Chapter 13

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Guo Li happily played with the treasure-seeking loach for a while, but soon discovered that the treasure-seeking loach was actually swimming toward the depths of the lake.

At first, Guo Li thought that the treasure-seeking loach had gone to play by itself and did not bother with it. However, the treasure-seeking loach soon returned. It wrapped itself around Guo Li’s leg and moved its body in a certain direction.

This time, Guo Li felt that things were not that simple. The treasure-seeking loach seemed like a hound that had discovered something strange and wanted to bring its owner over to investigate.

Guo Li was still worried that the treasure-seeking loach only wanted to bring him to the depths of the lake to play. However, he was uncertain how deep the lake was and did not want to take any risks.

While he was worrying about that, a system notification rang out in Guo Li’s mind.

[Ding! The treasure-seeking loach has found a treasure hidden in the depths of the lake. Do you wish to search for it?]

“Treasure?!”

Guo Li’s interest was piqued. There really was a treasure hidden in this lake, which was the size of several football fields.

The ability of the treasure-seeking loach was very simple. As long as Guo Li followed it, he would be able to find the treasure hidden in this lake.

Guo Li, who was unsure about what was lurking in the depths of the lake, hesitated for a moment before finally choosing to follow the treasure-seeking loach into the depths of the lake.

After wading forward for some time, the water level gradually reached his neck. Guo Li then began to swim. Fortunately, the treasure-seeking loach was golden, and rather bright. Otherwise, it would have been pretty difficult for Guo Li to keep track of the treasure-seeking loach in the lake.

After swimming for some distance, the treasure-seeking loach dived toward the bottom of the lake. Guo Li soon noticed that the treasure-seeking loach had disappeared. After thinking for a while, he held his breath and followed it into the depths of the lake.

The bottom of the lake was covered in mud, which made visibility poor. Guo Li could only keep following the treasure-seeking loach reluctantly.

As this was his first time diving into the depths of the lake, Guo Li was pretty anxious. He was surrounded by aquatic plants that moved with the flow of the water. There were also fish swimming around everywhere. There were fat crucian carps and golden carps. There were even some fishes that he could not identify.

There were a lot of these fish swimming in groups slowly inside the lake. From a glance, there were at least a few hundred fishes.

As he slowly approached the bottom of the lake, a different underwater scene appeared in front of him. There were many clam-like shellfish in the muddy depths of the lake. There were even a few lazy turtles swimming about slowly down here.

The treasure-seeking loach had already reached a bulging mound at the bottom and was circling around it. Guo Li immediately knew that this was the treasure that the treasure-seeking loach had found.

Guo Li swam over to the mound. There was not much air left in his lungs, so he had to surface for air before diving back down again.

When he finally reached the mound, a system notification rang out in Guo Li’s mind.

[Ding! Abandoned treasure-hunting fishing boat (repairable) found!]

“Eh?”

At this moment, Guo Li ran out of oxygen again. He quickly headed back up to the surface of the water. When he surfaced, he breathed deeply.

After regaining his breath, he muttered to himself, “Abandoned fishing boat? It can still be repaired too.”

Guo Li currently lacked such a treasure. Since he already had such a large lake, having a fishing boat to cast a net from and sail around would be super awesome!

Thinking this, Guo Li took a deep breath and dove down again. He swam in the direction of the sunken ship. The treasure-seeking loach was still swimming around the mound, waiting for Guo Li.

This time, after Guo Li reached the sunken boat, he brushed off the mud from the surface and soon caught a glimpse of the fishing boat. It was a rather ordinary looking vessel, which did not seem too old. Once it was repaired, it would be perfectly usable. However, the biggest problem was getting this fishing boat back to shore.

He soon ran out of oxygen again and was forced to surface for air. Guo Li quickly returned to shore and called all of the calabash brothers over. He instructed the ten burly men to search for enough tree bark to make a rope thick enough to pull the sunken boat ashore.

After the ten men heard Guo Li’s instructions, they turned around and headed into the forest, stripping off tree bark to make the rope.

Guo Li sat on the shore as he thought about repairing the sunken boat after it was salvaged; what materials and methods to use, and which tools were needed and how to buy them from the [Rainforest Mall].

An hour later, the ten-man team returned with a thick rope, which they promptly handed to Guo Li.

Guo Li got Third Baby, who was a good swimmer, to follow him into the lake. After the two of them swam over to the spot above the sunken boat, Third Baby dived into the water and cleared out the mud on the sunken boat.

Although these farmers could not help Guo Li build a house, they were still capable of performing simple manual labor. In addition, Third Brother was a good swimmer, and he soon cleared out the mud on the sunken boat.

After he was done, Third Baby surfaced for air, after which Guo Li asked, “Third Baby, are there any treasures inside the sunken boat?”

He shook his head and replied, “I took a look around the interior of the sunken boat. All I could find were two damaged fishing nets and a few cages for fishing.”

The fishing nets could still be used after they were repaired, and it would be more convenient to catch fish with the fishing cages. Guo Li asked Third Baby to bring those things up and also tie the rope to the sunken boat. He would pull it up later.

After receiving Guo Li’s instructions, Third Baby dived down to the sunken boat again and tied the rope to the ship as per Guo Li’s instructions. He then brought the damaged fishing nets and cages back up. The two of them returned to shore.

Now that the rope was tied to the boat, Guo Li had the ten farmers try to pull up the sunken fishing boat.

Although the mud on and around the sunken boat had been cleared, it was still quite difficult for the ten men to pull it ashore.

Had it been on land, pulling a fishing boat would have been a rather effortless task for them. However, the water resistance made the whole exercise much more strenuous.

Although it was tough, the fishing boat was still slowly and gradually moving as they heaved and pulled.

The task was exhausting even for ten strong men, so they alternated between periods of rest and work. Finally, after around two hours, the outline of the fishing boat could finally be seen underwater from the shore.

It was already very close to the shore. As long as they put in a little more effort, they would soon successfully pull the fishing boat ashore. The sight of the fishing boat energized everyone and they all started pulling harder and faster.

Half an hour later, Guo Li stood beside the fishing boat. He looked at the fishing boat, which had a hole at the bottom that rendered it unusable. He rubbed his chin.

As long as he could repair that hole, he would be able to use the fishing boat. In the future, not only would he be able to sail the boat around the lake, but perhaps he might even be able to sail it around the island and catch some marine creatures.

Thinking this, Guo Li became excited and could not wait to repair the boat.