193: Gemstone Minerals

Just like this, prying continued until 3 PM. Chen Xiangbei finally pried off all the black gold abalone larger than 'one head'.

In between, he just ate a few simple bites and then continued working, because facing the temptation of "gold" all over the ground, even if you were given delicacies from mountains and seas, you wouldn't be able to eat.

Chen Xiangbei didn't count the exact number of abalone harvested, he just noted the number of round trips to the fishing boat, which was about 5 times, plus this final trip, making it a total of 6 times.

But the last time wasn't full, only about half, probably around forty-something catties.

Counting each time as 70 catties, 5 round trips is 350 catties, plus the last over 40 catties, it's roughly around 400 catties, which is over 400 abalone.

This trip was worth it!

Moreover, there are still hundreds of black gold abalone here that haven't reached 'one head' size. They can also be sold for money, but it's better to wait for them to grow larger before coming back to collect them.

Chen Xiangbei bowed deeply towards the coral reef island and said, "Thank you for the gift. One day when I become the richest person, I will definitely credit you for this! Hahaha~"

Afterwards, he swam back without looking back, returned to the boat, and put all the abalone together.

Then, he started the boat and sailed towards other islands.

It's still early, no need to rush back to sell. Even if it's just scouting the surrounding areas, it's better than going back early.

On the way, Chen Xiangbei sent photos of the black gold abalone and sea cucumbers to Wang Xue of Haiyun Restaurant and asked her if she would buy these goods, stating he had a lot.

Wang Xue had been promoted to a position and was currently holding a meeting with her subordinates.

After receiving the message notification, her phone screen lit up. At first, she didn't pay much attention, but after glancing at the sender's saved name, she quickly stopped to check the message.

Then, everyone in the meeting room saw their leader hurriedly walk out.

Wang Xue hurriedly rushed outside the meeting room and made a phone call to Chen Xiangbei. The call was quickly connected.

"Hello, Manager Wang, long time no see. Did you get my message?"

Wang Xue said impatiently, "Stop teasing me. You said you have a lot of black gold abalone and sea cucumbers, you're not lying to me, are you?"

"Hahaha, of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you?" Chen Xiangbei replied with a laugh.

"I hear engine noise around you. You're not still at sea, are you?"

"Yes, I just finished prying off the abalone. I'm currently heading to the next location to see if there are other good goods. I won't be back for a while," Chen Xiangbei replied.

"No hurry. Tell me when you come back. I'll wait for you at the Fishermen's Wharf. I'll buy all your seafood today!" Wang Xue said grandly.

This was an agreement between the two parties. After the agreement was made, Wang Xue returned to the meeting room and told her subordinates the news. The meeting room instantly became lively because this was related to their commission!

Meanwhile, Chen Xiangbei continued heading to other islands, taking advantage of the time to learn more about the fish situation in this sea area.

Before long, he arrived near a new coral reef island. Looking from afar, this coral reef island was even smaller than the one he had visited before.

After landing on the small island, Chen Xiangbei walked around it once and found the place very desolate, not even a single seabird.

Moreover, not even a single crab could be seen near the small island, let alone high-value things like sea cucumbers or abalone.

Helplessly, he could only leave disappointed.

It was almost 7 PM in the evening when Chen Xiangbei arrived at the last coral reef island in this group that was exposed above the water.

This small island was quite special. It was shaped like a donut, high around the edges and low in the middle. The middle part was submerged in the sea, while the surrounding edges rose like mountains.

He landed on the small island, walked around the part that was exposed above the water, and similarly had no harvest, only some small fish and shrimp swimming around.

However, when he came to the sunken part in the middle, he was surprised to find that the color of the seawater here was actually black!

This indicated that the water depth here might be deeper than in other sea areas, or it might be that a large number of plankton living inside caused the seawater to turn black.

Chen Xiangbei was more inclined to believe that the seawater depth here was deeper because he didn't find any plankton inside.

In order to find out, he decided to go deeper inside to investigate.

So, he put on his diving suit, put on a powerful searchlight, and then jumped into the seawater.

After feeling the water temperature, he plunged headfirst underwater and kept sinking down along this giant opening.

According to his current physical strength, his maximum diving depth should be around 2500 meters, and his comfortable depth is above 2200 meters.

When he descended to 50 meters, the light began to dim. It was evening now, the sun was about to set, and the natural light wasn't as bright as during the day.

When he descended to 60 meters, Chen Xiangbei had to turn on the searchlight on his head.

The moment the searchlight was turned on, the small fish and shrimp swimming nearby were instantly startled and scattered in all directions, as if they had never seen such a strong light.

The further down he went, the more small fish surrounded him. It seemed they were becoming less and less afraid of him, this two-legged beast.

Among them were some Ornamental Fish, but they were all common Ornamental Fish, the price was low, not worth the trouble to take them back.

Continuing downwards, when he reached a depth of 100 meters, the surrounding space began to continuously expand, like an inverted funnel.

The further down, the darker it became. The range the powerful searchlight could penetrate was lower.

When he descended to 200 meters, the surroundings were completely dark, except for the area illuminated by the searchlight.

Plus, it was completely dark outside, Chen Xiangbei had to speed up his descent.

After descending for a full 20 minutes, Chen Xiangbei finally stood on the seabed. The depth at this time was about 500 meters. The surrounding area was very large, as spacious as a large cave.

Chen Xiangbei took out two more searchlights from his spatial inventory, tied them to his hands respectively, and then began to look around.

In that dark seabed, the powerful searchlight was like a torch, illuminating everything around.

The moment the powerful searchlight shone on the seabed rocks, scattered starlight reflected in the darkness, twinkling like stars in the sky.

Chen Xiangbei quickly swam forward, wanting to see what was reflecting the light.

He cautiously observed the movements around him and slowly swam to where the seabed rocks were located.

Using the searchlight to illuminate the nearby rocks at close range, he found that the reflected light became even more brilliant!

Chen Xiangbei touched the reflective points on the rocks with his hand and found that their texture was hard, like some kind of ore.

But because the exposed parts were not many, it was impossible to directly see what it was.

So, he took out a small hand pick from his spatial inventory and struck around the light spots on the rocks.

The hard rock wasn't that easy to break. He knocked for a while before a little chipped stone fell off. The surface of the rock was relatively intact.

Chen Xiangbei put away the pickaxe and took out the chisel and hammer he used last time to bore through the Monkey Country fishing boat. This was better for applying force.