The giant fish, first hit by a speeding speedboat and then slapped by a fox, rolled its eyes and slowly floated up from the riverbed, completely knocked out.
The dogs acting as ballast on the big boat barked happily, hinting at their excitement.
The simple dogs didn’t know what kind of peculiar fish this cheap fish belonged to.
But they all knew deeply that the big boat racing on the river surface in the early hours was tantamount to food.
Boss Bai often managed to encounter the docking spots of those speedboats in advance, leading them to a feast, allowing each and every one of them to eat till they shone with health and obesity.
We can say, the speedboats in the early hours equal food.
But that monstrous fish often used the cover of darkness, leveraging its massive size to capsize the speedboats, then devour the frozen goods on board, even causing fatalities.
The dogs thus bore grudges against the fish.
Of course, this was merely annoyance. What truly sparked killing intent in the dogs was that the fish was extremely unkind.
While the dogs ate normally by the riverside, the fish that didn’t get to eat would create waves, sweeping the delicious food the dogs had snatched into the river.
Whenever passing by, they had to endure being slapped twice by it.
Now seeing the fish defeated, the dogs naturally danced with joy, some even jumping into the river, biting the fish’s scales, attempting to drag it back on board.
Returning to the boat, Ansheng whimpered to the wolf-like Ah Bai: "Bring all the dogs back on board; I’m afraid of the propellers hitting them when approaching the fish."
Under Ah Bai’s command, the dogs followed orders obediently. Ansheng restarted the speedboat, getting close to the now severely concussed monstrous fish, and all the dogs dragged the fish onto the boat together.
Ansheng wiped non-existent sweat off, looking at the fish dragged into the boat’s hold, couldn’t help but sigh:
"If only we had this much ballast earlier, considering acceleration, the boat wouldn’t have taken off—just one big flyover to crash the fish, letting it experience what ocean shipping feels like."
The existence of the big boat basically was some bandits posing as international tax-free merchants to trade illegally.
The big boat didn’t need to consider safety; it only needed lightweight hull and high horsepower to ensure a smooth escape when chased by patrol boats.
The hull of the big boat is a big plastic shell, with only some metal collision codes installed at the bow at most.
Even if loaded with five tons of frozen pig feet, Ansheng was confident he could crash that cheap fish to death.
Ah Bai leaned towards the little fox driving the boat, asking Ansheng curiously.
"Hmm? The big boat hardly requires learning cost, just some folk expert crafting by hand. Just a steering rudder, a throttle, a dashboard, and a few self-checks, there’s really nothing else..."
"Turn the key, and the engine starts."
"Of course, if you want to repair the boat, I haven’t done that kind of job, genuinely don’t know how."
"Woof woof woof~" Tu Song Ah Bai subtly moved closer, nudging the little fox’s back as if saying something glibly.
Hearing this, Ansheng was taken aback, his face turned strange as he looked at Tu Song Ah Bai and said: "Isn’t that... not too good? We were originally just begging for food, now we’re blatantly robbing?"
"Woof!" Tu Song Ah Bai barked, full of sarcasm, with a wry face.
Everyone was a dog here, they understood without saying; to avoid worrying the master and extra expenses, they had to be self-reliant.
Though Qiu Lingling often gave them big slaps, she also genuinely provided spoonfuls of dog food, occasionally, they even saw leftover lobster and abalone, along with giant prawns as thick as a dog’s arm.
Tu Song Ah Bai wasn’t an ordinary dog; it had an astounding appetite, needing to wolf down twenty-something pounds of dog food a day.
Moreover, as a guard dog, Ah Bai virtually never left Qiu Lingling’s side except from midnight to three in the morning to go out. In limited time, not only did it need to eat, but even the brothers goofing around with it had to be fed.
Tu Song Ah Bai faced considerable life pressures, having no stable source of income, yet still had to manage brotherly provisions.
Leaving it without even time to ride female dogs.
Seeing Ansheng’s boat-driving skills, Ah Bai seemingly saw a stable business channel, humbly asking for some money-making skills from Ansheng.
After hearing Tu Song Ah Bai’s heartfelt words, Ansheng nodded profoundly; though at Yu Xueqing’s house, there’s nothing to worry about eating and drinking, wanting to eat one’s fill.
With Yu Xueqing’s living expenses, it seems a bit strained.
Before meeting Lin Ying, Ansheng would go out at night after having dinner at Ah Qing’s house, visiting home after home, opening fridges, and incidentally, seeing if there was an opportunity to earn some Wish Power points.
How could Lai Foo, a Labrador, a dignified Water Hunting Dog, get along so well with Ansheng?
Of course, it’s because following Ansheng means having food to eat, like sausages and dried meat from the fridge, to eat to your fill.
Ansheng understood the unspeakable difficulties of Tu Song and Boss Bai.
"Well... okay! First, I’ll teach you how to read the dashboard: the one on the left is the fuel gauge, the one in the middle is the speedometer, and on the right are some warning lights, which aren’t very meaningful. If the lights go on, we’ll just change the boat ourselves."
"However, before that, do you see the light on the left dashboard? When this light turns on, it means the boat needs to eat, and without it eating, it won’t move."
"We’ll talk more later; let’s go refuel first."
The little fox started up the speedboat once more, revving the throttle explosively and carving out a beautiful drifting track, speeding towards the open sea.
With the weight of a strange fish as ballast, the speedboat traveled more steadily along the channel, without the previous feeling of the bow lifting as if it could capsize at any moment.
The little fox navigated against the current on the open sea, directly approaching a small-legged fast ferry straight on.
The little fox gestured for Boss Bai to help steer and fished out a dagger from the speedboat’s drawer.
Originally a tool for cutting fishing nets and seaweed and clearing engine entanglements, the knife was then held in the little fox’s paw.
The little fox leaped onto the neighboring ferry doing duty-free business, stood up like a human, holding a dagger in its paws, pointing at two completely bewildered twenty-something youths.
With the dagger in hand, the little fox confidently chirped, pointing to the direction of the speedboat’s engine.
The little fox nodded, motioning Boss Bai to follow suit. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt
Us little animals don’t have ID cards, the fuel station staff won’t refuel for us.
To drive the fast ferry, we must rely on our hands.
Boss Bai seemed to understand, nodding as well, mimicking the little fox by standing upright; nearly two meters tall, Boss Bai’s shoulders and chest were exceptionally broad, his arms rounded, and paired with the stout canine waist, he looked even more robust.
After a wolf howl, the two youths timidly picked up spare fuel cans to refuel the dog across from them.
Before leaving, the two youths made sure to glance at Master Fox and bowed, mumbling a few words.
Whether other gods are effective or not is hard to say.
But the Master Fox in front of them, capable of robbing robbers, and conducting inspections like coast guards, checking for prohibited items.
If anyone dared say this Master Fox isn’t effective, they would certainly get angry with those on the other side.
Since he’s so spiritual, of course, he should be revered.
After refueling the speedboat, Ansheng began teaching Boss Bai how to operate the speedboat, heading back toward Jiule City.
The twelve thousand-horsepower speedboat, carrying the fox, dog, and the strange fish, sped toward the dock.
Along the way, passing the very shallow area from before.
On the shallow ground which had been vacated, sat eight dazed-looking youths, one being the boat owner, two crew members, and four men and one woman who had just worshipped Mazu and were ready to venture out into the world.
The boat owner and crew had cigarettes, one after another, with blank stares as if their minds were wandering.
Then, a speedboat piloted by a fox sped past in front of them.
The boat owner’s eyes widened, hurriedly pulling up the youth who had been accusing him of lacking credibility, saying:
"Look! Look! I kept saying we weren’t scamming you out of money, I always said, my fast ferry was stolen by a dog, you didn’t believe it, now you believe it!"
"Did you see that, a boat full of dogs and a fox, drifting my eight-engine ferry along the channel."
"Damn it! Quickly say: sorry Brother Ming."
"I kept saying I swore to Mazu, but you guys still didn’t believe me!" The boat owner instantly jumped up cursing.
But after he finished cursing, he thought for a moment, took out cigarettes to pass around, the four accepted them, and after hesitating a moment he offered one to the girl.
The girl looked surprised and accepted it, the eight sat on the shallow ground with dazed expressions, hands wrapped around knees, lighting their cigarettes.
The two crew members looked toward the direction the fast ferry left, their faces full of curiosity exchanged glances, and tentatively bowed.
Master Fox.... Bless us?