After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH50

Chapter 50

By the time Lu Ao arrived at the dock, it was nearly four in the morning.

The dock was quite lively.

These were all rescue fishing boats organized spontaneously by civilians. Not only were they not charging anything, they were even paying for fuel out of their own pockets.

Even so, several boats were still moored at the dock, waiting to set out.

The dock was noisy and chaotic. Some family members of the fishermen who had fallen into the water had also boarded the boats. They were crying as they recounted the last phone calls they had received, trying to provide more information.

Soon, boat after boat set out to sea.

Lu Ao boarded one of them.

Brother Tao, who had come to pick him up, was very familiar with the boat owner and took good care of him too.

As soon as they got on board, Brother Tao brought him water and seasickness medicine. “Take some first. The waves are too frequent today. No matter how big the boat is, people are probably still going to get seasick.”

Lu Ao took them, poured two pills into his mouth, and asked, “How’s the situation now? How many have been found?”

“Six in total. The helicopter has already taken them to the hospital,” Brother Tao said. “There are still nineteen missing.”

When the boat sank, the fishermen had jumped overboard together, holding on to net cages and wearing life jackets as they floated on the sea.

At first, while the fishermen still had enough strength, they would drift for a while and swim for a while, trying their best to stay together.

More people together meant better safety, and it also made large-scale rescue easier.

According to the rescued fishermen, the waves were fairly big today. Even though they had consciously tried to stay close to one another, it did not take long before everyone was exhausted. They could no longer remain in the same area of the sea and could only drift with the current.

The fishermen who had been rescued had all described the directions in which they had seen their companions drift away. However, the sea was simply too vast, and it was dark. Even if they knew the initial directions, no one knew where those people had drifted to now.

After taking the seasickness pills, Lu Ao stood on the deck and carefully observed a certain direction.

The others on the boat were also watching from the deck.

The wind gradually picked up again, and the boat rocked violently.

Several of the volunteers helping with the search had already thrown up.

Life on a boat was like this. No matter how experienced someone was, once it exceeded the limits the human body could adapt to, they would still vomit.

Some fishermen who went deep-sea fishing, when they encountered strong winds and heavy waves and kept drifting at sea, could vomit until they lay in bed for days unable to get up.

Going out to sea had always been hard work.

Lu Ao felt fine.

He looked at the sea.

Once his eyes adjusted, the sea was not completely pitch-black. Instead, it carried a faint, hazy light.

There were probably rain clouds overhead. Tonight, there was neither moon nor stars, and visibility was extremely poor. This made the rescue much more difficult.

Aside from Lu Ao, everyone could only see the waters within a hundred meters.

Lu Ao knew the situation, so he watched even more carefully.

Soon, the boat reached the target sea area.

They were still close to shore, so their phones had signal. The boat captains kept communicating by phone, adjusting their course from time to time.

Over the target sea area, a helicopter kept searching nearby. Lu Ao saw it several times, then withdrew his gaze.

Rescue at sea was actually very exhausting.

Lu Ao kept staring at the water until he became drowsy.

After an unknown length of time, he suddenly felt there was something on the sea, though he could not tell whether it was debris or a person.

The boat drew a little closer.

Lu Ao clearly saw a round head.

He hurriedly raised his voice and shouted, “Over there! There’s someone over there!”

Everyone instantly perked up and rushed over beside Lu Ao to look. “Which way?!”

“Where’s the person?”

“Why can’t I see anything? Did you see wrong?”

“Where’s the captain? Captain? We’ll know once we sail that way.”

Amid the noisy voices, their fishing boat turned around and slowly headed in the direction Lu Ao had pointed.

Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters, fifty meters…

Everyone could now see someone floating face-up on the sea. Only half a head and a small part of the shoulder were exposed.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! There really is someone!”

“Hurry, call the helicopter! We found someone too!”

“The speedboat! Send the speedboat over to check!”

“Is he still alive?”

The people on the boat quickly lowered the speedboat, and several experienced fishermen approached.

They struggled to pull the person onto the boat and soon detected breathing.

They hurriedly shouted to the people on the larger boat, “It really is a person—he’s still alive—”

“Quick, quick, bring him up. Doctor Lin, come take a look.”

With everyone’s help, the fisherman who had fallen into the water was soon brought back onto the large boat.

The doctor accompanying the boat came over to check him and quickly judged, “There are extensive impact injuries on his body. We can’t determine whether there’s internal bleeding for now. His vital signs are relatively stable. He needs to be sent to the hospital as soon as possible.”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone on the boat burst into cheers.

Brother Tao slapped Lu Ao’s shoulder hard and praised him, “Good job!”

The others also came over and patted Lu Ao’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

The rescue helicopter nearby quickly came over and took the injured man away for emergency treatment.

Someone on the boat shouted, “Everyone, keep searching! Maybe other crew members have drifted into this area too!”

Rescue work was a race against time. The earlier they found the fishermen who had fallen into the water, the greater their chances of survival.

Brother Tao patted Lu Ao. “Hurry and look again.”

Lu Ao nodded and continued staring seriously at the sea.

Before long, the boat had reached the edge of the rescue area. They needed to change direction and continue searching.

Someone at the bow kept watch.

Seeing the boat casually choose a direction, Lu Ao walked over to discuss it with the captain. “How about we search northwest?”

The captain could tell he was the one who had just found the fisherman in the water, so he did not feel offended. He explained, “There are already boats searching northwest.”

Lu Ao nodded, then asked, “Are there many boats searching there? The wind is blowing northwest now. I feel the fishermen in the water may drift that way.”

“Huh? Wasn’t it a southeast wind today?”

An experienced person stood on the deck and sensed it for a moment, then immediately said, “The wind direction really has changed! It’s already blowing northeast now.”

“Damn! You can even tell that?”

“Should we sail northwest too?”

“Right! Captain Chang, why don’t you tell the other boats? If we head northwest, the chances of success may be higher.”

After thinking about it, the captain did not refuse. “Then I’ll let them know.”

After calling the police, the captain changed course again. This time, the boat headed northwest.

The idea of heading northwest was correct. Before they had even gone five minutes, Lu Ao saw another person.

Everyone grew even more excited. Even those who were seasick could no longer care about feeling sick. Their lips were pale, but a flush of excitement had risen on their cheekbones as their eyes burned brightly, staring at the dark sea.

Everyone rolled up their sleeves to help.

Very soon, the fisherman in the water was rescued. After the doctor examined him, he found that the man’s arm was fractured.

As long as he was still breathing, the situation was not considered too terrible.

Everyone hurriedly called the rescue helicopter and urged them to come quickly.

After the fisherman was sent away, the boat continued.

One after another, Lu Ao found four more people. Three of them were still alive.

After these few hours, everyone knew that Lu Ao’s eyesight was far better than ordinary people’s, and his senses were even sharper.

It was still only barely dawn. On top of that, it was a cloudy day, so visibility was even worse. Many people saw shadows in the distance but could not tell what they were. Lu Ao, however, could clearly distinguish whether it was a person or debris.

The others on the boat had made mistakes several times, but Lu Ao had not been wrong once.

The six people rescued before dawn had all been discovered by Lu Ao.

Gradually, everyone began listening to him.

If he said to go somewhere, they went there. If he said to stop, they stopped.

Brother Tao could not help coming over and saying to him, “I’d heard before that you were the best at fishing and the best at diving, always able to find fish others couldn’t. Before, I thought it might just be luck. Now I see it isn’t luck at all. This is pure skill!”

Someone beside them added, “Just say he’s fucking awesome and be done with it.”

“Right, Lu Ao is fucking awesome!”

“You really are amazing. Bro, I’m completely convinced now.”

“Brother Lu, let’s add each other on WeChat. When you’re free, let’s go out drinking together.”

“I want to add you too.”

Before Lu Ao could say anything, everyone crowded over, wanting to add him on WeChat.

Even the captain came over with his phone. “If there’s ever anything you need in the future, just say the word.”

Lu Ao thanked them while adding them.

The sky gradually brightened, and everyone was exhausted.

Especially with the wind and waves being fairly strong, drifting on the boat made seasickness extremely uncomfortable.

They had combed this stretch of sea back and forth twice. Lu Ao alone had found nine fishermen who had fallen into the water, while the other boats in the rescue fleet had found thirteen.

There were still three people missing.

In this kind of weather, after searching the whole night and still not finding them, the remaining three were most likely in grave danger.

They were a civilian rescue boat. Once day broke, most people still had to work.

Since the remaining three could not be found, they could only leave them to the rescue team to continue searching. The other civilian rescue boats returned to shore.

The typhoon had not passed yet. On the way back, it began to drizzle again.

The wind and waves grew a little stronger.

Almost everyone on the boat began to get seasick. They each returned to the cabin to rest. Only Lu Ao and a few old fishermen were somewhat better.

Lu Ao was not seasick. He was just hungry.

So hungry that his head was dizzy, his heart panicked, and he felt short of breath.

An old fisherman cooked instant noodles for him. A few crew members who were not seasick carefully steered the boat in the wheelhouse.

Lu Ao did not care about being particular. After receiving a large plate of noodles, he thanked them and started eating.

The others also came over to scoop noodles for themselves.

These noodles were authentic seafood noodles, and everyone ate with great relish.

The captain sat beside Lu Ao. He had only taken two bites when he saw Lu Ao quickly and quietly finish half a plate. He could not help striking up a conversation. “I heard you bought a fishing boat too. Are you planning to go out to sea in the future?”

“I am.” Lu Ao hurriedly took two more bites of noodles. “But I haven’t passed my Certificate of Competency yet. If I want to sail out to sea, I’ll have to wait a while.”

The captain grew interested. “Where are you planning to take the Certificate of Competency exam? I can introduce you to someone.”

Read More Extra Chapters (EPUB & PDF Format)