Cutting Meat

Cursing under his breath, Nalant moved toward the shore; he wanted to take a look at the "Sea Monster" on the beach to make a final confirmation.

"My Lord, it's dangerous there!" Quick and the others had already been terrified by the dozens of massive "Sea Monsters" in the water. They were all on edge, and seeing Nalant walk toward the beach, they immediately stepped forward to dissuade him.

"That is not a Sea Monster, but a type of fish!" Nalant was speechless. He walked a few steps further and saw the "Sea Monster" stranded on the beach. How was this a Sea Monster? It was clearly a Whale.

Its gray skin and massive body, stretching seventeen or eighteen meters long, were what had led the ignorant serfs to imagine it as a terrifying Sea Monster.

"A fish? Such a big fish?" Quick and the others looked at each other in dismay. They had never seen such a massive fish before; its mouth could probably swallow a carriage in one gulp.

"That is called a Sperm Whale. It is a super-large mammal... well, a type of fish, but they don't eat people. They only eat small fish!"

"So that's how it is! My Lord, you truly are a wise and learned noble!" Seeing Nalant speak with such certainty, Quick and the others were finally half-convinced.

Because they also saw that the Sperm Whale on the beach lacked the terrifying tentacles and sharp, tooth-filled maw described in knightly novels; instead, aside from its immense size, it really was no different from an ordinary fish.

"My Lord, is... is that Sperm Whale edible too?" Kenbi Cowdung had already shaken off his fear, and the next moment, he asked about the thing he cared about most.

In the eyes of a serf, besides being full, there was only being full. So, seeing such a large fish, he immediately imagined that if he could live inside the whale's belly, he could just lie down and gnaw on fish meat.

"It is!" Watching the Sperm Whale in the water chasing the Slippery Flying Fish until they scurried everywhere, a smile appeared at the corner of Nalant's mouth.

Although he didn't know why the Sperm Whale liked to eat Slippery Flying Fish, this meant that the Blue Sprite had already demonstrated its value.

Whale meat might be unpalatable, but it was still meat. A single Sperm Whale weighed dozens of tons, enough to feed thousands of people for several months.

Furthermore, the whale oil inside the Sperm Whale was excellent material for making lamp oil; it was not only long-lasting but also burned without any foul odor.

"Does this count as a happy accident?"

Although Nalant currently lacked the ability to have his serfs go out to sea to hunt whales, this single whale directly solved his immediate food problem, allowing him to quickly complete the side quest issued by the system.

As for the Lure Fishing plan, it would, of course, continue; it could be used to catch fish as commodities to export to other territories to earn money.

"Kenbi Cowdung, go to the village now and have all the serfs bring baskets and other tools to the beach!"

"Yes, My Lord!" Kenbi Cowdung's face crinkled into a smile like a chrysanthemum; he had already guessed what his Lord was planning to do.

"Quick!"

"My Lord, your subordinate is here!"

"Take the guard squad and follow me!" Nalant waved his hand and headed toward the beach.

Because the whale was so massive, not only were Kenbi Cowdung and the other serfs afraid of it, but even the Merman Sea Monsters had stayed far away, which conveniently allowed Nalant and his men to step onto the beach.

When Nalant and his group arrived, the Sperm Whale had already ceased to breathe. It was likely that it had stranded on the beach last night, and its final struggles had exhausted its last bit of strength.

"It's huge!" Even with the burly and sturdy Quick standing in front of the Sperm Whale, he looked like a tiny chick.

"All guards, listen to my order! Start cutting the meat now! Move quickly!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

Subsequently, Nalant and the others launched a vigorous fish-cutting campaign.

Blood flowed everywhere once the Sperm Whale was sliced open, but whether it was Quick and the guards or the villagers who had just arrived from Misfortune Village, everyone was grinning from ear to ear.

Looking at those chunks of white, glistening whale meat, everyone seemed to smell the sweet, fragrant fish soup.

"Hurry up with your work! If the Merman Sea Monsters surround us, there won't be any meat left!" Kenbi Cowdung urged the villagers while laboriously hauling chunks of meat weighing dozens of pounds.

At the same time, he kept chanting in his heart, 'This is white, glistening fish meat!' After finishing this thought, Kenbi Cowdung felt his entire body filled with strength.

Just like that, the whale on the beach, weighing dozens of tons, was mostly dismembered in just one afternoon.

"Hmm, are those Merman Sea Monsters unable to hold back anymore?"

Nalant watched the Merman Sea Monsters, which had cautiously approached to within a hundred meters, and felt that it was about time to stop cutting.

Although a small portion of the whale meat remained, they had already obtained nearly ten tons of fish meat.

Sheathing his longsword, Nalant walked to the edge of the beach and began to wash the blood from his hands.

"Hmm? What is this?" However, just as he finished washing his hands, the waves pushed a hard object to Nalant's feet.

It was a white-gray object about the size of three fists; it looked a bit like a stone, but it wasn't a stone.

"Could this be Ambergris?" The next moment, a bold idea suddenly popped into Nalant's mind. A Sperm Whale, plus Slippery Flying Fish...

Nalant had seen pictures of Ambergris on the internet before, and more importantly, the Sperm Whale—the creature capable of producing Ambergris—was hunting nearby today...

Nalant didn't mind the filth and immediately picked up the hard object suspected to be Ambergris; it was much lighter than he had imagined.

"Quick!"

"My Lord, what are your orders?"

"Cut open the stomach of this Sperm Whale and see if there is anything inside like what I have in my hand." Nalant held up the hard lump suspected to be Ambergris.

"Yes, My Lord!" Quick didn't hesitate at all and immediately took several subordinates to start cutting open the whale's internal organs, which were originally going to be discarded.

"My Lord, there really is some, but it's a little bit smaller than yours!" A moment later, Quick ran over holding a gray-white piece of Ambergris still stained with whale blood.

"Good, haha!" Nalant was overjoyed. There was no need to doubt it now; this was undoubtedly Ambergris.

"Let's go, those Mermen are starting to close in!"

Following Nalant's order, they abandoned the remaining half of the whale carcass and began to retreat from the beach.

"Those Merman Sea Monsters are truly hateful! There was still so much fish meat left!" As they began to retreat with Nalant, Kenbi Cowdung and the others expressed their deep-seated hatred for the Merman Sea Monsters one after another.

Nalant, however, did not feel it was a pity. Yesterday, the Blue Sprite had made its home in the Coral Reef, and the creatures it attracted were Slippery Flying Fish that caused diarrhea in humans and other animals.

The gathering of the Slippery Flying Fish had, in turn, attracted a gathering of whales.

Nalant speculated that it was precisely because of the presence of such a large foreign object as ambergris inside the whales that they came to hunt and consume the Slippery Flying Fish, hoping to expel the ambergris from their bodies.

If this hypothesis held true, it meant that Sperm Whales would continue to appear off the coast of Nalant's Storm Territory, and more importantly, it was highly likely that a steady stream of ambergris would be washed ashore by the waves.