How Many Bowls of Beef Noodles

After having the Mechanical Insect restore the Sea Wolf to its original appearance, Nie Yun rested his chin on his hand and began to ponder the future of the Sea Wolf.

"Where can I find a large ship? It would be best if it were abandoned. Thinking about it, a shipwreck seems like a decent choice, but most of the larger shipwrecks have basically been salvaged already. How would it ever be my turn to get my hands on one?"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Nie Yun. There was a place that held a massive number of shipwrecks!

The South China Sea waters of the Rabbit Country were once the hub of ancient Asian trade. From ocean-going trade vessels traveling from Europe and Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, to those sailing from Southeast Asia and the Americas to Guangdong and Min Province, statistics showed that there were no fewer than 2,000 ancient shipwrecks near the South China Sea waters of the Rabbit Country.

In recent years, the Rabbit Country had increased its salvage efforts for these ancient shipwrecks, unearthing a large batch of rare national treasures such as porcelain and antiques, yet many shipwrecks remained buried in the deep-sea silt, forgotten by history.

The Nan'ao waters of the South China Sea were one such famous shipwreck zone! Several porcelain merchant ships from the Ming and Qing dynasties had been salvaged here, and their total value was immeasurable.

Nie Yun sailed the Sea Wolf into this treasure-filled sea area. Because there were many ships passing through, the Sea Wolf had already been transformed back into its tattered, dilapidated appearance.

Then, Nie Yun found himself in a bit of a bind. Although there should be many shipwrecks in this area, they were all in the deep sea. How was he supposed to get the Mechanical Insect down there?

After racking his brain, Nie Yun suddenly caught sight of the fishing rod leaning against the side of the boat, and a bold idea instantly surged into his mind.

He picked up the fishing rod, and the hook at the tip of the line shifted according to Nie Yun's will, transforming into a small, solid, silver-white ball.

"Go!" Nie Yun gave a forceful flick. The small ball carried the fishing line far out, over ten meters away, and landed in the sea with a "plop," splashing a tiny spray of water.

The heavy little ball, trailing a thin, long silver fishing line, gradually sank into the deep sea, with schools of fish occasionally circling it curiously and happily.

Finally, the small ball sank to the seabed, kicking up a tiny puff of silt.

Then, the small ball suddenly sprouted six thin, long spider legs and began to search the deep-sea floor just like a little spider.

However, the efficiency of a single Mechanical Insect spider was simply too low. Nie Yun frowned. "Little ones! The front line needs support. Reserve troops, move out!"

Following Nie Yun's command, some of the equipment on the Sea Wolf turned into pools of silver-white liquid, flowing down the fishing rod and the long, thin fishing line into the deep sea.

Deep underwater, that original little spider began to multiply frantically—one became two, two became four, four became eight. Before long, the seabed was filled with the figures of these little spiders.

Many seabed creatures were frightened by these newcomers and scurried about everywhere. Beneath the surface of the sea, a minor commotion broke out.

Thousands upon thousands of little spiders were frantically searching the seabed. Nie Yun fixed the fishing rod to the boat, then closed his eyes to sunbathe and replenish his lost stamina.

As the search area on the seabed grew larger and larger, the masts on the Sea Wolf disappeared, the sails disappeared, and the anchor disappeared. Finally, except for some necessary structural frames, the Sea Wolf became a bare, stripped-down hull.

Once the workforce on the seabed was sufficient, the efficiency indeed improved significantly. Not ten minutes later, the Mechanical Insects had their first discovery.

Nie Yun opened his eyes, a flash of joy crossing his face.

It was a single-masted sailboat, similar in size to the Sea Wolf. Judging by its appearance, it should be an old relic from the nineties. Nie Yun mobilized the surrounding Mechanical Insects to go in and search, while those in other areas continued to expand the search range.

"Hmm, not a bad harvest. Although it's wooden, there are plenty of iron things inside—anchors, iron plating—enough for the little ones to have a full meal. However, this structure doesn't meet the requirements; it's just an appetizer. Keep looking! Even if I have to dig three feet deep, find me the big guy!"

Although there were many Mechanical Insects, the area of the seabed was vast. It wasn't until an hour later that the Mechanical Insects sent back word that they had found a target.

Nie Yun sensed it slightly, and his mouth immediately hung wide open. Finally, he couldn't help but blurt out a curse, "Holy crap!"

What appeared before Nie Yun was an ancient European-style three-masted sailing ship. The hull was embedded in the silt of ten thousand years at a 70-degree angle, with only a small portion of the hull exposed. It was also covered in coral reefs; had it not been for the carpet-style search by the Mechanical Insects, it would not have been easy to find!

After hundreds of years, the hull was covered in seaweed, and marine life occasionally moved in and out, clearly having made a nest inside. One side of the ship had several large holes, which presumably were the reason it sank.

These weren't the main points; the main point was that this was actually an ancient warship!

On the side of the hull, in that row of open gun ports, one could even see ancient cannons covered in verdigris in some of them. Hundreds of years had passed, yet those pitch-black gun ports still stood there, as if telling of the glorious years of the past.

Nie Yun swallowed hard. This had to be at least a thousand-ton class large ship, and more importantly, the cannons inside could provide a considerable amount of iron!

What else was there to say? Summon the brothers, eat it up for me! Eat it clean!

Countless silver-glittering Mechanical Insects swarmed over!

On the surface of the sea, a bare ship frame floated just like that. There were only two eye-catching things on the boat: a person and a fishing rod.

This strange combination attracted quite a few passing ships. Someone even specifically steered closer, and a sailor on the deck shouted toward them: "Hey, brother, did you run into trouble? Need any help?"

Nie Yun returned his most sincere thanks. "No need! Thanks, brother! I'm fishing for a big one! It's a full thousand tons; it's going to take some effort!"

The people on that ship eventually left the area with the look of someone watching a madman.

Sun up, sun down. It wasn't until noon the next day that the Mechanical Insects finally finished devouring all the iron objects on the ship. Their numbers had increased more than tenfold. Nie Yun felt that controlling the Mechanical Insects was becoming a bit strenuous now; at the very least, solar energy was no longer enough to sustain high-intensity operations, and he needed to have a big meal from time to time to replenish his stamina.

With the Mechanical Insects' energy exhausted once again, he had to have his little brothers pause their work and spread out across the surface of the sea to absorb the intense midday sun for recharging. Viewed from afar, it was a shimmering expanse of silver; if one didn't get close, they would mistake it for the reflection of the sea, so he wasn't worried about being discovered.

Just then, Chu Xiaoxiao's call came through again.

"Hey, Nie Yun, that ancient silver coin of yours has been appraised!" There seemed to be a hint of strangeness in Chu Xiaoxiao's tone.

"Oh? How did it go?" Nie Yun said nonchalantly, then took a big slurp of instant noodles. He was truly starving.

"The appraisal result says that your silver coin is worth at least 10 million."

"Hmm, hmm? Pfft!" Nie Yun first gave a nonchalant "hmm," then suddenly reacted with an "eh?" before spraying the noodles in his mouth out, nearly choking on them.

"Cough! Cough!" He coughed violently for a long time.

"You... you said how much?!"

"10 million, RMB! At least!" Chu Xiaoxiao said, annoyed. "What a waste of talent!"

"What!? Just that one piece of broken currency is worth 10 million? Hey, hey, don't tell me you're saying this on purpose just to repay me for saving your life?" Nie Yun questioned.

"I'm not that bored! I'll show you the appraisal certificate when the time comes, no problem. You guy, you sure know how to get lucky!

This silver coin is called a Double Dragon Longevity Coin. The pair of bat patterns cast on both sides of the obverse of the silver coin symbolize good fortune, because the character for 'bat' (fu) is a homophone for the character for 'fortune' (fu). Casting bat patterns on the coin's surface is intended to play on the homophony of 'bat' and 'fortune'."

It corresponds with the "Shou" character on the reverse side, symbolizing "double blessings of fortune and longevity." It was minted by the Guangdong Mint to commemorate the sixtieth birthday of Cixi, and due to its scarcity, it has not been seen on the market for many years.

The market price for this type of silver coin was 1.29 million ten years ago, and now it is valued at a starting price of 10 million.

"So, you're saying this silver coin of mine is actually worth 10 million?" Nie Yun asked, looking a bit foolish.

Chu Xiaoxiao, sitting across from him, rolled her eyes. Great, everything she just said had been a waste of breath!

"Yes! It is worth 10 million! And that is just the starting bid."

"Hmm..."

"Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering how many bowls of beef noodles 10 million could buy."

Chu Xiaoxiao: "..."