276: Dongsha Atoll

Although the three of them went to bed quite late last night, they all woke up before six the next morning.

After the two women came out of their rest, they didn't immediately make breakfast, but instead started collecting the fish traps and longlines.

Perhaps Bai Xue had told Yao Shanshan about the island's garrison, so she also hurried to help, and the speed of the three people increased significantly.

The setting sail was not equipped with a winch, but fortunately, the crane could be used to help, making it much easier.

The fishery resources in the South China Sea were so abundant that it made people doubt life. Almost every fish trap had seven or eight large Crabs or more.

Unexpectedly, Yao Shanshan had a talent for tying Crabs. After tying two with Bai Xue, she could easily master it on her own.

She was not at all slower than Yang Qi, who had been tying them for several months. It was believed that it wouldn't be long before she completely surpassed Yang Qi.

The harvest from the longlines was even more gratifying, with a hook-up rate of over 70%. The fish species were even more enticing.

In addition to black edge goatfish and Red-spotted Grouper, there were many other valuable fish species such as Wrasse, Sesame Grouper, and White-spotted Grouper.

Black Seabream, Spotted Scat, Sea Bass, Green Grouper, and so on were even more numerous.

The abundant harvest from the fish traps and longlines made everyone give up on admiring the beautiful sunrise over the sea.

Yang Qi also sighed, this was just an island reef in Pratas Island, and the seafood was so rich.

If it were near the Pratas Island archipelago, the aquatic resources would be self-evident.

The Pratas Island archipelago, anciently known as “Luoji” and “Shixing Shitang,” is one of the four major archipelagos in the South China Sea of our country.

It is located about 260 kilometers south of Shanwei City, Guangdong Province, and about 315 kilometers southeast of the Pearl River Estuary.

Pratas Island is located in the northern tropics and has a tropical monsoon climate.

The entire archipelago consists of the Pratas Atoll (Pratas Island and Pratas Reef), the Nanwei Shoal Atoll (reef), and the Beiwei Shoal Atoll (reef).

In Pratas Island, there are over 300 types of coral alone, over 500 types of coral reef fish, over 140 types of birds, and over 120 types of algae. Among them, there are many famous rare species.

It was simply an ocean paradise!

After a simple breakfast, Yang Qi drove the setting sail southwest.

Two hours later, a huge reef flat, half-exposed above the sea, appeared in their view.

This was the famous Pratas Atoll, a huge circular atoll with a diameter of about 13 nautical miles.

However, the reef flat was almost entirely submerged below the sea surface.

It was currently low tide, so the northern part of the reef flat was exposed above the sea. This was how they observed it.

The only island on the atoll that was exposed above the sea was Pratas Island, which was directly west of the reef flat.

The island was garrisoned by troops, who often expelled mainland fishermen who entered the Pratas Island waters.

The last time Yang Qi and Bai Xue discovered a patrol boat nearby, they left by boat.

Currently, Yang Qi and his setting sail were on the eastern side of the reef flat, more than ten nautical miles (about 25 kilometers) away from there.

Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't be easily discovered, as there were many other fishing boats in the nearby waters.

Unless they met head-on, or like last time, a patrol just happened to pass by, there was no need to be too nervous.

Moreover, the atoll had shallow waters and intricate hidden reefs. No one could enter or exit in a straight line.

Except for Yang Qi, the cheater!

Going halfway around the atoll would be thirty or forty nautical miles, making interception almost impossible.

Furthermore, there were quite a few ships in the nearby waters, but none dared to approach as close as the setting sail.

As for why?

It was still the same old saying, there were countless visible and hidden reefs nearby, and no one dared to wander aimlessly on the east side of the reef flat.

Even if one wanted to enter the lagoon within the atoll, they could only use the channel south of Pratas Island.

Only Yang Qi, the cheater, could clearly see the distribution of reefs in the seawater. He could perfectly avoid all hidden reefs.

As long as the setting sail entered the atoll, to put it bluntly, even if the patrol boats on the island discovered them.

They could only watch from several nautical miles away, separated by visible and hidden reefs. They would never dare to risk hitting a reef to chase the setting sail.

Yang Qi activated his ability to check the underwater situation in the nearby waters.

Unfortunately, with the naked eye, the seawater on the reef flat was crystal clear to the bottom, and the corals on the seafloor were clearly visible, offering nothing interesting.

The view passed through the reef flat and entered the lagoon inside, where the water depth was between 7 and 17 meters.

Various coral reef fish were truly dazzling. As far as the eye could see, he spotted five or six types of Sea Bream alone.

Such as Yellow Sea Bream, Black Seabream, red seabream, red seabream, stone bream, Bigeye Snapper, and so on.

Other species like Sea Cucumber, squid, and various reef fish, snails, and shellfish were countless.

The most exaggerated thing was that in just this short amount of time, he even saw five or six East Star Grouper, which were rarely seen in the East China Sea.

It truly lived up to its name as one of the treasure islands of the South China Sea!

Such valuable fish species were everywhere here. If one could fish here often, it would be difficult not to get rich.

However, he suddenly remembered: the East Star Grouper, scientifically known as Plectropomus leopardus, was named East Star Grouper because its body was covered with white spots, resembling stars in the sky, and it was abundant in the Pratas Island archipelago.

Bai Xue and Yao Shanshan stood at the bow, admiring the scenery and taking photos.

Suddenly, they saw Yang Qi driving the setting sail directly into the reef flat.

"Yang Qi, stop quickly!"

"The water here is too shallow; we'll hit a reef."

Yao Shanshan screamed in fright.

The circular reef flat was like a ring, enclosing a lagoon in the middle.

To enter the lagoon, one had to cross this section of shallow reef flat, which was about a nautical mile wide.

The seawater on the reef flat was crystal clear to the bottom, and the visible coral reefs were almost within reach.

"Your husband wants to take you to die together, why do you have to take me too?"

"Are you going to take me down to be your maid?"

Yao Shanshan was so scared that she became incoherent.

Although her life was not going well, she still wanted to live. After all, there were still many experiences she hadn't had yet.

Bai Xue's face was originally a bit pale, but out of habitual trust in Yang Qi, she was relatively calm.

Now, hearing her good sister screaming beside her, she immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha, yes, that's right, I'm going to take you to be a concubine's maid."

Yang Qi naturally ignored the two women bickering at the bow. At this moment, he was closing his eyes, using his ability to sense and avoid each reef.

Those visual traps that seemed deep but were shallow, and shallow but were deep, had no effect on him.

Under his precise control, the setting sail perfectly avoided each reef.

He managed to find a waterway on the reef flat, which was full of reefs.

The two women at the bow watched with bated breath. Can you imagine the experience of watching the ship you are on crash directly into underwater rock pinnacles?

No matter how strong one's heart was, they couldn't endure it!

In the end, even Bai Xue's face turned pale. The two women hugged each other and screamed loudly, closing their eyes and daring not to look.