There were no paths on the island, so the two of them basically walked in. Fortunately, there weren't many plants, so they could get through after a few steps.

Reaching the coconut tree, Ye Cheng looked up and his anxiety finally died down; he knew he couldn't climb it, so there was no point in even thinking about it anymore.

Xiao Hu took off his clothes, somehow made a circle around them, tied them to his hands, wrapped them around the coconut tree, and started climbing.

I must say, it climbed pretty fast.

"Damn! I didn't know you had this skill!" Ye Cheng shouted from below, looking up.

"Brother, stand back a bit, or you might get crushed."

"Get lost, you're such a jinx."

Despite saying that, Ye Cheng still obediently took a few steps outside. This thing was no joke; if such a heavy coconut fell down, he would be crippled even if he didn't die.

Ye Cheng had only taken a few steps when he heard a crisp cracking sound under his feet. He looked down and saw that he had stepped on something.

A large blue thing, more than 20 centimeters long, looked like a big spider.

When Ye Cheng stepped on it, he cracked its shell. He kicked it, flipping it over. Its claws were outstretched, indicating that it was dead.

Ye Cheng squatted down and took a closer look. It was a coconut crab. Coconut crabs are very precious. He didn't expect to find one here.

The coconut crab is the largest terrestrial hermit crab and also the largest living terrestrial arthropod. It looks similar to a regular hermit crab, just a larger version with its own shell.

Actually, from Ye Cheng's own aesthetic point of view, this thing really was a bit ugly.

Adult coconut crabs have hard shells, are huge, and can grow up to 1 meter long and weigh up to 6 kilograms. The color of their bodies changes depending on the island environment. Some coconut crabs are blue, but most are brown. They look like a giant spider.

Coconut crabs have a pair of strong claws that can exert a gripping force of about 3,300 Newtons, allowing them to crack open coconuts directly; the left claw is usually larger and used for cracking the shell, while the right claw is thinner and longer and used for delicate operations.

It mainly feeds on coconuts, fruits, carrion, and small animals (such as seabirds and other crabs). It can climb coconut trees and use its claws to crack open coconut shells to eat the fruit.

Because it especially loves to eat coconuts, it usually lives in the crevices of rocks under coconut trees.

From a practical standpoint, coconut crab meat is firm and chewy, with a rich flavor and a subtle coconut milk aroma and sweetness. Its abdominal fat is abundant, and the crab roe is flavorful, making it excellent for steaming with eggs.

Because it is relatively rare and has a unique taste, it is very expensive in the market, costing nearly a thousand yuan per kilogram, and there are still very few of them.

[Note: Coconut crab fishing is restricted or prohibited in some areas.]

Ye Cheng was immediately intrigued to find such high-end goods in this coconut grove.

"Brother, I'm throwing it away, be careful!" Little Tiger's voice came from above.

Ye Cheng quickly looked up and saw that Xiao Hu had already climbed to the top, holding a coconut that had been shaken down, and was about to throw it down.

"Throw it in the middle, aim carefully!" Ye Cheng shouted upwards, making a megaphone shape with his hand.

Little Tiger nodded, held the coconut in his hand, and threw it into the middle of the forest. It hit the ground with a thud.

"Make a few more, we'll need them later," Ye Cheng shouted again.

We'll be using coconuts to make coconut crabs later, so we need to make a lot.

"knew."

Xiao Hu responded and then began to swing wildly on the tree. Ye Cheng, watching from below, was terrified. What if the tree, so tall and thin, broke?

Fortunately, Ye Cheng's worries did not come true. Soon, Xiao Hu picked all the coconuts from the coconut tree, a total of 8.

After picking the coconuts, Little Tiger slid down the slope like a monkey.

"Brother, why are you making so many? Are you planning to take them home to eat?" Xiao Hu asked, pointing to the huge pile of coconuts. Most people would eat two at most, but there were eight of them.

"Look what this is?" Ye Cheng picked up the dead coconut crab.

"Coconut crab! There's one! This is going to be a windfall!" Little Tiger recognized it at a glance.

"Whether we get rich or not depends on these," Ye Cheng said, pointing to the coconuts on the ground.

Generally speaking, coconut crabs are good at hiding, and they are usually lured out by setting traps.

The two found a few smaller coconuts, cracked them open, and then found two thin, long wooden sticks, sharpened one end, and stuck the broken coconuts into them.

Having prepared the bait, Ye Cheng circled the coconut grove, found several places with holes, and stuck wooden sticks not far from the hole entrances.

The aroma of fresh coconuts is enough to lure out coconut crabs. Although coconut crabs can climb coconut trees, no matter how capable they are, they can't climb a mountain with just a stick like a tiger.

So once it's lured out, it will circle around under the stick, waiting to be caught.

The two set up a total of 16 traps; as for how much they could gain, that was up to fate.

After doing all that, the two returned to the beach with the coconuts. The water tank and the snakeskin bag were still there. The two sat down and started cracking open the coconuts to eat.

Two coconuts each, with sweet coconut juice and coconut meat. Ye Cheng was quite full after eating them. Now that's great, he doesn't need to eat any more dry rations.

Xiao Hu wiped his mouth and handed Ye Cheng a cigarette. "Brother, want to go check if there are any coconut crabs?"

"It's still early. Let's go beachcombing again. We can just take one last look before we leave."

The bait has only just been laid out; how can there be such greedy crabs?

After eating and drinking their fill, the two continued walking along the beach.

The beach here is mostly puddles. There's not much in the small puddles, so you have to go to the larger ones.

The two found a spot and followed the same procedure as before: drain the water first, and then fish in it.

However, this time it wasn't as good as last time. After more than an hour, I only caught a few fish and some swimming crabs. I did manage to catch another dog shark, though. It seems I've been quite lucky with sharks lately.

After finishing, Ye Cheng checked the time; it was already 3 p.m.

They had arranged to meet Wang Defa at 4 p.m., so they had one hour left.

"Come on, Little Tiger, let's go see if we've found any coconut crabs."

Carrying an empty water tank, the two returned to the coconut grove along the same route, checking each of the traps.

(Coconut crabs are usually nocturnal, so they should come at night after the bait has been laid. However, due to the needs of the plot, the time was changed to daytime.)

At the first spot, the area under the stick was empty, but the area above it was quite lively, with several hermit crabs climbing onto the coconut and happily eating it.

"Brother, no." Xiao Hu was a little disappointed.

"We should take these little guys back with us; we can't have come all this way for nothing." Ye Cheng immediately reached out and took the greedy hermit crabs off the ground.

The second spot is similar; there are two hermit crabs above, and a few more below that are trying to climb up.