Chapter 443: Duped by the Sea Turtle

All the crab pots have been collected, it's just past 11.

The hold is overflowing.

The stone crabs are so many they can only be placed on the deck; luckily they're stone crabs, which aren't valuable to begin with and are quite resilient.

They can survive a long time even without being in water.

A Qing helps by sprinkling water, which can keep them alive for a long time.

Lao Fu Tou said, "Should we wait until noon?"

Wu An nodded.

Lao Fu Tou said, "That's fine."

A Qing and Mei Wu had no objections.

Anyway, there's nothing else to do, so resting there is just resting.

Wu An was waiting for Hu Zi.

He boiled water to make tea.

Everyone was under the canopy, enjoying the air conditioning and tea, feeling quite comfortable.

A Qing asked, "Brother, it's almost noon."

"I'm a bit hungry."

"How about we eat lunch on the boat, and we can wait until one or two in the afternoon?"

Wu An had just nodded, not yet spoken, when he heard a familiar, pleasant call.

It was Hu Zi!

Wu An quickly got up, opened the door, and stepped out from under the canopy.

He saw the divine eagle in the distance, instantly delighted, and waved vigorously: "Hu Zi, Hu Zi!"

Hu Zi let out two calls, responding to him.

As it approached.

Hu Zi suddenly dove into the sea.

Wu An startled, quickly pulled A Qing and Mei Wu, who had come out to watch the excitement, toward the ship's edge; the next moment, Hu Zi burst out of the water, his head already above the fishing boat.

Then he flung his head toward the boat.

A black mass traced an arc in the air and landed steadily on the deck.

A Qing muttered, "Brother, you need to tell Hu Zi not to keep giving gifts like this; what if he hits someone?"

Wu An pointed and said, "Look what it is."

A Qing looked and said, "It's just a sea turtle, not even as good as a manta ray..."

"Ah, a sea turtle?"

"You had Hu Zi look for a sea turtle, and he actually caught one and brought it here."

"I... holy shit!"

Mei Wu was also stunned, couldn't help but look at Hu Zi swimming around the boat, marveling that this guy's intelligence is hardly different from a human's.

Wu An quickly fed Hu Zi, saying, "Hu Zi, thanks for your hard work."

"Thank you."

"No need for many words; if you ever need us, just come find us."

He made many promises.

Hu Zi also called out.

One person and one whale, anyway they started chatting like that, eating and eating, when Hu Zi suddenly let out a joyful call.

Wu An understood: "Are you full?"

"That works."

"Hu Zi, I'll come here again tomorrow."

"If you're free, come by and I'll prepare something tasty for you."

Hu Zi let out two calls, then dove straight into the sea.

He left.

Looking at him, he seemed quite anxious.

Wu An showed understanding; he hadn't found any trace of the killer whale pod, indicating Hu Zi brought the sea turtle secretly to see him because of their promise.

Thinking that, Wu An couldn't help but touch his nose.

He felt like he was a bad influence leading a good student astray.

After completely losing sight of Hu Zi, suddenly A Qing shouted, "Brother, brother, come quick—there's something in this sea turtle's mouth."

Wu An hurried over to look.

The sea turtle, which had seemed dull, slowly lifted its head when it saw Wu An approach.

A Qing shouted, "Brother, just like Hu Zi, this sea turtle recognizes you."

Mei Wu pointed at the turtle's shell and said, "There are marks where barnacles have been cleaned off; it must be one you previously rescued."

Only then did A Qing notice, nodding and saying, "Indeed."

Wu An crouched to meet the turtle's gaze, saw in its eyes the same light as in Hu Zi's, and tentatively reached out: "Spit out what's in your mouth."

The little turtle's eyes rolled.

Actually.

When it landed on the boat and saw Wu An, it was really excited.

It had seen its benefactor.

He felt he had been saved.

As a result.

He listened and listened before realizing that his benefactor was actually the mastermind behind his being hijacked by the killer whale.

He... no, even the turtle is stupid.

What is this called?

Did we fall into a thieves' den?

Looking at the harmless benefactor, the sea turtle hesitated for a moment, then still spat out what was in its mouth.

Wu An didn't have time to think, he rinsed it with water.

As expected.

It was ambergris.

A Qing ecstatically shouted: "Brother, brother, you succeeded!"

"We can let Hu Zi go catch more sea turtles."

"Then we'll be able to obtain ambergris continuously."

Wu An hesitated.

This is a method.

But Elder Zhang said, these ambergris pieces were chipped off a large lump of ambergris; judging from now, it's obvious they were bitten off by the sea turtle.

The sea turtle population definitely lives where ambergris is present.

When they have nothing to do, they just bite the ambergris for fun!

What a waste of heavenly bounty!

If Elder Zhang knew, he might give these sea turtles a big showdown.

Wu An even wanted to use the sea turtle to directly obtain ambergris.

He looked at the sea turtle: "Turtle bro, can you understand human speech?"

"I want the thing you spat out."

"Can you take me there?"

Under his gaze, the sea turtle nodded.

A Qing ecstatically jumped up excitedly.

Mei Wu also couldn't hide his excitement, saying: "Really can understand human speech?"

The sea turtle ignored him.

Wu An reached out his hand: "Let's shake hands."

The sea turtle lifted its flipper.

Wu An was ecstatic.

Earlier, the sea turtle had a barnacle on its back and called for help; it wasn't just instinct, it truly possessed human-like understanding.

This is too mystical.

Wu An thought it over and seemed to find nothing unacceptable about it.

He could even have a system.

Hu Zi and the sea turtle sharing a bit of humanity makes sense, right?

A Qing and Mei Wu were both happy and troubled, just like Hu Zi; the sea turtle still only recognizes Wu An.

Wu An asked: "Can you take me there now?"

The sea turtle nodded.

Wu An quickly grabbed the sea turtle and threw it back.

After the sea turtle fell into the seawater, it sank straight down.

Wu An had Lao Fu Tou steer the boat.

As a result, standing by the boat and waiting a while, still no sea turtle surfaced.

What's going on?

A Qing scratched his head: "Brother, why isn't the sea turtle coming to lead the way?"

Mei Wu hesitated: "Could it be that they're deceiving us?"

Wu An: "..."

This makes me look like a Muggle.

Relied on the north.

Actually got played by a sea turtle?

If I said that, nobody would believe it.

After waiting a while longer, still no sign of the sea turtle; Lao Fu Tou watched the three brothers lying on the boat's edge, staring at the sea like a "gazing-at-husband stone," and laughed: "Alright, stop looking."

"That sea turtle is smart; being caught by Hu Zi surely frightened it."

"Once back in the sea, it would hurry to flee."

A Qing glumly: "Then we won't be able to find the ambergris."

Wu An said: "Don't rush."

"Hu Zi can catch once, he can also catch a second time."

"Let's talk about it next time."

Lao Fu Tou nodded and said with a smile: "Not bad, A An's mindset is quite steady."

Wu An gave a bitter laugh twice.

Let Lao Fu Tou sail the boat back.

The appeal of ambergris is beyond doubt, yet this boat's catch is also valuable; in fact, if the sea turtle really took them along, hauling a boatload of catch would be quite inconvenient.

This is quite good.

Let's head back first, and wait until next time we go into action lightly equipped.

He was wondering whether, on their next voyage, if they didn't go out to fish, they should instead go specifically to look for ambergris.