Chapter 399: Chapter 399: A Bountiful Harvest

"5-601 Ocean: @5-1107 Azure If you can’t take it anymore, just die. Living is just suffering anyway."

"4-1209 Slacking Off: ..."

"4-1209 Slacking Off: @5-601 Ocean I’ve put up with you long enough. What the hell is your problem?"

"5-601 Ocean: Haha, what about me? My wife and kid are dead. For me, there’s no difference between living and dying. Let’s all just die together! At least we’ll have company on the road to hell!"

"4-1209 Slacking Off: @5-601 Ocean We know your wife and kid are dead. How many more times are you going to say it? You just get on here every day to cyber-grief and make everyone miserable, is that it? If you loved them that much, go join them. Stop bothering everyone else here."

"5-601 Ocean: @4-1209 Slacking Off Fine, you just wait. I’m coming for you right now! I’m going to take you with me when I die!"

"4-1209 Slacking Off: @5-601 Ocean Bring it on. You’re a coward if you don’t. I’d like to see what’s tougher—your neck or my chainsaw!"

"4-1009 Lowell On Deadline: Alright, alright, everyone just calm down. This is our last chance to get together and chat. Do we really have to fight?"

"..."

Melody Summers frowned slightly after scrolling through the chat logs.

No one could go outside anymore. The internet was the only way to communicate with the outside world and a vital source of entertainment.

’Now that the power’s out and phones are useless, this might be even harder to endure than the long night was...’

After her meal, Melody Summers returned to the Arcadian Space. To her delight, she discovered that the "Long-distance Fishing Boat" she had spent a fortune on had finally arrived!

A massive ship was moored quietly at the sandy dock, like a floating castle. It was seventy or eighty meters long and radiated a breathtaking sense of power and majesty.

Its enormous hull stood in stark contrast to the yacht next to it. Before this behemoth, her family-sized yacht looked like a small toy.

"What a huge ship!"

Melody Summers exclaimed as she eagerly ran aboard, her eyes drawn upward to the towering masts.

The fishing boat’s hull appeared to be constructed from high-strength alloy, and both its bow and stern were outfitted with advanced fishing equipment.

Melody Summers did a lap around the deck before heading to the pilothouse, where she found it equipped with all sorts of instruments and navigation gear.

To Melody Summers’s relief, despite the ship’s size, its pilothouse was fully automated. It could be navigated directly by the system, meaning she wouldn’t have to figure it all out and learn on her own.

She filled the fishing boat’s tank with fuel, then went to the warehouse to move some food and water into the ship’s cabin.

Once everything was ready, Melody Summers returned to the pilothouse and started the engine.

With a low rumble from the engine, the fishing boat slowly pulled away from the dock and headed for the deep sea.

After sailing for two or three hours, the once-calm waters gradually grew more treacherous.

Out in the deep sea, the surface roiled with turbulent waves as fierce winds howled, kicking up colossal swells.

The fishing boat forged ahead through the churning waves. Against the vastness of the ocean, its huge frame seemed as small as a fallen leaf, as if it could be swallowed by the sea at any moment.

Inside the pilothouse, however, Melody Summers barely felt a bump. It seemed the ship was just as advertised—capable of traversing monstrous waves as if on solid ground.

Waves continuously battered the ship’s side, sending spray several meters into the air. The fishing boat’s sturdy hull withstood the impacts one after another as it pushed onward into the deep.

After traveling a while longer, Melody Summers dropped anchor, holding the ship in place.

She then left the pilothouse and went out on deck. Listening to the sound of massive waves breaking against the hull, she rolled up her sleeves, ready to start fishing!

First, she dropped two crab pots, followed by a fishing net. She watched as the pots and the net slowly sank beneath the surface. Now all she had to do was wait.

While waiting, Melody Summers leaned against the railing, gazing at the distant horizon where the sea met the sky, lost in thought for a moment.

She had just piloted the fishing boat at full speed for several hours, yet the sea still stretched on without end. The entire Arcadian Sea must be immense, perhaps even rivaling the Vastus and Vestian Oceans of Blue Star in size.

Thinking of this, Melody Summers looked at Albus in her arms and asked quizzically, "White, what do you think is on the other side of this sea? ...Could it be a new landmass?"

’A new continent? Or did I just sail in a circle and end up back at the start?’

Melody Summers found the Arcadian Space to be utterly mysterious. At first, she thought it was just farmland and a stream, like a little country courtyard.

But then she had unlocked vast forests, sprawling mines, a wide lake, and now a boundless ocean... The space was practically a planet unto itself, complete with mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas—every kind of terrain imaginable.

If that was the case... Melody Summers couldn’t begin to imagine how many more areas were left for her to unlock.

Albus had been curled up in Melody Summers’s arms, grooming his fur. Hearing her question, he obediently lifted his head.

[Host, we could sail the boat to the other side and see!]

Melody Summers smiled at his words and replied, "Okay, when we get the chance."

Time ticked by. After waiting for a while, Melody Summers got ready to haul in her pots and net.

The first crab pot slowly rose from the water. Inside the several-meter-long pot were just seven or eight massive king crabs!

Melody Summers’s eyes lit up instantly. She operated the hauling equipment and dumped the pot’s contents onto the deck. One by one, enormous, plump king crabs tumbled out.

The king crabs in this haul were all red crabs, their shells a beautiful orange-red. Every one of them was feisty and lively. Though few in number, their size more than made up for it!

They were bigger than any king crab Melody Summers had ever seen. The bodies alone were estimated to be half a meter long, and with their legs fully extended, their span could likely reach about two meters.

Perhaps angered at being hauled up from the deep sea without their permission, the king crabs seemed furious. They waved their pincers and scuttled wildly across the deck.

Melody Summers carefully moved them into the water tank on deck and began to retrieve the second crab pot.

The moment the second crab pot broke the surface, Melody Summers cried out in astonishment, "Holy cow! This one is packed!"

The second pot must have landed in a swarm of crabs on the seafloor. Unlike the first, nearly empty pot, this one was stuffed full of thrashing crabs.

Melody Summers dumped them onto the deck. After a quick count, she found there were at least forty or fifty king crabs in this pot alone!

In addition to the large, plump red crabs, there were also a few rare blue crabs.

Although the blue crabs were smaller, they were also much rarer—only one-tenth the number of red crabs—making them more precious.

Melody Summers moved this pile of crabs into the tank, then joyfully scooped up Albus and spun around, shouting, "What a haul! We’re rich!"

Even before the apocalypse, a single live king crab could sell for several thousand dollars.

Now that Melody Summers had caught so many enormous ones in one go, if she sold them all, she could go on a shopping spree at the Odyssey Station! All those weird and wonderful pills—she could buy them all!

After emptying the two crab pots, Melody Summers started to haul in the fishing net.

Unlike the small net on her yacht, which could only hold a few hundred pounds of seafood, the net on this fishing boat was colossal. The moment it began to rise, Melody Summers’s eyes widened in shock—

The once-empty net had become a gigantic sphere, and she estimated this single haul weighed at least four or five thousand pounds!

As the net was opened on the deck, a waterfall of seafood instantly poured out.