Chapter 8: Eating Sea Cucumber Truly Enhances Constitution!

For the next three days, Chu Lin spent his time searching among the newly spawned Atlantis prawns for females carrying fertilized eggs. Over the course of those days, he managed to find more than 150 such prawns. At night, as he gazed at the breeding tank filled with these egg-bearing prawns, his face was alight with excitement.

Do not underestimate these 150 egg-carrying prawns. In the Min City region, a single prawn can lay over 200,000 eggs, and under normal conditions, 30,000 to 50,000 can hatch. With his Atlantis Blessing Stone, not only did he have ideal conditions perfectly suited for marine life, but also an attribute that guaranteed a remarkably high survival rate. The number of hatchlings from each prawn would surely be astonishing.

Moreover, the stocking density of prawns must consider environmental factors. In systematically constructed shrimp farms, the typical maximum density is 40,000 juveniles per acre. Atlantis prawns, with their size-boosting attribute, are limited to 20,000 per acre, meaning each breeding pond can hold up to 40,000 juveniles.

Thanks to the unique properties of the Atlantis Blessing Stone, just one or two egg-carrying, fertilized prawns per pond would suffice. His farm had over 200 such ponds, and with a few more egg-bearing prawns, he could have the entire system running smoothly. Within three months, the farm would be producing and selling Atlantis prawns independently.

Calculating at 40,000 juveniles per pond and 200 ponds, that's 8 million juveniles in total. Once matured, the size-enhancing attribute meant a dozen or so prawns would weigh a pound. With the Blessing Stone's effect, mortality would be minimal, and the harvest should exceed 500,000 pounds. Even if he conservatively estimated 500,000 pounds at 60 yuan per pound, three months later, his farm's Atlantis prawns would be worth 30 million.

If anyone else tried to do the same, not only would they fail to produce such quantities, but the cost of equipment and nurturing would be astronomical. Chu Lin, however, relied solely on the Atlantis Blessing Stone, with feed as his only additional expense.

Once the farm could sustain itself, he would just need to select enough egg-carrying broodstock from the Atlantis map, without worrying about being caught taking prawns from the game every day. The map still had over 200 Blessing Stones, and he felt they should be put to use.

That night, Chu Lin drifted into sleep, dreaming of the bounty that awaited him in three months.

Early the next morning, the Atlantis map refreshed as usual, bringing yet another surprise.

[Current Atlantis map is Level 1, can refresh one type of regular animal: prawn. Animal refreshed!]
[Today, a marine undercurrent seems to have swept an animal unexpectedly into the map!]

With a thought, Chu Lin entered the Atlantis map and saw the newly refreshed prawns, but also noticed something else that had appeared by accident.

It was dark, spindle-shaped, with tiny spiked tentacles at the front.

“So it’s this creature,” Chu Lin picked one up and read its description:

[Atlantis Sea Cucumber: Quality 1]
[This is a special variety of sea cucumber, with unique effects: flavor +1, size +1, enhanced constitution +1!]

Chu Lin hadn’t expected a sea cucumber to appear today. This creature had gained fame due to the national football team eating it daily, earning the nickname “Why must we boil each other?” among netizens, as mollusks devour mollusks.

Reading the description, he was genuinely surprised. Previous animals had attributes like flavor +1, size +1, and deliciousness +1. Today’s sea cucumber lacked the deliciousness attribute. It made sense; sea cucumbers have a distinct taste that’s hard for some people to accept, and the absence of the deliciousness attribute was only natural.

However, it had an extra attribute: enhanced constitution +1. So the football players were right after all—sea cucumbers really could improve physical health.

On the market, ordinary live sea cucumbers can reach about 500 grams, but these, with their size-enhancing attribute, each likely exceeded that weight. One or two wouldn’t be surprising, but for them all to be so large was extraordinary.

Chu Lin quickly got to work, packing the prawns into seafood boxes, picking out the fertilized egg-bearing females, and gathering the newly spawned sea cucumbers, setting them aside. Counting them, there were over fifty.

After moving the prawns out of the game, Chu Lin brought the sea cucumbers out as well, keeping one for himself and pouring the rest into a specially selected breeding pond. Alongside clams, scallops, and prawns, the pond now housed sea cucumbers as well.

He then took the remaining sea cucumber to the dormitory kitchen. Naturally, he wanted to taste it. He knew how to make sea cucumber millet porridge.

He soaked the millet, boiled water, and cleaned the sea cucumber, using ginger and garlic to rid it of its peculiar odor. Once the water was boiling, he added millet and simmered it for a while. He then chopped the sea cucumber into small pieces and added them, along with a few Atlantis prawns prepared in the kitchen. A touch of salt and pepper completed the recipe.

After another five minutes, the sea cucumber millet porridge was ready. Chu Lin tasted it eagerly; the unique flavor of the sea cucumber had been handled well. Though it lacked the deliciousness attribute, the prawns more than made up for it, and the combination was excellent.

As he digested a bowl of sea cucumber porridge, a look of astonishment suddenly appeared on his face. He felt a warm, comfortable sensation spreading throughout his body—a remarkable feeling.

He realized this must be the effect of the Atlantis sea cucumber’s enhanced constitution attribute. With such results, eating one sea cucumber a day, finishing those fifty, would certainly improve his health—not like the national football team eating them daily with no effect.

Immediately, Chu Lin scooped another bowl for himself, and as breakfast ended, he became increasingly certain. That warm, comfortable feeling lingered, the sea cucumber in his stomach not yet fully digested. After all, a meal takes over five hours to digest completely.

Soon, Liu Fa arrived as usual to load the prawns onto the truck for delivery to Zhen. Not long after, Chu Lin’s bank account saw another deposit of over forty thousand, bringing his balance to more than 750,000.

Once Liu Fa returned, he handed over today’s invoice.

Chu Lin took it and instructed, “Master Liu, later please go buy a few inflatable rafts from the outskirts. I’ll transfer the money to you.”

“Alright, Mr. Chu.” Liu Fa didn’t question it. Seeing the boss finally had some extra errands for him, he took the money and promptly drove out of the farm, eager to help.

Chu Lin headed toward the special breeding pond where he kept prawns, clams, scallops, and sea cucumbers. The pond, spanning two acres, was about the size of three basketball courts.

From now on, retrieving game-spawned seafood would be more convenient and enjoyable with a raft. For those who loved fishing, adding a few fish might make the experience even more delightful.

Liu Fa soon returned with several rafts and a pump, inflating each one in turn.

“Help me carry one in,” Chu Lin instructed.

“Of course, Mr. Chu,” Liu Fa replied, helping Chu Lin carry a raft to the special pond.

At the pond, a sign read “Internal Breeding Pond.” Chu Lin placed the raft in the water, had Liu Fa hold onto the handle, grabbed a net, and sat on the raft to test it out.

Once Liu Fa let go, Chu Lin used the net handle as a paddle, maneuvering the raft around. It worked quite well.

With the Blessing Stone, the pond water was crystal clear, and with the size-enhancing attribute, the prawns, clams, scallops, and sea cucumbers were all easily visible—even the sea cucumbers crawling along the bottom.

Incidentally, the sea cucumber in his stomach was still not fully digested, and that pleasant warmth lingered.

He practiced scooping up animals for a while, getting a feel for the process. It was possible to catch them, but not easy, since the pond was large and the creatures few. Still, it made for an enjoyable experience.

After a bit more practice, Chu Lin left the pond, just as noon approached. He heard the sound of a car horn outside, followed by Huang Bin’s voice: “Chu Lin, are you here?”

Chu Lin stepped out and greeted Huang Bin with a smile, “What brings you here today?”

Huang Bin replied immediately, “You don’t even go out with girls anymore, so I’m worried you’ve lost interest in women!”

Chu Lin groaned, “You say you’re worried, but you waited three days to come? Speak plainly!”

“I’m off today!” Huang Bin grinned, candidly. “Besides, I want to eat your prawns—came to mooch some lunch.”

“Sure, eat as much as you like,” Chu Lin laughed. “I can treat you to a seafood feast at noon. I’ve got a pond full of fresh seafood.”

Perfect, he thought—it would let Huang Bin experience the fun of harvesting seafood.

Huang Bin declared, “Today, I only want your prawns. Right now, I have zero interest in any other seafood!”

“You said it—don’t eat anything else then,” Chu Lin teased, leading Huang Bin toward the special breeding pond.

“If I do, I’ll take your surname!” Huang Bin vowed, resolutely following.