Chapter 342 Black Pearl Farming Industry

Potions are something Lister understands well.

However, the term "auxiliary" adds an extra layer of complexity.

"From the literal meaning, auxiliary means to help, so does it mean that when made into a potion, it helps in digesting magic power? Or does it assist in the growth of other potions? Or perhaps it enhances the effectiveness of other potions when mixed together?"

There is no way to deduce this.

Lister can only wait. He plans to cultivate more new varieties of auxiliary magic potion dragon hibiscus using seeds, which will take some time. Even with the dragon hibiscus bug's assistance, it will still take two to three months to see results.

Curbing his curiosity about the auxiliary potion, he browsed the new tasks.

"Task: The mermaid Acheronides has found a magical coral reef. It is submerged during high tide and exposed during low tide, forming a circular island reef. Many tridacnas live there, and their shells contain a large number of black pearls. Why not collect some? Reward: A magic equipment."

"Wow!"

This task caught Lister's eye. Acheronides had actually discovered a coral reef that housed tridacnas capable of producing black pearls.

It quickly reminded him of the tridacna he had salvaged last year by the sea.

Although it wasn't a sea monster, it could produce black pearls with magical properties, and he had assumed it lived in the deep sea. It turned out they lived in the coral reefs near Flower Town.

Undoubtedly, these tridacnas could develop into an industry—a black pearl industry.

The Sapphire family has a tranquil lake on Blue Dragon Island, where they raise low-level sea monster pearl oysters. Every year, they produce a large number of white pearls, which are coveted by noble ladies for their calming effects. Black pearls are even more effective and larger in size, making them an easy replacement for white pearls.

He soon arrived at the seaside villa.

Blowing the horn, he called Acheronides, who was swimming in the sea.

"Brother." Acheronides emerged from her shell, with the red mangrove spirit bug Nami perched on her shoulder. This spirit bug had become Acheronides' companion in her underwater adventures and was no longer unfamiliar to Lister.

"Acheronides, did you discover a coral reef?"

"Brother already knows? I only discovered that coral reef yesterday. When the tide recedes, it is exposed above the water, like a large circular lake. Many shells live there, and they are different from my shell. They are somewhat like the tridacna shell at the entrance of your castle, brother."

Lister said, "Acheronides, those are tridacnas. They produce black pearls, the kind I gave you before. They are precious materials for magic equipment and can develop into a black pearl industry. I hope you can figure out the exact location of the coral reef and determine the distance."

"Acheronides knows. It is approximately southeast from here, about thirty kilometers from the shore," she replied.

About a two-hour voyage for the Flowers.

Waiting for the Flowers to return and calculating the low tide time, Lister ordered Kosto to set sail in the direction Acheronides indicated. Along the way, Acheronides occasionally surfaced to guide Lister with her path, and he instructed Kosto.

Finally, at 3 PM, they saw the coral reef exposed above the water.

Its shape was somewhat similar to Hua Guang Reef in the South China Sea. Now that the tide had receded, the ring-shaped reefs formed by coral had weathered into fine white sand.

It was very soft to step on.

"I can't believe there are such stunning coral reefs near Flower Town!" said Captain Kosto, who had never seen such beautiful island reefs despite his years of sailing.

Seagulls circled overhead as the circular reef divided the deep blue sea from the shallow, light blue lagoon. Near the beach, one could clearly see colorful corals. Based on the colors, Captain Kosto estimated that the lagoon was only about ten meters deep, making it relatively shallow.

Since Acheronides had already scouted the area and confirmed there were no sea monsters, Lister ordered his men to dive and search for tridacnas.

Soon enough, sailors began to bring up small giant clams, all of which had grown in the nearshore area. The largest of them was only the size of a washbasin.

Opening one revealed a black pearl inside, but it was only a small black pearl the size of a fingernail.

The magic power was faint.

Still, Captain Kosto exclaimed in surprise, "My lord, is this... the Anchor Pearl? How could it be so small?" He knew that the Anchor Pearl on the Flowers was made from black pearls.

When they had salvaged giant clams before, he had participated as well, and remembered clearly that the smallest black pearl had been at least the size of a fist.

"Small giant clams naturally only have small black pearls. There are larger clams in this lagoon. Once we salvage them, we can collect larger black pearls."

"Can we salvage black pearls as large as the Anchor Pearl?" Captain Kosto's eyes sparkled.

"It’s unlikely. Who knows if any super-large clams even live here?" Liszt shook his head. He had let Acheronides observe the lagoon, and the largest clam they found had a diameter of only one and a half meters. Compared to the clam near the castle, which had a diameter of nearly three meters, it was much smaller.

The larger the clam, the larger the black pearl it could produce. After all, it took a long time for a small black pearl to develop into a pearl the size of a washbasin.

It was unknown whether that super-large clam had grown up in this lagoon.

"Lead the sailors to find larger giant clams. Put these small ones back to let them continue growing. We'll salvage a batch of large clams."

"As you wish."

Captain Kosto immediately led his men to dive and search for large giant clams. The coral reef that had emerged above the water didn't look too big. From one side of the lagoon to the other, it seemed to span five or six kilometers. The roughly oval-shaped lagoon covered an area of about 20 to 30 square kilometers.

It was a bit smaller than Flower Town.

Finding giant clams was easy, but finding large ones was not. After diving for several hours, the sailors had only found two large clams with diameters exceeding one meter.

They were dragged up using ropes and a fishing net, just as it was getting dark.

Uncertain whether it was because the pearls were still inside the clam shells or because they hadn’t collected enough, Liszt had the sailors drag the previously found smaller clams onto the ship.

Only then did he order the return.

Back at the castle, they opened the clam shells immediately. Unfortunately, the two large clam shells contained only five black pearls the size of a fist. The smaller clam shells held only fragmented small black pearls, not even the size of ping-pong balls.

"It seems that my dream of using black pearls to create Anchor Pearls to arm the fleet will have to be put on hold for now... Finding three pearls suitable for crafting Anchor Pearls was pure luck."

He took a moment to gather his thoughts.

Checking the smoke mission again, this time, the serpentine smoke finally showed a change.

"Task completed, reward: one soul container."