Young Eagle

The price of tourmaline depends not only on its color but also on its transparency. The better the transparency, the higher the value of the tourmaline.

Tourmaline has a unique characteristic that sets it apart from other gemstones—its pyroelectricity. When heated, rubbed, or exposed to sunlight, its surface becomes charged. These charges attract opposite charges in the air, allowing it to adsorb dust and paper scraps carrying opposite charges. This is a property exclusive to tourmaline.

Zhao Chuan rambled on for a while before finally saying to Ye Yuan, "This blue one isn't as expensive as that Imperial Green you had last time, but it's still higher than the Black Pearl. This black one isn't bad either."

Saying this, he himself was a bit uncertain. In the end, he called his own appraiser. After a brief discussion, the two tourmalines were priced at nine million yuan.

Ye Yuan was very satisfied. With that plus the money from the fish haul, the island's construction issues shouldn't be a problem for the near future.

Just then, Mother Ye had finished cooking. As the three brothers were about to sit down for a meal, Brother-in-law walked into the villa with several people. Everyone Brother-in-law brought was dressed in military uniform.

When the leading officer saw Zhao Chuan there, he was slightly startled but quickly recovered. Ye Yuan carefully observed this officer—there was no doubt he was an outstanding soldier. He had that unique military bearing: dignified yet stern, calm yet reserved, with short hair and a square face full of soldierly character.

Through Zhao Chuan's introduction, Ye Yuan learned this officer was called Xu Hang, and he was Grandpa Xu's own grandson.

Mother Ye saw several military men arriving and quickly invited them to sit down and have a meal. Xu Hang and his men declined her invitation, simply asking Ye Yuan to find a quiet room so they could ask him a few questions.

Ye Yuan led them to a bedroom he hadn't used yet. Xu Hang instructed the others to stay at the door, then entered the bedroom alone with Ye Yuan.

After entering, Xu Hang turned and closed the door behind him, saying to Ye Yuan, "Comrade Ye Yuan, the information you provided helped thwart a spy operation targeting our country. Due to your identity, I can't go into specifics, but on behalf of the nation, I express our gratitude for your actions."

With that, he gave Ye Yuan a standard military salute.

For some reason, seeing Xu Hang salute him like that made Ye Yuan's blood boil, stirring an impulse to rush to the front lines.

After saying this, Xu Hang's tone relaxed, and the two sat down on chairs.

Xu Hang had come this time for two reasons: first, to express gratitude to Ye Yuan, and second, to ask about the specifics—how Ye Yuan had discovered that submarine.

Ye Yuan took a moment to compose himself, then recounted the story with a mix of truth and falsehood. He omitted the part about his perception ability, saying instead that he loved diving and had been underwater that day when he spotted a huge dark shadow beneath the surface. At first, he thought it was a large fish like a whale, but after getting back on the boat, he found the radar showed no large fish activity.

Feeling something was off, and coincidentally having met Grandpa Xu at Father Zhao's birthday banquet, he reported the matter.

Xu Hang listened to Ye Yuan's answer and carefully recorded it in his notebook. Finally, he wrote the word "depth" in the notebook, circled it, and put a big question mark after it.

Seeing this gesture, Ye Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected his explanation to still arouse suspicion. It really proved the saying: one lie takes a thousand lies to cover up.

Xu Hang closed his notebook, gave Ye Yuan a meaningful look, then patted him on the shoulder. Noticing Ye Yuan's unnatural expression, Xu Hang showed his first smile since entering.

"I hope there's a chance for you to spar with our frogmen sometime. I can tell you're a good diver."

"Oh, and when I came, my grandfather asked me to pass along a message." He looked at Ye Yuan oddly, as if trying to read something on his face.

Ye Yuan wore an expression that said, "Go on, I'm listening."

"He said to tell you, if you have time, to help him catch some interesting sea fish too."

Hearing this, Ye Yuan inexplicably grew more wary of Old Master Xu, whom he'd only met once. Recalling that old man's gaze, it felt like many of his secrets were already known.

Thinking about this whole affair, he didn't know if he'd done right or wrong. But remembering those foreigners doing shady things in his country's waters, he dismissed that doubt. If given another chance, Ye Yuan would still choose to report it.

Xu Hang and his men declined Ye Yuan's invitation to stay for a meal and left directly. Before leaving, Xu Hang gave Ye Yuan his personal phone number, telling him that if anything really happened at sea in the future, he could call him directly.

After they left, Zhao Chuan told Ye Yuan that Xu Hang was no ordinary man—he was a Navy Captain.

To hold such a position at his age wasn't just because of his grandfather's background; he'd earned it step by step through his own efforts. But when it came to his specific post, Zhao Chuan said he didn't know, adding that it was best not to pry into military matters.

Ye Yuan had already made up his mind: he'd try to avoid contact with this grandfather and grandson pair as much as possible. In front of them, he felt completely transparent, with nothing hidden.

The three brothers ate a simple meal and then went to their rooms to rest, since Zhao Chuan and the other had just arrived from Shangjing that day.

Just as Ye Yuan was about to head to his room, he felt something tugging at his pant leg. Looking down, he saw Big Yellow pulling him toward the door with his mouth.

He hadn't seen this guy all afternoon, and now he was back tugging at him.

Knowing Big Yellow wouldn't do this without reason, there must be something going on. Big Yellow was pretty smart these days.

Following behind Big Yellow, they arrived at the foot of the mountain on the south side of Fishing Bay Island. This mountain took up half the island's area. The villagers rarely came here before, because the side facing the sea was a cliff, and the mountain was full of venomous snakes. Unless there was a specific reason, few villagers ever went into the mountain.

Ye Yuan had only been here a few times. Why would Big Yellow bring him here? Had he found something on the mountain? Ye Yuan pulled a collapsible baton from his space. Ever since he got the space, he'd stored food, drinking water, some daily necessities, and several self-defense items in it.

Baton in hand, he followed Big Yellow all the way to the mountaintop. At the edge of the peak was a cliff dozens of meters high. Big Yellow barked toward the bottom of the cliff.

Ye Yuan took out a flashlight, walked to the cliff's edge, and leaned out to look down.

On the cliff face, there was a small recessed cave. The cave held some kind of bird's nest.

Hearing the dog barking from above, a few faint sounds came from the nest—the cries of young birds.

The nest was about two meters from the top of the cliff. Inside lay the corpse of an eagle, clearly attacked by another bird of prey. Its body was covered in wounds that had already scabbed over, and it seemed lifeless. Only a few feathers remained on its wings, giving a sense of how brutal the battle must have been.

Beside the corpse, a single chick was barely clinging to life. It seemed the chick hadn't learned to fly yet and couldn't leave this place.