388: empty box

When Bai Xue mentioned red wine, Yang Qi immediately remembered that Zhang Jun had brought two cases of red wine onto the boat back then.

He just didn't really like drinking red wine, so he had long since forgotten all about it.

"Alright, go get it! I'll have a bit with you!"

"Whoa, Brother Jun even provided a decanter!"

Yang Qi laughed when he saw Bai Xue holding a bottle of red wine, two stemware glasses, and a decanter.

"No, I bought the decanter myself."

Bai Xue smiled as she handed the wine bottle to Yang Qi, then pulled a corkscrew out of her pocket.

"Come, come, let's eat something first. Let the wine breathe for a while."

Yang Qi pointed to the dishes on the table and said.

"Hubby, let's have a toast to celebrate."

"Alright, cheers!"

They split the last bottle of red wine between them. Although Bai Xue's face was flushed, she wasn't drunk at all.

"Hey! Hubby, don't you think it's strange? My limit used to be just one glass of red wine, any more and I'd be drunk. Today I drank so much and I'm actually fine!"

Bai Xue said as she touched her cheeks.

"It's possible that after you gained your abilities, your physical fitness improved in all aspects, and your alcohol tolerance increased as well."

Yang Qi didn't have any other answer, so he could only attribute it to that.

"I suppose that must be the reason! That's great, now I can have a little drink with you at home in the future."

Bai Xue seemed very happy about her improved tolerance.

After they finished eating, it was only a bit past two in the afternoon. Having nothing else to do, they fished nearby.

They caught quite a lot of fish in the afternoon; one of the small Live Wells was completely full.

However, their hearts were no longer here. The amount of fish wasn't important; they were just hoping for nightfall to come sooner.

The two of them watched the sun sink toward the west with longing and then began preparing dinner. They cooked the most nutritious and filling things in the refrigerator.

Items like stewed steak, Native Chicken and Conch soup, lamb chops, as well as Grouper, White Butterfly Shell meat, and various other seafood.

They cooked a large pot of rice and two large clay pots of seafood porridge, even preparing the late-night snacks in advance.

They were afraid they'd be too busy at night to cook, so they made everything ahead of time so they could just heat it up later.

In any case, they did all the preparation work they could think of, waiting for nightfall to start their big operation.

It would be incredibly difficult for the two of them to retrieve the remaining boxes from such deep waters in a short amount of time.

At 9:30 PM, the two of them piloted the "setting sail" and anchored two nautical miles away from the shipwreck site.

"Xiaoxue, I'll go over first and move those lighter boxes out. You stay here and fish, and keep an eye on the surrounding waters while you're at it."

Yang Qi entered the sea again and dove toward the shipwreck. Upon entering the cabin, he found quite a few fish inside again, though none were as large as the hundred-pounder from last time.

He began slowly moving boxes to the deck, discovering three more empty boxes during the process. When he reached the sixteenth box, he found that some of the remaining ones were actually larger iron boxes.

It's well known that iron products are more easily corroded by seawater than wood. Consequently, those boxes were covered in rust and full of holes.

They even crumbled at a touch, making them impossible to transport. Therefore, his gaze naturally turned toward the empty boxes he had tossed aside.

"Good thing I have you guys!"

Yang Qi was curious and wanted to open one of the iron boxes to see, but the lid and the box were rusted together, making it impossible to open.

He used his hands to rip it, tearing the box open directly.

At first glance, the iron box was mostly empty, with only a few items at the bottom covered by some pitch-black material.

Yang Qi reached out and grabbed a piece, finding that it didn't weigh much; it was quite light. He looked at it for a few moments but had no idea what it was.

However, he also figured that nothing the japanese put into these boxes would be ordinary.

With the mindset that it's better to take it than to miss out, Yang Qi packed the four or five pieces from the iron box into an empty wooden box and moved it out of the cabin.

Then, clutching this box, he began his ascent.

At this moment, he also thought of something: he really should buy a diving watch. Although water pressure didn't affect him, a person underwater has no sense of time!

It seemed he would have to buy one as soon as he got back.

Returning to the surface and swimming near the "setting sail," he indeed saw Bai Xue from a distance, looking around with binoculars.

Bai Xue spotted him as well and hurriedly waved her hand to signal him.

"Hubby, come up quickly!"

"Xiaoxue, any news?"

Yang Qi placed the box on the deck and then climbed up himself.

"Nothing! Just a few fishing boats passed by in the distance at the start; they probably belonged to the Philippines."

"Hey! Hubby, why did you only bring up one box? Isn't it heavy?"

Bai Xue was curious.

"It's not heavy. I don't know what this stuff is. I found it inside an iron box; everything else in the box had rotted away, leaving only this. Take a look, do you recognize it?"

Yang Qi opened the box and took out a piece to hand to Bai Xue.

"It's so light! It's white with a bit of grey, and the density doesn't seem very high. This stuff is really strange."

Bai Xue took it and examined it under the light of her headlamp.

"Since the japanese packed this into these boxes, it definitely won't be some common, low-value item."

"It doesn't seem to have much of a smell."

She brought it to her nose to sniff it, then used her fingernail to scrape a bit of powder off a corner and sniffed it again.

"Hahaha, Hubby, I think I probably know what this is!"

Bai Xue suddenly said excitedly, her voice rising a few notches.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Don't ask yet, let me do one last test. Where's your lighter? Bring it over quickly."

Bai Xue urged immediately.

"It's in the pocket of my clothes in the Cockpit. I'll go get it."

Hearing Bai Xue say she recognized it, Yang Qi hurriedly went to get the lighter; he also wanted to know as soon as possible what this thing actually was.

Bai Xue used a Diving Knife to cut off a piece about half the size of a pinky nail and placed it on the blade.

Then she lit it with the lighter. A wisp of smoke rose from the piece, and suddenly a fresh, natural fragrance with a hint of sweetness reached their noses.

The scent was like a blend of fruity, floral, and woody notes, with the sweetness of honey. This rich fragrance was complex, long-lasting, and very layered.

"Hahaha, just as I expected!"

Bai Xue suddenly laughed loudly. Then she looked at the still-bewildered Yang Qi and said,

"Hubby, this is natural ambergris, exactly like the descriptions online. And looking at its color, it should be top-grade ambergris."

"The iron box you found underwater must have originally contained premium spices. It's just that the other spices were long ago corroded by the seawater, leaving only this ambergris which isn't afraid of seawater."

"Hubby, you're amazing! Mwah..."