The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 146: Who is the Seafood Overlord?

They scattered across the beach, diligently searching for holes that might contain small sea creatures. 

Victoria kept her head down, not missing a single patch of sand she walked over. 

Ethan followed her at a respectful distance, watching her with a smile he couldn't quite suppress. 

He especially liked the innocent and carefree look she had when she was relaxed.

Suddenly, Victoria spotted a breathing hole. It had a thin layer of water over it that quickly broke, making it look like there was something alive underneath. 

Victoria got excited and was about to squat down to dig when she noticed Ethan was very close to her. 

She quickly blocked the hole with her hand and warned him sternly, "Ethan, I found this hole. You can't take it from me!"

Ethan couldn't help but laugh and then cleared his throat to cover it up. "Don't worry, I won't." 

Victoria felt reassured and started digging. She trusted Ethan's word. 

But after digging for a while, she found nothing. Victoria stared at the deep hole she had dug, wondering what went wrong.

Ethan had been observing her and suddenly noticed a slightly raised trail in the sand next to Victoria. It looked like a small sea creature was sensing danger and trying to escape. 

The trail extended further away, and Ethan quickly ran over, dug into the escape route, and with a swift motion, a small clam flew out with the sand. 

The clam landed on the beach and tried to dig back into the sand, but Ethan's large hand grabbed it. 

Ignoring the sand on his hands and clothes, he proudly showed his catch to Victoria.

Victoria couldn't believe that after all her effort, Ethan had found something with just one scoop. She glared at him and huffed, throwing her shovel down in frustration. 

After a moment, she picked up her shovel again and started looking for her next target, turning to Ethan with a pout, "Stay away from me!" 

Of course, Ethan didn't listen. He ran up to her and tossed the clam into Victoria's bucket. "This one's yours."

Victoria looked at the clam wriggling at the bottom of the bucket and said, "No need, you found it, so it's yours."

Ethan pointed to the raised trail and said, "Look over there. This clam was probably the one you were digging for. It escaped because you dug into its home. I just helped you catch it. It should be yours." 

Besides, what was his was Victoria's too, and he was happy to share.

Victoria looked at the escape trail and suddenly understood. She had dug too slowly, giving the clam a chance to escape. 

She needed to either dig faster or observe the trails in the sand to intercept the escaping creatures. She flashed Ethan a bright smile, "Thank you!" 

Her smile made Ethan even appreciate the mud stains on his silver shirt, despite his usual cleanliness obsession.

With this new technique, Victoria became much more efficient at finding small sea creatures, especially with Ethan's help. 

Soon, her bucket was filled with clams, mussels, starfish, and sea cucumbers. 

Even though starfish weren't edible, they were pretty, so she collected them too. 

They later discovered that the toolkit provided by the butler included salt. 

Sprinkling salt into the breathing holes made the mussels quickly emerge, and Victoria caught them easily.

Victoria looked at her half-filled bucket of sea creatures, happy but puzzled. She muttered to herself, "Where are the crabs? Why haven't I found any crabs?" 

Ethan saw her frustration and asked the butler, who explained that crabs were usually found in the rocky areas. 

Ethan grabbed some non-slip shoes and ran back, breathlessly telling Victoria, "If you want to find crabs, we need to go over there. They usually hide under rocks."

Victoria's eyes lit up, "Okay!"

Ethan held up the tall boots, "We need to wear these to avoid getting cut."

Victoria looked at her mud-covered feet, wondering if she should wash them first. 

Ethan pulled her towards the water, "Let's wash up and change shoes. I'll help you." 

Victoria stood on one foot in the water, holding onto Ethan as she washed each foot and put on the shoes. 

Her feet, white and slightly red, glistened with water droplets in the sunlight, looking cute and delicate. Ethan felt like he could hold them in his hand and play with them.

Once they changed shoes, they headed to the rocky area. Sure enough, after turning over a few rocks, Victoria found a small crab waving its claws. 

Victoria wasn't scared at all. Wearing gloves, she reached out to grab it. 

But the crab was agile, dodging between the rocks. In her haste, Victoria stepped on a slippery stone and was about to fall forward. 

Luckily, Ethan was paying more attention to her than the crabs and quickly grabbed her arm, "Careful!"

Victoria's weight was mostly on Ethan's arm, but he found it light. He worked out regularly, so her weight was no problem for him. 

Victoria steadied herself with his help and turned to him, sticking out her tongue and smiling sheepishly, "The crab got away. It's so quick!"

Ethan didn't laugh but said seriously, "A small crab isn't more important than your safety. You need to protect yourself even while having fun."

Victoria covered her ears, "Why are you suddenly so talkative? I get it!" Though her tone was a bit impatient, she took his words to heart. 

The next time she saw a crab, she didn't get as excited. Instead, she strategized, watching the crab and planning the shortest path before quickly grabbing it. 

She managed to catch a few this way.

Sometimes Ethan would help her corner a crab. The crab, confused and panicked by the two large humans, would scurry around, unable to find a way out. 

This scene only made them laugh heartily. Neither of them was overly sentimental. 

They shared a knowing smile and efficiently caught the crab, tossing it into Ethan's bucket to avoid it pinching the starfish.

Two hours passed quickly, and everyone gathered around Samuel's lounge chair to compare their catches. 

Nick had collected half a bucket and boasted, "I have experience. You guys definitely didn't get as much as I did!" 

Eric had only found three small shells. Seeing Nick's smug look, he tossed his bucket aside and lay down on the lounge chair, saying dismissively, "Who wants to compete with you? It's boring." 

Nick made a face at him and waved his bucket full of sea creatures.

Roy ran over, shouting, "I got a lot too. Let's see who has more." They counted seriously, and Nick had 16, three more than Roy. 

Nick laughed loudly, "Only Victoria is left. Ethan isn't competing. I think I'm going to win. Should I punish Eric or make a request to Victoria?"

Victoria was the last to return since she had gone to the rocky area, which was farther away. 

Seeing her from a distance, Nick proudly raised his bucket and shouted, "Victoria, you're the last one. They all lost to me! You're about to see who the real seafood overlord is!"