The ships of the Purple Moon era were not to be doubted.
Compared to the ship of the old civilization created by state-of-the-art technology, the ship in the Purple Moon era looked like it came from the 17th or 18th century of the old civilization. It looked as outdated as it could be, but because of the mysterious super-advanced technology, the power that it contained was phenomenal.
Even though the ship was made out of wood, due to the changes in the Purple Moon era, many plants mutated in an unpredictable way and provided materials that the old civilization could never imagine. Some were even as sturdy as iron.
Phenomenal sailing power plus a light but strong wooden ship body made it the perfect combination.
Therefore, the captain frantically told the crew to sail at full speed. As a matter of fact, even if the ship did not sail at a hundred percent, it could easily drag the five huge whales back to the docks.
On top of that, they did not have to worry about security. No matter how lawless Darkness Port was, the hidden rules were something one must not break.
Darkness Port was a safety city located by the shore. Compared to the rules in the city, which revolved around power and money, there were several iron rules at sea. One of them was that whenever a ship hung the net with its catch at its stern, the catch belonged to them only and no other ships were allowed to snatch their catch of the day.
If this rule did not exist, all the sailing ships might fight one another for profit and the fishing industry that supported Darkness Port would certainly collapse. That was one of the reasons why Darkness Port was a magical place. Every single one of its rules worked perfectly and appropriately.
Tang Ling was sitting on the edge, looking down at the crowd beneath the ship.
After the morning hunt and the time spent on sailing back to the docks, it was only 9 a.m. in the morning. However, the harbor at the dock area was already crowded with people. They were there to purchase the catch of the day. It was said that the harbor in the island area was livelier.
With a cigarette hanging at his mouth, Odeon said to Tang Ling, “Hmph. I heard that back in the old civilization, the morning market at the harbor ends the moment the sun rises.” He seemed to have an endless interest in the old civilization.
“It’s bound to change. The fish in the Purple Moon era aren’t lively at night.” Tang Ling shrugged.
Odeon and Tang Ling were given the first credit for the catch by the captain. According to the distribution rules, Odeon would get 200 Black Sea coins and Tang Ling would only get 100 because the former was an official sailor and Tang Ling was just an assistant.
However, the money would only be paid when the goods were sold. The sailors spent their earnings lavishly, especially the captain, so they barely had any savings.
The five Requiem Whales attracted a crowd at the harbor. The crowd that gathered below the ship was a little too noisy for Tang Ling.
When the whales were dragged up on shore, a bidding frenzy broke out right away.
“Odeon, how much savings do you have?” Tang Ling squinted his eyes at the crowd below the ship and asked an unrelated question.
Why would a sailor have any savings?
Odeon wanted to answer sarcastically, but since Tang Ling was the miracle kid of the ship, he blushed and said softly, “Around 800 Black Sea coins.”
It seemed like it was shameful for a sailor to admit that he had savings. Odeon had a daughter that he loved, and he had to squeeze a part of his earnings to save for his daughter’s future.
“Great!” Tang Ling gave him a big thumbs-up and tapped him on the shoulder.
He then asked, “Since you’ve been on this ship for so long, based on your knowledge, how much savings does the average sailor on this ship have? Bring some of them over here. I’ve been working here for half a month and I’ve got around 200 Black Sea coins in my pocket.
“But I need to get 5,000 Black Sea coins. If you want to earn more, follow me. I’ll show you more miracles.”
“Are you for real?” Odeon found it incredible. How could the kid produce that many miracles?
Odeon had spent most of his time on the ship all year long and barely cared about the news in the city. He did not know who Tang Ling was at first, but when his daughter brought him up to speed, he finally knew Tang Ling was one of the top geniuses in the city, or at least, his reputation said so.
After all, no matter how he shut himself out from the city, Odeon knew a thing or two about the geniuses in the city.
After having worked with Tang Ling for half a month and he witnessed miracles happening around the kid, so he understood why he was referred to as one of the top geniuses.
It wouldn’t hurt if I trust him a little bit more, would it?
“Great. Just you wait. I know everything about the sailors on the ship, including what color their underwear is. It’s a piece of cake,” Odeon boasted.
“Go, go, hurry up! Time is ticking.” Tang Ling fixed his gaze on the crowd below the ship that was furious in the bidding war and their target was definitely that king whale.
Maybe because the captain wanted to get an auspicious sign when they opened the whale’s stomach later, he purposely announced the bidding price for the king whale first. After all, if the Requiem Ambergris was really found in the whale’s stomach, it might cause an uproar and trigger some of them.
Odeon got a rough idea of what Tang Ling was trying to do. He had his doubts, but he did as he was told.
Tang Ling wanted to participate in the whale gamble.
The Requiem Ambergris was usually found in the whale’s stomach. It was mixed with all kinds of leftover food. Even with the most advanced instrument, it was difficult to determine whether or not the whale had the Requiem Ambergris in its stomach unless some expensive super-advanced instrument was used to detect the ambergris, but it would cause a lot more per usage.
The Requiem Ambergris’s structure was unique. It was basically similar to a fishbone and only a tiny difference set them apart. It was difficult to identify it without the use of the super-advanced instrument.
However, one must be mad to use it on the whale because the cost was atrociously high! Who could have afforded it? The slightest mistake would cause one to lose a great deal of money.
That was why the whale gamble was similar to the jade gamble[1] craze in the old civilization.
What gave Tang Ling the confidence? If he was this confident, he would have been rich…5,000 Black Sea coins isn’t a scanty amount!
Despite Odeon’s anxiety, since he put his trust in Tang Ling, no matter how anxious he felt, he ought to carry his task out with clenched teeth. As a veteran on the ship, he easily persuaded several other sailors with some savings to join Tang Ling’s plan.
The other sailors did not know what Tang Ling was trying to do, so only Odeon kept whispering questions to Tang Ling when he came back, “Are you confident about this?”
“70%.” Tang Ling did not lie. 70% was good enough for him to gamble.
Odeon was clueless that Tang Ling’s spirit visualization, which was an extension from his Precise Instinct, allowed him to see the internal structure of things.
With the spirit body array supporting him, Tang Ling felt an obvious improvement in his spirit visualization. He had once been close to a certain threshold but he had not crossed it back then. He knew he would need more time to do it, and now, after two weeks at sea, he was able to go beyond that threshold.
Therefore, he had a clearer look at the internal structure of things.
Although he was still unable to differentiate the Requiem Ambergris from the fishbone, Tang Ling still had his Precise Instinct. He could compare all the details he found such as the shape of the fishbone or the uniqueness of the Requiem Ambergris.
It boosted Tang Ling’s confidence to 70%.
Had Tang Long been around and knew that Tang Ling was using the spirit visualization, he might have been disappointed because Tang Ling had reached the second level of Precise Instinct!
Several crystal cards were handed over to Tang Ling, and under Odeon’s anxious gaze, he swung down from the ship with a rope and squeezed himself into the crowd.
The crowd remained enthusiastic about the king whale, and the bid had reached a whopping 11,000 Black Sea coins. It was an astronomical figure. In other seasons, even if it was the king Requiem Whale, it would cost 2,000 Black Sea coins at the most.
Fortunately, Tang Ling’s target was not the king whale. He was going after the smallest female whale. Under normal circumstances, bigger male whales had a higher chance to produce the Requiem Ambergris compared to a smaller-sized female.
With that in mind, the smaller female whale should not garner as much attention, so its price would not be ridiculously high either, and 5,000 Black Sea coins should be enough.
Tang Ling was not a hundred percent confident, but he had a feeling that Lady Luck was on his side that day. Not only did his ship hunt a pod of Requiem Whales, but there was also a high chance that he might find the Requiem Ambergris in the black horse, or in this case, the ‘black whale’.
If 5,000 Black Sea coins were not enough, he could not do anything but sigh about his luck falling short. He did not have any ideas left to increase his funds and would have to wait for another time.
The fierce bidding for the king whale continued.
In the end, the king Requiem Whale was purchased by a merchant from the True Capital with a hefty sum of 12,700 Black Sea coins.
Maybe because of the rousing and fierce atmosphere, the merchant requested to open the whale immediately.
Under the blazing curiosity of the crowd, an 11 kg Requiem Great was found. A part of it had reached superior quality whereas the majority remained at an above-average quality.
“Holy sh*t! This is huge! It’s gone up! Even if this piece of Requiem Ambergris is not auctioned off, the trading company of Darkness Port can easily buy it with 20K Black Sea coins!”
“Why would he sell it to the trading company? If he takes it back and cuts it to pieces to sell, it can fetch at least 50K Black Sea coins!”
“Tsk tsk tsk, if only I had the money!”
The crowd’s heated discussion reached the climax and further boosted the atmosphere. The captain was smoking his pipe, which was a symbol for all captains, and his face was full of smiles.
If the first king whale was such a satisfactory product, the rest of the whales would certainly fetch an even better price.
As the captain expected, the second whale was sold for an astronomical 9,000 Black Sea coins. The second whale was also the second biggest and was a male. The price might sound absurd, but it was actually reasonable.
Unfortunately, Lady Luck did not bless this second whale with the Requiem Ambergris.
Nonetheless, that was normal and the merchant who bought it accepted the loss as well. He lost around 7,000 Black Sea coins, but as a merchant, he was still able to bear the brunt.
The third whale was sold for 7,500 Black Sea coins, lower than the second. Fortunately, this third whale had Requiem Ambergris although it was less than 1 kg. It was not actually a huge win, but it was impossible to lose profit at this point.
The fourth whale was a female and the crowd’s passion cooled down a bit. Lastly, it was sold for 6,200 Black Sea coins. As expected, the female whale did not have Requiem Ambergris.
The next one would be Tang Ling’s target. Since the rollercoaster of an outcome in the gamble had cooled down among most of the crowd, no one wanted to start the first bid for the smallest female whale.
The captain was not in a hurry either, so he waited quietly. He always believed in the gambling nature of humans.
Tang Ling, on the other hand, could not wait for the crowd to start bidding. He had to use his credit to settle this deal quickly. With that in mind, he walked to the captain, “Cap, why don’t you sell this whale to me?”
The captain was slightly shocked. “Miracle boy, what are you going to use it for? Never place your hope on a gamble.”
“I need money, but I have limited channels to earn them. What can I do?” Tang Ling shrugged.
Nowadays, young geniuses were everywhere, training and earning as much money as they could. Even if Tang Ling was one of the top geniuses, it was normal for him to need money.
In fact, other than Tang Long, a prince-like figure that lived under the protection of a powerful faction, most of the young geniuses had to find ways to earn money and a lot of factions viewed the process as a part of their training.
Therefore, the captain did not find a flaw in Tang Ling’s excuse.
Even though he gave Tang Ling a friendly reminder, the kid had only been working on his ship for half a month, so how close could they possibly get? It boiled down to business with Tang Ling.
“My dear Tang, I know you played an important part in this whale hunt, but business is business. You know I have my crew to feed and my ship has to go through lots of maintenance…” The captain took his pipe out as he spoke, but he made it sound sincere. After all, he had a good impression of Tang Ling.
“5,000 Black Sea coins! It’s a bit cheaper, but I’m going for the lousiest of the bunch, aren’t I?” The best way to deal with someone like the captain was in a forthright manner.
“Mm-hmm…” The captain was considering it.
“If you auction it, you can get 5,500 Black Sea coins, at most. All I have is 5K, so it’s all up to you, Cap,” Tang Ling straightforwardly expressed his thoughts since it was probably the most effective way.
The captain thought for a while. The last whale might have fetched him 5,500 Black Sea coins, but was the extra 500 Black Sea coins a lot? For a captain of his caliber, 500 Black Sea coins was not a figure that he cared for.
However, he could sell it cheaper to one of his crew and earn himself some reputation. On top of that, given Tang Ling’s identity as one of the top young geniuses, buying his friendship with 500 Black Sea coins might be a bargain.
“Thank you for your attention and passion for our Requiem Whales. The last whale isn’t for sale anymore. Thank you for your attendance and support.” The captain made up his mind after a minute. Nevertheless, the crowd was not overly disappointed since the odds of the last whale having Requiem Ambergris was near to zero.
Tang Ling finally got the last whale with 5,000 Black Sea coins. When he paid the captain with several crystal cards that could be used to withdraw without any restrictions, Odeon’s heart almost popped out.
5,000 Black Sea coins had just been handed out just like that. What if the Requiem Whale did not have the Ambergris? Odeon felt like he was in the middle of a nightmare.
Conversely, Tang Ling was calm. 70% was a huge chance of winning.
He enthusiastically got the master fish cutter, and under the crowd’s curious gaze, the smallest whale was hung up.
Most of the people assumed that the smallest whale would not have any Ambergris inside, but the process of cutting a whale open remained an exciting show, so they were willing to stay back and watch.
Tang Ling was standing under the huge Requiem Whale and he watched the master skillfully cut the whale open. The liver was quickly located and taken out.
With a quick slice, all kinds of leftover food were revealed and it reeked badly. The odds of it containing the Ambergris just got slimmer because the liver was filled with partially digested food.
The master wanted to stop cutting, but Tang Ling urged him, “Don’t be so nervous, Master. Let’s take that bunch of food out first.”
Tang Ling’s smile was as calm as still water because he knew he had won the gamble.
[1] When a piece of jade is mined, it is covered with a layer of dried soil, and only by cutting it can one know whether or not the jade is good, hence the gamble.
