Chu Mingcheng figured a typhoon must have passed by offshore during the day. As it veered north, it must have swept these mantis shrimp onto the beach.

He had already asked the fishmongers buying on-site. They were only interested in shrimp that were at least twelve centimeters long and plump. The price for those was 12 yuan per jin (approx. 500g or 1.1 lbs). The much rarer red-roe females, if over twenty centimeters, were more valuable, going for 40 yuan a jin.

The prices were ridiculously low, almost half of what they'd fetch at retail, but it wasn't surprising given the circumstances.

Chu Mingcheng thought about calling his parents and friends to come join the harvest, but it was too late. His parents were surely asleep, and his friend was tied up with something important tonight.

In that case, he'd just have to pick up the money himself!

With quick hands, he began sorting the live mantis shrimp that met the size requirements, tossing them one by one into his buckets, keeping them roughly separated by type.

In just one hour, both of his buckets were full.

He took them back to sell first. There weren't many red-roe females. He only managed to find three over twenty centimeters, which he decided to hold onto for now.

The rest of the mantis shrimp in his two buckets weighed in at a total of 47 jin. He sold them for 564 yuan, and the money was transferred directly to his phone.

He had earned more in a single hour than he did in two and a half days at his job.

All the negative emotions that had been churning inside Chu Mingcheng vanished without a trace.

Sure enough, the best way to relieve stress was to pick up money!

The mantis shrimp's data panel in his mind also showed new changes.

[Mantis Shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria), aka Pee-pee Shrimp (Level 11)]

[Current Experience: 48/120]

[Size +11%]

[Deliciousness +11%]

[Capture Chance +11%]

Level eleven already?!

Chu Mingcheng was astonished. He hadn't expected to level up so quickly!

He did a quick mental calculation of the experience progression. It seemed each new level required an additional 10 EXP. That meant reaching level 10 had only required 550 shrimp. His current status at level 11 with 48 EXP meant he had caught a total of 708 shrimp in just one hour, averaging about 15 shrimp per jin.

Unfortunately, this was only possible under these special circumstances. Normally, with the Aquatic Codex only unlocking hands and fishing gear as capture methods, leveling up wouldn't be this fast. Also, reaching max level would require catching over ten thousand mantis shrimp. Other than using a fishing net to scoop them up directly, any other method would take a very long time.

With a clearer understanding of his Codex's leveling mechanics, Chu Mingcheng continued his money-picking spree.

He wasn't sure if it was because his level had increased, but this time, he noticed his chances of encountering larger mantis shrimp were slightly higher than before. Logically, after so much time spent picking, the remaining ones should mostly be smaller.

He worked tirelessly until around two in the morning, by which time all the larger mantis shrimp had been picked clean.

The smaller ones and those that had recently died were still useful—the coastal area was dotted with aquaculture farms that would buy them for feed. But the fishmongers on the beach weren't taking them, so none of the fortune-seekers, including Chu Mingcheng, bothered.

In that time, he had sold another three buckets, totaling 66 jin for 792 yuan.

He had caught a total of thirteen of the large, red-roe females, each one weighing around four liang (approx. 200g). That was about as big as this species got. If these had been the larger variety, like the spearer mantis shrimp, they could easily grow to the size of a forearm, weighing eight or nine liang, or even a jin.

Translator Note: 1 jin = 500g or 10 liang

His thirteen shrimp came to a total of 5.6 jin. At 40 yuan a jin, he sold them for 224 yuan.

His total earnings for a few hours of work came to exactly 1580 yuan—almost a full week's salary.

The mantis shrimp's level had also risen to 17, with the EXP at 168/180.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng casually grabbed twelve more shrimp to round it off and hit level eighteen. To his surprise, the experience bar only ticked up by one, to 169.

What's going on now?

Confused, Chu Mingcheng looked into his bucket and noticed that only one of the shrimps was still alive; the rest were dead.

He dumped the shrimp out of his bucket, including the live ones. The experience value remained at 169. He then spent a few minutes searching and found eleven more live ones.

When he saw the level successfully tick over to eighteen, Chu Mingcheng finally understood the leveling rules.

Simply put, only catching live creatures granted experience. Dead ones were useless.

By now, the shrimp on the beach had probably been stranded for hours and were almost all dead. It had taken him several minutes just to catch eleven live ones, regardless of size. At this rate, even if he went back for a shovel and started packing them by the crate, he probably wouldn't level up much more.

It was already past two in the morning. Having pocketed a cool 1,500 yuan, Chu Mingcheng had no interest in grinding further. He headed back to his rented apartment in the city for a shower and some much-needed sleep.

He got back to his rental apartment at nearly 4 AM. His workday started at eight.

When his alarm blared, Chu Mingcheng found himself torn between the sweet embrace of sleep and a fine for being late. But the thought of Chen, the scrooge, deducting his hard-earned money was all the motivation he needed. He shot up in bed with a jolt and, squinting, stumbled to the bathroom to get ready.

Ever since his Aquatic Species Codex awakened last night, Chu Mingcheng had been thinking about resigning.

He knew making money with this ability wouldn't be easy at first. But once he leveled up enough aquatic species, he was confident he could make a much better living than he did now. Most importantly, he'd have freedom. No one would be breathing down his neck, lording their authority over him.

But even if he resigned, he didn't want that old scrooge Chen to find an excuse to take advantage.

Today was September 29th, and the National Day holiday was the day after tomorrow. Chu Mingcheng decided he would work through tomorrow and then hand in his resignation.

The small company he worked for didn't even provide basic social insurance and housing fund, so resigning meant he could leave almost immediately. His salary would be paid out on the tenth of the month, and Chen wouldn't dare withhold it.

He remembered a former colleague, an honest guy whose performance wasn't the best. Chen had forced him out and then tried to keep his last paycheck. That was the final straw for the man. He went straight to the Labor Bureau. The company was fined, and Chen was forced to pay an extra month's salary in compensation, as required by law for employees who had worked for over six months but less than a year.

However, although that man received an extra month's pay, he couldn't find a similar job in that county. Chen, despite his small company, had good connections. After he spread the word, that man was rejected by several companies and finally had to leave the town in disgrace.

This was why Chu Mingcheng had tolerated Chen all this time and hadn't clashed with him. His family was here, and as long as he planned to stay in the same industry, he couldn't afford to offend the man.

As for changing companies, they were all much of a muchness. Unless he moved to another city for a larger company with overtime pay, his salary might be higher, but big cities also had higher living costs, so it wouldn't really make a difference in the end.

Besides, he had been at this company for four years. As long as he showed up and did his job, Chen wouldn't be foolish enough to fire him without cause. But Chu Mingcheng was done making himself miserable just to stay employed. Resigning on his own terms was the best choice.

He walked into the company precisely at eight o'clock, just as Chen was standing at the office entrance.

Seeing Chu Mingcheng clock in at the last second, he glanced at his watch, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Ah Cheng, you're cutting it a bit close today. Remember to be earlier next time."

"Don't worry," Chu Mingcheng shot back as he walked to his desk. "There won't be a next time."

Chen didn't quite catch the underlying meaning. Seeing that it was officially work time, he simply instructed the receptionist to note down all the late arrivals for payroll, then sauntered back to his office to brew his tea and continue his "healthy" lifestyle.

As for the proposal that was so "urgent" yesterday? It was suddenly no longer urgent at all.