Chapter 291: Jackpot at the Reservoir

During years of disaster, nothing gets people more excited than a food haul.

As soon as word got out, people couldn’t even wait for the rain to stop. They grabbed their gear and headed straight for Section Three, crossing the Northern Barrier to reach the reservoir.

When everyone arrived at the water’s edge, they were stunned by the endless number of fish floating on the surface.

This wasn’t some lightning punishment from the heavens; it was like the universe decided to bless Xia Qing with a windfall!

Xia Qing was busy helping Ji Li build a bamboo raft when she noticed over twenty people from Territory Ten had showed up. She quickly called out a greeting.

Shizhong, who was handy with fishing, took over for Xia Qing and started making the raft with his son. Qi Fu led a team casting nets and scooping fish from the reservoir, while Xia Qing, Yuan Yan, and Zhu Li organized people to test for Qiang element levels and sort the catch.

Ten minutes later, Tang Huai, Chang Li, and Hu Zifeng’s squad arrived. Five minutes after that, Territory Seven showed up with their tools. The air by the reservoir was buzzing with shouts and laughter.

Fish, crabs, shrimp, eels, frogs, leeches and all sorts of unidentifiable evolved aquatic creatures were scooped up net after net.

There were way too many aquatic creatures smaller than a finger to test them one by one. They just sealed them up for safety, treating them all as ‘red light’ grade.

Anything bigger than a finger was tested and sorted into three groups based on Qiang element levels, then sealed up quickly. Anything edible went straight into the big freezer.

Where’d the freezer come from? Of course it was Third Brother who flexed and made Da Ya and his crew haul it over. When it comes to good food, Zhang San spares no expense!

Tang Huai didn’t fight Zhang San for the edible fish. Instead, he sidled up to Xia Qing and asked quietly, “What’s your plan for all these Red Lantern Fish?”

Xia Qing had already figured it out when she saw these fish. “Could you ask Director Tang if he’d be interested?”

“Sure, I’ll check.” Tang Huai pretended to make a quick call to his dad, then hurried back to Xia Qing. “My dad says as long as you name the price, we want all you’ve got. They’re dead, but still fresh. Doesn’t matter what species, we’ll do 26 points a pound for everything. Sound good?”

“Deal.”

Since Territory One still had a big stockpile of wild birds to process, Xia Qing made Tang Zhengbo her first-choice trading partner for this batch.

Fish and shrimp spoil fast after dying, so they had to be handled and frozen quickly. That meant labor and electricity costs. Xia Qing had originally planned to sell to Tang Zhengbo for two points less per pound than the Safe Zone market price, but when he offered one point more, she wasn’t about to say no.

With just one extra point per pound, this whole reservoir haul would net her thousands more!

“Alright, I’ll send someone over to start moving fish right now.” Tang Huai grinned and texted his dad, then darted off to help check out the next big net Shizhong pulled in.

“Got a Green Lantern!” After checking nearly a hundred fish, Shi Du finally found an edible one and shouted in excitement, handing it to Ji Li.

Ji Li sealed it up and stashed it straight in the freezer.

Workers paddled the loaded bamboo rafts to shore. Shi Du and Guan Tong lifted the raft and dumped its contents onto rain tarps spread out on the bank for the others to check.

Hu Zifeng and Jing Kuan stood guard on either side of the reservoir with rifles, picking off any birds attracted by the smell and trying to steal the catch. Everything ran like a well-oiled machine.

Qi Fu held up an eel over half a meter long and shouted, “Hey Ji, Green Lantern Eel!”

That’s another rare one! Cheers broke out as everyone picked up the pace.

Zhu Li found an evolved yellow lantern crab and waved it overhead, shouting, “This has to be an evolved mitten crab! I’ve been here half a year, and I never even knew we had these!”

“Let me see!” Chang Li, a crab fan, rushed over to check under the lamp. “You’re right!”

Nearby, Kuang Qingwei held up a dark-patterned fish and showed Tang Huai. “Huai, isn’t this a flathead? Green Lantern grade.”

Tang Huai inspected it. “Sure is. This stuff’s gold—live ones go for 280 points a pound. We’ve even got them at our shop. Xia Qing scored big this time.”

After hearing so many good finds, Xia Qing shouted, “All edible fish, shrimp, and crabs today are twenty percent off! Take as much as you want!”

Chang Li immediately chimed in, “I won’t fight Third Brother for the Green Lanterns, but I’m buying up all the Yellow Lantern mitten crabs! Thanks!”

Zhu Li joined too. “I want four pounds of eel. I’ve searched this place half a year and never found an edible one.”

Xia Qing’s phone buzzed twice in her pocket. She hung up, checked the screen, and—sure enough—it was Xin Yu. She grabbed two big bags of Red Lantern Fish, sealed tight, and rushed off to the Northern Barrier. “All Red Lanterns—one hundred fifty pounds. I didn’t have time to grab the chestnuts and pine nuts from home, but I’ll bring them tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” Xin Yu took the bags and handed Xia Qing six heads of Greenlight Garlic. “Do you have more fish? If so, I’ll take another 150 pounds and keep trading garlic.”

Of course Xia Qing agreed. “Can you carry it all in one run? If not, I’ll go get it now.”

Xin Yu shook her head—she wasn’t a strength evolver, so 150 pounds was already pushing it.

“Do you want any edible fish or shrimp? I’ll give you the same twenty percent off as the Safe Zone price.” Xia Qing offered.

“I don’t eat seafood,” Xin Yu declined, then slung the heavy bags over her shoulder and left.

Xia Qing called after her, “Just bring four heads of garlic next time. I’ll still give you the Red Lanterns at a discount.”

“Don’t bother,” Xin Yu replied curtly, already walking away.

Another one who clearly isn’t strapped for cash. Xia Qing was about to head back when she heard footsteps from the east. She ducked behind a tree and, after a quick glance, called out, “Yan?”

Yan Long, dressed in a wetsuit, answered, “I’m here to relieve Ji Li.”

“Oh, got it!” Xia Qing led her into the territory and back to the reservoir. Ji Li must’ve known Yan Long would show up—he just nodded at her and turned to Xia Qing.

Before Ji Li could ask, Xia Qing spoke up. “Anything in the freezer that Third Brother likes, you can bring back with you.”

“Thank you.” Ji Li weighed all the Green Lantern fish, shrimp, and crabs they’d collected and hauled them back to Territory Seven.

Zhu Li whispered some gossip to Yuan Yan, “The newcomer’s that ninth-level scent evolver from Territory Seven, right? You remember her? We saw her last time she went with Third Brother to raid Territory Nine for contraband.”

That last meeting left Zhu Li envious when she found out Yan Long was a high-level evolver; the only thing she never knew was her name.

Yuan Yan nodded gently—she recognized her too. She’d been jealous of Yan Long as well, but now everything felt a lot better. After all, she was now an evolver herself, and a dual-system at that—extremely useful for farming.

Yan Long whispered to Xia Qing, “Want me to check the bottom?”

Seeing Yan Long suited up, Xia Qing knew she wanted to scout for loot underwater. She nodded, then added quietly, “There are places in this reservoir more than ten meters deep. Be careful, Yan.”

Yan Long just nodded, then jumped straight into the water, drawing everyone’s stares.

Sure, the reservoir had just been cleared by a lightning storm, but this was evolved Blue Star—who knew if anything underwater was immune to electricity? It was risky business going in.