The giant whale, after diving, clearly engaged in a fierce battle with the greedy aquatic creatures. Patches of blood occasionally surfaced on the nearby sea, accompanied by unfortunate sea beings floating belly-up, half-dead.
The Fatty accepted these unfortunate sea creatures without refusal, hauling every single one onto the boat.
"Hey Fatty, what are you collecting so many of these things for?" Wu Tianzhen, harboring a hidden worry for the giant whale, hadn't paid much attention to Fatty. But when a glance caught a glimpse of an octopus with over a dozen legs and a ring of eyes, he couldn't help but twitch his lips.
"Oh, Tianzhen, that's where your business acumen is lacking!" Fatty replied, excitedly salvaging. "We can't eat all of this, but since we're heading back soon anyway, these strange creatures can fetch a good price if sold on shore!"
As he spoke, he bent down to rummage through the sea creatures that had lived in the darkness of the seabed, growing haphazardly. "Damn it!" he exclaimed, pulling out a living, world-protected animal and quickly flinging it back into the water as if it were a plague.
Zhang Qiling, leaning against the cabin wall with his arms crossed, basking in the sun, saw this scene. For some reason, his thoughts drifted, and he remembered the Mr. Mantis Shrimp who had sacrificed himself at the bottom of the sea without seeking reward.
... He wondered how Mr. Mantis Shrimp was doing now.
Just as he thought this, Wu Tianzhen's surprised voice rang out—
"Whoa, Fatty, look what's floating over there!"
"What? Let me see... Damn! That thing has a shell!"
"A crab? Are crabs that big? Good heavens, its shell is smashed to pieces, it died so miserably..."
"Ah, whatever it is, Fatty thinks it's edible. Let's just haul it up and see. If we can't identify it, we still have Little Brother, right?"
...
Not long after, Zhang Qiling found himself staring expressionlessly at Mr. Mantis Shrimp, who was beaten to a pulp and had no head.
"Little Brother, Little Brother!" Wu Tianzhen was still chattering, "Do you know what this is? Is it edible? My goodness, I can't imagine what it went through down there, how it ended up like this, it's too terrifying!"
Zhang Qiling: ... (his gaze slowly drifted away).
Hei Jing, one of the culprits, also came over, mockingly stroking his chin and observing, as if he truly knew nothing about it.
After a long while, the oblivious Little Hei clapped his hand and said cheerfully, "I think it's a crab, let's roast it~"
... And so, everyone enjoyed a "crab" feast.
Zhang Qiling's mood had been complicated, but when he dived into the cockpit and searched online, discovering that eating a dead (emphasis on dead) protected animal was not illegal in this world, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he began to ponder a question—
As far as he knew, this kind of "spoken word becomes reality" talent was exclusively Wu Tianzhen's...
Had he been infected by Wu Tianzhen?
—
Finally, the group returned with a full harvest. Fatty, carrying a batch of sea creatures with ghostly appearances, was warmly welcomed by curious onlookers by the sea.
As Wu Tianzhen disembarked, he found it quite incredible, feeling as if he were dreaming.
... They had taken this boat out for a spin, and the boat hadn't been scrapped?!
Although some parts of the deck were scorched black, the outer protective paint was mostly scraped off, the hull was dented and bulging, and he had almost broken the steering lever...
But at least it wasn't scrapped!!
Wu Tianzhen considered this a great improvement and, overjoyed, decided to give the lucky boat a kiss.
Then, turning his head, he saw the boat owner, Hei Jing, happily selling the lucky boat for scrap and immediately taking a dollar from the scrap money to buy a lollipop and pop it into his mouth.
Wu Tianzhen: ???
The lucky person who suddenly struck gold, acquiring a good boat at scrap price, was overjoyed. He had already bought several ghostly sea creatures from Fatty, and now he had bought a boat from Hei Jing. For a moment, he thought this group of people had come here to do charity.
So, the lucky person, passing by the dazed Little Zhang, stopped excitedly, looking left and right, trying to see what Zhang Qiling was selling.
But clearly, Zhang Qiling had nothing but himself. After looking for a long time, the lucky person finally noticed the cloth bag behind him (the Black Gold Ancient Blade) and, perhaps hoping to strike gold again, tentatively pointed at it.
"Your this—"
"Not for sale," Zhang Qiling interrupted immediately.
Little Zhang intended to leave this boring and noisy place, but how could the scoundrel Hei Jing miss such a great opportunity?
He directly hooked his arm around him, smiling and saying, "Hey, my buddy here is terrible at attracting customers, so I, as a kind person, have to help him~"
"Do you know what he's selling?" Hei Jing leaned in mysteriously.
The lucky person also leaned in, cooperating with the atmosphere, "Selling what?"
"Hmph hmph~" Hei Jing suddenly darted behind Zhang Qiling, spreading his hands as if displaying a product.
"Selling photos, hahahaha~"
Before Zhang Qiling could react and smash Hei Jing's skull, Hei Jing had already pulled out a megaphone from somewhere and was shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Photos for sale~ Take a picture with the handsome guy, ten yuan per photo~"
"Only ten yuan, only ten yuan, you can't lose, you can't be cheated, come and see, everyone~"
Zhang Qiling: ... You're dead.
The lucky person hadn't quite understood what was going on, but when he looked over blankly, he met Zhang Qiling's eyes, which were about to turn into those of a cold shark. The entire person seemed to be electrified, a numbness shooting from his tailbone to the crown of his head.
This numbness was no small matter; he directly pulled out a hundred-yuan bill—
"I'll take a hundred yuan's worth first!"
Zhang Qiling: ...? (I think there's something wrong with you)
No one could answer Little Zhang's confusion, but Hei Jing's shout, to be honest, actually had a good effect.
Soon, Zhang Qiling was surrounded.
At this point, Hei Jing reappeared. He didn't know where he'd gotten another Polaroid camera and was professionally calling customers to line up, collecting money as if he were an escaped cashier from some unknown bank.
So, when Fatty finished selling the sea creatures and swaggered over to Wu Tianzhen with a large sum of money, he could only see a lively crowd, more so than ever.
"...What's going on?" Fatty scratched his chin. "Where's Little Brother? Why can't I see Little Brother?"
Wu Tianzhen slowly pointed to the center of the crowd, his face a mixture of uncontrollable smiles and forced restraint.
"Isn't he right there?" He turned his head solemnly to look at Fatty. "Honestly, Fatty, I think Little Brother probably earned more than you on this round, hahahaha!"
Fatty: ?! Holy crap!