Chapter 210: Chapter 203: Testing the Waters 2

The crewmen immediately dropped what they were doing and grabbed onto anything they could to brace themselves.

After the waves washed over the deck and drained through the scuppers, the crewmen once again threw themselves into the tense, frantic work of setting the traps.

Setting the Crab Traps is the most dangerous part of crabbing operations, accounting for a very high percentage of fatalities in the profession.

When the crewmen prepare to set a Crab Trap, they must face surging waves, biting winds, and a slippery deck.

The slightest misstep could send them plunging into the sea, swept away by the waves, or crushed by a heavy Crab Trap.

In harsh weather, the lurching of the boat also increases the difficulty and risk of setting the Crab Traps.

Furthermore, the Crab Traps themselves are inherently dangerous. They are typically very heavy, requiring several men to handle them.

During deployment, if a Crab Trap’s line snaps or a hook comes loose, it can suddenly drop, causing severe injury to the crew.

For this trip, the River Beach had brought a total of 250 Crab Traps.

Setting all of them would take seven hours, and that was even with the help of an advanced crane.

Once all the Crab Traps were set, the River Beach immediately returned to the location of the first trap. The crewmen had no time to rest.

Their faces were etched with exhaustion, but their eyes gleamed with excitement.

Success or failure would be decided now.

In that moment, an air of tension and anticipation hung over the deck.

The crewmen gripped their grappling hooks tightly, leaning out over the side of the boat. Following the spotter’s guidance, they threw the hooks to snag the line attached to the buoy, then hooked it to the coiler as fast as they could.

As the wheel spun, the line was rapidly reeled in.

The wheel spun at high speed, pulling the line in coil by coil, as if tugging on the crewmen’s heartstrings.

Just like with snow crab, you could tell if there was a catch in the Crab Trap on the seabed by the state of the coiler.

The line had barely started reeling in before it went taut.

This change made the crewmen’s hearts leap into their throats.

Their gazes were fixed on the taut line, their eyes filled with tension.

A taut line meant the Crab Trap was heavy, and a heavy Crab Trap usually meant a full haul.

Instantly, the crewmen let out excited cheers. They had risked their lives to come fish in the Bering Sea.

’Wasn’t it for this very moment?’

Crabs meant money. That was their motivation for struggling in these dangerous waters.

Coming up empty would be worse than death, because it meant all their immense effort and life-risking work had been for nothing.

In no time, the Crab Trap was dragged to the chute and then lifted by the crane.

The heavy Crab Trap rose slowly under the power of the crane, as if a precious treasure was being unearthed from the seabed.

Seeing the trap crammed full of Emperor Crabs, the crewmen were reminded of their recent snow crab haul.

The Crab Trap was packed with layers of Emperor Crabs. There were even crabs on the outside, clinging tightly to the cage as if unwilling to be left behind.

A bounty.

A massive bounty.

"Shit! What are you staring at? Get it over here!" a crewman at the sorting table roared. His urgent voice, echoing in the gale, instantly shattered the quiet joy of the bountiful harvest.

The crewman operating the crane snapped back to his senses, a hint of shame on his face. He quickly maneuvered the crane, slowly bringing the Crab Trap, laden with Emperor Crabs, over to the sorting table.

The sorting crew quickly untied the rope securing the trap door.

With a RUSH, Emperor Crabs poured out like a tidal wave, covering the entire sorting table.

Fat Emperor Crabs thrashed their claws, as if refusing to be captured, trying to escape the River Beach.

"Fack, you wasted ten minutes of our time. You owe the boatswain twenty bucks for beer money later," a sorter cursed at the crane operator.

After cursing, he immediately buried his head in his work, his hands expertly grabbing one Emperor Crab after another, quickly sorting and sizing them.

The undersized Emperor Crabs were mercilessly thrown back into the sea. They tumbled in the water a few times, kicking up small splashes before disappearing into the vast ocean.

The legal-sized Emperor Crabs were tossed down a slide, a smooth chute that was like a tunnel to riches.

One after another, like products on an assembly line, they entered the cryogenic freezer in an orderly fashion to be flash-frozen and preserve their peak quality.

The oversized Emperor Crabs were sent to the live well, where they would find a temporary new home.

Inside the live well, seawater circulated slowly, providing the Emperor Crabs with the necessary oxygen and a suitable environment for survival.

The crane operator, who had been fined, knew his daze had wasted a lot of time. He quickly apologized to his crewmates and got right back to work.

As one Crab Trap after another was hauled up from the churning, roaring Bering Sea, all the crewmen aboard the River Beach fell into a state of tense frenzy.

Every single Crab Trap was full of Emperor Crabs. The cold storage and live well were piled high with succulent crabs, exuding the alluring scent of Franklins.

Each Crab Trap was worth just about over 8,000 US Dollars.

The faster they worked, the more money they made!

「In the pilothouse of the River Beach.」

Alvin sat in the captain’s chair, his gaze fixed on the haul data the First Mate had just brought him. When he saw the string of astonishing numbers, his smile nearly split his face.

The first Crab Trap had held an incredible 130 Emperor Crabs, with a total weight of 1,146 pounds. Based on the traps they were pulling up now, the average was around 1,000 pounds per trap.

Clearly, this trip was another massive haul.

The current market price was 16.90 US Dollars a pound. Ordinarily, that would already be a decent profit.

However, Young Master Xu’s offer for Emperor Crabs was 18 US Dollars a pound, which was undoubtedly a more attractive figure.

After all, it was only the first day of the fishing season. The entire Bering Sea was dotted with Crabbing Boats, and with such fierce competition, a slightly lower market price was to be expected.

The price competition would be most intense during the last week of the season.

As the fishing season neared its end, the number of Emperor Crabs would dwindle, yet market demand would remain strong.

At that point, buyers would constantly drive up prices to compete for the limited supply.

But right now, 1,000 pounds meant 18,000 US Dollars.

An average profit of 18,000 US Dollars per trap. This price was far higher than the crew’s estimate.

traps meant 4.5 million.

One run was 4.5 million. At full capacity, they could do two runs of Crab Traps a day. That was a gross profit of 9 million.

Jesus Christ!

This was more profitable than robbing the Federal Reserve.

"Broadcast these numbers to the whole boat. Get the boys moving. Every family’s getting a big turkey on their table this Thanksgiving."

The First Mate was thrilled, of course. The more Emperor Crabs they caught, the more money he would get.

He immediately picked up the intercom and broadcast to the entire ship.

18,000 US Dollars profit per trap, 4.5 million US Dollars profit per run.

As the results of the first test haul were announced over the broadcast, it was like a bomb of pure adrenaline had been dropped on the ship, and the whole crew erupted.

The crew’s cheers and shouts mingled together, echoing through the holds of the River Beach.

If they didn’t have work to do, they would have stripped naked and jumped into the Bering Sea to release their pent-up excitement.

Even the galley cook was fired up. As a member of the River Beach’s crew, even the cook got his own share when the money was divided.

He wished he had eight arms to cook a huge feast, to replenish the working crew’s energy and help them keep going a little longer.

Amidst this atmosphere of hope and joy, only two people remained unmoved.

Young Master Xu and Su Ziweng.

Their faces were pale as paper as they leaned weakly against the fixed seats in the pilothouse, their eyes vacant and weary.

Both of them had already emptied their stomachs and were now starting to vomit bile.

The bitter taste that filled their mouths was even worse. Every retch was a dual torment for body and mind.

Looking at the ecstatic Alvin, their eyes revealed deep regret and disappointment. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

They had only wanted to experience the life of a Crab Fisherman.

They never expected to encounter such harsh conditions.

The crabbing trip they had imagined was supposed to be full of excitement and fun, not this kind of agony.

’If I had known...’

’I never would have come. It’s so comfortable in the Crown Territory, why would I put myself through this misery?’

...