The No. 3 submarine canyon once again startled Hai Long, who marveled at the wonders of nature. Indeed, it was a masterpiece of nature, beyond imagination. This canyon was actually A-shaped, narrow at the entrance but gradually widening inside. He couldn't help but wonder how such a submarine canyon could have formed; nature was truly amazing.
Swimming to the bottom of the submarine canyon, relying on the light from the Dragon King's lower jaw, Hai Long focused his gaze and instantly felt as if he had been struck by a beam of happiness, almost fainting. At the bottom of the canyon, which was roughly the size of five football fields, there were countless lobsters, too many to count.
According to international standards, a football field is 110 meters long and 75 meters wide. Five football fields would mean the canyon was about 550 meters long and 375 meters wide. The lobsters scattered throughout the canyon were so numerous that Hai Long couldn't count them. He could only estimate by weight, guessing there were at least a hundred tons.
Hai Long was incredibly excited. This was like hitting the jackpot. Since the trend of eating lobsters began, their prices had been rising steadily, with a new price every day. Especially for wild lobsters, a pound of wild lobster now cost 260 yuan. The Dragon King could drag 400 kilograms of items in the sea, meaning he could take away 400 kilograms of lobsters at once. At an average price of 200 yuan per pound, Hai Long could earn 160,000 yuan in a single trip. Over a year, he could earn 58.4 million yuan. If Hai Long brought a medium-sized fishing boat to carry 20 tons of lobsters at once, he estimated he could become a billionaire within a year.
Thinking about this, Hai Long could no longer contain his excitement. He couldn't believe there was such a unique place in the world. "Hahaha, the heavens truly favor me, giving me a Dragon King avatar and creating such a marvel."
However, Hai Long forgot about taxes. Since he planned to establish a company to legitimize his maritime activities, he would have to pay taxes. If he knew he had to pay 17% input tax, 17% output tax, 20% business income tax, as well as local taxes and stamp duties, he would realize that reaching a net worth of 1 billion yuan would be a very distant goal.
Looking at the countless lobsters, Hai Long felt as if he were seeing countless gold coins. Especially the largest lobster in front of him, which was much larger than scientists had predicted, reaching a length of one meter with huge claws waving at the Dragon King.
Hai Long thought to himself, "I knew it. In this society, experts are the least reliable. They say jellyfish can only grow up to two meters, but I've encountered jellyfish ten meters long. They say lobsters are only a few centimeters long, but where did this one-meter-long lobster come from? And it's not just one; there are even larger ones behind it."
Never having tasted such a large lobster, Hai Long immediately controlled the Dragon King to release a high-voltage electric shock, instantly cooking all the lobsters that rushed at him. He then opened his mouth and swallowed them all. Unfortunately, the lobster shells were too hard, unlike those of regular shrimp, and after a few bites, his back teeth ached from the lobster's claws. Seeing the lobsters behind him avoid him, he continued to control the Dragon King to search for more. Unfortunately, he found nothing.
Feeling dejected, Hai Long controlled the Dragon King to swim out of the No. 3 submarine canyon. Looking at the remaining two canyons, he thought, "I'll check these two. If I still can't find anything, I'll try again tomorrow. I'm too tired."
Diving into the No. 4 submarine canyon, Hai Long carefully controlled the Dragon King to search. This canyon was deeper than the previous three, with the bottom about 500 meters below sea level, but the Dragon King felt no discomfort.
Relieved, he continued to search. To his surprise, the bottom of this canyon was entirely covered with sea cucumbers. Hai Long was completely stunned. Wild sea cucumbers! In China, by the 1970s, there were virtually no wild sea cucumbers left along the entire coast, not just in the East China Sea.
Now, all the sea cucumbers on the market were farmed. The value of wild sea cucumbers was incalculable. A pound of dried farmed sea cucumber sold for 6,000 yuan. Excitedly, Hai Long thought, "What about wild ones? Who knows how much they would sell for? If the Dragon King could bring out all the wild sea cucumbers from this canyon, I can't even imagine how much money I would make."
Although he couldn't harvest them on a large scale, Hai Long discovered something extraordinary: white sea cucumbers. These rare creatures, with a one in 200,000 chance of appearing, were entirely white.
White sea cucumbers! What did that mean? It meant money, a lot of money. Seeing these white sea cucumbers, Hai Long's mind buzzed with happiness, almost fainting. He knew he was about to get rich again.
Why did white sea cucumbers represent money? Because the Chinese have a special passion for white sea cucumbers. Historically, fishermen revered them as divine creatures, symbols of wealth. Those who obtained white sea cucumbers were believed to gain wealth. However, each white sea cucumber was guarded by sea monsters, and anyone who tried to approach them would be killed. But once obtained, the person's life would be filled with wealth.
Not only Chinese people but also wealthy individuals from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand were willing to pay high prices for white sea cucumbers. Whenever a fisherman caught a white sea cucumber, they would immediately sell it in the market, and each one could fetch a price of over 100,000 yuan.
In recent years, the international standard price for white sea cucumbers, which have a one in 200,000 chance of appearing, was 30,000 yuan per kilogram. The price increased exponentially with the weight of the sea cucumber. The most expensive white sea cucumber appeared at the Xin Nan Cultural Festival in China, where it was initially auctioned at 30,000 yuan per kilogram and eventually sold for 330,000 yuan per kilogram.
Looking at the dozens of plump white sea cucumbers in front of him, Hai Long estimated he could earn several million yuan. Looking at the sea cucumber pit, which was even larger than the lobster pit, he estimated there were at least a million sea cucumbers, a conservative estimate. He wondered if he could find more white sea cucumbers.
These white sea cucumbers not only had legendary value but also high medicinal value. Selenium, which has some effect in treating cancer, is found in much higher concentrations in white sea cucumbers than in regular ones. Moreover, they are natural products, non-toxic, and can treat diseases, making them invaluable.
White sea cucumbers have extremely high environmental requirements, almost to the point of being苛刻. Even slight water pollution can make them unable to survive. They also have a unique feature: they can dissolve in water and expel their internal organs. As Hai Long put it, they are like "Dongfang Bubai" (an invincible character from a Chinese novel). When threatened, they expel their internal organs to distract the enemy and escape.
After escaping, their bodies can regenerate their internal organs. How bizarre! As long as they don't want to die, they basically won't die.
Even more bizarrely, if they decide they don't want to live, they can commit suicide. Despite having no hands or feet, they can make it impossible to save them when they are determined to die.
Sea cucumbers have an enzyme that can make their bodies dissolve in water. When a sea cucumber decides to end its life, it releases this enzyme, slowly turning its body into a water-soluble substance. So, don't provoke sea cucumbers; they are more troublesome than Lin Daiyu and will commit suicide if they are unhappy.
Additionally, the growth period of sea cucumbers is extremely long, taking five years to grow to ten centimeters. Looking at these white sea cucumbers, they were almost 20 centimeters long. Hai Long couldn't wait to catch them.
Therefore, wild sea cucumbers are already rare, and white sea cucumbers are even rarer and more valuable.