Chen Qi walked to the bedside, picked up "Sea Beast Usage Guide," and started flipping through it.


    Ghost Fire Fish and Bullet Squid are dangerous small-sized sea beasts that often move in groups. Once targeted by these schools of fish, one would suffer an attack akin to a hail of bullets.


    Although dangerous, they are much more valuable than Moonlight Fish.


    Seeing that Chen Qi was considering going out to sea at night, Pelu cautioned:


    "If you want to follow the fleet and fish at night, never board ships belonging to gangs, especially the ck Rabbit Gang, the Wild Dog Gang, and the Formal Attire Axe Gang.


    They might charge less, and have maids on board who''ll touch your thigh andpliment your looks!


    But once you''re ashore, they''ll gouge you with tea fees, weapon fees, protection fees, maid service fees—all just ways to rip you off.


    So, make sure to choose a proper fishing vessel, which should cost about 50,000 Shell Coins."


    As Pelu said this, she imitated one of those money-grubbing maids and teased with a flirty wink.


    "Hiss..."


    This sudden assault made Chen Qi frown as though he were an old grandfather on the subway.


    If Pelu didn''t speak, she was quite attractive.


    But with Miss Pelu''s chaotic reputation in Moonstone City, her wink could scare many into running three hundred miles out of Moonstone City in a tumbling panic.


    She continued:


    "Right, when you go out to sea at night, make sure you have ship lights and kerosenemps ready. Recently, there have been six tragedies caused by people trying to save on kerosene by turning off their ship lights."


    "Mmm, don''t worry, my little boat''s ship light is quite expensive," Chen Qi said with a confident smile.


    To ensure safe travel at night, he had the foresight to ask the ship repair workers of Maro Town to equip his small boat with a waterproof, impact-resistantrge ship light!


    Apart from the Steam Hand''s engine, the ship light was undoubtedly the most expensiveponent on his boat.


    "Expensive?"


    Pelu raised her head, scanning his boat house with the eyes of a wealthy woman, somewhat puzzled.


    To me, it''s already quite expensive... Chen Qi helplessly closed the book and asked his second question:


    "By the way, Miss Reporter, what do you know about the ck Rabbit Gang?"


    "What''s up, are the rabbits eyeing you now?" Pelu asked.


    Gangs are a distinct feature in the civilian areas of Moonstone City.


    Gangs supplement the order of Moonstone City. With the Descent of the Crack Tide, chaos is intensifying, and the gangs are bing more numerous and bold.


    "Sort of," Chen Qi replied.


    There was no doubt that his trip to the hunting grounds had caught the ck Rabbit Gang''s attention.


    Not to mention, based on the information he previously had, the ck Whale Group and the ck Rabbit Gang were somewhat connected.


    Pelu frowned:


    "You''ve caught their attention then, be careful. ording to the intelligence from my informants, many gangs in Moonstone City have begun to make contact with pirate groups recently.


    And the ck Rabbit Gang has a close rtionship with the ck Whale Group, the leader among the four great pirate emperors.


    So you''d better be cautious. A rabbit doesn''t care about its reputation when it''s about to leave its burrow."


    Pelu popped a peanut into her mouth.


    The size of the ck Whale Group was growing day by day.


    Chen Qi propped his chin, pondering.


    Gangs are simply pirates onnd, so it''s not surprising they would join pirates.


    After the advent of the Crack Tide, cracks appeared more frequently in the sea than onnd.


    In such situations, joining the pirates would indeed be quite a far-sighted decision.


    The ck Rabbit Gang is not to be feared, but one cannot fight off a hundred with his bare hands. He would have to be careful when moving around Moonstone City... Chen Qi thought to himself.


    Pelu shook her head, expressing a fondness for the boss''s cooking skills.


    Sheforted him:


    "But don''t worry too much. In the end, the gangs are like rats in the city, especially at ports under naval jurisdiction; they wouldn''t dare cause trouble there.


    When I have time, I''ll go and interview the ck Rabbit Gang to get them to behave!"


    An interview, are you sure that''s not a threat? Chen Qi was slightly startled; she truly was the most brazen reporter in Moonstone City.


    Pelu stood up, somewhat reluctantly stuffing her papers back into her bag:


    "It''s such a pity, boss. I''m really too busy today to enjoy your cooking, and thanks for the information you provided."


    "Goodbye, and have a safe trip."


    Chen Qi waved his hand as he bid farewell.


    Before leaving, Pelu clenched her fists in encouragement:


    "Right, boss, keep up the hard work making money!


    Your restaurant is just too shabby and small. If possible, it''d be great to have a cab full of fine wine, a mahogany table, and ideally, a musician to add some artistic atmosphere.


    And it would be even better if you could add some Transcendent ingredients.


    I hope you be a five-star Chef soon!"


    Pelu had always wanted to invite friends for a meal here, but regrettably, the small boat house was just too small.


    If only the boat''s interior were a bit nicer, it would be perfect.


    "..."


    Easy for you to say... Chen Qi pped his hands and nced at his small boat house.


    If it hadn''t been for Old Beli''s rush to sell his boat, he wouldn''t even have it now.


    To fit a big liquor cab while ensuring the speed of the boat, it would be impossible without ten million Shell Coins.


    Moreover, bing a five-star Chef, which required passing the Chef''s Union assessment, was a very difficult thing as well.


    After Pell left, Chen Qi sat on the boat and began to plot his journey ahead in simple terms.


    The Monster Night would take ce the evening after tomorrow.


    He could take time tomorrow to go to the market at Moonstone City and sell the items he obtained from the hunting ground.


    Then he would spend the rest of the time practicing his breathing techniques and Body Forging Skill, as well as training the deep-sea Water Elf.


    ...


    ...


    Two days passed in the blink of an eye.


    At the port of Moonstone City, the afterglow of the setting sun shimmered on the sparkling sea.


    Chen Qi sat atop his small houseboat, counting his money.


    Life had been very ordinary in the past few days, with only asional probes from members of the ck Rabbit Gang, but he had encountered no troubles.


    He spent some time selling the spices he had obtained from the crack, as well as the small Mechanical Armor from the ck Rabbit Gang.


    The Devil Pepper sold for one hundred thousand Shell Coins, and the small steam-powered armor from the ck Rabbit Gang sold for two hundred seventy thousand coins due to a damaged neural connection system.


    With the sale of other items and some expenses, in and out, he now had a total of four hundred thousand Shell Coins.


    For someone who had just begun to make his way at sea, four hundred thousand Shell Coins was a significant sum.


    For non-Transcendents, as long as they avoided frequenting ces of ill repute and had no family members to support, four hundred thousand was enough tost a very long time.


    But for a Transcendent, the amount was still too little.


    Chen Qi finished counting his money and carefully ced it into his backpack card.


    Outside the boat cabin, the hearty voices of sailors could be heard.


    "We''re preparing to set sail, call the sailors to get ready!"


    "And hurry up and find someone to greet the five esteemed Second-tier Hunters, our cannons have limited power, and if we don''t want to be attacked by Sea Beasts, we still need to rely on them."


    "This operation is extremely dangerous, remind the fishermen who have paid that they absolutely must not lose sight of us."


    "May the Goddess bless us, bless us, Goddess, please bless us."


    The mes of the day were gradually extinguishing, and night was about to epass the sea.


    Chen Qi opened the window of his boat and looked out.


    At this moment, beside his small houseboat, there were fiverge fishing vessels, equipped with cannons, powerful steam engines, andrge trawlings.


    And ten medium-sized vessels.


    Beyond that, there were over twenty personal boats, just like his.


    "So many people..."


    Chen Qi remarked.


    Since the arrival of the Crack Tide, the number of people setting out to sea from Maro Town had noticeably decreased.


    But in Moonstone City, there was absolutely no sign of decline!


    In the night, sailing in small boats was a very dangerous affair.


    However, not going out to sea meant that many fishermen with meager savings would go without food, and their entire families would suffer.


    "Life is not easy."


    Chen Qi packed up, came out of the boat cabin, leaned against the wall of the cabin, blew in the sea breeze, and listened to the noisy voices of people.


    The fishermen on the small boats mostly hung their heads, clearly filled with fear about setting out to sea this time.


    On therge vessel beside him, the voices of the captain and first mate were particrly loud.


    "There''s really a lot of people heading out to sea today, but speaking of which, howe there are so many small boats? It''s the night of the Crack Tide! They really aren''t afraid of dying!"


    "Afraid of dying? That''s Moonlight Fish, one Moonlight Fish can be worth ten fresh big fish! You''re not supporting a wife and children.


    Have you ever thought about how much it costs to want to attend a Transcendent school and to cultivate Transcendent abilities?"


    Saying this, the two men on the boat lowered their heads and nced at Chen Qi.


    The coarse-looking first mate, seeing the g on Chen Qi''s boat, spoke out loudly:


    "Young man, you''re a chef, right? Your little boat won''t even be able to catch a single Moonlight Fish before being buried at sea!


    Eighty thousand Shell Coins to follow behind our vessel, and our Hunters will protect you! All registered!"


    "No thanks, I don''t have the money!"


    Chen Qi loudly refused.


    His target was the group of Sea Beasts, and he had no interest in following behind therge ships to pick up their leftovers.


    The first mateughed heartily:


    "No money, eh... Well, that''s that, but I have to warn you, the boats around you belong to gangs, and they don''t follow the rules like we do."


    Chen Qi nced to the side and saw a skinny man in a small boat''s cabin, staring at him with unabashed malice.


    The man''s Spiritual Power field was not weak, at a Second-tier level.


    He was an executive of the ck Rabbit Gang.


    "After watching for so many days, finally someone with a bit of skill hase..."


    Chen Qi did not worry too much and walked straight into the cabin, lit themp, and started the engine.


    With the deep-sea Water Elf, he could even destroy somerge vessels with weak defenses on the sea.


    If they truly dared to attack, he would ensure they had no return!


    In the sky, as if a giant hand suddenly snuffed out a me, the day''s fire waspletely extinguished, and the world plunged into darkness.


    Night had arrived.


    Rumble rumble!


    The Lighthouse lit up, and the ships started their engines and switched on theirmps.


    "To the sea!"


    The sailors on therge vessel shouted!


    With the leading of therge vessels ahead, a bunch of small boats lit theirmps and followed close behind, likenterns afloat on the sea, sailing into the pitch-ck ocean.