"What happened?"
Li Haochen took off his shirt and took the wet towel handed by Murong Yanran to wipe his face, making an excuse, "It was damp on the mountain, I slipped a couple of times and ended up like this."
"Honestly, what's so good about digging? Just buy it online. Go wash up quickly, you're covered in mud."
Looking at Murong Yanran and the others, Li Haochen really wanted to share the surprise of the treasure with everyone. However, after much consideration, he decided it was better to keep it a secret. If any trouble arose, it would be better for him to bear it alone than to implicate them all.
After eating, Li Haochen gathered everyone and explained the usage of snorkeling gear and some snorkeling techniques. In reality, he had only searched for this information online and had never properly learned it. He figured that as long as one could swim and wasn't afraid of water, they would get the hang of it after a few tries. Of course, during the process, they might end up drinking a bit of diluted saltwater.
Since Xie Baolian wasn't going snorkeling and it wouldn't be safe to leave her alone on the deserted island, he sent her back to the Starship, also taking some of their luggage with them.
Upon returning, he saw that everyone had changed their clothes and were eagerly anticipating the last item on their island excursion.
"Everyone warmed up? Then let's set off."
Pushing the kayak into the water, Li Haochen helped propel it forward by holding the sides as Murong Yanran and the other four women sat inside.
The snorkeling spot Li Haochen chose wasn't far, only about a hundred meters from the beach, with a water depth of about 1.5 meters. It was their first time, and he dared not take them to deeper waters. A shallow experience would suffice.
"We're here. Remember not to go too deep, just around here. Safety first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen He, that guy, couldn't wait and jumped into the water, raising his small speargun and laughing heartily, "Hahaha, watch me treat you all to a magnificent seafood feast today."
"Boss, let's have a competition, see who gets more, hehe!"
"Bring it on, who's afraid of whom!"
The two were extremely excited and dove into the water in different directions. Li Haochen was keen to snorkel as well, but with four girls around, he had to keep a close eye on them.
"Hahaha, I caught a fish!"
About twenty meters away, Chen He triumphantly held up the small yellow croaker speared on his arrow and shouted.
"I say, boss, don't show off your little stick, it's embarrassing to watch. Come, come, let me show you my big one, hehe!"
With that, Liu Dehui lifted a giant clam the size of a washbasin, a lecherous smile on his face, "How about it, big enough? Hahaha!"
"Holy cow, not bad, second brother! Such a big clam must be thirty to forty catties. Tell me... is there a pearl inside?"
Chen He lost interest in fishing and the two happily walked back, carrying the large clam.
"Wow... what a big clam!"
Liu Zijun's exclamation drew the attention of Murong Yanran and the others.
"Where did you two dig that up?"
"There, over there. Aren't you envious, third brother? Hehe!"
"Congratulations to you two for winning a half-pound silver bracelet and a five-year all-inclusive luxury trip. I can't be envious, hahaha."
"Uh... what do you mean?"
"This is a Tridacna gigas, a Class I protected animal. Got it?"
"What the heck~"
The two were shocked and quickly threw the Tridacna aside. Watching the Tridacna sink to the seabed, Li Haochen's eyes darted around. He then dove down, brought the Tridacna to the surface, "You two watch them. I'll take it back to its original location. Give me a speargun. It's going to be incredibly difficult for you guys to eat seafood if it's up to you."
And so, Li Haochen slowly walked, carrying the Tridacna. After a few minutes, seeing that he had gone a considerable distance, he looked back at the others before immersing himself and the Tridacna into the space.
"Big fellow, stay here and multiply in the future. It's too dangerous out there, hehe."
After placing the Tridacna in the sea, Li Haochen exited the space. Unexpectedly, not far away, Li Haochen spotted another small Tridacna, but he didn't collect it. One was enough for the ocean in his space.
Tridacna are quite special creatures; they are hermaphroditic. They breed in summer, with males maturing first, followed by the development and maturation of their ovaries. The shell contracts or opens during the process of releasing sperm and eggs, releasing sperm first and then eggs. Each release of sperm and eggs can amount to hundreds of millions, and while the number sounds astonishing, very few out of the hundreds of millions successfully develop. Coupled with some poachers stealing them for their shells, this is one of the main reasons for their endangered status.
Li Haochen was not an ocean novice like Chen He and his companion. With his rich experience, he knew how to find catches among these coral reefs.
Arching his body and lowering his head, he stroked with his frog-like arms, kicking his legs alternately. In just a few strokes, Li Haochen was close to the bottom, swimming slowly, his eyes constantly scanning the crevices of the strangely shaped coral reefs.
A few scallops clinging to the side crevices caught Li Haochen's eye. Slightly pleased, he turned his body, swam over, took out a hook, pried them out, and threw them into his net bag.
Although his target was fish, he couldn't pass these up when he found them. With minced garlic and vermicelli, they tasted exceptionally good.
"Puff~"
A few splashing sounds attracted Li Haochen's attention. The splashing continued, and he swam towards the sound, circling the edge of the coral reef.
Suddenly, in a low-lying area not far ahead, a large grouper, about thirty to forty centimeters long, was locked in a fierce battle with a mud crab. Well, actually, the grouper was teasing the crab, playing with it. The slow-moving crab was no match for the fierce grouper.
As expected, the grouper shook its tail, lunged forward, bit the left pincer of the mud crab, and with a flick, it was already a meter away. The mud crab, with its pincer gone, hadn't even reacted when a stream of cold water flowed past. The mud crab's eyes widened and it turned, feeling a chill. It looked to its side. "Holy cow, where did my pincer go?"
The grouper crunched twice, and the crab's pincer was instantly shattered. Within two seconds, it was swallowed. The unsatisfied grouper, with ferocity renewed, launched another fierce attack...
"Bang~"
With bloodshot eyes and a gaping mouth, just as it was about to reach the mud crab's face, Li Haochen decisively pulled the trigger. With a "咻" sound, the grouper was pierced through by the crossbow bolt. However, it didn't die immediately and was struggling violently, stirring the clear seawater around it into turbidity.
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Remember to look in all directions next life, fish, hehe!"
After dealing with the grouper, the single-clawed mud crab couldn't escape Li Haochen's grasp either. With a scoop of his net, it was smoothly sent into the net bag.
He surfaced, took a few breaths of fresh air, weighed the net bag in his hand, and smiled with satisfaction. This was enough; there was no need to continue.
The net bag was quite heavy, but thankfully, the buoyancy of the seawater shared some of the weight, preventing Li Haochen from being dragged to the seabed while swimming. However, he had to kick his legs more frequently.
After more than ten minutes, he returned to the kayak. His legs were starting to cramp, and he was startled, quickly throwing the net bag down.
"What's wrong?"
Murong Yanran, who was on the kayak, saw Li Haochen's slight discomfort and asked anxiously.
"Too many fish, my legs almost cramped from kicking, hehe!"
"Too many fish?"
Chen He dove into the water and saw the large net bag of catches next to Li Haochen's feet... A string of bubbles immediately rose from the sea surface.