Chapter 292: The Depths Reveal Their Secrets

Shi Du whispered to Da Jiang, “Isn’t the person from Territory Seven a high-level scent evolutioner?”

Da Jiang nodded but kept quiet about Yan Long’s identity as the leader of the Frogman Special Ops. He just said, “Besides Scent Evolution, she’s a fantastic swimmer.”

Tang Huai, with his sharp hearing, leaned in. “Wait, is she some kind of aquatic evolutioner?”

Da Jiang shot Tang Huai a look. “Ever heard of that kind of evolution?”

After Shizhong delivered another boatload of fish, someone finally lost their composure. The Territory Seven woman had disappeared underwater for ten minutes and hadn’t come up for air. She didn’t even have an oxygen tank. Could she have run out of breath or been killed by some aquatic creature?

Xia Qing was worried too. She hurried over to Da Ya and whispered, “Brother Ya, should we send someone down to check on her?”

Send who? Who here can swim better than Yan Long? Da Ya just grinned and shook his head. “Don’t worry, she’s got skills. Let’s get back to work.”

Five minutes ticked by. At last, Yan Long surfaced, and everyone let out a breath, only to gape in shock—what were those two massive, millstone-sized things she was holding?!

Da Ya rushed over, delighted. “Did you catch evolved old softshell turtles?!”

Yan Long nodded and handed them to Da Ya.

Da Ya checked them right away, then shook his head, disappointed. “Both are Red Lanterns.”

Yan Long didn’t say a word, just turned and dove back into the water. Unlike most people who send water flying everywhere, when Yan Long dove in, it was like the lake made way just for her—not a splash in sight. It looked almost supernatural.

Tang Huai muttered under his breath, “Was she a diver before the Cataclysm?”

Hu Zifeng stood nearby with his gun, gave a dismissive grunt, and couldn’t be bothered to answer someone so clueless.

No one had ever seen such gigantic evolved turtles before. The crowd gathered closer to get a better look.

Qi Fu eyed the muddy shells, a look of sudden realization crossing his face. “They must’ve been hiding in the mud. That’s why they died from the electric shock without floating up. Judging by the size, each one weighs well over a hundred pounds.”

The workers from Territory Twelve rinsed the giant turtles and hauled them over to the scale Kuang Qingwei had brought.

Wow—one weighed in at 195 pounds, the other 213. Even as Red Lanterns, they’re worth a lot of points.

Tang Huai turned to Xia Qing. “You want these two? If not, I’ll have someone carry them off.”

Xia Qing shook her head. If they were hard-shelled tortoises, she might’ve kept the shells to sell, but she had no use for soft-shelled Red Lantern turtles.

After nearly an hour of hard work, everyone finally pulled up all the fish, shrimp, and crabs from the water and sorted them out.

Kuang Qingwei, in charge of weighing, handed his notebook to Xia Qing, grinning ear to ear.

The Red Lantern haul was the biggest—4,150 pounds!

Yellow Lanterns came next at 120 pounds, plus the big Yellow Lantern fish Xia Qing caught earlier, bringing the total to 240 pounds.

Green Lanterns were the rarest, but there were still 49 pounds.

Da Ya got first pick of the Green Lanterns. Everyone grabbed what they wanted from the leftovers, with points calculated at twenty percent off the Safe Zone’s public price: Yellow Lanterns at 40 points per pound, Green Lanterns at 120 points per pound.

It was a great deal, honestly. But since every lord’s territory had rivers and fish ponds anyway, except for big clients like Territory Seven, the others only bought a couple of fish, and those were Yellow Lanterns.

Why not choose Green Lanterns?

Because Territory Seven had already taken over thirty pounds, leaving Xia Qing with just two fish and two big crabs. It’d be rude for anyone else to ask for more.

When the crew from Territory Twelve carted off every last Red Lantern, the rest left happy, with each lord carrying a hefty Yellow Lantern fish that Xia Qing had given them. Only Hu Zifeng, Tang Huai, and Da Ya from Territory Seven stayed behind with Xia Qing by the water.

Four Red Lantern softshell turtles and two Red Lantern evolved leeches had already been caught, but Yan Long was still out in the lake.

If the others weren’t so exhausted, they’d have stuck around too, waiting to see what else Yan Long might haul up.

With nothing to do but wait, Tang Huai sidled up to Xia Qing. “Mitten crabs don’t keep long. Why don’t you fetch the pot and seasonings? I’ll clean them up and steam them for you.”

Xia Qing would’ve loved to boot Tang Huai out before he started cooking. But considering he just transferred nearly a hundred thousand points to her and his family ran a restaurant—and she was curious to try his recipes—she stood and went to get the pot, seasonings, filtered water, and firewood.

“Xia Qing, bring a clean pair of scissors and a bottle of white liquor!” Tang Huai called out again.

Da Ya added, “No need for the liquor. There’s some in the freezer.”

Xia Qing raised her hand to show she heard. She wasn’t just going home for ingredients; she also needed to comfort the friend watching the house.

But when Xia Qing walked in, something felt off.

She stood there for a moment before realizing—the dining table was empty! Xia Qing narrowed her eyes, glaring at Old Goat sprawled on the tatami. “Old Goat, where’s my Pine Nut Corn?”

Old Goat was stretched out on the tatami, looking relaxed at first glance. But Xia Qing immediately spotted the guilt—he wasn’t even chewing his cud!

Xia Qing went to the kitchen for condiments and found Old Goat had tidied all her bowls and chopsticks into the wash basin on the floor. His own food bowl sat beside the filtered water bucket, half-filled with water.

Well, that just confirms it. Feeling guilty enough to do chores unasked.

Before heading out, Xia Qing shot a glare at her still-pretending pet, quickly packed everything into her basket, and called out, “I’m going to the reservoir. Old Goat, keep an eye on the house and quit eating random stuff. If your stomach starts hurting, come find me by the water.”

Old Goat stayed perfectly still, eyes half-lidded, waiting until Xia Qing left before relaxing and going back to chewing his cud.

By the time Xia Qing reached the reservoir with everything, Tang Huai had already cleaned the mitten crabs, removing all the mud and grit, and was lighting the fire.

Tang Huai sprinkled the seasoning onto the crabs and set them to steam. “These crabs are huge and since they’re going in dead, they need to cook longer. Xia Qing, take out a couple fish—we can roast them.”

Before Xia Qing could reply, Da Ya had already pulled three fish from the pile in the freezer that belonged to Territory Seven. “These are best grilled. I’ll handle the fish, you prep the barbecue spices.”

“Deal!” Tang Huai agreed right away, then grinned as he checked with Xia Qing, “Do you have any chilies, onions, or cilantro in your greenhouse?”

Xia Qing asked, “No cilantro. You want green onion stalks or the bulbs?”

Tang Huai, worried she’d kick him out if he asked for bulbs, said, “Just the stalks are fine.”

Hu Zifeng watched Xia Qing head into the greenhouse beside the reservoir, confirming once again the crops growing in her terraces were much higher quality than those in the main farmland greenhouses. Every time he came to fetch vegetables for Brother Luo, Xia Qing always picked from the terraces.

As for why the terrace crops beat the regular ones, Hu Zifeng didn’t know and didn’t ask.

Truthfully, Hu Zifeng admired Xia Qing a lot today. If his own territory had spinach good enough for premium nutrient solution, there’s no way he’d let so many people wander back and forth through his greenhouse.

“Eggplant and string beans are both great grilled—just wash, slice, season them up, and onto the fire. So tasty!” As Xia Qing returned with a bundle of vegetables to wash, Tang Huai started mixing up his family’s secret barbecue blend, chatting away about how it was made.