382: Boxes at the bottom of the sea

Although Yang Qi spoke with such confidence, this wasn't the East Sea after all, and it was so close to the Philippines that it was actually possible to encounter Philippine vessels.

However, the fishing resources here were simply too abundant; since he had come, he definitely had to fleece them for a bit. While those pearls were worth at least a million yuan, it was still far from enough.

Yang Qi drove the fishing boat forward another hundred meters or so.

When he was harvesting the White Butterfly Shells earlier, he had discovered many ten-plus-pound Mouse Groupers, East Star Groupers, and Big Black Carps in the coral reefs here.

Sure enough, the two of them caught two Mouse Groupers weighing about ten pounds each on their very first cast.

"Wow! Hubby, look at the fish I caught. Isn't it big?"

Bai Xue held up the net bag for Yang Qi to see, looking like an elementary school student seeking praise from a teacher.

"What a big Mouse Grouper! How are you so amazing?"

After Yang Qi finished speaking, he also scooped up the large Mouse Grouper he had caught.

"Wow! Yours is just as big! We're both equally amazing!"

The two of them flattered each other, and the atmosphere was very lively as large Mouse Groupers and East Star Groupers were pulled up from underwater one after another.

Yang Qi suddenly remembered that at the end of harvesting the White Butterfly Shells in the afternoon, he seemed to have seen something strange.

At that time, because the net bag was already full, Bai Xue was pulling him toward the surface. He had caught a glimpse of it inadvertently, but since it was far away, he couldn't see it clearly.

Now that he remembered it, he decided to investigate and see exactly what it was, or if his eyes had been playing tricks on him at the time.

So, he changed the shape of his ability, narrowing his field of vision, and began to scan the underwater area.

First, he found the place where he had harvested the White Butterfly Shells, and using his memory, he began to search outward. Finally, about eighty meters to the south, he found that object.

It was a grayish block covered in seaweed with many shells clinging to it. Although it looked very similar to the nearby reefs, there were significant differences.

Whether in its perfectly square shape or its color, it appeared quite conspicuous compared to the surrounding reefs.

"It feels like it might be a box!"

"Have I discovered another treasure chest?"

Yang Qi's heart rate accelerated; the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Natural reefs couldn't be so perfectly square. After some consideration, he decided to go back into the water to investigate.

"Xiaoxue, I'm going back into the water. You stay up here and fish for a bit."

Yang Qi spoke to Bai Xue while taking off his clothes.

"Hmm? Don't you need me to go with you?"

"Not for now. I'll go take a look first!"

Yang Qi waved his hand, grabbed an entrenching shovel, and entered the water from the aft deck.

Before long, he found the strange object. He immediately swam toward it; the closer he got, the clearer it became. This was clearly a box.

Arriving in front of it, he used the shovel to gently clear away the growths on the box and discovered it was actually a locked wooden chest.

The dimensions were roughly fifty centimeters long, forty centimeters wide, and thirty centimeters high. It was slightly smaller than the treasure chest he had found last time.

Yang Qi carefully inspected the box and found that the lock was already rusted beyond recognition, making its original appearance impossible to discern.

However, the wooden box as a whole had not rotted. He tried lifting it and found it weighed at least a hundred pounds.

At this, Yang Qi was overjoyed. There was an eighty percent chance it was filled with gold; he had experience with this.

Otherwise, such a box wouldn't be so heavy, though he couldn't rule out the possibility that it contained other metals. However, that was unlikely.

In his understanding, who would put worthless metals into a box that clearly looked quite significant?

After making his judgment, Yang Qi immediately floated back to the surface. He didn't want to carry a box weighing over a hundred pounds while ascending over a hundred meters from the seabed.

"Xiaoxue, I've discovered something incredible. I found a box down there, it's a bit heavy, I suspect..."

Yang Qi spoke while looking for a rope.

"That's great! Do you want me to go down and help?"

Bai Xue was instantly overjoyed.

"No need, I've only found one box for now. Later, you operate the Crane up here to hoist it up. Be careful!"

Yang Qi waved his hand in refusal.

After all, the 'setting sail' wasn't equipped with a winch. Relying solely on the Crane, it was impossible to hoist a heavy object from over a hundred meters deep without manual rope pulling.

However, for something weighing around a hundred pounds, Bai Xue could handle it quite easily using the Crane alone.

Ever since Yang Qi invented the method of using fishing lines to catch large Tuna, the 'setting sail' had permanently carried two spare ropes about the thickness of a pinky finger.

When he returned to the seabed, he tied the box securely and tugged the rope three times. Bai Xue received the signal, started the Crane, and slowly hoisted the box up.

Yang Qi didn't follow it up immediately; instead, he used his ability to search again.

As he expected, about sixty or seventy meters to the north, he spotted two more shapes that looked like boxes.

His heart settled: "I knew it. How could there be only one box in the vast ocean? It's not like Du Shiniang sinking her jewel box in anger."

Returning to the 'setting sail', he helped Bai Xue hoist the box onto the deck. The two of them huddled together, curiously examining the box.

"Open it and see?"

"Open it!"

*Clang!*

Yang Qi picked up the shovel and with a *clang*, he knocked off the rusted lock. This time, they didn't hide far away to open the lid like they did last time.

However, they still stood behind the box as they slowly opened the lid. Sure enough, the stories about hidden weapons or toxic liquids inside chests were all fake.

As the box opened, a gush of seawater poured out, and what remained were neatly stacked, glittering gold bricks.

"Wow, gold bricks again! This is great!"

Bai Xue excitedly clenched her small fists and waved them around.

Yang Qi picked up a gold brick and weighed it; it was about twenty pounds. There were three layers in the box, with four bricks per layer.

Twelve gold bricks meant it was about two hundred and forty pounds. When he lifted it underwater earlier, he thought it was about a hundred pounds due to the buoyancy of the water.

He carefully inspected the gold bricks and found no inscriptions; they were clearly recast later on.

"Xiaoxue, let's pack this up first. I just discovered that there are more boxes not far away down there. Let's go get them!"

Yang Qi said, looking at Bai Xue.

"That's wonderful, Hubby! We're going to be filthy rich! Hahaha!"

Bai Xue was stunned for a moment, then hugged Yang Qi and shouted excitedly.

Even though Yang Qi looked as steady as an old dog on the surface, his heart was already brimming with wild joy. He took the opportunity to hug Bai Xue and spin her around a few times.

"Quick, quick, quick, Hubby! Let's move these gold bricks to the Rest Cabin first."

Bai Xue kissed Yang Qi and urged him.

So, the two of them took several trips to move that box of gold bricks to the Rest Cabin and put them under the bed.

"Hubby, what about the box?"

"This box looks extraordinary itself. Let's throw it in the Live Well for now and study it later."