Chapter 468: What Are You Looking At?

Wu An thought for a moment and tied three safety ropes to himself.

If anything really happened, he could react immediately.

Time passed second by second.

Wu An could already imagine the scene of Lao Fu Tou, A Qing and Mei Wu frantically scooping up White Butterfly Clams.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Wu An kept watching the time and had set a half‑hour alarm; the alarm just rang, Lao Fu Tou surfaced, gasping heavily.

"A An."

Lao Fu Tou wasn't far away; after shouting, Wu An hurried to pull the rope, but it wouldn't budge, so he tied the rope to the winch and finally hauled Lao Fu Tou over.

Lao Fu Tou got onto the ship and collapsed onto the deck from exhaustion.

Wu An hurriedly asked, "A Qing and Mei Wu?"

Lao Fu Tou said, "They're still down on the seabed; I came up to tell you so you can use the winch to pull up the net bag—we really can't move it."

Wu An was startled, "That many?"

Lao Fu Tou chuckled, nodded, and said, "Exactly, there are so many White Butterfly Clams we can't even scoop them all."

They stayed on the seabed for half an hour, but not a moment was idle; if the agreed time hadn't arrived and the net bag couldn't hold any more, they could have kept going.

Because there were just too many White Butterfly Clams, they couldn't haul them up.

Mainly they were too exhausted to have strength.

Wu An used the winch and quickly pulled the net bag up; A Qing and Mei Wu also surfaced, and A Qing shouted excitedly, "Brother, I alone collected forty‑five White Butterfly Clams."

Wu An smiled, gave a thumbs‑up, and reached to grab the net bag, but as soon as his hand extended, the bag tore open and White Butterfly Clams went "bang bang bang" onto the deck.

These White Butterfly Clams were much larger than the ones they had gotten before.

Wu An fetched them tea cups.

A Qing drank it all in one gulp, let out a long sigh, and said, "Brother, I specifically looked for the big ones; there must be more pearls inside, don't you think?"

Wu An smiled and nodded, "That's for sure."

In fact,

The size of the White Butterfly Clams and the amount of pearls aren't directly proportional, but since A Qing said that, he had to agree.

Lao Fu Tou said, "It's unbelievable that wild White Butterfly Clams can be this abundant."

"I guess cultivated White Butterfly Clams aren't this many."

"Ambergris plus White Butterfly Clams—I can't even imagine how much money this trip could earn."

Hearing Lao Fu Tou say that, A Qing and Mei Wu burst into hearty laughter.

Actually,

Lao Fu Tou thought White Butterfly Clams were more valuable than Ambergris; although Ambergris fetches a higher price, it's a one‑time trade, whereas White Butterfly Clams are different.

White Butterfly Clams have been breeding in this sea region for countless years, never discovered by anyone, and likely never will be.

This is wealth that belongs solely to them.

And it's sustainably harvestable.

Lao Fu Tou wanted to go down again, but Wu An stopped him; even though his Luck Value was boosted, the seabed is still the seabed, and even without side effects, the human body must endure great pressure down there.

Lao Fu Tou was, after all, old.

After resting for almost an hour, Wu An and the two others went down to the sea.

The underwater world is actually very beautiful.

Countless varied corals formed towering underwater structures, nurturing myriad marine creatures—sea fish, shrimp and crab, and many others that Wu An couldn't name or had never even seen.

Some fish weren't afraid of him at all.

They swam right beside him, some even met his gaze and blew bubbles at him.

Wu An couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you looking at?"

"What of you?"

"Keep looking."

"Who are you with?"

Wu An saw an octopus and immediately covered it with the net bag.

"Where are you running!"

Soon, a White Butterfly Clam appeared in his sight.

Wu An glanced at its size and took it down.

He kept walking forward.

After just a couple of steps, he saw another White Butterfly Clam.

The fatigue was real.

It seemed fun to walk on the seabed, and indeed it was fun, but not very comfortable.

Half an hour later.

The three returned to the ship, and the deck was already piled with White Butterfly Clams, forming a small hill.

The sun was setting in the west.

A Qing couldn't afford to rest, lit a cigarette, and said, "Brother, stop standing there; while it's still not dark, let's go down once more."

Wu An thought for a moment and said, "Forget it."

"We can come back to this place later; as long as no other fishermen discover it, it will remain our exclusive treasure."

There's no need to be too impatient.

Lao Fu Tou said, "Listen to A An, see how tired you all are."

He kept speaking.

He walked over, let A Qing sit down, gave a gentle tug, and A Qing ended up sitting on the ground; he was exhausted, only the impulse to earn money kept him going.

If this keeps up, it'd be a miracle if nothing goes wrong.

Lao Fu Tou continued, "In this place, no one can speak about it after we go back."

A Qing nodded, "I won't tell, I won't tell, not even my mother."

"Brother, I won't speak in my sleep, right?"

"I'm afraid I'll speak in my sleep…"

Wu An shook his head.

He looked at Mei Wu, "You speak in your sleep."

"…" Mei Wu was speechless for a moment, saw Wu An wasn't joking, and said seriously, "It's fine, I don't have a girlfriend either; from now on I'll lock the door when I sleep."

A Qing said, "Me too."

Even if we don't speak in our sleep, we still need an extra layer of insurance.

Lao Fu Tou said, "A An, don't worry; I'm a five‑guarantee household, and if I drink, I haven't been drunk in twenty years; I can definitely keep the secret."

Wu An smiled.

He actually wasn't worried at all.

It was Lao Fu Tou and the other two who were extremely nervous.

As long as he's out at sea, what does the White Butterfly Clam matter? Even if they're gone here, he's confident he'll find better ones elsewhere later.

They sorted the White Butterfly Clams; all were large, but they divided them into three sizes. Wu An took the smallest and said, "From now on, we won't pick any smaller than this."

A Qing and the other two nodded.

After all, they're not farmed; since they're a gift from the heavens, we shouldn't take them indiscriminately—taking them like geese plucking feathers might offend the heavens.

The three rested briefly, Lao Fu Tou went to launch the boat, and the three headed straight for the Crab Pot site.

It wasn't far away.

Similar to last time, there were many Orchid Crabs, but far fewer Mantis Shrimp, which is normal; Mantis Shrimp are seasonal and will disappear completely after a while.

If we want to eat them, we'll have to wait until next year.

The Crab Pot brought in six White Butterfly Clams; this shows their distribution is quite wide. Lao Fu Tou found it odd—why hadn't they been discovered before?

Wu An had no other surprises.

That makes sense.

Others aren't cheating; even while operating here, they couldn't find them.

The Trawling that once covered Ambergris was actually evidence; the seabed here is complex, and setting nets here easily causes problems, which is probably why few come here.