My fishing raft will ask for help.

Chapter 46 A Natural Lobster Hub

Yu Muzhou didn't bother casting his line; he simply started the fishing boat and headed to the spot Zhou Miao had mentioned.

He then eagerly went to the deck and began fishing in the afternoon under the scorching sun.

On the other side, Lu Xiaoxiao was equally focused.

For her, every voyage is a real opportunity to make money, and she can't afford to be distracted in the slightest.

Meanwhile, Zhou Miao had already begun searching for the shipwreck.

Based on the clues provided by the distress call, the ship must have sunk after hitting the highest point of the reef.

So he swam directly to the highest point based on the terrain of the reef.

The target reef soon came into view, and there were obvious impact marks on a huge reef with a volume of about ten cubic meters.

One side of the reef was even cracked, demonstrating the immense force of the impact.

Once the point of impact is found, the location of the sunken ship should not be difficult to deduce.

Zhou Miao swam downwards in the opposite direction of the impact to search.

However, the expected hull did not appear, which puzzled him greatly.

If the ship isn't here, then where is it?

With questions in mind, Zhou Miao swam back to the boulder at the point of impact and carefully examined it.

When he went around to the other side of the boulder, he saw the shipwreck lying quietly on its side not far away.

Although it did not hit the expected impact point, it is understandable that the thrusters may not have been shut down at the time, and the powerful thrust changed the final sinking location.

The shipwreck is not located at a great depth, only about seven or eight meters. If the water quality is good, its outline can even be seen directly from the surface of the sea.

The bow section of the speedboat was almost completely destroyed, appearing dilapidated.

Seeing this, Zhou Miao understood that salvaging the ship was unavoidable in order to complete the mission of rescuing the reef, but he didn't know how much it would cost.

He first searched the surrounding area. Although he knew the ship was there and the body had most likely floated on the water and been swept away by the waves, he still searched around with a glimmer of hope.

However, it is clear that his efforts were in vain.

Zhou Miao was mentally prepared for this and wasn't particularly disappointed.

He then returned to the shipwreck and slowly approached the wreckage, preparing to search for any belongings left by Lu Xingyu.

However, some subtle movements inside the ship caught his attention.

Upon closer inspection, countless slender tentacles were gently swaying from the gaps in the cabin.

"Good heavens!"

The cabin was packed with lobsters, and they were wavy lobsters that could be bought and sold!

If it were a large flower dragon, Zhou Miao could only watch with envy.

These lobsters are not particularly large individually, mostly weighing between seven or eight ounces and a little over a pound, but their sheer number is astonishing.

The cabin was filled with lobsters, and he had to get rid of them before he could find anything.

Rather than driving them all away, it's better to arrest them all.

He immediately turned around and quickly swam back to the fishing boat.

"Xiaoxiao! Quick! Go get me the landing net!" Zhou Miao surfaced, wiping the seawater from his face, and shouted, "I found a lobster nest down there, and there are so many of them!"

"Right away!" Lu Xiaoxiao agreed and quickly brought over his large net.

Seeing this, Yu Muzhou clicked his tongue and said with a hint of envy, "Tsk tsk, you've stumbled upon such good resources."

What he envied was not how much money the lobsters could sell for, but the thrill of Zhou Miao catching lobsters underwater.

"Haha, I'll get you some sashimi tonight, Zhou-ge, so you can have a taste!" Zhou Miao replied with a smile.

"That would be great!" Yu Muzhou readily agreed.

Zhou Miao bit down on the breathing tube and dived underwater again, heading straight for the sunken ship.

He carefully extended the opening of the net towards the area where the lobsters were densely packed.

The net was too large to reach deep into the narrow cabin space.

However, the intrusion into the net port startled the lobsters, and some of them panicked and desperately squeezed into deeper corners.

The other group panicked and tried to escape, only to run headfirst into the net.

Seeing that quite a few lobsters had already been caught in the net, Zhou Miao decided to stop while he was ahead.

He quickly and firmly placed the net, opening downwards, onto the seabed rocks, and used his feet to firmly hold the edge of the net frame to prevent the lobster from escaping.

Then, he bent down and picked out the lobsters one by one from the net, transferring them to a large net bag he carried with him.

Care must be taken during this process to prevent the lobsters from escaping when the net is opened.

He used a net instead of catching them with his hands because he was afraid that if he got too close, the lobsters would all run away.

That's why he thought of using a net to catch them. He originally only planned to catch a few, but he didn't expect the lobsters to be so stupid and easy to catch.

With just three scoops, the large net bag I carried was stuffed full of lobsters.

Zhou Miao could only go back and ask Lu Xiaoxiao for help to pour the net full of their catch into the live fish hold of the fishing boat.

After settling the lobsters, he went back to continue without stopping.

This sea area is rich in resources, and even the density of lobsters is astonishing.

Zhou Miao made five trips between the underwater vessel and the boat before he could finally catch all the lobsters in the cabin.

After capturing the shipwreck, they searched the shipwreck again, but still found no useful clues.

Zhou Miao had no choice but to go back.

He was undoubtedly disappointed that there was still no concrete news about his brother.

But this is actually good news, because at this point, no news means there is still a glimmer of hope, even if it is theoretically impossible.

Even in his pessimistic state, Zhou Miao still hoped that his good brother was in that impossible hope.

With the oxygen running out, Zhou Miao could no longer continue searching for clues and had to go back first. He planned to secretly provide clues to the police station that night, hoping they would take action.

Back on the boat, when the last net of lobsters was poured into the live fish hold, it was already packed with them, estimated to weigh around a hundred pounds.

"Where did you find this lobster nest? This is fucking outrageous!" Yu Muzhou looked at the situation in the live fish hold with disbelief on his face.

"We were lucky. There was a shipwreck down there, and all the lobsters were hiding inside." Zhou Miao said the shipwreck casually, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Lu Xiaoxiao next to him.

However, her attention was not on that at all; she was thinking about how she had forgotten to learn to swim.

Witnessing firsthand the abundant rewards Zhou Miao had gained from his diving, his desire to dive became incredibly strong once again.

"No wonder!" Yu Muzhou exclaimed in sudden realization, "So we've found a natural habitat for lobsters!"

"Abandoned ships are excellent refuges and nests for them. This place is absolutely treasure trove! Come back in a while, and I guarantee you'll be able to salvage a whole bunch more."

"Of course, that's assuming there are enough lobsters here. But judging from today's haul, we should be able to catch them two or three more times."

Yu Muzhou's words immediately enlightened Zhou Miao, who had originally planned to salvage the sunken ship as soon as possible to complete the mission.

But the prospect of catching lobsters made him immediately change his mind.

The money comes from the sheep. Instead of spending money to salvage the boat now, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to harvest the lobsters here a few more times and use the money from selling the lobsters to pay for the salvage fee?

With this in mind, he decisively put the salvage plan on hold for the time being.

Several rounds of diving and fishing had already exhausted the two oxygen tanks Zhou Miao was carrying.

If you want to go back into the water now, you can only rely on that long snorkel to snorkel.

Looking at the two empty oxygen cylinders, Zhou Miao felt it would be a waste to just throw them away, so he casually asked, "Brother Zhou, do you know where I can refill these oxygen cylinders?"

"I know!" Yu Muzhou nodded. "The fishing club I frequent has a newly opened diving center, which was just completed this year and offers oxygenation services."

"There's such a place?" Zhou Miao exclaimed with delight. "That will make diving much more convenient!"

"Yeah! Watching you dive and catch lobsters today made me a little envious. I was just thinking of signing up for freediving lessons, do you want to come along?"

"Of course I want to!" Zhou Miao replied without hesitation. "I've been thinking about learning fishing and hunting too! If the fish don't bite, we'll just go into the water and shoot them with a speargun!"

For someone who makes a living from the sea, mastering an additional skill that can generate income is undoubtedly the key to survival and development.

He then looked at Lu Xiaoxiao: "Xiaoxiao, do you want to come along? You can learn to swim too."

Lu Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, and asked softly, "Is the tuition expensive for this?"

Yu Muzhou thought for a moment and said frankly, "It probably won't be too cheap; it might cost several thousand yuan."

Before Lu Xiaoxiao could even respond, Zhou Miao shook his head: "Oh, I see. Never mind then! My fishing raft is just starting out, and everything costs money. Let's talk about diving lessons later when we have more money."

Yu Muzhou nodded understandingly and smiled, "That makes sense. Your scuba diving skills are already quite good, so there's really no need to rush into learning freediving right now."

"It's getting late, and I need to pick my child up from school this afternoon. Should we head back now?"

Zhou Miao and Lu Xiaoxiao naturally followed his lead, since the boat belonged to him.

So, just after 2 p.m., they set off for their return journey.