Chapter 129: Chapter 117: Opening the Oyster for Pearls

The school of fish swam too fast for her to keep up, so she soon gave up the idea of chasing them. She had to settle for wandering around the coral reef below, collecting things she could take with her, like coral and the small creatures living in it. There was even a palm-sized octopus that latched onto the red coral in her hand and refused to let go, so she sent it into her space along with the coral.

Flora Bloom was like Grandma Lowell entering the Grand-view Garden, putting every living thing she had never seen before into her space as she rode a bubble from one end of the reef floor to the other.

Suddenly, she noticed a strange-looking rock on the reef below. When a small, lost fish swam underneath it, the rock snapped shut, stirring up a cloud of fine sand from the seabed. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The fine sand soon settled, revealing the reef floor’s original appearance.

Flora’s jaw nearly dropped in astonishment.

Once the sand settled, the strange rock revealed its true form: a large, thick, butterfly-shaped shell. Its left valve was convex while the right was flat, its surface a pale brown, and it was larger than her head. To her greatest delight, the shell’s shape was nearly identical to the two pearl oysters she had already stored in her space.

Without hesitation, she drew closer, reached out to touch it, and sent it into the Spirit River inside her space.

What’s more, as she drew near, the fine sand on the seabed was stirred up again, revealing the floor beneath. Good heavens! The area around the large shell was densely packed with more of the same kind—some stood vertically in the sand, others were half-buried, and some were entirely hidden beneath it. They were all the same type of shells.

Some were brown, others white, and they ranged in size. The smallest were about the size of the one Flora had found on the shore, while the largest was as big as a millstone.

"Goodness gracious. If there are pearls in these, I can’t imagine how big they’ll be!"

Flora excitedly touched them one by one, placing them into the Spirit River in succession. She worked her way along the coral reef, and when she was finished, a count revealed a total of fifty-six shells of various sizes now resting at the bottom of the Spirit River.

Flora gazed contentedly at the shells at the bottom of the Spirit River, peering inside them with her mind’s eye at the various-sized pearls within. Her heart filled with joy, but she also realized she had been on the seabed for a very long time. If she didn’t surface soon, everyone would start to worry. So, she urged her deep blue bubble to ascend rapidly toward the surface.

When she broke the surface, she was surprised to find herself so far from the yacht—a good two or three hundred meters by her estimation, and no longer in the direction of the reef. ’The underwater world truly is a beautiful realm where it’s easy to lose your way,’ she reflected.

She once again urged the blue bubble toward the yacht. As she drew closer, she heard her mother, Jade, shouting anxiously from the deck. Ten meters away, her father, Caleb Bloom, and Irvin Holden were in a kayak, calling her name.

"Dad, I’m over here!"

Her voice, high and clear, quickly reached Caleb Bloom and Jade on the yacht. Jade didn’t relax until she saw her daughter was safe and sound in the water, but even then, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

Caleb Bloom and Irvin Holden paddled the kayak over to Flora, pulled her aboard, and then headed back toward the yacht.

Back on the yacht, Flora saw her mother’s anxious, tear-streaked face and felt a pang of guilt. ’I should have told everyone before I went diving. Then Mom wouldn’t have been so worried.’

She comforted her mother, promising she would never again disappear like that without a word.

She returned to her room, instantly teleported into her space to change out of her wet clothes, and then went back out onto the deck.

By now, the buckets and coolers she had left on deck for fish were overflowing with the spoils of her father and Sherman Lynch. In fact, they had even brought out buckets and a massive metal basin from the kitchen to hold all the fish.

’Looks like Dad and Sherman Lynch had a massive haul,’ she thought. ’If they hadn’t suddenly realized I was missing, there’d probably be even more fish on deck.’

Thanks to Sherman Lynch, a veteran sea angler, Flora learned the species and names of all the fish. Sherman even explained their habits, their preferred types of bait, and more.

The largest fish on deck was double the size of the tuna Flora had caught earlier. She immediately spotted two fishing lines glowing with a golden light. ’It looks like the two Gold Ability Users went to great lengths, infusing their Gold Ability into the fishing gear for this catch,’ she mused.

Since most of the fish were far too large for their small group to eat, they held a vote. They decided to keep just one tuna—roughly the size of Caleb—and a gluttonous, washbasin-sized sea hare that had been caught by mistake. Flora would put the rest into her space to raise them.

Flora left out one tuna and the sea hare, then swept all the other fish into her space. Except for Irvin Holden and Sherman Lynch, everyone present was already used to Flora’s abilities. They all knew she had a huge pocket dimension that could hold living things. Food that went in steaming hot would still be steaming hot when it came out, no matter how much time had passed.

But everyone tacitly agreed to remain silent and not ask questions. This was the greatest way they could show their trust and protect Flora.

Having collected a huge number of ocean fish and enriched the biodiversity of her Spirit River, Flora suddenly gave everyone a mysterious look. A washbasin-sized shell appeared in her hand, and a wide smile bloomed across her face.

"Look at the surprise I have for you! TA-DA! What do you think? Pretty amazing, right?"

However, everyone just looked from Flora’s beaming face to the shell in her hand, their expressions full of confusion. Ethan Monroe even took the shell from her, hefted it a few times, and said, "I’ve never seen a seashell this big before. I’ll go prepare it, and we can have an extra course with our meal!"

Flora snatched back the pearl oyster she had worked so hard to retrieve, shot Ethan Monroe a glare, and turned to the others. "This isn’t just a shell!"

"A giant pearl oyster? Where did you get this? Oysters this big are incredibly rare." Sherman Lynch suddenly pushed his way to Flora’s side, taking the shell and examining it from all angles. "This is one of the finest pearl-producing oysters in the ocean, also known as the white-lipped pearl oyster. Fishermen used to harvest them often, but now they’re a rare sight. Even if you do find one, it’s usually only palm-sized or smaller."

Flora was inwardly stunned by Sherman Lynch’s explanation. ’And this was just a medium-small one I grabbed at random,’ she thought. ’If I brought out the biggest one, wouldn’t Old Lynch’s eyes pop right out of his head?’

She pulled her mother, Jade, closer, took a dagger from her space, and handed it to her.

"Mom, let’s experience opening an oyster and digging for pearls, okay? You do the honors on this one."

Jade had never seen such a large pearl oyster either. Holding the dagger, she had no idea where to begin.

Cynthia Grant, watching from the side, couldn’t contain herself any longer. "Flora, you’re the best! Do you have any more? I want to try opening an oyster for pearls too!"

Flora watched her friend’s impatient face with a lingering smile, then produced another giant pearl oyster of a similar size from her space and handed it to her. "Here, here. How old are you, acting like a little kid?" Of course, Flora herself didn’t realize she was about the same age as Cynthia Grant.