Chapter 532: How Many Slaps Should a Shark Get?

The crane creaked.

The fishing boat tilted slightly.

The net bag was even more bulging than before.

Mei Wu shouted excitedly, "Yay, another net burst! It must be full of catch."

The Fan family brothers stared on with eager anticipation.

Wu An stepped forward, smiling, "It's only been half an hour, but the haul already exceeds the first net."

Fu Yongning nodded, "It looks like a bigger circle."

"If it were all catch, that would be great."

"Open it."

He was already impatient to see what was inside the net bag.

Wu An didn't refuse, went up, grabbed the knot, yanked it hard, then hurried backward.

The crane arm lifted.

The catch splashed and scattered across the deck.

"Whoa, a shark! It's a shark!"

Mei Wu pointed and shouted in amazement.

Among the stingrays, a shark was thrashing vigorously.

Wu An was also stunned, wondering how they had netted this thing.

It can't be sold.

It must be released.

Everyone watching the thrashing shark hesitated, not daring to approach.

Wu An recovered, "Find a way to save it."

Fu Yongning nodded, was the first to go up, and Lao Fu Tou ran out of the Control Room, shouting, "Don't be afraid."

"Now that the shark is on the deck, it's just a fish."

"Mei Wu, pour seawater over the shark."

"Fu Yongning, go get the life jackets."

Fu Yongning replied, turned and ran to fetch protective gear.

"Everyone put on life jackets; before we release the shark we must ensure our own safety," Lao Fu Tou led, and everyone gradually calmed down, cautiously approaching the shark.

Lao Fu Tou said, "This shark is big, but if we work together we should be able to return it to the sea."

Under his command, everyone coordinated, lashing the shark's tail with rope and dragging it slowly; Lao Fu Tou supported the shark's head, and the shark struggled, brushing past his hand several times.

Wu An watched, his heart pounding, while Lao Fu Tou remained unflustered.

After a while, they finally eased the shark back into the sea and untied the rope.

Wu An noticed Hu Zi watching nearby, and after seeing the shark seemed restless; Wu An quickly called, "Hu Zi, it's fine, it's fine, don't worry about that shark."

Hu Zi's big head then resurfaced.

Wu An knew that in front of the Killer Whale, this mistakenly caught shark was nothing to worry about; a fatal collision would make the shark just a tasty snack for Hu Zi.

If they hadn't seen it, that would be fine.

The shark they had just barely released was instantly taken down by Hu Zi.

Then their effort was in vain.

After the shark entered the water, it dove quickly, moving energetically; Lao Fu Tou, who had been watching from the side of the boat, laughed, "It looks like we successfully released the shark."

Everyone was pleased.

Mei Wu laughed, "I'll tell A Qing; earlier I saw him in the Control Room looking all flustered, probably wanting to join in."

He ran to the Control Room to tell A Qing the good news.

A Qing didn't seem happy, but hummed, "I'm the one who's flustered."

"You didn't even give that shark a few slaps, that's why you're anxious."

"That shark got netted because it was trying to steal our catch."

"If we don't slap that shark a few times, it'll definitely do it again."

Mei Wu said wordlessly, "Probably not."

A Qing: "I'm not angry that it ate some catch; I'm angry, but more because I'm thinking of the shark, to teach it a lesson."

Wu An walked in, laughing, "Makes sense."

Mei Wu: "…"

He often feels he isn't perverse enough, making him feel out of place.

Not lingering in the Control Room, the two drank a large cup of tea, returned to the deck to continue handling the stingrays; the third net was lowered again, but Hu Zi came over to say goodbye.

The Orca Pod was about to leave.

Wu An quickly had Hu Zi call the Orca Pod together, fed them a round of ice, then said farewell.

"Thank you all for your help."

"See you next time."

"If you run into trouble, you can come find me."

"Hu Zi, you can find me, right?"

Hu Zi's big head nodded, and Wu An, seeing this, was delighted.

Too bad Hu Zi can't use a satellite phone; otherwise we'd give him one, so that at sea, whether he or Hu Zi encounters trouble, they could contact each other anytime.

"Now, then."

One can only rely on chance encounters, or arrange a meeting time and place in advance.

If there's nothing important, he wouldn't dare to casually make an appointment, because if the weather turns bad he can't go out to sea, which would cause him to miss the appointment and fail to release Hu Zi's pigeon, which would be bad.

I've heard that a killer whale's whistle can travel several dozen kilometers, indicating that killer whales can hear messages from several dozen kilometers away; I don't know whether Hu Zi can sense him from far away.

This can only be left for later, to be slowly tried and confirmed.

The killer whale pod drifted away, and when it surfaced again far off, the lead whale cried out; Hu Zi and Wu An each called back, presumably saying goodbye, and then quickly dove into the water.

Soon after, the killer whale pod disappeared from sight.

……

Wu An processed devil fish while checking the Luck Value changes of the trawl; without the killer whale's help, the Luck Value dropped much more slowly, suggesting the catch in these waters isn't great.

There's nothing to be done about it.

Hu Zi is a friend; helping out is fine, but we can't keep him busy like a worker nonstop.

Let's take it slow.

The Luck Value in hand is enough for another two trawls at most; worst case, we just spend a bit more time on the next two trawls, and as long as we have Luck Value, we won't come up empty.

The second trawl had even more devil fish—over two hundred—and Fu Yongning estimated it at over three tons.

After processing the devil fish and storing them all in the icehouse, it was already 4 p. m.; nobody could rest yet, we gathered the trash brought up by the net and simply rinsed the deck; the whole procedure looks tedious, and indeed it is not easy.

But as always, these procedures must be followed; forming the habit over time brings only benefits, no drawbacks.

Wu An went to the control room, and Lao Fu Tou asked, "When will we lift the net?"

Wu An said, "Without the killer whale's help, this trawl will take longer."

"Continue north."

"Let's see how this trawl goes; if it doesn't work out, we'll head east."

"Okay, I'll follow your lead."

Lao Fu Tou was still at the helm, keeping the ship speed at about four knots; Wu An watched and almost wanted to praise, "Really as steady as an old dog," but he swallowed the words.

This phrase "as steady as an old dog" is actually complimentary online, usually used to praise people, but it's not yet popular; if Lao Fu Tou heard it, he might misunderstand and hold a grudge, which would be bad.

The sky grew dark.

While the trawl was still operating, everyone hurried to arrange dinner.

Fan Xiao Zhu was in charge of cooking.

The meal was fairly simple; at sea, fresh seafood is indispensable, so we picked a smaller devil fish and prepared a whole devil fish feast—steamed, crispy, and stir-fried.

One must admit, its low price has its reasons.

The taste is indeed just average.