Everything was settled. Eddie connected to the internet and logged into QQ. As soon as he opened it, a bunch of small avatars began bouncing.
He clicked through them and saw they were messages from his college classmates, most of them asking about his move to Canada.
After replying to each one, he opened the class group chat. It was buzzing with discussion—and he was the hot topic:
Class Monitor Zhong Dajun: D*mn, did that dumbass Beast get tricked and sold to Canada as slave labor?
Ma Jin: Honestly, that's possible. I even read his fortune before—never saw anything about him having some badass relatives abroad, and now they gave him a whole fishery?
Chen Lei: Dude, I've got a fishery too. My family runs one.
Song Junmei: Lei-ge, yours is just a pond. A pond is not a fishery!
Chen Jiannan: D*mn, we've got to freeload off the rich now. That b*st*rd Beast is living large these days!
Yan Fei: Fishing in Newfoundland, watering horses by Lake Baikal. Truly, the Beast is a role model for us all.
From these messages, Eddie quickly figured out that Gao Xueqiang had blabbed everything to the class. Understandable—his big mouth was legendary.
Right then, a new message popped up from Gao Xueqiang: "Whoa, that b*st*rd's avatar just lit up!"
Cursing Gao's sharp eyes, Eddie jumped into the chat:Eddie: "Yo brothers and sisters, your Eddie Han-san is here!"
Gao Xueqiang: "Wow, Beast! You're actually alive. That's amazing!"
Chen Lei: "Shut up. Of course Beast-ge is alive—alive and thriving, right Beast-ge?"
Zhao Heng: "Kneeling before Beast-ge. Beast-ge V587!"(Note: "V587" = "NB" = awesome, in internet slang)
Chen Jiannan: "Beast-ge, where are you in Canada? Can you go to the Raptors and get me a signed photo from the Little Cannon?"
…
Eddie realized he had become the center of attention. As soon as he showed up, the group exploded with activity. Everyone started throwing jokes at him, and even Ma Jin started spamming emojis.
The computer was set up in Eddie's bedroom. Just then, the squirrel Xiaoming crawled in from the window and scampered up onto Eddie's shoulder, licking its paws with its soft little tongue.
Eddie was too busy replying to messages to play with the squirrel. Suddenly, a video chat request popped up from Gao Xueqiang. Eddie clicked it open.
Before the image loaded, Gao's raspy voice blared out:"Beast! Hurry up and move aside—I wanna see what your mansion looks like…"
The sudden voice startled Xiaoming, who had been absorbed in licking his paws. The little squirrel lost balance and tumbled off Eddie's shoulder like a ball of fluff.
Eddie tried to catch him, but it was too late. Luckily, squirrels are good at landing. Xiaoming flared his tail and landed safely, then bolted out of the room—clearly terrified by Gao's voice.
Gao made a surprised noise:"What was that thing on your shoulder?"
Eddie rolled his eyes: "A squirrel."
"A squirrel? Where'd you get a squirrel?"
So Eddie had to explain where Xiaoming and Xiaohong came from. Gao was amazed:"D*mn, the environment around your place is that good? A big maple tree outside the window—and squirrels living on it? Holy crap, I've got to come visit sometime. Oh yeah, how's your Van Gogh?"
Eddie sighed dramatically: "A fake. It was a forgery."
Gao consoled him: "Doesn't matter—just use it as decoration. You should've expected that. It's not like finding a real Van Gogh is easy."
"The Van Gogh was fake," Eddie said calmly, "but there was another painting at the time—a real Picasso."
"…WHAT?! A Picasso?! Are you kidding me?!"
Gao's voice jumped ten decibels.
Xiaoming, who had just cautiously peeked in from the window, got scared stiff by the sudden shout. All its fur stood on end, and it jumped back into the maple tree in terror.
Eddie kept teasing: "Meh, it's nothing. That piece isn't even worth much—just one or two million tops. Auction house experts already looked at it."
Gao lost it: "There is no justice! One or two million and you say it's not worth much?! You arrogant b*st*rd! You'll be smitten by lightning!"
Eddie added calmly, "Along with those paintings, I also found a bronze statue from the Renaissance era. The experts estimated it's worth over twenty million…"
"PFFT—!"
The screen suddenly went black. Eddie jiggled the mouse—it wasn't on his end. Gao had disconnected.
Soon after, Gao sent a message:"I'm booking a flight right now to come find you!"
That evening, Creeper dropped by. Eddie made vinegar-sautéed fish slices and red-braised carp to host him. While they ate, they discussed Eddie's immigration paperwork.
Creeper told him everything was in order and the documents had already been submitted to Immigration. Once the review is done, that'll be it—no more than two days.
Eddie was surprised at the Canadian government's efficiency. Later, he found out Creeper had asked an old friend for help—an immigration officer, in fact—so things naturally moved fast.
After dinner, Creeper left. Eddie saw him to the door and said, "Old man Orle, you didn't have to come all the way over just to tell me this. A phone call would've done."
Creeper shrugged: "That won't do. If I didn't come in person, who would make me dinner?"
Laughing heartily, Creeper got into his BMW 750 and drove away.
Eddie stared at the sleek BMW and suddenly realized—he needed to buy a new car. He was loaded now, so why was he still driving that junk?
Back in bed, Eddie's consciousness entered the ocean.
Once underwater, he first checked on the coral reef. To his surprise, the once lifeless corals had come back to life. When he last left, only about ten square meters of coral remained active. Now, it had spread to over twenty square meters.
Clearly, the mysterious power within him had a lingering effect. The coral polyps had continued to grow and divide, restoring this section of the sea to its former vibrant self.
Nearby, the cup jellyfish had also recovered fully. As ocean currents swirled around it, the jellyfish twisted and danced with the flow.
More astonishingly, Eddie could feel that the moment his consciousness appeared, both the corals and the jellyfish became more active. He could sense them straining toward him, as if craving his presence and affection.
He spread his awareness over them again, especially the corals, injecting more of that mysterious energy. He knew that coral reefs were the foundation of nearshore ecosystems—where aquatic insects and plants could thrive, forming the base of the food chain for fish.
Though his efforts were small, they were showing real results. Not long after his arrival, two silver-white fish swam into view.
Eddie examined them closely. Each about ten centimeters long, with small, flat round scales and a stocky build. Their dorsal fins had bony sheaths that extended toward the fin rays—a strong, compact design.
After nibbling on plankton near the reef, the two fish slipped into the cup jellyfish, as if knowing it could protect them.
As Eddie encouraged more coral growth, he watched the fish and guessed their species. Based on their appearance, they were likely a type of coldwater fish also found in China—marine crucian carp.
He remembered reading about them and being surprised that some small marine fish were viviparous—marine crucian being one of them.
Feeling a bit tired, Eddie let his consciousness drift deeper into the ocean.
The Heart of the Ocean was a powerful thing. Every inch of ocean that Eddie's consciousness had expanded into was under his control.
It was a strange sensation—like having clairvoyance. Even if he wasn't present, he could still feel everything within the areas he had touched.
As he drifted farther from the shore, the water grew purer and marine life more abundant. But the vibrant, multicolored seascape he dreamed of hadn't appeared yet.
"So much still to be rebuilt," Eddie thought, as his awareness wandered on.