Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-2452

Chapter 2452: Catching Dragon King Krill

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“How did you know?” Hua Yuezhu was confused.

Zhang Xiaohou smiled, but he did not explain to Hua Yuezhu.

They obviously were not going to go to bed so early. Zhang Xiaohou asked Hua Yuezhu to stay in the room, and left through the back door.

They did not have any reliable leads, and could only collect as much information as they could. He was waiting for Tian Cheng and Tan Feng to report back to him before deciding on their next step.

The information the military had on the Dragon King Ants clearly stated these creatures liked to live close to islands and the land. They did not even have to consider searching the deeper ocean for their nests.

“General, we detected lots of Dragon King Krill around the peninsula, but they seem to have come from other places. Their nests aren’t here,” Tian Cheng said.

Tan Feng shared his findings from the factory. “The factories are rather special. First of all, they are not manufacturing any products with their salt. They have stored all the salt in the factories. Many workers are processing the salt into blocks at night!”

“What are they really up to?” Zhang Xiaohou was even more curious.

Zhang Xiaohou decided to visit the factory Tan Feng had investigated while it was still dark.

The factory was brightly lit, as many people were still working in it. The old man did mention most people were working night shifts in the factories.

“Why are they tossing the salt crystals into the sea?” Zhang Xiaohou observed carefully.

The workers were throwing the salt they had received from the salt farmers into the sea. Their actions made no sense at all. Why would they throw the salt back into the sea after producing it?

“Someone is operating the machinery. I think that’s a crane!” Tian Feng said softly.

Two cranes appeared on the surface of the sea. Thick steel cables were tied to the cranes, their other ends submerged in the water.

The cranes were loud and efficient. The surface of the sea started splashing.

Something was soon dragged out of the water. It was a closely-fit wire net. The salt-heavy water was pouring out of the net as it was dragged out of the sea.

However, a portion of the water looked strange. It was trapped in the wire net’s tiny holes, and was being dragged ashore.

Zhang Xiaohou and his men were stunned.

Are they catching seawater?

Hang on, they were catching the Dragon King Krill!

They were aware of the Dragon King Krill’s existence in the sea and knew the creatures liked salt, so they had collected a huge amount of salt produced by the salt farmers and spread it into a certain area.

They were basically throwing bait into the sea and catching all the fish with a net when they reached a certain number!

The water that was wriggling in the wire net was hundreds of Dragon King Krill!

“The wire net is made of Scorched Silver, a special substance that the Dragon King Krill cannot bite through. The residents on this peninsula are more familiar with the Dragon King Krill than the military is!” Tian Cheng blurted out in surprise.

Scorched Silver was one of the rare substances that the Dragon King Krill could not devour. Only the top scholars working for the military knew about it. No one had expected these isolated villages to know such a rare piece of information.

Furthermore, judging from their devices and how adept they were at catching the Dragon King Krill, they were obviously more familiar with the special species than the military!

True masters were indeed found among ordinary folks.

The whole world was terrified after the incident in Luning County was reported, but these villagers already had their own way of dealing with the Dragon King Krill.

“Why are these villagers catching the Dragon King Krill? Don’t tell me they are breeding them!”

“So these villagers are up to no good. We’ll report them to the military so they can send soldiers here to arrest them!”

Zhang Xiaohou frowned. He rolled his eyes at the two young soldiers who were talking and said, “Don’t come to a conclusion so easily before we find out the truth!”

“General, what should we do next?” Tian Cheng said.

“Keep watching them and find out why they are catching the Dragon King Krill,” Zhang Xiaohou ordered.

“Affirmative!”

—

Zhang Xiaohou was full of doubts when he went back to the old man’s house.

The peninsula was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. The old man told him the factories had been buying salt from the villages for many years, meaning they had been catching the Dragon King Krill for quite some time.

The Dragon King Krill had reproduced in plague proportions, and were now threatening the safety of the country’s coastline. Zhang Xiaohou had no idea if the villages were responsible for it.

The villages seemed normal. Were they unaware of how dangerous the Dragon King Krill were, or did they really have something to do with the threat posed by the Dragon King Krill?

—

Hua Yuezhu was waiting in the room, quite bored. Her eyes glittered as soon as she saw Zhang Xiaohou, and she greeted him with a smile.

“General, I just learned something interesting. You won’t believe why the factories are collecting the salt,” Hua Yuezhu blurted out in joy.

“They are catching the Dragon King Krill,” Zhang Xiaohou said.

Hua Yuezhu gaped at him. Her rare reaction was rather amusing.

Zhang Xiaohou told Hua Yuezhu everything he had seen.

“I see, but I know why they are catching the Dragon King Krill,” Hua Yuezhu regained her smile.

“Where did you learn that from?” Zhang Xiaohou asked curiously.

“I stumbled into the old man’s son as he was sewing a silver fishing net when I went downstairs to get some water. He’s much more simple-minded than his father. I was able to trick him and get some useful information out of him,” Hua Yuezhu said.

“Are you sure you didn’t do anything else?”

“Of course not!”

Zhang Xiaohou could only smile wryly.

He was making steady progress incrementally uncovering the peninsula’s secrets, but Hua Yuezhu had beaten him to it by just abusing her beauty.

“He told me the things they are catching are rich in Sea Silver Granules. These Sea Silver Granules are even smaller than Sponge Granules. They can refine the Sea Silver Granules into Deep Sea Scorched Silver, which is several times more valuable than diamonds on the market. The whole Salt Flower Peninsula is making a fortune from it! They might be living on this island, but many of them own big houses in the cities!” Hua Yuezhu informed him.

Zhang Xiaohou considered her words soberly.

He had no idea if the old man’s son was telling the truth. He would have to wait for his men to finish their investigation.

He just hoped everything was as simple as it sounded. Otherwise, this peninsula might be the culprit placing the whole country in danger!