Jiang Hao went down into the cabin. His conversation with Avril had not disturbed Little Fox, and Helen was still sleeping peacefully. After thinking it over, he tapped Helen's sleep acupoint, ensuring she would sleep even more soundly.
As for meeting the Mermaid Princess, it would not be too late to tell her tomorrow.
Returning to the deck, Jiang Hao sat cross-legged in meditation. The little boat swayed gently with the waves as he peacefully entered a trance and absorbed the energy between heaven and earth.
Who knew how long passed before—
Splash!
A burst of splashing water sounded. Avril appeared again atop her Seahorse Monster, and several round, bulging heads emerged behind her. Jiang Hao looked closely and recognized several Octopus Monsters.
"I brought the things," Avril said brightly.
An Octopus Monster came forward and extended a thick tentacle from the water. Jiang Hao noticed a string of shells hanging from its suckers. The tentacle reached over the deck, loosened its grip, and with a clatter, all the shells dropped onto the deck.
"These are scallops. Don't let the tiny amount of Magic Power in them fool you—they're genuine monsters," Avril said with a smile.
Jiang Hao picked up a scallop from the deck. It really was an authentic scallop. He examined it with spiritual energy and found that it did indeed contain magical energy, though very little—less even than a Blue Water Rabbit.
After gathering the scallops from the deck, Jiang Hao carried them into the cabin. During the process, he had already silently instructed the system to absorb them.
"Ding~~ Congratulations, Collector. You have obtained one Sea Monster 'Scallop.' Mission progress: 9/100. Please keep up the good work."
He continued absorbing them. The number of scallops in the mission panel rose from one to twenty,