Chapter 832: Chapter 795: Blue Whale’s Plea for Help

Not long after the ship set sail, Lin Wanwan saw a flock of seabirds on the ocean not far away.

Where there are seabirds, there are usually fish, so Lin Mengbo immediately steered the ship towards them.

Besides their ship, several small fishing boats were also heading over, probably drawn by the circling seabirds.

As the boat got closer, Lin Wanwan’s sharp eyes spotted something enormous: "Ah, a whale."

Lin Mengbo and others steering the boat also slowed down their rowing, not daring to get too close. There were few people out at sea today, and such an ocean master was not to be trifled with just by them.

As for the other small fishing boats approaching, they were even more primitive than the Lin Family Manor’s boat, so they dared not provoke its might. An accident could easily lead to a shipwreck and loss of lives.

No wonder there are so many fish here; they must have been driven here by the whale.

The giant creature opened its gaping mouth, devouring fish along with seawater.

"That’s a blue whale," Lin Mengyi said as he walked over to Lin Wanwan.

"No wonder it’s so big," Lin Wanwan realized.

The blue whale is known as the largest marine creature in the world, reaching lengths of over thirty meters.

Lin Wanwan couldn’t determine its exact size since most of the blue whale’s body was submerged in the ocean, but the part visible above water was already quite intimidating.

And there was more than one whale here. Besides the mountain-sized blue whale, there was another whale smaller than the Lin Family Manor’s fishing boat.

This was a young blue whale wandering the four oceans with its mother.

"Ahead is a school of Yellow Croaker, a lot of them driven by the whales. Casting a net here would earn a lot," a few people stopped the boat and walked to the deck, admiring the sight.

"Indeed, but it’s such a pity that these two giants will eat them all."

Everyone gazed at the shimmering school of fish, tempted yet not daring to approach, like gold within reach but unable to be picked up. It was frustrating.

After a while, Lin Mengbo snapped back and said to everyone, "Let’s cast our net here and try it out."

"Alright."

"Wan, use live shrimp as bait this time; it’ll work much better," Lin Mengbo turned and told Lin Wanwan.

Lin Wanwan immediately agreed, "Okay, I’ll give it a try."

Earlier, Lin Wanwan had been so busy handling the fishing net that she hadn’t paid attention to her fishing rod. When she thought of it, the hook was long empty with nothing left, ending in failure. Then they moved the boat and had no time for her to continue fishing.

With the boat now stopped, it was the perfect time to fish properly.

The fishing rod in her hand was crafted by her second uncle, the most skilled in making bamboo products in the clan.

Though it didn’t compare to modern high-tech materials, it was quite good during the Great Tang era.

Her second uncle made a living by selling bamboo products during his free time to support a household with five sons and three daughters, a relatively well-off family within the clan.

Just as Lin Wanwan had just managed to hook live shrimp bait with the guidance of her cousins, the ship suddenly shook.

It wasn’t the usual sway caused by ocean waves but felt like a collision.

Everyone ran to the side of the ship to look and found that the young blue whale had appeared nearby, and it was bumping the hull.

"What does it want?" Lin Wanwan wondered what the blue whale intended by suddenly ramming the ship.

Liu Rushi was already nervously holding her sword, sticking close to Lin Wanwan.

But facing this ocean giant, her sword was quite powerless.

Baye Feng, who had been lying in the cabin, sensed the unusual shaking and walked out, pale-faced.

"What happened?" Baye Feng asked.

"There’s a whale."

At this point, Lin Mengjin and others had quickly retreated to the cabin, armed with fish spears and Fish Shooting Crossbows aimed at the young blue whale rubbing against the hull, ready to strike.

Meanwhile, Lin Mengbo and Lin Mengyi prepared to hastily set sail and leave.

After all, the young whale was manageable, but the large blue whale wasn’t something they could handle. Hurting the young whale would undoubtedly provoke the larger one. They didn’t want to act unless necessary.

Lin Wanwan looked at the young blue whale’s gray-white and dark gray patches and suddenly had an epiphany.

These densely packed things weren’t whale spots, but demon barnacles!

For those with trypophobia, seeing such a scene might be maddening, but Lin Wanwan’s carefree personality was unbothered by the sight.

The young blue whale seemed to be suffering from barnacle parasites, seeking human help?

Lin Wanwan immediately grabbed a nearby shovel, leaned over to clean off the barnacles from the young whale. Liu Rushi quickly lunged at her, holding her waist to prevent her from accidentally falling over.

After only a few shovels, the relieved young blue whale cooperatively ceased its agitation, staying close to the boat for Lin Wanwan to clean.

Seeing this, the others quickly joined in, gathering at the side of the ship to help clean the barnacles from the young blue whale.

Some of the barnacles scraped or pryed off the whale sank to the ocean floor, while others were tossed into wooden barrels by the crew.

What caused whales such pain turned out to be a human delicacy, fresh and nutritious.

Moreover, scraping barnacles was incredibly stress-relieving, akin to successfully squeezing a pimple’s white head; while the process might seem gross, performing it was quite satisfying.

With everyone’s joint effort, the barnacles covering the young blue whale were almost completely cleaned off within half an hour, while the deck of the Lin fishing boat was piled with pried barnacles.

With the agonizing barnacles gone, the young whale cheerfully frolicked by the ship, engaging in intimate interactions with Lin Wanwan’s extended hands.

Whales are intelligent creatures; some orcas even passed mirror tests, and some belugas trapped in captivity in the ocean suffer psychological issues due to loss of freedom.

In short, humans can have simple exchanges with whales.

To protect the natural environment, modern international communities have banned whaling. Only Japan, ignoring international criticism, continues the rampant slaughter of whales yearly, disregarding the ecological interests of other countries.

Like their nuclear waste dumping, the Japanese are always so unscrupulous, showing minor courtesy but lacking major integrity.

Setting aside ethnic hatred, Lin Wanwan disliked Japan based solely on their modern actions.

Watching the joyful young blue whale stirred her thoughts.

Wu Zha even granted Japan a name meaning the land of the rising sun; if Lin Wanwan were to say, calling them Japanese was already giving them credit.

Thinking of Japan’s vile deeds, Lin Wanwan suddenly declared, "When my fleet grows, I’ll flatten Japan!"

This left Lin Mengbo and others preparing to cast the net quite baffled.

What had Japan done to their Wan?

As frequent sailors to Goguryeo and Japan for fishing, and benefiting from Japan by rustling some silver wool, Tang fishermen viewed Japan from a condescending and charitable stance, unable to comprehend Lin Wanwan’s animosity.