Chapter 30

The sun rose in the east, the sky was clear and cloudless, marking the start of another day. 520 Official Website

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Yuan Ye's fishing boat sailed on the sea, accompanied by the sound of waves hitting the boat, the "Water Control" was now navigating the high seas that he had always been longing for.

The last time, it was just a few hours away from here, but he didn't come due to some reasons.

In international law, the high seas refer to the parts of the ocean that are not under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of any country, outside the internal waters, territorial seas, archipelagic waters, and exclusive economic zones of any state.

According to the 1958 High Seas Convention, the high seas are all the waters not included in the territorial sea or internal waters of any state. With the advancement of marine technology and the development of marine resources, the jurisdiction of coastal states has expanded, leading to new concepts and systems such as exclusive economic zones and archipelagic waters, which have reduced the area of the high seas.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that the high seas are all the waters not included in the exclusive economic zones, territorial seas, or internal waters of any state, or the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic state.

The high seas are available for the equal and common use of all states. They are not part of any state's territory and are not subject to the sovereignty of any state. No state may appropriate any part of the high seas or exercise jurisdiction over them.

The high seas are a shared maritime area for all countries and are also the place where fishing boats have the most disputes. After all, in their own territorial waters, there are coast guards to manage, but in the high seas, there are fewer restrictions.

The fishing boat sailed steadily on the high seas, and Yuan Ye released his senses. The fish in the sea were clearly more numerous than in domestic waters.

After sailing for some time, they were already close to the waters of Country R. During this period, Yuan Ye also saw several fishing boats from Country R engaged in fishing operations.

At this moment, Lao Er stretched and yawned as he walked out of the cabin. He was truly exhausted yesterday, and he had slept until almost noon.

"Fourth Brother, don't do that again next time. My body can't take it. I'm still sore all over," he said, yawning and looking at the sea and Yuan Ye.

"Your body is much worse than when we were in school. Back then, you didn't even complain after two basketball games. How could you be like this after just over a year since graduation? Remember the old saying: 'Alcohol is a poison that pierces the intestines, and lust is a steel knife that scrapes the bones. You've got both of them, haven't you?' "

Yuan Ye didn't let Lao Er off the hook and directly mentioned his "debauchery" over the past year.

Lao Er rolled his eyes and didn't continue the topic.

Yuan Ye didn't bother with him either, letting him move around freely on the boat. Since it was a rare trip to the high seas, he had to go underwater and take a look.

Lao Er lay on a rocking chair, closed his eyes, and basked in the sun, as if to say, "Do whatever you want; I'm just resting today."

When he got into the water, Yuan Ye swam straight down. The seabed here was a vast coral reef, with a wide variety of fish. Some small fish were being chased and hid in the crevices of the rocks.

At the bottom, the light was already very dim. He swam in one direction along the coral reef.

After swimming for a while, he suddenly saw a piece of wood about one meter in diameter buried in the sand, with only a small part exposed. If it weren't for Yuan Ye's low position along the seabed, it would have been hard to notice.

Yuan Ye simply dug out the sand and found that there was still a deep part inside, which he couldn't pull out at all.

After observing for a while, due to the dim light, he couldn't see clearly. The wood was completely black. He pinched it hard, and it was very hard, feeling like a stone. This reminded him of a precious item he often saw in books: petrified wood.

Petrified wood, formed over 2,800 to 8,000 years, is not yet a plant fossil and is not a mineral either.

Petrified wood is a general term for wood from trees such as camphor, red sandalwood, elm, and ironwood, which have been buried in mud due to natural disasters and carbonized over thousands or even tens of thousands of years under anaerobic and high-pressure conditions.

The market value varies depending on the tree species, with golden camphor wood being the most expensive. The older and better preserved it is, the higher the price.

If this is petrified wood, then he has really hit the jackpot. This thing is not measured by rarity; many precious petrified woods require tens of thousands of years to form.

Since this piece of petrified wood was too large, he couldn't get it out by himself and had to go back to the boat to use the fishing boat for help.

Back on the boat, Yuan Ye first directed the fishing boat to the designated coordinates, then took a shovel and a very long rope, and went underwater with two crew members. One end of the rope was already fixed to the crane.

The group arrived at the place where the petrified wood was found. They first used the shovel to remove the surrounding sand and then fixed the rope to one end of the petrified wood.

One crew member surfaced to notify the boat to start the crane.

As the crane started, the petrified wood was slowly lifted. Yuan Ye and the other person continued to remove the surrounding sand to reduce resistance.

After about thirty minutes of hard work, a 15-meter-long piece of petrified wood was lifted onto the fishing boat.

Yuan Ye had Ding Er record the entire process. If anyone found out later, it would be easier to explain that this thing was salvaged from the high seas to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Fourth Brother, did you go to all this trouble just to get a piece of wood from the seabed? Was it necessary?" he said, walking over and kicking the "wood."

"Ouch! Is this a stone? How can it be so hard?" Lao Er rubbed his foot, which was already a bit numb.

"Wood? Lao Er, you're a rich man, don't you know about petrified wood?" Yuan Ye looked at him with a bad temper, still sitting on the deck and rubbing his foot.

"You mean this is petrified wood? What kind of tree is it?" Lao Er ignored Yuan Ye's sarcasm and was more concerned about the species.

"I'm not sure. It was too dark down there to see clearly. I plan to check it out after we get it up. I'm not familiar with trees, so I need to look up some information."

Yuan Ye really wasn't sure what kind of wood this petrified wood was.

Upon hearing this, Lao Er immediately took out his phone to take a photo. Yuan Ye quickly stopped him.

"No, this thing is very sensitive. I don't plan to sell it or let anyone know about it."

"What are you afraid of? We got it from the high seas, not in our country. Isn't it whoever finds it on the high seas who gets to keep it?"

Lao Er looked at Yuan Ye in confusion.

"Trouble. I don't plan to sell it. Isn't it better to keep such a good thing for myself?" Yuan Ye gave Lao Er a bad-tempered look and directly ordered Ding Yi and the others to set sail, pulling Ding Er into his cabin.

"How long will it take you to learn carving to reach a master's level?"

Ding Er thought for a moment and said it would take about a week, and it would be best to have some practice materials.

"Fine, start learning now. We'll get the materials when we dock."

After Ding Er left, Yuan Ye started looking up information to determine the species of the petrified wood.

After reviewing a large amount of information and comparing it with the petrified wood, he finally determined that it was the most precious golden camphor wood.

Even if it weren't petrified wood, such a large piece of golden camphor wood would be very valuable.

This unexpected discovery made Yuan Ye feel like he had hit the jackpot. If it weren't for the system not having a luck value, he would have thought his luck was off the charts.