I Can Fish Up Everything!

It was already a struggle to hold the large mud crab down with both hands. Controlling it with one hand to tie it up was out of the question, so he decided to use his foot.

Gu Nan pinned the large mud crab to the muddy ground again and stepped on its back.

He had to plant his foot firmly. This type of mud crab had a very hard shell, so he wouldn’t crush it, but if he eased up even slightly, it would struggle free.

With his foot on the crab, he folded its two large pincers over its chest, pulled a zip tie from his pocket, and fastened them together.

Once the zip tie was secure, Gu Nan picked up the crab with one hand. It was docile now, like a tiger without its claws and fangs, no longer as vicious as before.

With a single thought, the mud crab appeared inside his aquarium. Gu Nan then took his tools and continued his search for the next one.

He scanned the area and spotted several other fallen tree trunks on the mudflats.

These were a forager’s favorite find. After the last crab he found hiding in one, Gu Nan decided to tackle these easier catches first and save the ones that required digging for later.

As soon as he approached another trunk, he saw snail shells scattered around the opening of a hollow, just like before.

But when he peered into the hollow log, he couldn’t see anything.

The trunk was huge, over ten meters long, and he could only see about two meters in. The rest was pitch-black; who knew what was lurking inside.

Gu Nan walked along the trunk to the other end and found even more snail shells at that opening.

Glancing at the middle of the trunk, he suspected there was more than one crab inside, probably hiding deep in the center.

’Too bad he didn’t have a flashlight, or a quick look would tell him for sure.’

He looked at the pickaxe in his hand. It was meant for digging, but now it seemed to have another purpose.

Gu Nan moved to the middle of the trunk, raised the pickaxe, and with a bit of force, struck down at the wood.

The pickaxe head sank right in. The log was hollow in the middle and had been soaking in seawater for so long that he could probably have broken it with a solid kick.

He yanked the pickaxe back, tearing off a large chunk of wood. As sunlight flooded in, he immediately saw two mud crabs scuttling toward opposite ends of the hollow.

Gu Nan wasn’t worried about only being able to block one and letting the other escape.

These large mud crabs weren’t fast. He first went to the left and piled up some mud to block that opening.

In this scenario, the crabs would likely stop once they reached the blocked opening, thinking they were safe there.

He then calmly walked over to the other side. The crab hadn’t crawled out; it was still hiding in the hollow log.

This time, however, it was close to the opening, and he could spot it easily.

Seeing this, Gu Nan reached in with his hook and forcibly dragged the large mud crab out.

It was another crab, about the same size as the last one, and it was just as ferocious, raising its large pincers threateningly.

The aquarium would clean off the mud anyway, so he simply scooped up a handful and splattered it over the crab’s eyes, effectively freezing it in place.

The crab, its face covered in mud, was completely bewildered. ’Who am I? Where am I? What was I just doing?’

It only started to panic again when an immense force pressed down on its back. But this time, the pressure was too great; it struggled with all its might but couldn’t break free.

Once Gu Nan had the crab pinned, he quickly zip-tied its pincers and sent it to his aquarium.

He then picked up his pickaxe and continued breaking open the trunk. As he had been pulling the last crab out, he’d vaguely glimpsed a few crab legs retreating deeper inside.

There was likely more than one large mud crab in this hollow log—perhaps there were many.

The hollow log was like a natural crab pot. A single pot could catch many crabs, so it was perfectly normal for a log like this to be hiding a good number of them.

Mud crabs could be cannibalistic, but that was usually only in the light. In a dark environment, they generally left each other alone.

For the most part, as long as none of them had just molted, they couldn’t do much harm to each other. The worst that could happen was one losing a pincer.

As Gu Nan continued to break the log apart, he did indeed see three more crabs scuttling toward the other end from the newly exposed center. That was quite a haul.

’This meant the first log he’d checked probably had quite a few inside as well.’

It didn’t matter that the other side was unblocked, because just then, a large crab crawled out of the opening right in front of him.

Gu Nan quickly launched a mud attack. He glanced down and saw another one about to crawl out right behind it. He hurriedly scooped up more mud and froze it in place the moment it emerged.

He peered inside. No third crab. They must have all run to the other end.

’It was a shame the game didn’t provide a bucket item. Otherwise, he could have blocked one end with a bucket, scared all the crabs toward it, and then simply lifted a full container.’

’For now, he’d just have to catch them one by one the old-fashioned way.’

After spending a few moments tying up the two large crabs and sending them to the aquarium, he moved to the other end of the log.

He used the pickaxe to clear away the pile of mud blocking the opening, and three large crabs immediately came barging out.

Two of them even raised their large pincers at him defensively. ’How dare my food be so arrogant?’

Gu Nan immediately launched his mud attack, immobilizing all three large crabs. He then tied them with zip ties and sent them to his aquarium.

He continued to hack and pry at the trunk with his pickaxe. When no more crabs emerged, he walked back to the first log where he’d caught the very first one.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

’If each log held five or six large mud crabs, the ones from these hollows alone would be enough to complete the mission for Junhao Hotel. He could spend the rest of his time catching more Rose Dragons.’