As they sailed, the tall lighthouse in their view became smaller and smaller.
In the beginning, Chen Qi's small boat followed behind the main fleet.
About an hour into their journey, they were already far from Moonstone City.
Moonlight poured down, draping the entire sea in a layer of pitch-black ink.
Chen Qi, holding a kerosene lamp, stepped out of the cabin and looked towards the vast ocean.
In the distance, a large school of fish emitting a blue glow resembled a beautiful, translucent ribbon of flowing sand drifting over the ocean.
It was the Moonlight Fish!
Everyone was instantly thrilled.
"Brothers, we've got work to do!"
"Pay attention to what you haul up. If there's anything mutant and rotten, burn it immediately with fire and then throw it into the sea,"
"Be careful not to confuse the Moonlight Fish with the Ghost Fire Fish!"
In front of him, the ships began to fish.
"Phew, it's also time to break away from the main fleet,"
Chen Qi looked around. In the distant sea, he could see some faint blue flames lighting up.
It was likely the Ghost Fire Fish...
"Deep Sea Water Elves, push the small boat from behind,"
Chen Qi snapped his fingers lightly.
"Gurgle gurgle,"
Seven Deep Sea Water Elves understood his intentions, jumped into the water, and began acting as a second engine for the small houseboat.
Taking advantage of people's fascination with the Moonlight Fish, Chen Qi turned the boat's direction, and with the hard pushing of the Deep Sea Water Elves, his small boat sped off like a speedboat with full firepower towards the distant group of Ghost Fire Fish.
The Ghost Fire Fish's ghostly oil was a rare and practical material.
With the speed boost, his boat quickly reached the vicinity of the Ghost Fire Fish school.
The moment the Ghost Fire Fish saw his boat, they fiercely ignited huge blue flames as a warning!
Though these blue flames weren't very hot, they were as sharp as blades. A mere touch of the flames could instantly make flesh and blood splatter, literally separating bone from muscle.
The blue fire formed by the school of Ghost Fire Fish could be as large as a mansion, and even the nearshore overlords had to respect it!
This was why the Ghost Fire Fish were extremely dangerous.
Ghost Fire Fish were quick-tempered. On the sea, without expensive catching tools, it was almost impossible to capture them.
However, the moment they saw Chen Qi, the flames instantly extinguished, and they swam away in all directions.
"Huh? Why are you running? I'm not a bad guy..."
Chen Qi looked towards the school of Ghost Fire Fish.
The situation before him was beyond his expectations.
Most small sea beasts he encountered were very friendly to him, so Chen Qi always felt that his talent could somewhat be described as a 'Deep Sea Enchanting Demon'.
Am I not a Deep Sea Enchanting Demon? Why don't these Ghost Fire Fish come near me!
I can give you massages!
Chen Qi was somewhat anxious.
Although the Ghost Fire Fish had stopped their aggressive flames, they also did not voluntarily come close to him.
Different sea beast species reacted differently to him.
"This way, although I could capture them, the efficiency is simply too low..."
Chen Qi dug at his ear and thought for a moment.
He suddenly thought of a way to extract materials from the Ghost Fire Fish.
Since he couldn't attract the Ghost Fire Fish himself, he would use Extraordinary Fish Bait.
Chen Qi took out a fishing rod and an iron bucket.
He used his Transcendent Fishing Skill, gathering an Extraordinary Fish Bait at the end of the rod, then placed it on the water.
Following that, he positioned the Deep Sea Water Elves around it.
To reach the bait, they had to swim past him.
"Soul Seasoning!"
For effect... Chen Qi used the Soul Seasoning to enhance the deliciousness of the Extraordinary Fish Bait.
The effect was outstanding!
Instantly, the Ghost Fire Fish, which had been ignoring him, smelled the aroma of the bait and rushed toward it.
Indeed, some fish can't be attracted by mere scent; it takes delicious food to draw them in...
A Ghost Fire Fish approached the Extraordinary Fish Bait.
Crouching at the edge of the boat, Chen Qi smirked deviously.
The moment it was about to bite the Extraordinary Fish Bait, he abruptly grabbed the Ghost Fire Fish with his hand and skillfully scooped off a layer of black oil from its body.
The ghostly fires that the Ghost Fire Fish emitted were primarily because of this Ghost Fire Oil.
This was a rather good melee combat weapon coating. Applied to a weapon, it could ignite the blade with blue, razor-sharp flames, significantly enhancing the weapon's attack power.
This kind of Ghost Fire Oil was very rare in weapon shops.
The Ghost Fire Oil scooped from a single Ghost Fire Fish was worth eight thousand Shell Coins.
After scooping off the black oil and putting it into the iron bucket, Chen Qi casually tossed the Ghost Fire Fish back into the sea.
Eight thousand Shell Coins in hand!
With so many Ghost Fire Fish, he would catch one after another!
Eight thousand!
Eight thousand!
Eight thousand!
Chen Qi, as if picking up money, grabbed one Ghost Fire Fish after another near the Extraordinary Fish Bait, and briskly scooped off the black oil.
Bang!
Bang!
One after another, the used Ghost Fire Fish were thrown back into the sea.
The entire process was extremely skilled.
In about ten minutes, he had scooped Ghost Fire Oil from a hundred Ghost Fire Fish.
He had filled up a whole bucket with Ghost Fire Oil!
Even in a large weapons store specializing in weapon coatings, it was hard to have so many in stock!
"Huh..."
Chen Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Though being a pirate or joining a gang at sea was considered a hundred times more profitable than fishing,
Chen Qi believed that honest fishing could still bring in big money.
In just ten short minutes, he had earned eight hundred thousand Shell Coins!
Moreover, the Ghost Fire oil could adhere to his black blade, enhancing his weapon.
Chen Qi turned his head contentedly.
At the moment, on the sea surface, there were a hundred Ghost Fire Fish unable to ignite, looking pitifully at him.
Due to Chen Qi's skillful maneuvers, they had not managed to snack at all before he caught them, removed their Ghost Fire oil, and mercilessly threw them back into the sea.
"Hmm..."
Chen Qi stroked his chin:
"Am I being a bit cruel to these Ghost Fire Fish?"
Chen Qi coughed twice and then conjured two Extraordinary Fish Baits, placing them on the sea surface for the Ghost Fire Fish to eat.
He was still quite kind-hearted and wouldn't treat the Ghost Fire Fish unfairly.
"Eat more, you need to work on producing new Ghost Fire oil..."
Chen Qi said, feeling somewhat guilty.
He planned to rest a while, then explore this sea area to see if there were other groups of sea beasts.
But at that moment, in the distance, a small fishing boat with its lights turned off was stealthily approaching his houseboat.
It was the man who had glared at him ashore just earlier.
Because the Ghost Fire Fish had not ignited any flame, he thought Chen Qi was catching some ordinary fish.
Chen Qi roughly sensed that the other's Spiritual Power field had already reached the Second-tier.
The gaunt man with a crew cut approached Chen Qi's boat, picked up a lantern, then spoke viciously:
"Chef, you're the overseer of the hunting ground, aren't you? I'm a cadre from the Black Rabbit Gang, one of the Five Rabbits.
In the hunting ground, I had a brother, nicknamed Scarface Rabbit. I've been thinking, and the only ones who could beat him, aside from the Flower Witch, is you."
His eyes held a trace of malice.
From his words, he clearly considered the Flower Witch the most likely assailant.
But now, he had found him.
Chen Qi propped his chin, gently tapped on the Water Elves below the surface.
If it was at sea, even a Second-tier was mostly no match for him.
Chen Qi smiled:
"Scarface Rabbit, huh? I do indeed know a bit about him..."
"Knew it!"
The gaunt man didn't plan to give Chen Qi a chance to speak, he said to Chen Qi:
"You really dare to admit it, huh? After this voyage, come to our Black Rabbit Gang headquarters. If you show good behavior and sincerity, our Black Rabbit Gang is willing to forgive you."
Bang!
Just at that moment, he pulled out a gun, preparing to fire a shot at his houseboat as a warning.
However, Chen Qi had drawn his gun first, and opened fire at him.
Bang!
The other's reaction was incredibly fast, he used the lantern in his hand as a shield, easily blocking the bullet.
"Impressive!"
The gaunt man slightly smiled:
"Second-tier Transcendents, most have mastered the Body Forging Skill and the Breathing Skill, even the Meditation Skill. Response times, also far above ordinary people.
In addition, there's physical condition, Spiritual Power perception, Transcendent skills...
This means we, and someone just entering Transcendent like you, are worlds apart."
However, he hadn't finished his sentence when he sensed something.
When did fog start to form? Chen Qi held his breath, his body growing colder.
The surrounding mist thickened, and the temperature was dropping rapidly!
Suddenly, an anomaly occurred!
"Just you wait!
Damn it! Damn! Damn, how did we run into this thing!"
The gaunt man shivered, burst out with a curse, turned his head, and tried to light the lantern of his boat.
To sneak up on Chen Qi, he had just turned off the boat's lights!
However, the moment he touched the lantern switch, his boat suddenly shook violently, convulsed fiercely, and then whoosh, the entire boat was violently pulled into the sea.
The man, along with the boat, instantly disappeared into the sea, as if he had never existed.
The faint bloodstain that appeared on the sea surface was the only proof of his presence.
"What is this..."
Chen Qi's heartbeat was accelerating.
Unknowingly, thick fog had gathered around the area he was in.
In front of him, within the mist, a blurry shadow gradually emerged.
A wooden black boat with its lantern lit and piled with pitch-black cargo slowly approached him.
On the boat, there was only a lantern-holding boatman.
The boat came closer.
Looking closely, the boatman had no flesh and wore a tattered merchant's hat, his entire body was a charred skeleton.
When the boat was ten meters away from his houseboat, it stopped.
Click, click!
From beneath the merchant's hat, some deep blue tentacles emerged.
And then, it picked up the lantern, producing a strange sound like bones clashing:
"Good... evening..."