Chapter 6: Miraculous Results! Paying Taxes for the First Time!

Chu Lin immediately picked up one of the stones and looked at the attached note:

[Atlantis Blessing Stone: Quality 1!]
[This is a common stone in Atlantis, marked with special patterns. It is said to have been blessed by the ocean and possesses unique effects:
1. Within a certain range, it can adjust the water flow to a state perfectly suited for marine life!
2. The animals of Atlantis bred and raised in water regulated by this stone will not lose their quality, and their survival rates are extremely high.]

Chu Lin’s eyes could not help but shine—it truly was an Atlantis Blessing Stone.

Just moments ago, he was considering spending over half a million more to buy several sets of equipment, shrimp larvae, and feed, to operate more shrimp ponds. But now, after seeing the properties of the Atlantis Blessing Stone, what need was there for such equipment?

The first effect, being able to adjust water flow to the perfect state for marine life, far surpassed those machines. The very reason for buying such devices was to regulate water temperature and quality. Now, with the Blessing Stone able to perfect the water on its own, what use were those machines?

Moreover, it seemed the Atlantis Blessing Stone had no restrictions of environment or season—it could regulate water regardless. Its properties were simply exceptional!

He just didn't know how wide an area one stone could affect.

But what attracted his attention even more was the second effect: in water regulated by this stone, animals from Atlantis could be bred and raised without any loss of quality.

Did this mean that animals from Atlantis, once removed, could not be bred elsewhere unless in this specially treated water?

Furthermore, all animals produced by Atlantis came with quality ratings—like the current white shrimp, as well as the clams and scallops before, all were quality 1 and came with special attributes.

In other words, even if one tried to breed Atlantis animals in ordinary water, their quality would drop, turning into ordinary animals. For instance, if a quality 1 white shrimp were bred in regular water, it would become a common white shrimp, losing its extraordinary taste and texture.

Only with the Atlantis Blessing Stone’s effect could the bred offspring retain their quality.

Chu Lin’s eyes grew even brighter.

After all, constantly transporting goods from the game map was inherently limited. If he could breed white shrimp of the same quality in this way, there would be no need to hide—he could raise them openly, and no one else would be able to breed them regardless.

What’s more, the Atlantis Blessing Stone also greatly increased the survival rate of offspring.

In their region near Min City, a single white shrimp could lay up to 200,000 eggs per season. Of these, about 70% are fertilized, and 40% of those will hatch, with a further 60% survival rate after hatching.

This means that from 200,000 eggs, only 140,000 are viable, 56,000 hatch, and just 33,600 survive to the juvenile stage.

That’s the general situation; with good management, some can achieve 50,000 juveniles per pond.

Of course, these are just shrimp fry—many will still die in the grow-out ponds. This is why the white shrimp breeding rate in China is considered low.

But with the Atlantis Blessing Stone's exceptional survival rate attribute, this situation could be entirely avoided. Even if not a full 100%, its “extremely high” guarantee meant there would certainly be far more than 33,600 survivors.

This was an incredible property!

Thinking of this, Chu Lin took several Atlantis Blessing Stones out of the game, fetched a thermometer and a simple water quality tester from the office, and walked to one of the breeding ponds.

These two devices were essential for any shrimp farm. Normally, every pond would have a thermometer installed, and the pH would be checked daily.

Chu Lin quickly tested the nearby ponds—the temperature was roughly as expected, since it was still the right season for shrimp. But the water quality was terrible.

After all, water brought in directly from the river had to be filtered and aerated, and the pH adjusted before shrimp could be raised. Right now, the pond water was completely unsuitable—if shrimp fry were put in, they’d inevitably fall ill or die.

After recording the results, Chu Lin tossed one Atlantis Blessing Stone into each of the test ponds, planning to check them again the next morning.

The following morning, when he checked the data, Chu Lin’s face was filled with astonishment.

The water quality in those ponds had transformed completely—the entire pool was crystal clear, with the pebbles at the bottom plainly visible, almost unbelievably so.

He hurriedly tested the water quality, and all indicators had reached their optimal levels overnight.

Moreover, a single Atlantis Blessing Stone was enough for one breeding pond, with effects far exceeding any equipment—and in fact, no machine could achieve such perfection.

This miraculous transformation left Chu Lin thrilled. He quickly returned to the game, picked up all the remaining Atlantis Blessing Stones, and set them aside.

There were quite a number of them—after collecting, he had a large pile, over 400 in total.

This meant there were more than enough to meet all the shrimp farm’s needs, with plenty left over.

Without any hesitation, he packed up the stones and brought them out of the game, placing one in each breeding pond.

Once the Atlantis Blessing Stones took effect, all the ponds would have perfect water quality, and he could start stocking shrimp fry directly.

He planned to order fry and feed the next day.

Although the Atlantis Blessing Stone boosted breeding, white shrimp typically spawned between March and May, finishing by June at the latest. Now it was already June, so the opportunity had passed.

That didn’t mean breeding was impossible out of season—after all, there were even winter breeding methods—but his shrimp farm didn’t have those facilities.

So, he’d have to keep buying fry to cover things up.

But after doing the math, he realized the fifty thousand in his account might not be enough to run all 200 ponds.

Each pond was two acres, and just the fry would cost over ten thousand per pond.

Operating 200 ponds would be a significant investment.

However, to keep up appearances, avoid problems, and pay taxes properly, it was all necessary.

Just then, the Atlantis map refresh notification appeared right on time.

Chu Lin entered the game, placed the refreshed white shrimp into the seafood boxes, when suddenly, a particular shrimp caught his eye.

It was clearly a fertilized, egg-carrying female, her abdomen swollen with a cluster of tiny eggs.

His eyes lit up—she was almost ready to hatch.

Ordinarily, breeding shrimp fry at this time of year would be impossible outside, but in the game map, there were no seasonal restrictions. These egg-bearing shrimp could be refreshed at any time.

He hadn’t paid attention to this before, but with the Atlantis Blessing Stone in hand, discovering these egg-carrying shrimp meant he could save his fifty thousand for now.

He could slowly select such females from the game map and place them in the breeding ponds. With the water quality perfected by the Blessing Stone, he’d only need to wait for them to hatch.

And, thanks to the Blessing Stone, the offspring would retain their high quality.

Immediately, Chu Lin began searching among the shrimp, soon finding several more egg-bearing females.

With over 700 pounds of white shrimp refreshed every day, careful selection would yield plenty—and with the Blessing Stone’s extraordinary survival rate, he could easily achieve self-sufficiency.

With this in mind, Chu Lin made a point of collecting all the egg-bearing shrimp and setting them aside.

When he finished sorting, he’d found around thirty such females.

This was a small proportion of the total, and without looking for them, they’d be easy to miss.

After packing the rest of the white shrimp into seafood boxes, Chu Lin also took the selected egg-bearing females and an Atlantis Blessing Stone out of the game. He filled a seafood box with water and placed the shrimp and stone inside.

Afterward, he returned to the game, brought out the remaining white shrimp, and moved them to the shipping platform.

Before long, Liu Fa arrived for work as usual and transported the day’s Atlantis white shrimp to the Zhizhen Warehouse.

After Liu Fa left, Chu Lin went to the office, opened a drawer, and carefully took out several invoices.

Some were invoices he’d made out to himself, others issued by Zhizhen.

It was already the fifteenth.

The first to the fifteenth of every month was tax time, and today was the last day.

He’d acquired the game system on May 20th last month, and began selling game-produced white shrimp on the 21st.

He had to go to the tax bureau to pay taxes for those ten days last month.

Only after paying the tax would the money earned through the game map be truly legitimate.

Though he had prepared in every possible way, now, facing his first tax payment, he was still a little nervous.