Chapter 512: Treasure Cauldron
Compared to the cheap seafood in the fish hold that couldn't fetch high prices and could only be wholesaled to dock vendors, the seafood picked out separately had specialized buyers at the dock.
Most of these buyers were procurement agents from well-known hotels on Honshu Island. They offered high prices but also had very strict requirements for the quality and appearance of the seafood!
A Japanese fisherman, who was sorting prawns into a basket filled with crushed ice, picked out some prawns with broken claws. Prawns with this kind of appearance were usually not accepted by hotel procurement, and even if they were, the price would be significantly lowered.
These less-than-perfect prawns would be sorted separately and sold to nearby seafood barbecue izakayas! Although the price they offered wasn't as high as the famous hotels, it was still better than what the fish vendors paid.
Those bastards, every single one of them was like a lamprey sucking blood from them, the fishermen. They knew the fishery resources weren't good recently, yet they still desperately suppressed prices! At this moment, the captain of the fishing boat, an old man over fifty with a grizzled beard, came onto the deck. He glanced at the busy people on the fishing boat and called out,
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Once we're ashore and the catch is processed, I'll treat everyone to a drink at Kobayashi Izakaya!"
"Sugoi!"
"Long live Captain Kuroki!"
The fishermen, who had been busy for several days straight at sea, cheered when they heard the captain was treating them to drinks. Even their movements became much more efficient.
Before the fishing boat entered the harbour, five or six fishermen finally finished their sorting work. "Alright, everyone, have a cigarette and take a break!" Kuroki pulled out a few cigarettes from a crumpled pack printed with coconut trees and handed them out one by one.
"Captain! The valuable seafood has been sorted out, only four boxes in total!"
Several fishermen, holding the captain's cigarettes with fingers smelling of fish, fully enjoyed the pleasure brought by nicotine after their fatigue. A bald middle-aged fisherman blew smoke rings, looked at the captain who was over fifty, and complained, "Even with those few hundred catties of squid, the money we earned from this trip out to sea is less than what we'd make working ashore!"
"Yeah, Captain Kuroki, selling this little catch won't leave us with much. It really is less than working at a company!"
"Haruko also complains that I'm out at sea for one or two weeks at a time and don't have time to accompany her! If things keep going like this, I might as well set up a yakitori stall at the Night Market!" a short fisherman, who looked to be just over thirty, complained.
"Aida, Haruko complains about you being out at sea for a long time? I think she's probably hoping you'll stay drifting at sea forever!"
"Baga! What do you mean, you bastard?" Aida glared at the fisherman who spoke.
"What do I mean, hehe..." The bearded fisherman who spoke exchanged an ambiguous gaze with the people around him!
Gotta say, Haruko is really moist!
"Bastard, you better explain yourself!" The fisherman named Aida angrily threw the half-smoked cigarette on the ground, rolled up his sleeve, and was about to step forward to teach the insolent guy a lesson.
The bearded fisherman also rolled up his sleeves, and it looked like the two were about to break out into a full-blown fight.
"Alright, Aida! Sakai! You two stop! Even if you want to fight, don't do it on my fishing boat. Settle whatever grudges you have ashore! If anyone dares to fight on the fishing boat, I'll throw him in the sea to feed the fish right now!"
Although Kuroki was over fifty, as the captain of this fishing boat, he still held considerable prestige among the fishermen. When he spoke, the two fishermen who had rolled up their sleeves ready to fight could only back down, glaring at each other like angry cows.
Kuroki gave Aida a strange look. He had heard rumors about his wife's *cough* activities for a long time.
Fishermen go out to sea, sometimes for ten days or half a month. It wasn't unheard of for wives at home to cheat due to loneliness, but it was truly rare for someone like Aida's wife, who didn't discriminate and made it known to everyone.
He heard Aida's wife was indeed very beautiful. Hmm, maybe he should visit her later—
He took a deep drag of his cigarette, shook his head, and dispersed the thoughts in his mind. The most important thing now was to appease this group of fishermen under him, otherwise, he might not even be able to gather enough manpower for the next trip out to sea! "In recent years, the fishery resources in coastal areas have become increasingly depleted, and our line of work is indeed getting harder and harder!" Kuroki clapped his hands, signaling everyone to look at him: "But don't worry, you've all been working with me for over ten years, you're veterans. Aida joined the latest, but he's also been with me for two years. I won't mistreat anyone!"
The people looked at each other but didn't speak, just silently smoking their cigarettes. Kuroki also knew that this wasn't thirty years ago, a simple promise wouldn't make his subordinates kneel and shout banzai in this simple era. Nowadays, everyone looks at money. Without money, who would follow you?
After cursing the decline of the human heart in his mind, Kuroki pulled out his trump card: "You've all worked hard this time. I've calculated, although our catch this time isn't much, those few things we caught can sell for a good price. There will definitely be a bonus for everyone!"
"Captain Kuroki, those few dolphins..." A fisherman had just spoken when Kuroki glared at him fiercely. He quickly changed his words: "Can that thing really sell for a high price, like whale meat?"
Kuroki took a slow drag of his cigarette, scanned the hopeful gazes of the people, and then nodded with satisfaction: "Of course. This thing is the same species as whales. We old-timers who used to hunt whales call them little whales. I have a channel to sell them as whale meat. One kilogram can sell for 7000 Yen!"
"Sugoi! Captain Kuroki, you even worked on a whale hunting boat? No wonder there's a whale hunting gun on the ship!" Aida gave Kuroki a thumbs-up.
"We caught six of them. I estimate they can yield about 600 kilograms of meat, which is enough to make up for this trip's harvest and give you something to show your family!"
Kuroki's words brought excited expressions to the faces of several fishermen.
"Captain Kuroki, I will definitely follow you well from now on!"
"Captain Kuroki, I'll sell my life to the Kuroki Family for this lifetime!"
Upon hearing that they would receive money, several fishermen eagerly expressed their loyalty to Kuroki. One fisherman even let out a roaring Japanese-style tongue roll.
"Alright, Oki, Aida, you two find some things to cover the separated water tank. The things inside can't be seen by others, after all, this thing isn't legal right now! It would be troublesome if those busybody foreigners took photos!"
Listening to the flattery of his subordinates, a smile appeared on Kuroki's rough, bark-like face. He waved his hand and instructed.
"Hai!"
Driven by money, the two fishermen quickly got busy, showing no complaints about being treated like cows or horses.
"Hmm, these lads. Indeed, only sufficient harvest can satisfy them. Should I consider Aida's suggestion? But now those foreigners are protesting very strongly about whale hunting. If I get caught, the guys at the Fishery Association might not protect me!"
Kuroki smoked his Captain brand cigarette, looking at the few fishermen under him, and recalled the matter his old friend at the Fishery Association had told him about.
Quietly hunting whales using his fishing boat. Kuroki weighed the gains and losses. International public opinion now made even the government bureaucrats fearful. If he were caught red-handed by those foreign ships during whale hunting, his fishing boat would be lost.
After all, he didn't have whale hunting aptitude and couldn't hunt whales freely under the guise of scientific research like that guy Takeshita.
Fewer and fewer young people were willing to go out to sea on boats to fish.
The guys on the boat now were only willing to risk their lives on board because of the high salaries from fishing. Judging by the catches from these recent trips, if he didn't get more income, his Kuroki Family fishing boat might not even have the opportunity to go out to sea in the future!
Kuroki's gaze looked towards the bow of the boat, seemingly seeing through the deck the rusty whale hunting gun hidden beneath. Thinking of the current price of whale meat his old friend mentioned, Kuroki felt a surge of excitement in his heart. He took a deep drag of the cigarette in his hand.
"Let's do it! It's just whale hunting, isn't it? One trip out to sea can earn as much as seven or eight trips used to. I'll work for a few more years, save some money, and retire!"
"Is Aida's Haruko really as *cough* as Sakai said? Aida isn't very good at drinking. It should be normal for me, as the captain, to send him home after he gets drunk, right?"
"What is that thing? A meteorite?"
"Captain Kuroki! Look at the falling star!"
Kuroki held a basin of water and a rag, came to the deck, lifted a hidden compartment, and while wiping the whale hunting gun stained with dolphin blood, his mind wandered, thinking about sending Aida home that night.
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind him. Hearing Aida and the others' exclamations, Kuroki frowned and turned around. Just as he was about to scold the noisy people, he saw several people looking up at the sky together, pointing with their fingers.
Following everyone's gaze, Kuroki saw a fireball descending from the sky.
"Meteorite!?" Although Kuroki was over fifty, he wasn't an old relic. Seeing the fireball falling from the sky, he, like everyone else, subconsciously thought it was a meteorite falling from the sky.
"I remember Oki said there are valuable things in meteorites. It's a shame, judging by the shape, this meteorite isn't big. Otherwise, we could try to look for it!" Looking at the meteorite crashing into the sea surface from afar, Kuroki secretly felt regret.
"I heard some meteorites can sell for tens of millions of Yen. Should we go take a look!"
"Aida, do you think this is on land? This is the ocean. How big is that meteorite? Trying to find it is less realistic than praying we run into a school of tuna next time!"
"Aida, did you take photos of that meteorite? I remember Haruko really likes falling stars!"
"Ah, I forgot!"
"But Murakami, how did you know my wife likes falling stars!" The fisherman named Murakami's complexion stiffened at Aida's question. He quickly laughed it off: "Did you forget? Last time we drank together at the izakaya, you told me!"
"Is that so! Then I must have been drunk and don't remember!" Aida scratched his head.
Seeing that he had managed to fool him, Murakami couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead. He lowered his hand and met Sakai's half-smiling gaze. The two exchanged a knowing look, instantly understanding that the other was a fellow traveler on the same path!
"Oki! Quick! Throw off all heavy objects, drain the fish hold, everyone get inside the hold, accelerate into the harbour!"
Suddenly, a sharp wail echoed from the bow deck. Several fishermen recognized the hoarse, broken voice as belonging to their captain, Kuroki Toshio! "Captain! What happened!?" Bald Oki looked at Kuroki Toshio in confusion.
"Tsunami, it's a killer wave, a super tsunami! Hurry into the harbour, no, no, it's too late to enter the harbour! Turn the boat around, at a forty-five-degree angle! I hope the area of this wave isn't large! Hurry!"
Kuroki Toshio looked at the sea surface, which had suddenly become as calm as a lake, with the seawater receding towards the center of the sea. Having experienced several tsunamis before, he immediately realized that danger was imminent. His decades of experience surviving at sea told him that this abnormality on the sea surface was a precursor to a super tsunami.
Upon hearing Kuroki Toshio's frantic roar about the killer wave, several fishermen panicked. As people who made their living at sea, they naturally knew that only waves exceeding thirty meters were called killer waves.
They were giant waves capable of instantly capsizing ten-thousand-ton vessels! Under Kuroki Toshio's shouting, several fishermen clumsily turned the fishing boat around. The fishing boat hadn't sailed far at an angle when they saw an extremely terrifying scene.
"Amaterasu Ōmikami!" Inside the captain's cabin, Bald Oki looked at the boundless giant wave and fell to his knees with a thud.
If a thirty-meter wave was called a killer wave, what was this in front of them? Kuroki Toshio looked at the giant wave, which was a hundred meters high. The height of the wave crest was so high it seemed to touch the sky. Even though he had been at sea for over thirty years, he had never even heard of such a giant wave, let alone seen one.
"It's over! Japan is finished!"
"Rumble!"
Although Kuroki Toshio's hands trembled as he tried his best to control the fishing boat and avoid the super giant wave before him, the super giant wave seemed to stretch for thousands of meters. Before the fishing boat could sail out of the super giant wave's coverage area at an angle—
The hundred-meter-high giant wave roared past. The entire fishing boat, weighing less than a thousand tons, let out a creaking sound of steel breaking, and then was swept and rolled into the seabed by the giant wave like building blocks.
The hundred-meter wave swept past the fishing boats frantically accelerating towards the fishing harbour dock, like a wheel casually crushing a few ants. Without any pause, it rolled towards Japan's harbour with a momentum that could overturn mountains and seas.
Whether it was a wooden structure house or a reinforced concrete tall building, they were all treated equally under the hundred-meter-high giant wave, collapsing with a crash and being swept into a pile of ruins by the giant wave! In just a few minutes, this prosperous coastal county area was completely reduced to a flooded land! And the culprit who stirred up this tsunami turned out to be nothing more than a black cauldron three feet square!
Less than a hundred kilometers from the coastline, in the center of an undersea giant pit about several hundred meters deep and a thousand meters in diameter, a black cauldron lay quietly.
A few minutes after the hundred-meter-high super tsunami swept across Japan, a tall woman dressed as a city office worker arrived at the seabed. The moment she entered the water, the surrounding seawater automatically parted to both sides.
The moment the woman arrived at the seabed, her gaze was immediately attracted by the black cauldron there. Not being a mortal, she clearly saw a wisp of clear light slowly rippling out from within the cauldron.
Wherever the clear light passed, it rippled outwards, penetrating the seawater and spreading in all directions.
The surrounding fish, prawns, crabs, clams, and countless aquatic race were enveloped by the clear light. Their souls collectively left their bodies and merged into the clear light.
"No wonder there was such a big sea wave. So it's a divine artifact descending from the sky!" The woman looked at the black cauldron, her legs tightening in excitement. As the daughter of Amaterasu Ōmikami, one of the Eastern Ocean Sea Gods/Goddesses, she had seen many divine artifacts in Amaterasu's hands.
She was certain that even if all those divine artifacts were added together, they wouldn't be as formidable as this divine artifact! "This is a sign from the heavens! I, Toyotama-hime, am about to replace Amaterasu and become the Lord of Takamagahara!"
The woman looked at the black cauldron, unable to resist walking towards it step by step. Greedily, she placed her hand on the cauldron's body, gently stroking it. Lost in her enjoyment, she was completely unaware that her body was slowly being dissolved by the clear light.
The clear light penetrated her body, and as it rippled, her body also decomposed bit by bit. Soon, this Japanese female sea goddess disappeared within a patch of clear light.
Not long after the woman disappeared, the seabed returned to calm, leaving only the black cauldron lying quietly on the dead seabed.
Soon after, another Japanese god descended upon this place. When he entered that patch of clear light, his eyes also became crazed.
In the God Prison, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, the two brothers, looked at each other.
"What day is it today? Why are so many gods coming all of a sudden, and they're all Japanese gods? Did Taishan Fujun go to Fusang Island!"
"Don't worry about that for now. Let's escort them in first!" Yu Lei skillfully took out a rope and tied up the souls of the bewildered and dazed Japanese gods one by one, leading a string of ghost gods towards the Ghost Gate like livestock.
"This is..."
The Dragon King, with a dragon head and human body, hovered in the sky. As far as his eyes could see, he saw a patch of clear light beneath his feet.
As the clear light flowed, it enveloped and devoured the souls of countless aquatic race—
The Dragon King looked at the continuously expanding clear light, his limbs turning ice cold. At this time, the clear light had expanded to over two hundred miles from where he had just arrived.
Not only were the souls of the aquatic race devoured, but even the souls of nearly a million living beings on the nearby Fusang Island were also devoured by it.
"What kind of demonic creature is this? It's so terrifying!"
Seeing that the clear light was about to spread to the sea area he ruled, the Dragon King was helpless. He watched with his own eyes as more than a dozen Japanese gods entered that patch of clear light and were instantly reduced to nothing. This terrifying scene made the Dragon King hesitate.
He hadn't tried to find the source of the clear light. He glanced at the broken treasured sword in his hand and could only sigh.
"This is not some demonic creature. This is the divine artifact that Taishan Fujun wields to govern the Underworld!" A woman in palace attire with a majestic and cold demeanor appeared beside the Dragon King. Her gaze was fixed on the center of the clear light, as if she could see the black Netherworld Cauldron.
"This humble god greets the goddess!"
Seeing the woman's figure, the Dragon King did not dare to be slow and quickly bowed in salute.
The Queen Mother of the West glanced at him and nodded slightly.
"Goddess, you mean, below is Taishan Fujun's treasure cauldron!" The Dragon King looked at the sea area that had become a dead sea, his jaw dropping in surprise.
As the Lord of the Four Seas in this world, although the Dragon King's strength was not absolutely top-tier, in terms of identity, he could sit on equal footing with Acha, the Underworld King. Moreover, compared to Acha, who became the Underworld King halfway,
The Dragon King knew many ancient secrets, including who was the true master of the Land of the Departed before the Underworld King, and that Taishan Fujun possessed that treasure cauldron.
It was precisely because of this cauldron that during the conflict of the ancient gods, that Taishan Fujun surpassed her! Thinking of this, the Dragon King subconsciously glanced at the Queen Mother of the West: "Goddess, how could Taishan Fujun's treasure cauldron appear in the Mortal Realm's water area, and even emit such radiance? If it continues like this, the entire Mortal Realm might directly turn into a dead land!"
"This cauldron has been held by Taishan Fujun since his birth, never leaving his side. The fact that this cauldron is here is naturally because he is dead!" The Queen Mother of the West said lightly! "Hiss!" The Queen Mother of the West's words made the Dragon King gasp. Who in this world could kill Taishan Fujun? He was a true Ancient Great God, unless it was—
The Dragon King lifted his eyes, cautiously glancing at the Queen Mother of the West. If anyone could possibly kill Taishan Fujun, it was no one else but the one before him! The Queen Mother of the West glanced at the Dragon King, seemingly guessing his thoughts. She said faintly, "It wasn't me!"
"Goddess, please forgive me! This humble god was making wild guesses. It's just that in this world, the only one who can surpass Taishan Fujun is you, Goddess!" Seeing that his thoughts were seen through, the Dragon King quickly bowed and apologized, while also flattering her.
The Queen Mother of the West sighed slightly: "There isn't anyone in this world, but what about in the sky?"
Hearing the Queen Mother of the West's words, the Dragon King's heart tightened. He looked up at the sky. That sharp sword that spanned the stars was still hanging high there.
"Goddess, was it that person from outside the domain who took action!?" The Dragon King swallowed.
"Half an hour ago, he killed Taishan Fujun in front of me. Oh, and that little fellow named Taotie is your son, right? He also fell into his hands. Whether he's alive or dead, I don't know!"
The Queen Mother of the West glanced at the Dragon King: "If you want revenge, it might be a bit difficult!"
"Goddess, please don't joke with me anymore. Although Taotie is my fifth son, for so many years, he has been doing evil in the Mortal Realm. I have long wanted to kill this wicked son! Since that one took action, it saves me the trouble of dealing with him myself!"
The Dragon King waved his sleeve, constantly wiping the sweat from his forehead. Revenge? What a joke. He had personally seen that palm from outside the heavens crush the Tong Ming Beast into a little cat! Now, hearing from the Queen Mother of the West that even Taishan Fujun was killed by that one, let alone revenge, even if that rebellious son were alive, if he dared to offend such an Important Figure, he would immediately sacrifice kinship for righteousness and personally kill that rebellious son.
The Dragon King felt a chill run down his spine to his neck, making his neck feel cold. What he was worried about now was not anything else, but how that rebellious son had offended that existence, and whether this matter would implicate the Dragon Palace.
A slender, fair hand quietly stopped at the Dragon King's neck. Upon hearing the Dragon King's words, that hand quietly retracted.
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