"A school of large yellow croakers!"
Upon seeing the school, a look of delighted surprise flashed in Li Yang's eyes.
"Haha, what amazing luck! It's like whatever I wish for just appears!"
A single, large yellow croaker could sell for a sky-high price of hundreds of thousands! It just went to show how precious this species was!
Of course, a price in the hundreds of thousands meant the fish would have to be enormous and incredibly rare. The ones his octopus avatar had found weren't quite that big, but what they lacked in individual size, they more than made up for in sheer numbers. Plus, they were still quite large!
By a rough estimate, the school of large yellow croakers his octopus avatar had discovered was worth at least ten million!
'The octopus avatar needs to keep an eye on them! The fishing boat is heading out today, we have to get to that area!' Li Yang's heart pounded with urgency.
To him, those large yellow croakers swimming together were just piles of cash.
With everything ready, Li Yang called the other crew members to assemble.
By the time he got to the seaside, Li Jun, Sun Datao, and the others had already arrived.
Not only them, but Li Jun's and Sun Datao's parents had come as well. After all, this was their sons' first time heading out to sea.
"Uncle, Auntie."
Li Yang said with a smile, looking at Li Guoyang and his wife.
Li Guoyang looked at his nephew, then at the large fishing boat, marveling at Li Yang's luck.
He had brought two large celebratory firecrackers to wish Li Yang and his crew a bountiful harvest.
Besides them, a crowd of onlookers had gathered, all staring at the big fishing boat out on the water.
"That fishing boat is huge."
"Yeah, most of the boats around here are small fishing boats. There are only a few like that one."
"I wonder how many fish a boat like that can catch in one go."
"Damn, now *that's* a real fishing boat. Compared to that, my family's boat is a piece of junk. I'm going to buy one that big someday."
"Haha, Old Xu, a boat that big costs at least a few million. Can you even afford it?"
The crowd chattered away, enjoying the spectacle.
"Dad, Mom, I'm off," Li Jun said to his parents with a smile.
Meanwhile, Sun Datao was also talking to his parents, a look of impatience on his face.
"Alright, I get it. You can go home now."
Beside him were two children who looked to be about ten years old—his younger brother and sister.
Sun Datao's father and mother both had the look of simple, honest folk, their faces etched with the marks of time. Hearing Sun Datao's impatient tone, his father shot him a glare and looked like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue in the end.
He worked on a construction site and had hoped his son would also learn a trade there. Life might be a bit harder, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about putting food on the table.
Making a living at sea was too uncertain. It was common to lose money on a trip. How could that compare to the stability of a construction job?
The two of them had argued at home for a long time about him going to sea. In the end, he couldn't win against his son and chose to compromise.
As for Sun Datao's mother, she was nagging him endlessly. "Datao, you have to take good care of yourself out at sea."
She kept repeating similar words over and over.
"Big brother, if you see any big fish at sea, you have to take pictures for us!"
Sun Datao's younger siblings chattered excitedly, their eyes filled with envy. They clearly thought going out to sea on a big fishing boat would be great fun.
...
Finally, the entire group boarded the fishing boat.
"Boss!"
The men on the boat all called out when they saw Li Yang. They all looked to be in their thirties or forties, with muscular builds.
You couldn't do this line of work without some strength.
"Alright, we're all in the same boat now, so no need for formalities."
Li Yang said with a smile, looking at everyone.
These men were all burly, but the most imposing of them was Sun Datao, who stood beside him.
Right now, Sun Datao stood next to Li Yang like a bodyguard.
Knowing the location of the large yellow croakers, Li Yang ordered the crew to head for that area of the sea.
A middle-aged man named Xu Hu steered the fishing boat. As it pulled away from the shore, the entire vessel began to rock.
Many people would lose their footing at this point, swaying from side to side, but the men on board were all seasoned veterans. They stood firm, their legs seemingly rooted to the deck.
Seeing this, Li Yang nodded to himself in approval.
'The men Uncle Jin recruited for me are really good.'
This was Li Yang's first time on such a large fishing boat, but since he had started cultivating, he only needed to make a slight adjustment as the boat rocked to steady himself.
As for Sun Datao, he grabbed onto something nearby and also steadied himself.
Seeing Li Yang standing so steadily, the old crewmen couldn't help but marvel that their young boss was a seasoned sailor himself.
"Full speed ahead!"
Soon, the fishing boat stabilized, and its speed began to climb.
"This is so fast."
Sun Datao marveled as he watched the water rushing past below the boat, his eyes filled with excitement.
"Brother Li, what kind of fish are we going after on this trip?" he asked, his eyes full of anticipation.
Hearing this, Li Yang replied curtly, "How would I know?"
He knew they were going after large yellow croakers, but he couldn't possibly say that out loud.
"Boss, this is a good area of the sea. We could try casting a net here."
A middle-aged man suggested this as the boat reached a certain spot. It was the first mate, Zhang Houqiang.
Zhang Houqiang had been the first mate on the largest fishing boat in Coastal City. After that boat was decommissioned, he served as first mate on a few other vessels before coming to work on Li Yang's boat.
He had extensive experience at sea and a good reputation. On this boat, his rank was second only to Li Yang.
Li Yang took a look, shook his head, and said, "Keep going."
'We're still a long way from the school of large yellow croakers.'
With his octopus avatar tracking them, Li Yang knew clearly that the large yellow croakers were just circling within a specific area.
'Over two thousand large yellow croakers... judging by their size, that's over six thousand pounds!'
The fish were exceptionally large; even the smallest were at least two or three pounds, while the bigger ones were over six. And it was a known fact that the larger the yellow croaker, the more expensive it was.
Just these alone, by Li Yang's quick calculation, would sell for at least fifteen million if they were caught!
That was even more than the sky-high price of the Emperor's Slit Shell!
Li Yang had found the Emperor's Slit Shell through sheer luck. Without luck, one could search for decades and not find a single one.
But schools of fish like this one were different. As long as his octopus avatar kept searching, it would definitely keep finding more!
Modern fishing boats had sonar to detect nearby schools of fish, but someone like Li Yang, who knew a school's exact location from who-knows-how-far-away, was probably the only one on the entire planet.
However, while they were still some distance from the school, Li Yang's expression suddenly changed.
'Crap, a shark is coming!'
His face fell. Through the eyes of his octopus avatar, he saw a three-meter-long shark swimming over. Judging by its direction, it was clearly headed for the school of large yellow croakers.
With so many fish, the shark couldn't actually eat that many.
But how many it ate was a minor issue. The real problem was that a single charge from the shark could scatter the entire school.
He only had one octopus avatar; it couldn't possibly keep track of all the fish. If they were scattered, Li Yang would be helpless.
'No, I have to stop that shark!'
Li Yang's expression hardened. He had come this far, with a fortune of over ten million waving at him. He couldn't just let it shrink to a few million.
As the thought crossed his mind, the octopus avatar suddenly shot forward, blocking the shark's path.
Based on its appearance, the shark was likely a great white, though not yet fully grown. An adult great white could grow to be four or five meters long.
When the great white saw the giant octopus suddenly appear, a vicious glint flashed in its eyes.
As one of the ocean's apex predators, even if it wasn't fully grown, it had no fear of the four-meter-long octopus before it.
'Good, come at me!'
Seeing the great white charge straight at it without any finesse, the octopus avatar swung a tentacle, timed it perfectly, and wrapped it around the shark.
It had to be said, the octopus avatar had cultivated. A normal octopus already had immense strength; in disaster movies, their tentacles could wrap around ships and drag them to the bottom of the sea. And the power of Li Yang's octopus avatar was even more terrifying!
The great white's charge was indeed terrifying, and its teeth were especially sharp—even the octopus avatar couldn't withstand them directly.
But don't forget, the octopus avatar had eight tentacles. After one tentacle engaged the great white, the others quickly wrapped around the shark, coiling around its body several times.
The great white now realized something was wrong and began to struggle frantically, but it was all in vain.
'Just relax and become my food!'
A glint of intelligence flashed in the octopus avatar's eyes. Before long, the great white's struggles grew weaker and weaker until it finally died.
One of the ocean's top predators had died so easily at the hands of Li Yang's octopus avatar!
'Done!'
Feeling the battle under the sea conclude, Li Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
After dealing with the great white, the octopus avatar quickly caught up with the school of large yellow croakers.
Its speed was at least ten times that of the fish, so even with the short delay, it wasn't a problem.
Time passed, and the boat finally arrived at the location Li Yang had been waiting for. The position of the large yellow croaker school finally appeared on the boat's sonar screen.
"Boss, a school of fish has appeared, and it's a good size."
First Mate Zhang Houqiang, who had been watching the sonar screen, immediately reported with delight.
A thank you to Bansheng Liangliangliang dao Shang for the 1500-coin tip. Thank you! Please vote with your monthly and recommendation tickets!