I Can Fish Up Everything!

He glanced at the time. Without realizing it, it was already a little past one in the morning. No wonder he was getting hungry.

Gu Nan didn’t cast his baited hook back into the water. Instead, he went over to his other fishing rod and started reeling in the line, ready to have a late-night snack.

Just as he was turning the handle of the reel, a sudden, heavy force gave him a start.

Immediately after, Gu Nan was overjoyed. ’I can’t believe I hit the jackpot right when I was about to wrap up!’

Gu Nan quickly lifted the rod to set the hook, then cranked the handle with all his might. But there was no movement at all. In fact, the line was being pulled out even further.

The line spooled out from the reel at a steady pace. Clearly, the fish wasn’t fast, but it was incredibly powerful.

It seemed most deep-sea fish were like this. Even relatively fast swimmers like the Hapuku or the Dogtooth Fish were much slower than marlins and their kind.

With the rod resting in its holder, Gu Nan had already gotten a rough idea of the fish’s strength, so he tightened the drag to its maximum setting.

The fish hadn’t yet exceeded the tolerance of the rod and line, so increasing the load on it was the best choice.

But this also made the rod bend dramatically, letting out a strained CREAK, CREAK sound.

After the drag was maxed out, the speed at which the handle could be turned slowed noticeably. He gripped the handle, trying his best to wear down the fish’s stamina.

The sea was quite cool at night, but that was only relatively speaking. Lying in a chair and enjoying the sea breeze was comfortable, but fishing required exertion, and moving around made him feel hot.

In just a short while, Gu Nan’s face was covered in sweat, which dripped down from his forehead.

Fortunately, he wasn’t holding the rod tonight, so he was able to wipe the sweat off his face.

Some twenty minutes passed. Gu Nan could clearly feel the big fish deep below slowing down, its strength also diminishing significantly.

The fish’s initial Power made him think it was quite large, estimating it to be around 165 pounds.

But after tentatively reeling in some line, he realized the fish wasn’t that big after all. He guessed it was around 110 pounds; perhaps it just had exceptional Power.

It was getting late. Gu Nan didn’t plan to drag this out any longer and began to put his back into it.

He grabbed the rod with one hand and cranked the handle forcefully with the other, slowly retrieving the line bit by bit.

Perhaps due to the change in water pressure as the fish ascended, or because its stamina was nearly depleted, Gu Nan was able to turn the handle faster and faster.

Deep-water fish were like that. The higher they rose, the greater the effect of the pressure change, which was why fishing for them was always difficult at first and easier later on.

Still, the fish had considerable weight. Hauling it up from the deep was more strenuous and time-consuming than pulling it in from the surface.

Another twenty minutes or so passed before a long shadow appeared on the surface of the water.

Gu Nan’s jaw dropped slightly. ’Holy crap. It hasn’t even fully surfaced, and its shadow alone is over three, maybe even four meters long. What on earth did I just catch?’

As the fish revealed its true form, goosebumps broke out all over his body, and he let go of the handle in fright.

A massive, hideous, and grotesque head emerged from the water. Its mouth was wide open, revealing sharp teeth, looking just like a deep-sea monster from a horror movie. A single glance was enough to instill a sense of dread.

’If Yi Chen were here, she probably would’ve jumped right into my arms the moment she saw it.’

It was only after Gu Nan recalled the fish’s identity that his fear began to subside.

This had to be a Wolf Eel. He wasn’t sure what specific varieties of Wolf Eel existed, but he never imagined one could grow so large.

This Wolf Eel was at least five meters long, maybe even five and a half. It looked like a deep-sea dragon.

Unlike other fish, even after being hauled up from the deep, the Wolf Eel was still ferocious. It seemed as if the water pressure had no effect on it.

Gu Nan first used the crane to hoist the Wolf Eel aboard. It was so long that the crane couldn’t lift it completely out of the water.

Luckily, he had managed to loop the sling around the fish’s neck, so he went over and simply dragged the rest of its tail onto the deck.

Even on the deck, the Wolf Eel thrashed about restlessly. Gu Nan didn’t dare lower it completely, leaving its head suspended in mid-air.

He decided to sacrifice the lure; it didn’t cost many Gold Coins anyway. He took out a pair of scissors, cut the line, and quickly stored the Wolf Eel in his aquarium. Leaving it on the deck was too unsettling.

After getting the fish into the aquarium, Gu Nan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

He grabbed a small bucket, went to the steps, and drew some seawater to rinse the deck and gunwales. The Wolf Eel was covered in slime, and if he didn’t wash it off, the fishy stench would be nauseating once it dried.

After finishing up, Gu Nan went into the cabin to bring out his gear. He grabbed his filleting knife and started preparing the scorpionfish.

The late-night snack was non-negotiable. If he said he was going to eat, he was going to eat. He wasn’t going to skip it just because it was late!

While cleaning the scorpionfish, Gu Nan finally had a moment to use his identification function on the Wolf Eel in the aquarium to check its specific stats.

Humming a little tune, Gu Nan extravagantly tossed the fish head and bones into the sea. It would be hard to explain if he brought them back, and there was no refrigerator on the boat to keep them fresh. Tossing them was the safest bet. As for the innards, that went without saying.

However, the belly of such a large scorpionfish was very thick, so that was worth keeping.

He sliced the fish meat into thin pieces, mixed a dipping sauce, and then placed the meat in a strainer to blanch in the pot.

Once the broth was at a rolling boil, he dipped the fish in. It cooked in no time, ten seconds at most.

Dipped in the sauce, a single bite was fresh, savory, smooth, and tender.

The scorpionfish meat was softer and lacked the firmness of grouper, but it was like slurping down Jell-O, sliding right down into his stomach.

Gu Nan was eating happily when suddenly, a SPLASH from the side of the boat caught his attention.

He carried his bowl to the edge of the boat and peered over. In the area illuminated by the lights, countless shadows had appeared in the water.

Gu Nan’s jaw dropped slightly. ’Did the boat’s lights attract a school of fish?’

Judging by the direction they were swimming, the school was circling his fishing boat, just like tuna drawn to a light source.

Just then, a fish leaped out of the water, making a splash. Gu Nan’s eyes lit up. ’Is that really tuna?’

He didn’t get a clear look, but if it wasn’t tuna, it had to be a type of bonito. With so many of them, he had to fish all night!

Gu Nan hurried back to the cabin and quickly grabbed the satellite phone to call Guo Xiao.

’I just scored some tea from him, so he gets the first call today.’

"Hey, Ah Nan, what’s going on? Why are you calling me on the sat phone?" Guo Xiao’s voice on the other end was somewhat serious. Satellite phones were usually for emergencies, so he was a little worried something had happened to Gu Nan.

"I don’t have a signal out at sea. There’s a huge school of fish under my boat, probably attracted by the lights. It’s most likely tuna. You in?"

"Holy shit, tuna?" Guo Xiao was relieved to hear he was okay.

Then, the word "tuna" caught his full attention. He quickly asked, "Coordinates, coordinates! I’m heading over right now."

Guo Xiao was currently in his living room, working overtime on his laptop. His wife had been ravenous lately, so working late was a matter of self-preservation!

Without caring whether his wife was asleep or not, he got the coordinates, then carefully opened the study door. Seeing that it was pitch black outside, he knew she was asleep and decisively snuck out under the cover of darkness.

Meanwhile, Wang Junhe was in a much sorrier state.

He had just finished his "duties" and was hiding in the living room for a smoke break to recover. After getting Gu Nan’s call, he was about to sneak out, but he realized his clothes were still in the bedroom and had to tiptoe back in to get them.

Naturally, he was caught by Su Qing. When she learned he was going sea fishing, she grabbed him by the ear and gave him a lecture.

In the end, left with no other choice, Wang Junhe signed an "unequal treaty" for three nights a week and finally secured his fishing rights for the night.

Gu Nan had no idea what a great price he had paid. He moved on to call An Jun.

They were all night owls. Most of the time, they were still awake at two in the morning.

Sure enough, the call was picked up quickly.

"Son, I’ve found a school of tuna over here. You do that raw marinated sashimi thing, right? Want to come get some fresh ingredients?"

Hearing the word "son," An Jun was about to curse him out. ’Calling me in the middle of the night just to take advantage of me?’

But when he heard the words "tuna" and "ingredients," his attitude did a complete 180. "Godfather, you’re already out at sea. How am I supposed to get out there? Are you coming to pick me up?"

"I’ll give you a number. Contact him, and have him bring you!"

Gu Nan figured Guo Xiao would be coming over in Wang Junhe’s small boat, so he gave Wang Junhe’s number to An Jun and told him to get in touch.