Chapter 305: Humpback Whales

’Beautiful. I like them.’

The Conch Pearls were a beautiful porcelain white, with a stunning golden ring in the middle, as if wrapped by a ribbon.

Among the three pearls, the largest one was full and round—a true treasure of the ages. Even an Emperor of old would have rarely seen its like.

Of the other two, one was oval-shaped, but it was also very beautiful.

Yun Jiao carefully put all three pearls away and went over to the large giant clam to check on it.

The cut she had made was relatively small. For a giant clam of this size, the wound was barely noticeable, and she had already stitched it up. The clam seemed to be in good condition.

After taking the pearls from this large giant clam, Yun Jiao didn’t touch anything else. She wanted to observe the situation first before deciding what to do next.

After circling the area a few times, Yun Jiao left.

Instead of returning to her family’s boat, she swam around the sea.

Suddenly, a familiar sonar wave reached her. She turned her head and saw the Whale Shark. Beside the Whale Shark was a large, pale pink Manta Ray.

She waved, and the two large fish immediately swam toward her.

The Manta Ray even circled Yun Jiao several times.

"What are you two doing here?"

This wasn’t their usual habitat.

’Powerful. Territory expanded.’

It was the Whale Shark’s voice.

’Powerful, powerful, ful...’

The Manta Ray was mimicking it, but its ability to express itself was very limited.

Yun Jiao guessed that the Manta Ray’s current size was nothing to scoff at. With the two of them living together, their combined strength had to be greater than before.

’So, they teamed up to expand their territory?’

"Not bad, not bad at all. You’re quite promising."

The Whale Shark swam down, darted beneath Yun Jiao, and lifted her up.

Yun Jiao went with the flow and lay on its massive back, letting the two of them take her out to play.

They arrived at a coral reef, where she watched small fish of all shapes and vibrant colors, as well as jellyfish, darting through the corals.

She casually cracked open a few more sea urchins, and, as expected, a crowd of fish gathered around. There were even sea turtles.

The Whale Shark and the Manta Ray used their size to claim a spot beside her.

Yun Jiao, who was now busily cracking open sea urchins again: ...

’These fish really aren’t afraid of me at all.’

Her expression was one of mild exasperation.

Just as her hands were getting a little tired from opening sea urchins, a deep, low moan came from the distance.

The sound wave traveled very far. Just from the sound alone, Yun Jiao guessed it was a large creature.

Sure enough, after she waited for a moment, a massive dark shadow gradually appeared in her field of vision.

And there was more than one.

The small fish in the area quickly swam away as they approached.

With Humpback Whales this big, they could be sucked in the moment one opened its mouth, and they wouldn’t even know it.

The Whale Shark and the Manta Ray also grew a little restless.

Humpback Whales also eat small fish, but they have huge appetites.

They usually have a gentle temperament, but animals still need to keep their distance. If the Whale Shark and Manta Ray got too close, they could be mistaken for a threat—especially by a pod with calves. One slap from a tail and the two of them would be sent flying.

"Let’s go."

Yun Jiao patted the Whale Shark’s back. Just as she was about to leave, a Humpback Whale’s voice rang in her ear.

’Please wait.’

’Save... save my child.’

Yun Jiao froze. ’Are they here for me?’

The Humpback Whales were indeed swimming toward her, and they soon surrounded her.

The Manta Ray shielded Yun Jiao, and the Whale Shark didn’t leave either, but both were very agitated.

Yun Jiao stroked their heads.

"Don’t be afraid. I’ll go take a look."

She swam up to the largest Humpback Whale. Up close, Yun Jiao’s small frame seemed truly tiny in front of it.

The Humpback Whale’s size was genuinely intimidating.

But Yun Jiao wasn’t scared. In the past, she had hunted prey that was even larger and fiercer than a Humpback Whale.

"Are you here for me?"

The Humpback Whale let out a few low moans and moved aside. Behind it, another Humpback Whale anxiously brought over a listless little calf.

’Save him.’

Surrounded by several Humpback Whales, Yun Jiao calmly swam a circle around the little calf but found no wounds on its body.

’Then the problem must be internal.’

"What’s wrong?"

The little Humpback Whale’s mother replied, ’Not eating. Will die.’

"Open your mouth."

’If it’s not eating, it must be an internal problem,’ she thought. ’I’m worried it might have swallowed something by mistake. If it’s in its stomach, that’ll be a huge problem. It would need surgery. I can handle a small incision, but a full operation is out of the question.’

The little Humpback Whale didn’t understand Yun Jiao’s words yet, so Yun Jiao had to manually open its mouth.

However, after she pried its mouth open, the little one seemed to understand and obediently kept it open.

’Ugh, it stinks!’

Yun Jiao coughed twice and carefully inspected the inside of the little Humpback Whale’s mouth, finally spotting a clue.

There was something that looked like plastic in the Humpback Whale’s throat.

She swam over and reached out, finally grabbing hold of the piece of plastic after a good while.

’It looks like a plastic bag.’

Afraid of tearing the plastic bag, her movements became extremely careful.

A few minutes later, an entire plastic bag was finally pulled out.

"This must have been the reason. Do you still feel uncomfortable?"

She shook the thing in her hand with disgust. Inside were a few dead fish and rotten shrimp. The little Humpback Whale must have caught them in the plastic bag while eating, preventing them from reaching its stomach. Since they couldn’t be digested, they naturally rotted.

But she didn’t dare to just toss it away. The fish, turtles, and other creatures in the sea wouldn’t be able to digest it if they ate it.

With the object removed from its mouth, the little Humpback Whale was clearly much more comfortable. It swam joyfully around its mother.

It was hungry and wanted to eat.

The Humpback Whale mother, delighted, nuzzled her calf and led it away.

Seeing this, Yun Jiao prepared to leave with the trash bag, but the other Humpback Whales were still surrounding her.

Yun Jiao: "???"

"Is there something else?"

One of the Humpback Whales said, ’Barnacles. Annoying. Uncomfortable.’

Yun Jiao glanced at the dense clusters of barnacles on their massive bodies and sucked in a sharp breath.

’There are so many! How long would it take me to get all these done by myself?!’

"I can’t handle this many by myself. How about this: you all follow me for now."

’In a situation like this, I have to call for backup.’

The Humpback Whales obediently followed behind Yun Jiao. Eventually, the largest one simply lifted her onto its back and let her give directions.

Since she didn’t have to swim herself, Yun Jiao openly slacked off.

Sitting on the Humpback Whale’s back, Yun Jiao got bored and picked off a few barnacles with her fingers.

"Tsk, tsk. This one’s pretty big."

’These barnacles multiply so fast. They’re just like parasites.’

It wasn’t just marine life that suffered from them. Boats had to be cleaned periodically because too many barnacles would attach themselves, making the hull much heavier.

Their family’s boat had been cleaned several times, too.

The Humpback Whales looked like they were moving at a leisurely pace, but given their size, their speed was actually quite fast.

Under Yun Jiao’s direction, they approached her family’s boat. At that moment, the people who were still out fishing saw several colossal figures heading their way from a distance and all gasped in shock.

"What are those things over there!"