Chapter 290: Calling for Backup to Collect the Fish

Chapter 290: Chapter 290: Calling for Backup to Collect the Fish

Zhang San spoke up as well. "Xiaqing, I’ll take all the Green Light fish, shrimp, and crabs you can’t eat and want to trade."

The interruption from Tang Huai and Zhang San gave Xiaqing a moment to recover. "Alright, I’ll go test them after the thunderstorm stops."

Thankfully, she had already moved all the edible Spring Water Fish into the tanks inside her house. Otherwise, that one lightning strike would have put them all on the dinner table.

What? She was going to wait until the rain stopped? Tang Huai was practically beside himself with impatience. "Xiaqing, shrimp and crabs develop bacteria and become toxic soon after they die. They’ll be inedible in a bit!"

Li Si also spoke up. "The voltage of the lightning that just struck the reservoir in the Third Territory was, by a conservative estimate, no less than 900 million volts. It would have instantly killed all aquatic life in the reservoir, including microorganisms, causing devastating damage to the ecosystem. The electrocuted fish, shrimp, and crabs won’t spoil or produce toxins within two hours."

Even though Li Si extended the window to two hours, the reservoir in Xiaqing’s territory was thirty mu large. There was no way she could manage to salvage, test, and seal everything by herself.

So, she needed help. As for how much help, that depended on how much aquatic life had been electrocuted in the reservoir. Since she wasn’t short on meat, Xiaqing hadn’t fished in months, and there were no White Egrets or other fish-eating birds in her territory. There should be a lot of fish.

Harvesting the fish could wait, but she had to block the river channel leading to Territory No. 4 with a fishing net as soon as possible. Otherwise, the dead fish would soon float downstream to their territory.

Xiaqing checked her Protective Suit one more time. Afraid of being electrocuted, she even left her knife inside before dashing out into the rain. She ran to the narrow point on the east side of the reservoir and blocked the channel with a fishing net.

Then, she looked out at the reservoir, which was densely covered with floating fish. She snatched two large, electrocuted fish that were drifting nearby and rushed back to the small cabin by the farmland.

Seeing the two huge fish Xiaqing carried back, Sheep Leader jumped in fright and leaped to the side.

"Don’t be scared, Leader. They’re just big dead fish." Xiaqing knew there would be a lot of fish, but she hadn’t expected them to be this big. Each one weighed over a hundred jin!

Then again, the deepest part of the reservoir in the Third Territory was over ten meters deep and had supposedly never run dry, so it wasn’t surprising that large fish were hiding at the bottom. Now, a single bolt of lightning had wiped them all out.

After testing them, Xiaqing found that one was a Yellow Light and immediately started calling for backup.

"Brother Ji, I caught an evolved fish over two meters long, not sure what species. Unfortunately, it’s a Yellow Light. Can you ask Brother San if he wants it? ...Okay, just come to the reservoir to get it after the rain stops. ...Yes, a lot of fish were electrocuted. Could you ask Brother Ya for me if he can bring a few people over to help collect them..."

"Brother Qi, how are things on your end? Can you bring a few people over to help me haul in fish after the rain stops? Great. Can you contact Brother Qing and Shi Du for me? I’ll pay them for their help... Right, no need to call Brother Zhao. A lot of fish have already floated over to his side, so he’ll be busy for a while."

"Sister Li, didn’t you say you wanted to eat crab last time? All the fish, shrimp, and crabs in my reservoir got electrocuted. If you’re free after the rain stops, want to come over and pick some out?"

"Xin Yu, lightning struck my reservoir. Want some to feed your hawk?"

"Captain Hu, are you guys busy after the thunderstorm? If not, come over and help me gather fish. A whole layer of them got electrocuted." After inviting Hu Zifeng’s team, Xiaqing asked, "Captain Hu, do you have Tang Huai’s number? Ask him if he wants to come help. Just him, alone. Don’t let anyone from No. 9 Territory hear."

Hu Zifeng paused for a moment before replying, "Okay, I’ll ask him."

After arranging for help, as Xiaqing was sealing the two large fish, she heard Zhao Ze on the walkie-talkie. "Xiaqing, a lot of the electrocuted fish have washed up over here. I’ll collect them and bring them to you."

Zhao Ze meant well, but Xiaqing couldn’t break the rules. "No need. If they floated to your side, they’re yours, Brother Zhao. I have plenty over here."

"Alright." Joy was evident in Zhao Ze’s voice.

In the Second Territory, Tang Huai immediately ordered Zhou Xun, "Quick, go check if any fish have floated into our territory’s river channel. If there are, haul them up immediately."

"But we’re not downstream from the Third Territory..."

Zhou Xun muttered under his breath, earning a glare from the sharp-eared Tang Huai. "Just go when I tell you to! Stop with the pointless chatter!"

Zhou Xun put on his Night Vision Goggles and was heading out when he came face-to-face with Tang Heng, who was just coming in.

Tang Huai immediately kicked Zhou Xun out the door, pulled his younger brother into the room, and asked impatiently, "Is he dead?"

Tang Heng shook his head with regret. "He woke up. Probably won’t die. But he has extensive burns all over his body, and he’s lost all feeling in his lower half."

Tang Huai’s disappointment turned to delight. "So he’s paralyzed! That bastard Kou is an Elasticity Evolved Person; being paralyzed means he’s useless now. Serves him right! Who tells him to wear a bladed Protective Suit while making a call by the window? If the lightning wasn’t going to strike him, who would it strike..."

Before Tang Huai could finish, his phone rang. Thinking it was Tang Lu and her father or Xu Pin again, he cursed in annoyance. "Shit, this is annoying me to death!" ℯℯ𝑙.

Tang Heng pulled his brother further inside. "Bro, step away from the window to take the call."

After being pulled into the inner room by his brother, Tang Huai raised his phone and froze. "Hu Fenzhi? What the hell do you want from me? Let me tell you, whatever the Jiang Bear Squad is doing has nothing to do with us, Su Feng. Go find who you’re supposed to find... What? What did you say?"

Hu Zifeng pulled the phone away from his ear and cursed, "If you yell one more goddamn time, you can forget about..."

"I’m on my way! I’m leaving right now!" Fearing Hu Zifeng would go back on his word, Tang Huai hung up and grabbed his brother, shouting with excitement, "Xiaqing asked me to help her collect fish!!! The territory’s yours! I’m gone!"

"Bro!" Tang Heng grabbed his brother. "Wait a second. You don’t think Hu Zifeng is trying to trick you, do you?"

"No way. If he wanted to catch me, he has plenty of ways to do it. He’d never use the Third Territory as an excuse and drag Xiaqing into it." Tang Huai was grinning from ear to ear. He was going to collect fish! He was going to collect fish!

Tang Heng held his brother back firmly. "Bro, don’t rush off. Let’s call Dad first."

Tang Zhengpo also had his walkie-talkie on, so he knew the reservoir in the Third Territory had been struck by lightning. Hearing that Xiaqing had actually asked Hu Zifeng to invite his son over to help collect fish, Tang Zhengpo was stunned for a moment, but he quickly made a decision. "Since Xiaqing doesn’t want to alert No. 9 Territory, Ah Huai, have Zhou Xun and the others escort you to the North Isolation Zone of No.3 Territory."

"When you get there, don’t argue with anyone, and definitely don’t wander around or snoop. If Xiaqing collects too many fish and has no place to store them, you buy them all. For the high-quality fish, you can offer one or two more points per jin than the Safe Zone price, but whatever you do, don’t get into a bidding war with Zhang San."

Tang Huai thought he had misheard. "Dad, the reservoir in the Third Territory is thirty mu. There must be at least a thousand jin of fish. We’re buying all of it?"

Tang Zhengpo’s reply was firm. "All of it. Even if it’s ten thousand jin, we take it all. I’ll contact No.1 Territory right now to borrow their cold storage."

Tang Huai was baffled by his father. "Dad, wait until I ask Xiaqing before you borrow it. What if she doesn’t want to sell?"

Tang Zhengpo laughed. "Don’t worry, she’ll definitely sell."

’If she wasn’t going to sell, why would she have called you over?’