At that moment, Bo Wen’s throat was tight, and he couldn’t get a single word out.

He just hugged his wife and child tightly, as if to merge them into his very being.

"Bo Wen, where’s Adrian? Have you seen Adrian? Is he injured and still in the cabin? That must be it."

A woman pulling a boy by the hand came up to Bo Wen, her face a mask of anxiety and hope.

Her eyes were locked on Bo Wen, desperate to hear news of her husband from him.

The boy stared wide-eyed as well, watching Bo Wen nervously, his small hand clutching his mother’s trembling palm.

Bo Wen’s expression instantly grew heavy. He looked at the woman and child, his heart filled with guilt and anguish.

’How could he tell them the cruel truth? Adrian was now part of the Evil Sea forever.’

Seeing Bo Wen’s expression, a terrible premonition welled up inside the woman.

Her eyes grew vacant, and tears welled up, threatening to spill.

"No, it can’t be. Adrian must still be alive. He wouldn’t just leave us like this."

The boy, as if sensing his mother’s sorrow, hugged her tightly, his own eyes filled with fear.

"I... I’m sorry. Adrian, he..." Bo Wen lowered his head, his voice low and hoarse. He couldn’t force the rest of the words out, but everyone already knew the answer.

A suppressed sob escaped the woman’s throat, the sound like a sharp knife that pierced the heart of everyone nearby.

In the same way, four other families were plunged into grief. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Captain Old Hughes had only one daughter.

The terrible news of her father’s death plunged the girl into a grief from which she could not escape.

Her father’s passing was like having the pillar of her life ripped away. Her world seemed to lose all color, leaving only shades of gray.

The onlookers watched this scene in silence, their hearts filled with sympathy.

They wanted to go and comfort them, but they didn’t know what to say.

In this atmosphere of grief, any words would have been pale and powerless.

The sea breeze continued its gentle caress, but it could not blow away the sorrow in everyone’s hearts.

The sound of weeping echoed across the dock, a testament to the fragility of life.

...

Feng Mountain stood on the deck, and as he gazed at the pervasive atmosphere of sorrow, an indescribable heaviness welled up in his heart.

His brow furrowed slightly. He turned in silence and signaled to Alvin to set sail.

’The shipwrecked crew has been returned to Saint Paul Island. My mission is complete.’

’Now, it’s time to catch Emperor Crabs.’

’This wasn’t just a job; it was a matter of great importance to my wallet.’

A long blast from the ship’s horn sounded.

The River Beach slowly pulled away from the dock. It was like a brave knight that had charged into danger to save the crew of the Hollywood.

Now, its mission complete, it embarked on a new journey without a backward glance.

The melodious horn blast echoed in the sea breeze, like a knight’s farewell bugle call proclaiming its mission complete.

The hull slid steadily across the water, leaving ripples in its wake like the trail of a knight’s cape fluttering in the wind.

Sunlight spilled over the River Beach, tracing its silhouette in gold and adding to its valiant and heroic air.

The crew stood tall by the lower deck’s railing, watching the dock recede into the distance.

"Boss!!" The boatswain ran onto the deck, a panicked look on his face.

"What is it?" A trace of confusion flickered in Feng Mountain’s eyes.

The boatswain pointed forlornly toward the dock. "Those two buyers you brought with you... they must have gotten off when the River Beach docked. They didn’t get back on before we departed."

’Those two ran off?’

Feng Mountain narrowed his eyes, gazing at the distant dock, which had shrunk to a black speck.

’Turning back is out of the question. It’s not like we can just pop back and forth like going through a city gate.’

’Besides, fuel costs money, doesn’t it?’

’Those two cowards couldn’t handle the hardship, so they must have snuck off.’

He waved his hand dismissively. "Forget about them. We’ll proceed to the fishing grounds as planned."

「Saint Paul Island.」

Master Xu and Su Ziweng, the two cowards, stood on high ground on the island, watching the River Beach disappear over the horizon with smiles of relief on their faces.

"Holy hell, the next person who says crab fishing is fun, I’ll spit right in their damn face."

"Yeah, it was terrifying. I honestly thought I was going to die out there."

"Let’s go. We need to find a bar. I’ve got to blow off some steam!"

"Brook, are there any girls around here? You know what I mean..." Su Ziweng pulled a wad of Franklins from his pocket and turned to look behind him.

The energetic young man, Brook, saw the cash and his eyes instantly lit up. He nodded eagerly.

"Of course, boss. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in some ebony and ivory?"

"Oh, I don’t know about that!" Master Xu said, feigning reluctance, but his eyes glinted with excitement.

"Come on, let’s go ’critique the decadence of capitalism’." Su Ziweng slung an arm around Young Master Xu’s shoulder, and they headed for the open door of the pickup truck. Brook thoughtfully held his hand over the top of the doorframe for them.

....

「Five hours later.」

The River Beach was once again back in the Emperor Crab fishing grounds.

To make up for lost time, the crew threw themselves into a period of intense, efficient work. Feng Mountain put on his waterproofs, came out on deck, and became just another deckhand.

Despite the advanced equipment, some jobs still required manual labor. For instance, hauling the spools of fishing line. The 154-pound spools had to be constantly retrieved from storage and then tied to the Crab Traps.

This was tedious, back-breaking labor for the crew. A man could only haul a few spools before needing a break to recover his strength.

Their idea of a "break" was to switch from hauling line spools to hauling bait.

Sixty-six-pound blocks of frozen herring were hauled from the bait freezer, smashed into pieces with a hammer, and then packed into bait bags.

When the next man hauling spools needed a rest, he’d take over bait duty. The cycle repeated endlessly—it was torture on the body, and even more so on the spirit.

But in Feng Mountain’s hands, both tasks seemed like child’s play.

The boatswain had only wanted the boss to get a feel for the work, but to his surprise, Feng Mountain effortlessly snatched up a spool of line and strode toward the Crab Traps. He moved across the swaying deck with the grace of a ballet dancer.

Tying lines, hanging bait, dropping Crab Traps, hauling Crab Traps.

Feng Mountain didn’t look like a rookie at all; he looked more like a hardened veteran of the Evil Sea.

With the boss joining the line as fresh muscle, the speed of setting and hauling Crab Traps on deck more than doubled.

Because of the Hollywood rescue, the Crab Traps had been left on the seabed for over twenty hours. Normally, that much time would be enough to suffocate the Emperor Crabs inside.

Alvin had originally planned to haul up the traps, discard the dead crabs, and then re-bait and reset them.

But when the first Crab Trap broke the surface...

The trap was still packed full. Not only were the Emperor Crabs alive, but they were kicking and thrashing about, just as lively as when they first crawled in.

Although the crew didn’t know this was due to the Breathing Technique...

...the fact that the Emperor Crabs were alive meant they could skip the step of re-baiting the traps.

A huge load of Emperor Crabs was dumped onto the sorting table. The crew sorted them quickly, tossing them down different chutes according to size.

In the processing bay, the Emperor Crabs were quickly flash-frozen, while in the live well, the oversized keepers were full of life.

By the time the first round of traps had all been hauled in...

...they had secured 5 million US Dollars’ worth of crab.

As soon as the last trap was in, the crew immediately headed to the galley to refuel. Feng Mountain alone ate ten steaks.

The meal break was only ten minutes long.

The boatswain kept an eye on his watch. When the time was up, he stood at the galley doorway and bellowed.

"Time to fish!"

The crew immediately dropped their food, returned to the deck, and started the second round of deployment.

Baiting, tying, rigging, dropping.

In crab fishing, there’s no concept of time. As long as the work doesn’t kill you, you work yourself to the bone.

Everyone had only one goal.

To fill the hold with Emperor Crabs.

The job would only be over when the 600-cubic-meter hold was filled to capacity.

Feng Mountain threw himself into the work, finding endless enjoyment in it.

When it was time to rest, they slept in their clothes, only taking off their outermost layer of waterproofs. There was no time to think about the smell, let alone do anything about it.

No showering, no brushing teeth—all of that was a waste of precious time.

The moment they closed their eyes, they dreamed they were back on deck, hauling endless crabs. And when they woke up, it was time to go back on deck to haul crabs.

Even on the verge of collapse, the work had to be done.

Finally.

Alvin’s voice came over the intercom.

"That’ll do!"

Everyone, Feng Mountain included, collapsed onto the deck. They didn’t care about the icy seawater washing over them as they stared up at the gray sky and burst into laughter.

....