Although there was no bamboo here in Alaska,
as a plant commonly found in tropical regions, Wiggins still recognized it.
Many people mistakenly believed that bamboo existed only in Huaxia Nation. That was a major misconception.
Bamboo was a type of grass.
There were more than seventy genera and over 1,200 species of bamboo worldwide.
They were mainly distributed across tropical and subtropical regions.
A small number of bamboo species grew in temperate and frigid regions.
Although bamboo was widely distributed in Huaxia Nation, bamboo plants were by no means unique to Huaxia Nation.
What made Wiggins curious
was not that this golden leaf resembled a bamboo leaf.
It was mainly because the leaf, made of gold, actually gave off a faint sheen from its surface.
Those who made their living at sea all knew that no matter how corrosion-resistant gold was,
under the constant assault of seawater, it would still lose its original luster.
Yet this leaf found on a crab claw
showed no trace whatsoever of seawater erosion.
It also lacked gold's usual softness.
Even children knew
that gold, this precious metal, was extremely soft.
Especially after being made into a golden leaf, it became even softer because it was only a thin sheet.
Yet this golden bamboo leaf Wiggins had found was not only incredibly hard,
but even when he used a dagger, he had failed to leave the slightest mark on it.
This discovery piqued Wiggins's interest.
So, during a stop at port for supplies, he found an appraiser to determine what exactly the golden bamboo leaf was.
The result surprised him.
Although the appraiser could not explain what the golden bamboo leaf actually was,
he ultimately offered a price enticing enough that he wanted to buy it.
Wiggins had originally intended to find someone else