropping as they realized they were screwed!
They had calculated everything, but they failed to account for the fact that this fishing ground belonged to Jiang Hai, which meant everything here belonged to Jiang Hai.
Forget about not finding shark fins; even if they had found them, it would have been useless, because the shark belonged to Jiang Hai too.
This created an extremely awkward situation. They had trespassed onto private property to check fishing licenses, and then casually stole some fish, claiming it was evidence? Ha... The subordinates who had conducted the search wanted to slap themselves. What was this? Did they hit a snag? No, they had just kicked a solid steel wall and broken their feet. "No need to sound so pathetic. Trespassing onto private property to demand a fishing license is misconduct. Your jobs are one hundred percent forfeit. Falsely accusing me and stealing my fish—that's slander and theft. You might have heard of my lawyer, Moses Adams. He's quite good at litigation, isn't he? With evidence this conclusive, sentencing you all to three to five years seems perfectly reasonable." Jiang Hai said with a smile, looking at the fisheries officers.
Hearing Jiang Hai's words, the fisheries officers felt an immediate chill in their hearts. They knew they were finished; they would lose their jobs and face prison time. No one doubted Jiang Hai, as they knew where they were and had heard of him.
It was just that they hadn't initially made the connection. Who was Jiang Hai? A billionaire. Would a billionaire be on a boat, wrestling sharks like a common fisherman? But the reality was, this *was* Jiang Hai, and they were doomed.
*Clang!* Someone immediately collapsed, dropping the items in their hands and slumping onto the deck, their face pale with despair.
"Hey, hey, hey, you can't handle this already? I haven't even mentioned bribing inmates in prison to'show you a good time.' We're just getting started. I am a most benevolent person: admit your mistakes, and take your punishment like a man. It's that simple." Looking at the men whose faces were ashen, Jiang Hai shook his head and smiled. Their psychological resilience was simply too poor!
"Mr. Jiang, please, show some mercy..." Seeing how terrified Jiang Hai had made these men, the head of the Coast Guard patrol couldn't help but lick his lips. He hesitated before walking over and speaking softly to Jiang Hai.
"Shut up!" Before the man could finish, Jiang Hai immediately cut him off.
"In what capacity are you speaking right now? Are you representing the entire Coast Guard patrol when you talk to me?" Jiang Hai looked at him. If the Coast Guard had kept quiet, Jiang Hai might have held back for the sake of future cooperation. But now, this man dared to plead for mercy? Did he think what they were doing was right?
"Uh, I apologize, that was reckless of me." As soon as he heard Jiang Hai's tone, the man immediately retreated. They were already in deep trouble themselves, barely able to save their own skin. How dare they plead for others? Jiang Hai would be polite to them only if hell froze over!
"Fine, take the fish. I have plenty here. Go back, enjoy a good meal, and then wait for the court summons. They should arrive in the next few days, so keep an eye on your mail." Jiang Hai said casually, looking at the fisheries officers who looked like they had just lost their mothers. Hearing Jiang Hai's words, most of them turned ashen. Americans generally do not have a habit of saving money.
Basically, over seventy percent of Americans have outstanding bank loans—mortgages, car loans, loans for everything.
In the current less-than-ideal economic climate, working for the fisheries department was a stable job with decent income.
Now, with a few simple words from Jiang Hai, they were unemployed and facing prison, which meant immediate bankruptcy.
Without money to pay their mortgages, their homes would be repossessed by the bank; without car payments, their vehicles would be gone, and they themselves would be incarcerated. It was safe to say that in an instant, their families would be ruined and scattered.
Thinking of this, many felt overwhelming despair. They looked at Jiang Hai, the man who had caused all this trouble, and desperately wanted to drag him down with them. But seeing the people around him and the Coast Guard presence, they swallowed hard. They knew they couldn't take revenge. Heaven really was unfair.
People are like this: it's easy to forgive yourself, but hard to forgive others. While Jiang Hai wasn't heartless, he absolutely wouldn't show mercy to these guys who came looking for trouble. Judging by their actions, these men had likely done similar things many times before. Now that Jiang Hai was dealing with them, he wouldn't hold back in the slightest.
If it hadn't been him today but some ordinary person, that person would have had to suffer in silence: confiscation, fines, and even a stint in jail, leading to their own ruin. That's why Jiang Hai absolutely refused to be polite to these people.
"Are you done looking? If you are, go back and wait for the court summons. Get lost!" Jiang Hai's expression darkened as he spoke grimly. Hearing his words, the fisheries officers, the environmental organization members, and the Coast Guard all shamefacedly boarded their small boats and sped away. They had no choice; they had to flee.
Jiang Hai might sue them next. However, among the crowd of people fleeing like stray dogs, the young girl who had previously shouted at Jiang Hai showed no fear. She still frowned, glared, and fixed Jiang Hai with an angry stare.
But one person alone was useless. She was quickly pulled onto a boat, and the three vessels sped away rapidly.
Watching the boats leave, Jiang Hai pulled out his phone and called Moses Adams. He was a man of his word; if he said he would ruin their lives, he would ruin their lives. That was just how stubborn he was.
"Boss, what should we do with this guy?" With everyone gone, Edward Anderson, who had just emerged, removed the hook from the tiger shark's mouth and pointed at the massive creature, asking Jiang Hai.
"Let it go!" Jiang Hai, who hadn't intended to catch the tiger shark anyway, waved his hand. The group then carefully flipped the shark over. If they had simply released it then, it would have sunk to the bottom and died.
Therefore, Edward Anderson and the others kept the tiger shark there to recover for a while. Only when its eyes began to blink and its body regained strength did they release it. As soon as it hit the water, the tiger shark immediately plunged toward the depths of Jiang Hai's fishing ground. However, less than five minutes later, it shot back out at an even faster speed. No kidding—Big Fool's patrol team had arrived.
"Alright, let's continue!" Looking at the tiger shark disappearing beneath the water, Jiang Hai smiled. The incident had been a disaster for those men, but for Jiang Hai, it was just a minor interruption. After a brief pause, they resumed hunting for Great White Sharks!
While Jiang Hai continued his shark hunt, the three teams that had left began to fracture. Aside from the fisheries officers, who were now like zombies indifferent to the world, the Coast Guard team was extremely angry.
"What kind of intelligence did you people provide? He was catching fish in his own fishing ground! What business is that of yours? Are you insane, going onto private property to point fingers?" The Coast Guard captain, who hadn't dared to utter a peep when Jiang Hai scolded him, was now tearing into the environmental organization members. They could only look at him awkwardly with lowered heads. Although environmental organizations were powerful and constantly organized protests against this and that, what could they possibly protest when it came to private property? After all, not everyone was like the fanatical dog lovers in China.
Even when people bought dogs specifically for meat, those fanatics would rush over, crash into cars, and block traffic demanding the release of the dogs. Those people were simply bored out of their minds.
At least the members of *this* environmental group had some legal awareness; they knew their actions were unacceptable, which was why the situation was so awkward now.
"Don't shout! Your shouting just proves you feel guilty! You clearly saw Jiang Hai capturing marine life, yet you didn't dare arrest him. Do people like you still deserve the national emblem on your chest?" However, just as everyone fell silent, the small girl popped up again, still standing on her moral high ground, lecturing the Coast Guard patrol.
"Heh, little girl, next time bring your parents to talk! Also, you should go home and properly study our country's laws. That fishing ground belongs to Mr. Jiang. He is free to do whatever he wants there, and no one can control him—including you and me!" The Coast Guard captain looked at the girl and said seriously, his face grim.
"You, you bastard! You're that guy's accomplice! You'll all go to hell when you die!" Well, as soon as he brought up laws and regulations, the girl wisely shifted the topic to something else. These young girls were simply that unreasonable! (To be continued.)
If You're Not Convinced, Deal With It!
"Next time, be more careful. If you cause trouble again, I'll have you detained for 48 hours first. Don't doubt whether I have the ability to do so!" Ignoring the girl who was starting to argue—clearly unable to win the argument and resorting to making a scene—the Coast Guard member pointed at the 'adults' over there and shouted loudly before leaving with his subordinates.
Watching them leave just like that, the people from the Environmental Protection Association also sighed.
"Who provided the information this time? Isn't this just screwing us over?" After the outsiders had left, as everyone was sailing the boat, one guy said somewhat irritably. Honestly, anyone would be fed up after being pointed at and scolded for a long time, especially when they couldn't even retort. This time, not only did they cause trouble for themselves, but they also made the Fisheries Department take the blame. Thinking about it, they really felt a bit guilty. But humans are like this—in such situations, they start looking for excuses.
After all, the fault definitely wasn't theirs. People who engage in self-reflection are too rare in this world; they prefer to shift the blame for their mistakes onto others. Like these people, they now pushed the responsibility onto the person who provided the information.
"I didn't expect that guy to be Jiang Hai either, sigh..." The person who had received the information also sighed somewhat awkwardly and muttered quietly. Indeed, he had his sources of information too.
The source of the information was the small town where Jiang Hai and his group were staying. Just as old Toby said yesterday, now everyone in the town who paid attention knew that Jiang Hai and his group were there to catch sharks. In such a situation, there were inevitably some people who resented the wealthy and disliked Jiang Hai. Coming in a big yacht with subordinates to catch sharks? What a show-off! At the very least, they were very unhappy with Jiang Hai's attitude.
In such a situation, some people wanted to give Jiang Hai a hard time, such as by reporting him to Environmental Organizations.
They didn't care whether there was a reward for the tip-off, but they were quite happy to see Jiang Hai get into trouble.
However, they didn't expect that Jiang Hai had picked up on some underlying meanings from old Toby's words. Unlike ordinary Americans or Chinese, he tended to handle everything with the most pessimistic approach.
Since he knew that some people were aware he was there to catch sharks, he decided to take preventive measures. It would be troublesome if something really happened later. Although he wasn't involved in shark finning or anything like that, it was better to be cautious and guard against others.
So today, after the boat arrived at the location, Jiang Hai asked Edward Anderson to sail a bit further in.
"Next time, be sure to verify the source of any information. Something like today must not happen again." Seeing that this person had admitted his mistake, the leader of the Environmental Organization said sternly.
"Yes, it was my mistake this time. I mistakenly trusted those Fishermen. I knew those guys definitely didn't have good intentions." Hearing the leader's words, this person took the opportunity to save face and said seriously. Upon hearing him, everyone fell silent. After all, the Environmental Protection Association wasn't a government-established organization; they were just together to protect wildlife.
So there weren't many conflicts of interest, and they didn't want to offend others too much over this one mistake.
"This matter can't just be dropped like this!" However, while they thought this way, not everyone agreed—for example, that girl.
Hearing everyone planning to let this matter slide and not bother Jiang Hai anymore, this girl wouldn't have it.
"Orna, what else do you want? Kevin has already admitted his mistake." Hearing the girl's persistent complaints, the leader frowned and said somewhat irritably. Although this wasn't an official organization, he still needed to maintain his authority.
"I'm not talking about Kevin; I'm talking about Jiang Hai. This matter can't just be dropped. We all saw earlier that he caught a Tiger Shark. It's very likely that after we left, he would take the Tiger Shark's fins and throw its body into the cold seawater. Even if we don't have evidence, we all know that eight Orcas died at his hands. This matter can't just be dropped!" The girl waved her hand. Originally, she hadn't intended to trouble Kevin—the member who had gathered everyone after receiving the information. She was targeting Jiang Hai, and there was no way she would let Jiang Hai get away with it.
Yes, in her eyes, Jiang Hai had already broken the law. It was just because he was wealthy that he escaped legal punishment. Now, with her here, she must represent justice, represent the moon, and eliminate Jiang Hai, this tumor.
"Oh, heavens, Orna, you also know he's a wealthy man. He's destined not to be punished by the law. Moreover, that's his fishing ground; he can do whatever he wants there..." The leader patted his forehead and said helplessly. In his view, Orna was indeed a troublesome person.
Although Orna looked very young and delicate, she was actually twenty-four years old this year. She had a naturally youthful face—ahem, just a youthful face, without any exaggerated features. Time had left few traces on her face.
This wasn't some illness; it was just because she looked quite young. Plus, she liked to dress youthfully, often carrying a backpack. From behind, she might look like a high school student, but from the front, she resembled a middle schooler.
However, don't underestimate this girl. Although she looked young, her intelligence was quite high. At twenty-four, she already had a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from Princeton University and a master's degree in Economics. According to her, the master's in Economics was just to earn money to support herself, while Life Sciences—specializing in animals—was what she truly loved.
Perhaps she had studied for too many years and became a bit bookish, so at twenty-four, she was neither short of money nor fame, but she tended to be too idealistic in everything she did. If domestically there were so-called 'dog fans' or'sheep fans,' she was an 'animal fan.'
She opposed any act of killing animals, to the extent that she even became a vegetarian.
At first, she even tried to persuade her friends and parents to become vegetarians and had demonstrated at slaughterhouses.
Unfortunately, she was driven away, and her friends became fewer and fewer. Later, she realized she couldn't stop others from eating meat because humans were also part of the ecosystem. If humans really stopped eating meat, the food chain would collapse.
So later, she stopped trying to prevent others from eating beef, fish, and the like. However, she still loved wild animals.
Three years ago, she joined the Environmental Protection Association. Because she had money and was a fervent enthusiast, she was quite popular within the association.
A few days ago, after learning that eight Orcas had died in Jiang Hai's waters, she assumed without question that Jiang Hai had killed them. Now, hearing that Jiang Hai was killing sharks, she proactively requested to participate in this operation.
As a result, she came this time but saw the 'darkness' of this world. In her eyes, Jiang Hai showed no remorse; instead, he shamelessly took pride in it and even used his wealthy status to suppress the Fisheries Department and the Coast Guard. This infuriated the young lady. She felt that if Jiang Hai were in front of her, she could eat him alive!
"I'm going to search for evidence of his crimes. This matter isn't over!" On the small boat, Orna said with righteous indignation.
The people following her could only helplessly cover their faces. Well, they couldn't control this young lady.
"Alright, alright, go search for evidence of his crimes. But before that, we need to head back first. This incident has caused quite a stir; it seems the president will need to step in." Patting his cheeks, the leader said somewhat speechlessly. He was truly exhausted.
Regardless of how these Environmental Organization members returned or what they said, Jiang Hai and his group had a good harvest that afternoon, catching three more Great White Sharks. Combined with the three from yesterday and the one released earlier, Jiang Hai's Great White Shark navy now had seven.
Although their sizes and ages varied greatly, Jiang Hai believed that with his Spiritual Energy training, these creatures would grow very large in the future. Big Fool's size had basically reached its limit—about twelve or thirteen meters—and wouldn't grow any larger. But it was worth noting that Sand Tiger Sharks originally only grew to about three point four meters, while Great White Sharks, which could originally grow to over six meters or even seven or eight meters, could grow even larger with Spiritual Energy. Jiang Hai could look forward to that.
Perhaps after some time, Jiang Hai might even raise a dozen Megalodons. By then, not just Orcas, but even Sperm Whales, Humpback Whales, and even Blue Whales might be taken down by his navy!
After catching four sharks today, Jiang Hai and his group returned to the small town. They left around four in the afternoon, but by the time they returned to the town, it was almost nine. Jiang Hai took Edward Anderson and the others back to Toby and George's small hotel, had a good meal, then brought some food to Bell Lester and Harriman Fells before going to sleep. The night passed uneventfully. Early the next morning, Jiang Hai settled the room bill. Why?
Because if nothing unexpected happened, Jiang Hai and his group would be returning today. They had already caught seven; Jiang Hai's target was ten, but if they didn't reach ten, it was fine—eight or nine would do.
Jiang Hai didn't believe he wouldn't catch a single one today, so he settled the room bill in advance. Tonight, they wouldn't need to stay in this eerie small town and could return home instead. After settling the bill and having breakfast, Jiang Hai and his group set off again! (To be continued.)
The Gift of the Sea
"Ha! Our luck is definitely good today. It looks like we might even be able to head home while it's still light." Bell Leicester chuckled, looking at the second great white shark Jiang Hai and his crew had caught in less than an hour since they arrived. Although the others didn't say anything, the smiles on their faces spoke volumes.
"After we wrap up today and head back, everyone gets three days off and a ten thousand bonus." Seeing their high spirits, Jiang Hai made the announcement. Witnessing Jiang Hai put down real money like that, his crew became even more excited.
Amidst laughter and shouting, the great white shark, measuring about 4.5 or 4.6 meters, finally exhausted itself and was pulled alongside the boat. Jiang Hai and the others flipped the creature over, infused it with spiritual energy, removed the hook from its mouth, then flipped it back into the water to recuperate. After waiting for the spiritual energy to take effect and the fish to recover sufficiently, they released it back into the sea.
"That makes nine already. Let's take a break, catch one more, and then we'll head back." Jiang Hai clapped his hands, smiling. Seeing that it was only a little past two in the afternoon, everyone laughed happily. Honestly, Jiang Hai could have stopped at nine, but since there was still time, waiting a little longer wouldn't hurt.
After resting for about fifteen minutes, Edward Anderson re-baited the hook with beef offal and tossed it into the ocean, instantly attracting a large school of fish once more. Compared to the number of fish previously found outside Jiang Hai's fishery, the fish within Jiang Hai's ranch were far more abundant. Since Jiang Hai decided to develop his new fishery, he had already begun sowing grass seeds.
Of course, sowing grass seeds by boat was impossible; they had airplanes now.
Thinking back, though, when he first prepared to develop the ocean, he used boats, which was incredibly slow. Sowing the seeds took him a whole month.
But now that they had the Z-11 and the AT802F, sowing was much faster. They simply sat in the plane and dropped the seeds during low-altitude flights. Then they used the Z-11 to fill in any gaps or missed areas—perfect.
First, the seeds of the seagrass and seaweed were soaked until they sprouted. Naturally, while they were soaking, Jiang Hai had already infused them with spiritual energy.
Once the small sprouts emerged, they flew the plane and dropped the seeds directly into the sea. These seeds, imbued with spiritual energy, would take root in the sandy soil of the seabed, resulting in a remarkably high survival rate.
Generally speaking, scattering seeds like this yields a survival rate of sixty percent at best, especially since it's grass. If it were other species, the survival rate would be less than twenty percent. However, the survival rate of Jiang Hai's seeds was over eighty percent.
The ones that didn't survive were simply eaten by fish, and Jiang Hai couldn't do anything about that.
So, although only a little over a month had passed, the seagrass and seaweed rooted on the seabed had already begun to exert their influence. For one, Jiang Hai's seawater was becoming less clear, but the fish population was increasing rapidly.
After Jiang Hai and Tie Niu finalized the types of fish they planned to raise this year, he had started releasing baby octopuses and cuttlefish fry a few days earlier.
These little guys would live here for a month, and then they would become food for the other fish fry.
Jiang Hai and the others couldn't do anything about the small fish eating the beef offal; they just had to keep waiting. If it was eaten up, they would put down another piece. When fishing, you are bound to feed some fish with the bait... But just as they were waiting, a dark shadow slowly surfaced from beneath the water.
"Something's here!" Edward Anderson, who had been watching closely, immediately exclaimed upon seeing the dark shadow. He quickly ducked his head inside the boat's railing and simultaneously made a shushing gesture to the others.
"It should be..." But after taking a quick look, Jiang Hai said, sounding a bit confused.
His eyesight was much better than Edward Anderson's. He had seen many sharks recently—mako sharks, tiger sharks, blue sharks, and so on—but the shape of this shadow was quite different from those sharks.
Although the shadow was large—similar in size to a typical great white shark—it appeared much stockier. Looking at the fish, Jiang Hai scratched his head. His sixth sense told him it should be a shark, but the color of its back only vaguely resembled a shark's, leaving him genuinely conflicted. Just as he was pondering this, Edward Anderson's expression changed.
"That's definitely not a shark, it's a bluefin tuna!" Edward Anderson's eyes nearly lit up when he said those last three words. Hearing him, Jiang Hai was momentarily stunned. Bluefin tuna? He was certainly not unfamiliar with this fish.
If "black tuna" isn't clear, everyone should understand if we call it "bluefin tuna"!
Jiang Hai's fishery contained quite a few bluefin tuna. Some were driven over by Da Sha and his group, and others came on their own, sensing the abundant spiritual energy here. Consequently, there was a school of bluefin tuna within Jiang Hai's fishery.
Jiang Hai hadn't counted exactly how many there were, but there had to be at least over a hundred, and that number only accounted for the bluefin, not the yellowfin, bigeye, or other species. Jiang Hai's fishery was vast, so he had tens of thousands of tuna even without actively raising them. Last year, when the weather was still warm, he often went diving for lobsters, abalone, and large shrimp, and he would see schools of tuna feeding on herring or squid. The ecological balance within Jiang Hai's ranch was highly unstable, relying entirely on his spiritual energy to sustain these fish. If Jiang Hai's spiritual energy ever vanished, his fishery would become worthless.
He had previously seen many tuna fry in the fishery, and he imagined that in a few more years, the number of these little creatures would only increase! Because of this abundance, during last year's fishery exhibition, Jiang Hai brought two tuna to display, which were subsequently purchased by the Japanese.
He hadn't considered keeping them permanently as breeding stock, because he was not lacking these resources now.
Seeing a bluefin tuna now, Jiang Hai remained silent. If it really took the bait, he would either eat or sell the creature, but he couldn't let anyone else know, as it was currently the closed season for tuna fishing.
The tuna underwater appeared to be very old. Although the spiritual energy-infused beef offal was extremely attractive, it remained in a state of observation, watching the small fish constantly peck at the piece of offal in front of it.
Watching the beef offal shrink yet seeing nothing happen, the fish started to get impatient... Finally, the lure of the offal overcame its years of experience. It opened its large mouth and instantly swallowed the remaining half of the beef offal. But the moment it swallowed, it knew it was in trouble... because a sharp pain struck the corner of its mouth; the hook had pierced its jaw.
At that moment, Edward Anderson pulled hard, reeling in some line. Struck by the pain, the bluefin tuna, which had intended to dive deep, swam straight into the distance. But Edward Anderson and his crew were not pushovers. They let it swim but controlled its direction. They wouldn't give it line to swim straight; it could only swim in circles.
Its strength rapidly drained away under its frantic struggling. Edward Anderson watched it, smiling, while constantly controlling the line in his hands. Finally, the fish couldn't hold on any longer. After struggling for about half an hour, it reluctantly followed Edward Anderson's instructions and was pulled alongside the boat. When it was brought close, everyone on board gasped—this creature truly was a behemoth!
The entire fish looked no smaller than a great white shark. They didn't measure the entire bulk carefully, but it was easily nearly five meters long. Its dark, bluish-black back made Jiang Hai and the others grin widely with excitement.
"Hurry up and bring it aboard!" Seeing that the massive creature had stopped swimming, Edward Anderson shouted. Tuna, like some sharks, need to swim constantly to breathe. If they stop moving, they suffocate. The blood of a dead tuna flows into the meat, making the fish less palatable, and Edward Anderson was an expert.
Although the others didn't fully understand this, following orders was no problem. Harriman Fells immediately grabbed a gaff hook, sank it into the fish, and started pulling it up.
As mentioned before, Harriman Fells possessed natural strength, but even so, he couldn't lift it. Seeing his friend struggling, Connorsson Peters lent a helping hand, but even the two of them together couldn't haul the fish aboard.
Seeing this, Jiang Hai had no choice but to step in. He walked directly to the hook and lifted it with his right hand. He was somewhat surprised—the fish was indeed heavy, but nowhere near a weight that Jiang Hai couldn't handle. Using his right arm, Jiang Hai lifted the fish directly and slammed it onto the deck. Edward Anderson immediately used a noose to pull up the fish's tail, hoisting the entire fish upside down. Next came the killing and bleeding. Once everything was done, Edward Anderson began taking measurements.
But as soon as the measurements were finished, he couldn't help but gasp, because this creature was truly astonishing!
"What are the numbers?" Seeing Edward Anderson looking stunned, Jiang Hai leaned over and asked. When Edward Anderson showed the data to Jiang Hai, Jiang Hai was also dumbfounded, staring at him in disbelief.
"Boss, what should we do?" Edward Anderson asked Jiang Hai hesitantly.
"Is that even a question? Sell it!" Jiang Hai slapped his thigh. If they didn't sell this thing, what were they keeping it for? (To be continued.)