The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 223 Whale Candle Golden Skipper
Ling Chengen led Su Weihua to the fish stall of the Shan Na tribe beastmen.

Actually, she didn't initially plan to buy any seafood; she just wanted to check out the seafood stalls at the market.

Unexpectedly, she actually came across some seafood at this fish stall that caught her eye.

The fish stalls run by the Shan Na people are much better than those run by the Hai people.

When I visited the seafood stalls before, I could clearly sense that the seafood vendors didn't put much effort into preparing the goods for the trade.

Not only were the goods poorly made, but the fish stalls and the stall owners' attitudes were also very perfunctory.

Therefore, compared to the Baman snake clan and the very few merfolk who seemed to lack sincerity and were merely occupying priority trading rights to join the fun at the sea market, Ling Chengen preferred to trade with the Shanna beastmen who were genuinely interested in doing business.

However, when he arrived at the fish stall, Ling Chengen did not immediately talk to the Shanna tribe beastman guarding the back of the stall. Instead, he bent down and examined the seafood on the stall.

Sometimes, without comparison, there is no harm.

Before this, they had seen the Baman snake tribe orc stall where the fish they caught were casually thrown on the ground.

The fish stall belonging to the orcs in front of me suddenly seemed exceptionally good in comparison.

At least, this stall looks much cleaner and tidier, and the seafood is in better condition.

The bottom of the stall was covered with a layer of large, dark green leaves.

Ling Chengen did not recognize this plant, nor had he ever seen it in the far north, but the fact that the Shanna beastman was willing to go to the trouble of finding this leaf that could be used as a mat was enough to prove that the Shanna beastman had come prepared.

The fish that were caught were not simply thrown onto the leaves.

The leaves were covered with a thick layer of white ice.

It looked somewhat like the kind she used to see in the fresh food section of supermarkets.

The dead sea fish were covered with a lot of crushed ice.

Cold air was billowing out of the fish stall.

Ling Chengen looked down at the fish's eyes, then looked up and asked, "May I touch them?"

The Shanna orc standing behind the fish stall frowned slightly, and after a moment spoke, stammering in a not-so-fluent Central Region language, "Yes, but you can't bite it with your mouth."

Ling Chengen: "..."

Su Weihua was also speechless: "No way, if you bite it and then put it back, you won't be able to sell it."

The Shanna orc nodded, his tense expression visibly easing. He sighed before explaining, "I didn't want to say it originally, but there are always some shameless people in this market. If I don't make it clear beforehand... I'm sure I'll suffer."

Looking at the expression on his face, Ling Chengen vaguely guessed that the beastmen of the mountain tribe had probably suffered such a loss before, which was why they said such a thing.

"When did you catch this fish?" Ling Chengen asked curiously, squeezing the frozen fish.

The Shanna orc glanced at the fish in her hands and said, "These fish on the right were all caught within the last three days. The ones on the far left of the stall were caught three days ago. They were frozen immediately after being taken out of the water using my powers and haven't been thawed, so they're actually quite fresh."

"However, the fish that was frozen three days ago has a different price than the fish on the right."

Ling Chengen asked in confusion, "Are they all frozen fish? Are there no live fish?"

The Shanna orc looked up at her curiously. Seeing that she was very young, he explained further: "Live fish are hard to preserve. Most of the seafood in the market is frozen. Especially deep-sea fish, which die within minutes of being taken out of the water, so they have to be frozen to make the meat taste better."

"Of course, there are also fish from shallow waters, which are cheaper."

"However, I don't have much here. You can go to the third stall on my left. They specialize in trading live and frozen fish from shallow waters."

Su Weihua asked curiously, "Did your tribe split into two groups?"

The Shanna orc behind the stall shook his head: "No, I'm an orc from the Boman tribe. The third stall from the left belongs to the Taijin tribe."

Su Weihua had never heard of these two tribes before: "Boman tribe? You are the Shanna tribe from the far north?"

The man nodded, then shook his head: "Half and half. Our tribe is located at the border between the far north and the northern region. The Taijin tribe is our neighbor, a little to the north of us. They are the true mountain tribe of the far north."

"I am a toad salamander orc, and most of the orcs in my tribe are also toad salamanders."

"The Taijin tribe is mainly composed of the far northern saw-toothed salamander tribe."

The two tribes of orcs have always had a good relationship because of their similar race and lifestyle.

The Toad Salamander Orcs can hunt in the deep sea, but the Far Northern Sawtooth Salamander Orcs can only hunt in shallow waters.

To avoid conflict between the two tribes, the Boman tribe rarely hunts in shallow waters and does not deliberately catch fish in shallow waters.

Ling Chengen and Su Weihua listened attentively; they were indeed curious about the Shanna tribe.

Prior to this, she had only come into contact with the Hailing tribe, which lived on the eastern coast.

The other Shanna orcs were not very friendly to the orcs in their inland areas and were unwilling to deal with them.

However, looking at the Shanna orc of the Boman tribe in front of her, she vaguely sensed that... the Shanna tribe here did not seem to have any hostility towards the orcs in the interior.

I don't know if it was her imagination.

Ling Chengen observed that the quality of these sea fish was indeed excellent, especially the deep-sea fish, shrimp, and crabs. Their size and quality were unlike anything she had ever seen before.

She was indeed tempted by these seafood items.

Su Weihua watched her pick and choose, then leaned closer to her ear and asked, "Do you want to buy sea fish?"

"I am somewhat tempted."

Before the apocalypse, she actually had neither the opportunity nor the financial means to buy seafood of this quality.

After the apocalypse, resources were scarce everywhere, and the living environment was harsh.

Many organisms have mutated, especially in the ocean... which has become extremely dangerous.

She had even less chance to try seafood.

Although she was someone who had reached the later stages of the apocalypse and become a person of status.

But after only a few days, the person mysteriously disappeared and ended up in this unfamiliar environment.

Sometimes, she felt like an unlucky person who got a free trial card.

I've also wondered if, in my original world, I let my guard down and ended up being harmed by the people around me.

But none of these questions have answers, and she can't find any answers for the time being.

As for what Xiao Huangtong said, she felt she could only believe half of it.

This system is really useless.

Moreover, it may not even be aware that it has silently lost some important data during each upgrade.

However, thinking about these things right now is not very useful.

Ling Chengen looked at the nearly seven-meter-long frozen fish placed on the far right of the stall and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Is that a tuna?"

The mountain beastman behind the fish stall paused for a few seconds, then looked in the direction she was pointing before realizing, "That's a golden bonito, a deep-sea fish that lives in places where the seawater temperature is relatively high."

"I've never heard of tuna. Is it a fish from the South China Sea?" Ling Chengen blinked, smiled, and casually replied, "I don't know either. I only heard about it by chance before. It's a big fish with very delicious flesh."

The Shanna beastman behind the fish stall smiled kindly: "That's not necessarily true. Fish from the sea aren't necessarily the tastiest just because they're big. For example, most large sea monsters don't taste good. For instance, mosasaurs, whales, crocodiles, giant octopuses, giant squid, megalodons... the meat of these sea monsters is generally quite unpalatable."

Ling Chengen had only heard of a few of these sea creatures, and soon realized that the large fish she was talking about was different from the Shanna people who had actually seen sea creatures.

Even a tuna that is nearly seven meters long might only be considered a medium-sized fish in their eyes.

Su Weihua asked, "Are there any sea creatures or mountain tribes that hunt these giant sea monsters and trade them ashore?"

The Shanna beastman in front of him was named Haman. He just smiled when he heard this, knowing that the two land-dwelling beastmen in front of him were just curious. Since there was no business at the moment, he said, "Whether it is the sea tribe or the Shanna tribe, they basically do not deliberately hunt giant sea monsters and sea beasts."

“These giant sea monsters are extremely dangerous. If we encounter them, we don’t even have time to run away, let alone hunt them.”

"However, a very small number of people also engage in the trade of marine mammals, mainly hunting baleen whales."

"The monsoon whale is larger than the mosasaur, swims relatively slowly, and generally does not actively attack sea creatures and mountain tribes. They are considered to be relatively gentle sea monsters."

"But these giants are also difficult to hunt, because shad whales usually hunt in groups in the sea and rarely go alone."

"Enraging a baleen whale is no different from courting death."

"However, the swamp whale is enormous, and its meat is very special, which can be made into whale candles. Therefore, the land beastmen in the far north trade whale candles or swamp whale fat with the sea creatures."

"Whale Candle?"

Su Weihua caught a somewhat familiar word; it was something the two orcs who had just made their deal at the bottom of the cliff had said.

Harman nodded: "Yes, it's Whale Candle."

"Whale candles are a special resource in the far north. They are very durable and can provide light. When they burn, they emit a unique fragrance that can soothe the mind."

“In the far north, there are several months of eternal night each year. After the eternal night falls, many orcs in this land cannot bear the loneliness and their mental state becomes very poor. Therefore, they desperately need whale candles.”

"The reason why the orcs and sea creatures in the far north have a good relationship is also because of this very special resource."

"The sea creatures only trade whale candles with the elephant tribe in the far north, and the quantity has always been small."

Ling Chengen asked, "So, the sea creatures will still hunt the baleen whale in order to maintain their trade with the elephant tribe?"

Harman shook his head and said, "No, not at all."

“The population of slug whales is still quite large. Every year, slug whales die for various reasons. When the sea tribes and our Shanna tribe are hunting in the sea, they will also keep an eye out for the carcasses of slug whales.”

"Moreover, the carcass of a single shad whale can produce enough whale candles to supply the far north for at least five years. However, the sea creatures generally don't use the entire carcass of a shad whale to make whale candles; they only cut off a portion and leave the rest of the carcass in the sea for other small marine animals to devour..."

Other large fish in the sea are generally not interested in the carcass of the shad whale.

"While the blubber from the baleen whale smells wonderful when used to make whale candles, the flesh and blood of the baleen whale have an unbearable odor for marine animals and mammals. Large marine mammals and fish generally prefer live fish as their food."

"Generally, only when no carcass of a slug whale can be found for a whole year, before the opening of the September sea market, will the sea creatures allow some warriors to hunt slug whales."

"At least while King Xesia was alive, the sea creatures had clear and strict regulations for hunting shad whales. Whale hunting was only allowed in August each year, and the number of whales hunted in the far north could not exceed five."

The baleen whale is not very fertile and is considered one of the gentlest of the giant marine mammals.

Therefore, most sea creatures still cherish this sea beast.

Upon hearing this, Ling Chengen merely raised an eyebrow.

She initially thought there were no lighting facilities in the far north, but she didn't expect there to be such special items.

However, the business of candles and tung oil lighting can still be pursued in the future.

After all, whale candles are clearly in short supply.

As long as there is a demand for lighting, the tung oil lamps and candles she wants to sell, even if they don't have a calming effect, will still have some market.

Ling Chengen pointed to the six- or seven-meter-long bonito and asked, "How do you cook bonito to make it taste good?"

Seeing that she was interested in making a deal, Harman immediately beamed and said, "No matter how you prepare this bonito, it tastes great. It's also delicious eaten raw."

"The golden skipjack tuna is a deep-sea fish that is not found in the North Sea. You have to go a little further south to catch it."

"Moreover, this fish swims extremely fast, and ordinary Shanna beastmen can't catch it. I traded it from the Shanna tribe in the South China Sea, so it's definitely more expensive."

"However, I do have some smaller bonito here, which I can get you a little bit to try."

Before they could react, Haman turned and called over a member of his tribe to watch the stall. He then turned and went into a small tent at the back, where he quickly brought out a small, halved bonito.

This bonito is only a little over a meter long. Cut it in half from belly to back, and the pale pink flesh looks especially tempting in the sunlight.

This bonito was probably for their own consumption; it looks like it hadn't been thawed for long.

Harman used a palm-sized bone blade to cut several slices of tender bonito meat and placed them on a clean broad leaf, with a thin layer of ice placed underneath the fish.

He handed the leaf to Su Weihua and said with a smile, "Try it. You guys are quite lucky. This bonito was only thawed this morning. We usually can't bear to eat it, but we thought that bonito is rarely seen in the North Sea market, so the clan chief decided to make a small one as a backup for those who want to trade bonito to try it."

Su Weihua, holding a leaf slightly larger than his palm in one hand, handed the fish to Ling Chengen: "Try it."

Ling Chengen picked up a small piece of pink fish meat and threw it directly into his mouth.

The next second, her eyes suddenly lit up.

Upon seeing this, Su Weihua couldn't help but slightly curve the corners of her lips.

It's rare to see her look so adorable.

Ling Chengen covered his mouth and mumbled, "You should try it too, it's really delicious."

Su Weihua looked at the leaves and saw that there were only three pieces of fish left to try. In the end, she picked up the smallest piece and put it in her mouth.

As the fish melted in his mouth, he finally understood why Ling Chengen had made that expression.

It was indeed extremely delicious, the fish was sweet and tender, with a sweet flavor that he couldn't quite describe.

He held the leaf in his left hand, tilted his head to look at the six- or seven-meter-long bonito, and asked, "Does a larger bonito have tougher flesh?"

“That’s definitely not the case,” Harman said with a smile. “The larger the bonito, the better it tastes.”

"This bonito on the stall has lived for at least thirty or forty years; it tastes absolutely better."

"It's a pity that our chieftain wants to trade it for more supplies. If our tribe had enough supplies, we would definitely keep this one for the cubs in the tribe to eat."

How do you plan to trade these golden skipjack tuna?

Su Weihua didn't intend to waste any more words. Since Ling Chengen liked it, then they could make a deal.

Moreover, the taste of this fish is something you can't usually find.

The Boman tribe has preserved it extremely well.

As long as the ice on the frozen bonito doesn't melt, it can be kept for a year or two without any problem.

Therefore, he decided to take the golden skipjack tuna as soon as Harman's demands were reasonable.

My computer suddenly broke down while I was traveling. I took it to the local service center for repairs, but they couldn't fix it and it needed to be sent back to the factory. They said it would take at least ten days to two weeks. Frustrated, I had to stop updating for a few days until my new computer, which I ordered online, arrived.