"Weigh it! Weigh it!"

The process was the same, except this time the numbers jumped even more dramatically than before.

"Twelve and a half pounds!"

"My God!"

Everyone looked at Lu Zheng with shock and disbelief in their eyes.

This was a newbie?

"Buddy, what bait are you using?"

Someone leaned over to Lu Zheng’s bait bucket, peered inside, and saw a dozen finger-sized little fish.

"Just this ordinary bait."

"The first catch was a five-pound-seven-ounce large yellow croaker, and the second was a twelve-and-a-half-pound seven-banded grouper. This must be the Dragon King’s own son."

"Old fishermen would be furious."

"Why am I only catching these eight-ounce small fish?"

"Get out of here, I only caught a three-tael one."

"They’ll be having a feast tonight..."

"I’m so envious!"

Though the seven-banded grouper isn’t as expensive as the large yellow croaker, its flavor is just as good. After all, the yellow croaker’s price is due to its rarity, and in terms of taste, it’s just a standard quality sea fish.

Zhao Wenyu’s prepared fish box couldn’t even fit the grouper, so a friend of his went to the neighboring farmhouse and borrowed a large basin to hold it.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Now, each of you owes me eighteen pounds and two ounces."

Zhao Wenyu, "..."

Chen Jianhao, "..."

Being a newbie is something, huh? Having luck is something, huh? Being favored by the Dragon King is something, huh!

Okay, it actually is something; they’ve been fishing for two years and have never caught a five-pound fish, not even on islands off the coast.

"Next time, let’s rent a boat and go sea fishing!" Zhao Wenyu said fiercely.

"Keep going, keep going." Chen Jianhao gulped, "We definitely can’t come back empty-handed."

"No way, I definitely won’t... huh?" Zhao Wenyu’s voice suddenly paused.

"What’s that?"

"Look quickly, there’s something over there!"

In the distance, off to the side and near the shore in the seawater, a black spot appeared.

For it to be visible from here, it must be quite large.

"Is it a boat?"

"No, it’s... a whale?"

"Whoa! It’s huge!"

"No, it’s heading towards the shore!"

Someone was livestreaming the event.

"Oh no, it’s already beached, it’s stranded on the beach!"

"Quick, go! Call the authorities, alert the maritime department!"

Many fishermen threw down their gear and rushed towards the stranded whale.

"Brother Lu, shall we take a look?" Zhao Wenyu was eager, but still turned back to ask. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Let’s go!" Lu Zheng nodded.

And then everyone ran over together.

Shen Ying asked telepathically, "Lu Lang, you didn’t summon this whale, did you? It’s too big, we can’t finish eating it!"

Lu Zheng stumbled and almost fell.

"Of course not!"

Lu Zheng replied irritably, "I didn’t even notice it. If I had, I wouldn’t have let it come ashore."

Shen Ying was obviously joking. She looked at the whale again, "Shall we send it back?"

"Of course." Lu Zheng nodded, "But let’s first check if there’s something wrong with it."

If it’s sick, like having internal organ damage causing its echo system to malfunction, then even if we send it back, it’ll end up stranded on another shore sooner or later.

Soon, everyone arrived at the scene, and by that time, many others were already there.

Some were taking photos, some were making calls, and some were pouring water on the whale.

"It’s a sperm whale, right? It’s so huge!" Chen Jianhao exclaimed, "It must be ten meters long!"

"Definitely!" Zhao Wenyu nodded, and her girlfriend took out her phone and couldn’t resist taking a photo with the stranded sperm whale.

Zhao Wenyu glanced at her but said nothing, as many were doing the same.

Lu Zheng had already checked the sperm whale inside and out, top to bottom.

Indeed, it was injured. Clearly, it had a large gash on its body, seemingly cut by a sharp object, and it had already started to fester.

"Was it done by fishermen?" Shen Ying asked.

Lu Zheng shook his head, "At least it wasn’t done by fishermen from Hua Country. Hua Country joined the ’Global Anti-Whaling Agreement.’ The only ones openly hunting in international waters now are Japan and a few Northern European countries."

"Oh." Shen Ying nodded, not really concerned, nor indignant like most people.

To her, the natural world follows the law of the jungle, and since sperm whales haven’t gained Enlightenment, they are just animals. It’s normal for humans to hunt animals for food. Even on the Blue Star, many animals have been driven to extinction in the Great Jing era; that’s the general trend.

Of course, while the general trend remains unchanged, kind-hearted people who are not worried about food and clothing will show compassion. Shen Ying had watched a video about rescuing a stranded sperm whale in a neighboring province and knew the general situation.

With a flick of her fingers, a wisp of True Qi entered the sperm whale’s body.

Though the sperm whale was thirteen or fourteen meters long, and the wound on its back was over three meters long, under the nourishment of Peach Blossom Incense, the decayed flesh fell off quickly, the wound healed rapidly, and even the bones and organs damaged by the stranding began to recover.

For a mere mortal animal, it doesn’t take much Incense and Candle Qi.

The sperm whale, lying on the beach, enduring thirst and pain, suddenly felt changes in its body.

The wound on its back no longer hurt, its breathing suddenly became easy, it felt strength returning to its body, and even its parched skin felt moist again.

Perhaps sensing it in the dark, the beached sperm whale moved its eyes to look at Shen Ying, standing behind the crowd.

"Huh?" Shen Ying raised an eyebrow, "It can actually sense it’s me?"

"Its senses are quite keen; maybe it’s because it’s on the verge of death," Lu Zheng nodded and said.

With a flick of his finger, raising and lowering, the water level beneath the sperm whale began to rise.

"Whoosh... whoosh..."

Although it wasn’t much, each time, the waterline rose several parts.

"Huh? The tide’s rising?"

"It’s not even five o’clock yet; this should be the low tide period, right?"

"Wow! Such a big wave!"

"Move back! Move back!"

A group of people, seeing the waterline rising higher and higher, couldn’t help but step back, finally retreating to the embankment and discovering that each tide’s wave had already covered more than half of the sperm whale.

"The sperm whale should be able to save itself with the tide coming in, right?"

"If so, that would be wonderful!"

"Come on, come on, let it rise a bit more and save it!"

Several girls were moved to tears, clasping their hands together, hoping the tide would rise a bit more.

Then, as they prayed, the tide finally started to carry the sperm whale, each retreat pulling it several meters into the sea, and the rising tide wouldn’t push it back up.

Thus, after just a few dozen rises and falls, the sperm whale returned to the sea and then dived, disappearing from sight.

"Wow! It’s back, it’s back, the sperm whale is saved!"

"Yes! Wonderful news!"

The people on the embankment clapped and cheered, and the next moment...

"Puff—"

A dark shape surfaced on the sea, a fountain suddenly shot up ten meters high, and meanwhile, people heard the sperm whale’s call.

"errrrrr!"