Chapter 54

This fish is called the Red Ridge fish, scientific name wolf-section tiger fish; just from the name you can tell it's not good-looking.

Its head is especially terrifying; the eyes are hard to see unless you look closely, said to have degenerated, no idea what it's thinking.

Large mouth, thick lips; most importantly, there are two rows of fine teeth on its jaws.

According to Ye Cheng's feeling, this guy is like the little mouth inside the big mouth of the Alien, disgusting.

Don't let its ugly looks fool you; it has high nutritional value, dubbed the ginseng of the sea, and its blood-red color is said to replenish blood.

This thing is relatively rare, usually only found after a typhoon; it's not expensive, very affordable, probably just a few bucks per catty.

Although it's not expensive, the thing is indeed good, so Ye Cheng casually tossed it into the bucket.

This stuff seems to come in patches; you can pick up a heap just by walking around. Ye Cheng, holding his net, couldn't be bothered to activate Burst Skill—it's not exactly high-value goods, using it would be wasteful.

After more than half an hour, the two walked and stopped, managing to fill two buckets full; this stuff is heavier than shells, and carrying the two buckets made their hands ache.

No choice, had to bag them first.

Fortunately, this stuff doesn't care whether it's alive or dead; being dead doesn't matter.

"Brother, why is everything today this stuff? Nothing else?" Xiao Hu complained, "This stuff isn't worth much."

His standards have risen a lot now; previously someone who could be happy all day just picking up a Flower Clam King now isn't satisfied with a few dozen catties of random catch—he wants a big haul.

Of course, Ye Cheng thought the same; looking at that group of bright red, twisted ugly things, he also felt a bit annoyed.

"Let's walk forward a bit more and look for more pools."

Most Red Ridge fish are on the tidal flats, fewer in the pools; Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu split up and headed in opposite directions.

Just after walking a few steps, Ye Cheng saw a red flash in a small pool ahead filled with aquatic plants.

He pursed his lips, "Damn, another Red Ridge fish? Not catching it feels like a waste, but catching it would be sorry for today's Luck Value of 100."

After thinking, even if it's small it's still meat; besides, we've already picked up a lot, so scooping one more is just convenient.

Ye Cheng couldn't be bothered to aim; he just dropped the net and scooped casually—if it came up, great; if not, oh well.

As soon as he lifted the net a little, he felt something off—it was too heavy in hand, and the thing inside was struggling desperately, making Ye Cheng feel a bit strained.

Damn, it's a big fish, not a little loach like the Red Ridge fish.

Ye Cheng put some extra force with his right hand, lifting the fish together with the seaweed.

In the midst of the greenish-brown seaweed, a red fish was thrashing about, its tail strong and powerful.

Ye Cheng put the net on the ground, pressed it down with his right hand, then pulled away all the seaweed, finally revealing its true form.

It turned out to be a Red Nine-spine; Ye Cheng's eyes lit up.

This fish's scientific name is red nine-spine bass, also called red melon-seed grouper; its whole body is red, and because it has nine spines on its back it's also called the Red Nine-spine.

Just now it only showed its back in the pool, making Ye Cheng think it was a Red Ridge fish; good thing he scooped it up casually.

This fish's meat is tender, rich in unsaturated fatty acids—delicious and healthy, truly high-value goods.

Moreover, the one Ye Cheng holds looks about two catties, still lively; selling it for a few hundred bucks is no problem.

"Xiao Hu, watch the pools—there are Red Nine-spines!" Ye Cheng shouted at Xiao Hu.

Upon hearing there were high-value goods, Xiao Hu instantly got excited, stomped a Stone Crab into the mud with one foot, and came splashing over.

"Brother, let me have a look."

Xiao Hu carefully took the completely red Red Nine-spine from Ye Cheng's hand, his face full of joy: "Brother, I've seen this in the seafood market, and I never imagined we could get something like this while gathering."

"I didn't expect it either; I thought it was still Red Ridge fish. You go over there and check the pools more carefully."

"Big brother, rest assured, little brother Yi De will surely capture Nine Origins Commandery and bring Xiao Qiao to see you."

Ye Cheng looked speechless; this kid, what the heck is he watching, has he gone crazy?

According to Ye Cheng's understanding of this damn system, whenever something drops, there's usually a whole batch—unless he got it through pure luck.

Real luck, picking up a Red Nine-spine—Ye Cheng felt he was being presumptuous.

He directly activated Burst Skill; not using it for something like this would be stupid.

Because of the storm, there were many pools; Ye Cheng found a slightly larger one—big pools yield high-grade catches, small pools are good for dancing.

Ye Cheng first used the net to clear the surface seaweed in one sweep—all of it blown in by this big wind.

Without the seaweed blocking the view, things below looked much clearer; a hint of red lurked down there, as if the earth-colored sand could hide its beauty.

"Come on, little beauty."

Ye Cheng slipped the net in from the side, slowly encircling along the pool bottom; before he even touched it, that hint of red moved—with a swift flick of its tail it leapt straight out of the pool.

Ye Cheng couldn't help but admire its jumping ability, but, man, the outside world is wonderful—though it might also get stepped on.

Its scarlet body and nine spines on the back—another Red Nine-spine went into Ye Cheng's bucket; this one wasn't small either, a bit bigger than the previous one.

Ye Cheng was about to leave when he suddenly felt something off—he had activated the skill, which doubles the harvest; shouldn't there be another something in here?

He grabbed the net and vigorously stirred the pool with a fist; aside from a few panicked, mis-footed tiny shrimp, there was nothing.

Ye Cheng looked at the tiny shrimp in the net and, offhand, tossed them toward the sea—brother, don't slip next time.

There actually wasn't a second one—what does that mean? Could it be that, like in games, high-level monsters have resistance to skills?

Does the skill work less effectively on more valuable fish?

Ye Cheng shook his head and continued his gathering for the day; so far everything he's caught has been red, and he doesn't know what else might turn up later.

With 50 minutes left on the skill, Ye Cheng finally found another red thing under a different rock.

The two Red Nine-spines were actually fighting fearlessly under the rock—cutthroat competition, struggling, getting caught.

This time while catching fish, Ye Cheng got a bit excited, mainly because he saw two of them, and in the process he accidentally got pricked by a Red Nine-spine's spine.

So it seems the older generation had good reason when naming things—names with spines are definitely not to be messed with.

On the other side, Xiao Hu's haul wasn't bad either; when Ye Cheng had caught four Red Nine-spines, Xiao Hu had also picked up nearly twenty catties of Red Ridge fish, plus a one-catty Red Nine-spine.

After the two had walked around this area, the larger pools were empty; Ye Cheng pointed ahead, indicating they should move on.

"Brother, that's the seaside—it's a bit dangerous." Xiao Hu reminded.