Chapter 1

The city of Deep Sea borders the East China Sea to the east. It can be said that the reason Deep Sea City ranks among the top three economically in the province is largely due to this ocean, rich in endless treasures. Because of it, Deep Sea City has the only deep-water port in the province, and a mature aquaculture industry chain, which has helped millions of people escape poverty and achieve a well-off life.

Of course, these millions of people do not include Jiang Tian's family. Although his parents leased a few fish ponds, it was just a small-scale operation, not making them rich and powerful. Their family situation was still manageable.

In August 2010, the weather was pleasant and sunny.

On a coastal area, about 200 meters from the shore, in a shallow sea, a young man sat in a small wooden rowboat, about 4 meters long, fishing.

The sea was calm.

"Today's luck doesn't seem to be very good!"

Looking at the few small fish in the net, Jiang Tian slowly reeled in his fishing rod. The sun was setting, and it was time to head back.

The sea was calm, but suddenly, the wooden boat began to shake violently as if it had run aground. Jiang Tian lost his balance and fell, immediately scraping his arm and bleeding.

"Bad luck!"

Jiang Tian stood up, tidied up his things, and prepared to row back.

"Blood detected, blood recognition initiated... recognition complete!"

The wooden boat under his feet emitted a green light, which then dissipated. In the next moment, Jiang Tian felt a loud boom in his head as a lot of information flooded his mind.

Jiang Tian was soon astonished, feeling as if he had been hit by a huge windfall. He continued to examine the information with excitement.

The small wooden boat under him had turned into a pirate ship, with the mission to promote the spirit of piracy and plunder. Its current level was 0, and it could currently catch fish within a 50-meter radius and 20 meters deep. Completing the scanning of 500 species of marine fish would allow it to upgrade to level 1.

Touching the 4-meter-long, dilapidated wooden boat he had bought for 500 yuan, which he had repaired several times, Jiang Tian was speechless. This was a pirate ship? Was he supposed to row it out to the vast ocean to plunder? A single shark could capsize him.

However, the information stated that once it reached level 3, it would have long-range attack cannons and could sail the high seas to plunder.

Jiang Tian was excited; he felt that his life might be about to change!

"11 new species of fish detected, scanning complete, do you want to capture them?"

Suddenly, information about 11 species of fish appeared in Jiang Tian's mind. Almost instinctively, he said, "Capture!"

"Swish!"

There were so many fish within a 50-meter radius and 20 meters deep that even three or four 4-meter-long wooden boats would be enough. "Swish, swish, swish," the wooden boat couldn't hold them all, and a large number of fish fell back into the sea.

Jiang Tian was completely buried by the lively, jumping fish, with only his head exposed.

Strangely, the boat was almost full of fish, but the waterline did not change, even though it should have been overloaded.

Jiang Tian smiled bitterly, "I shouldn't have captured them indiscriminately!"

But he was more delighted. Although this dilapidated wooden boat couldn't be used for piracy, it could be used for fishing. Even with just this function, it was enough to make Jiang Tian extremely excited.

Moreover, as the level increased, the ship's functions would become more numerous and its size would grow.

It took a lot of effort to clear all the fish from the boat.

"The first priority is to collect information on 500 species of fish and upgrade as soon as possible. I want to see what a level 1 pirate ship looks like!"

Jiang Tian was very excited and shouted, "Let's go!"

Without Jiang Tian rowing, the wooden boat moved forward automatically, as if it had a propeller at the back. It was so fast that the bow almost lifted out of the water, scaring Jiang Tian into issuing a command to slow down.

Jiang Tian tried it out. The maximum speed of a level 0 pirate ship was 20 knots, equivalent to about 36 kilometers per hour. This was already terrifying, as the fastest speed of a regular fast boat was only 35 knots. It was hard to imagine what a level 3, 4, or even 5 pirate ship would be like. By then, it would probably have evolved into a behemoth!

Would future tasks really make him go out and plunder as a pirate?

If the functions were complete, smuggling would be more feasible. A round trip between Japan and China would definitely be very profitable.

After an hour of cruising, Jiang Tian circled the area and had good results, scanning 39 species of marine fish. The number of scans increased quickly at first but slowed down later, probably because there were only so many species in this area.

"Scanning progress: 39/500. Reaching 100/500 will allow for the first stage upgrade to level 1!" A thought appeared in Jiang Tian's mind.

It seemed that a level 1 pirate ship had five stages.

"100 species, 61 more to go. I'll try a farther area tomorrow!" Jiang Tian muttered. He was very excited to see what the first stage upgrade would be like.

Just as Jiang Tian was driving the pirate ship back, a prompt suddenly sounded: "54cm large yellow croaker detected, do you want to lock and capture?"

"Capture!"

Jiang Tian was overjoyed. He knew that wild large yellow croakers from the East China Sea were expensive, especially the larger ones. He had already given the pirate ship the command to capture yellow croakers over 30cm.

He didn't expect results so quickly.

A large yellow croaker over half a meter long appeared on the boat, jumping around. It was about to jump back into the sea, so Jiang Tian quickly pounced and held it down. The fish was strong, and Jiang Tian had to punch its head several times before it finally calmed down, possibly knocked out by the punches.

Back on shore, Jiang Tian moved the large yellow croaker onto the land. He was conflicted. This boat was no longer an ordinary wooden boat and couldn't be locked up like before, but how could he carry it?

"Shrink mode?"

Jiang Tian, hearing this, quickly gave the command "yes."

In the next moment, a super-miniature boat, only thumb-sized, appeared on Jiang Tian's chest, hanging like an accessory around his neck.

Jiang Tian touched it, feeling that everything was a bit unreal.

Shaking his head, he realized the large yellow croaker was real. Now he needed to figure out how to sell it.

The 54cm-long large yellow croaker weighed over 5 pounds. Carrying it in a net to his electric scooter, Jiang Tian was already drenched in sweat. In August, Deep Sea City was scorching, unlike a typical coastal city.

Because there was a fishing village and a dock nearby, a large seafood market had formed.

Fish vendors' calls could be heard everywhere, and the air was filled with a pungent fishy smell.

"Little brother, what kind of fish is that?" A fish vendor, who was quite observant, noticed Jiang Tian before he even entered the market and came over to chat.

The fish vendor was in his early forties, dressed casually, with sharp eyes.

"East China Sea large yellow croaker!" Jiang Tian said. Since his family also raised fish, though freshwater fish, he was familiar with fish and knew the market price of wild East China Sea large yellow croakers, so he wasn't worried about being cheated.

The fish vendor's eyes lit up. "Little brother, come, let's talk over here!"

The fish vendor led Jiang Tian to his stall. A colleague joked, "Hey, Old Zhou, business is coming your way!"

Zhou Dahai ignored his colleague and asked Jiang Tian, "Brother, can I see your fish?"

"Sure!"

Zhou Dahai opened the net. Before he could speak, his colleague was surprised, "Such a large yellow croaker, my goodness, and it's wild! Little brother, how did you catch it?"

In recent years, due to overfishing in the East China Sea, large yellow croakers had become rare, especially wild ones. Most yellow croakers on the market were farmed.

Zhou Dahai glared at his colleague, annoyed that he had spoken out of turn, and asked Jiang Tian, "Little brother, how much do you want for this fish?"

Jiang Tian said, "Weigh it first!"

The result came quickly: 2.6 kilograms.

"How much do you want?" Jiang Tian asked.

Zhou Dahai hesitated, seemingly pained, "4000 yuan per pound, how about that? If you agree, I'll pay you cash right away!"

Jiang Tian shook his head, "You're not being sincere! The market price for such a large yellow croaker is around 5000 yuan per pound, but this one is wild, so I want 6000 yuan per pound. I don't care how much you can sell it for. What do you say? If not, I'll leave!"

"Little brother, you're an expert!" Zhou Dahai, realizing Jiang Tian knew the market, quickly agreed, "Alright, 6000 yuan per pound!"

Seeing Zhou Dahai agree so quickly, Jiang Tian was suspicious. Could he have asked for too little? No, it seemed about right!

Turning to his colleague, who remained silent, Jiang Tian knew he understood the rules. Revealing the actual price would break the code.

Fearing Jiang Tian might change his mind, Zhou Dahai quickly took out three stacks of money from his bulging bag, "Little brother, count it. Here's 30,000 yuan, and I'll give you 1200 more."

This was the first time Jiang Tian had earned such a large sum, and he was overjoyed. With the pirate ship, he would earn more in the future.

Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Tian shook his head, "I don't want cash from your bag. I want you to transfer the money to my bank account!" He didn't know how many of the bills were counterfeit and had to be cautious. These market people were too shrewd.

"Alright, as you wish!" Zhou Dahai agreed readily and turned to his colleague, "Watch the stall for me!"

Jiang Tian followed Zhou Dahai with the fish.

A colleague enviously remarked, "Today, Zhou Dahai is making a fortune. He can resell this pure wild fish for 7500 yuan per pound. Why didn't I notice that the young man had a treasure in his hands?" He slapped his head in frustration.

Soon, with the 31,200 yuan in hand, Jiang Tian handed the large yellow croaker to Zhou Dahai.

Zhou Dahai praised, "I'm Zhou Dahai, here's my card. What's your name, little brother? I've never seen such a steady young man. Want to be friends?"

Taking the fishy card, Jiang Tian looked at it. It was a simple card with a name, contact information, and address.

Jiang Tian said, "I'm Jiang Tian!" Looking at Zhou Dahai, he suddenly asked, "If I bring another large yellow croaker next time, will you still give me 6000 yuan per pound?"

Zhou Dahai's small eyes lit up, "Brother Jiang, you have a source?" Seeing Jiang Tian not answering, he quickly said, "Wait a moment!" He took out 5200 yuan from his bag and handed it to Jiang Tian, "I trust you, Brother Jiang. This time, I'll count it as 7000 yuan!"

Seeing Jiang Tian still looking at him, Zhou Dahai became anxious, "Brother Jiang, I'm not cheating you. This fish can sell for 7500 yuan per pound. I initially offered 6000 yuan, which is fair. Honestly, this is the first time I've done such an honest deal!"

He revealed his bottom line, indicating that if he hadn't seen Jiang Tian knew the market, he might have cheated him.

Jiang Tian took the money and said, "I'll come to you for future business. Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

He knew the market price was 7500 yuan per pound, and Zhou Dahai giving him 7000 yuan was a long-term strategy. This suited Jiang Tian's plan, as he had no other way to sell the fish and it would be troublesome.

Zhou Dahai buying at a higher price and Jiang Tian providing a steady supply meant both would benefit.

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