I Can Fish Up Everything!

After Pan Yourong left, the shop started to get busy. Although the sixty-seven pounds of pomfret weren’t difficult to sell, sales weren’t as good as Gu Nan had imagined.

The main issue was that supermarkets and markets sold imported, deep-frozen varieties. The price difference was just too great, and office workers who weren’t too particular were reluctant to splurge on his line-caught fish.

Only the connoisseurs with some spare cash, upon hearing the fish were caught that very morning, would buy a few to enjoy their freshness.

By 6:30 PM, after the foot traffic in the market died down, only about half of the roughly seventy-seven pounds of silver pomfret had been sold.

"Boss, what should we do with the rest?"

"Just put the rest in the insulated container with ice. Shovel in plenty of ice cubes. We should be able to sell most of them tomorrow. We can drop the price a little. Sell the small ones for fifty and the large ones for seventy."

After a night, their freshness couldn’t compare to today’s, so a slightly lower price would be more acceptable to customers.

Chilled seafood, unlike live seafood, needs to be sold as quickly as possible, as it only keeps for a few days.

It was about that time. He cleaned up the shop, closed the doors, and headed home.

However, Gu Nan was going fishing again that night, so he moved another insulated container into his motorized trike, along with his fishing rod and computer.

’I probably won’t have time to use the computer for now, but I just bought it. I can’t just let Yi Chen use it all the time.’

"Boss, you’re going fishing again tonight?" Seeing him grab the fishing rod, Yi Chen really couldn’t understand his thinking. ’Fishing in the morning, fishing at night... doesn’t he ever get tired?’

"You don’t understand the joy of fishing," Gu Nan replied with a chuckle. He closed the shop door, got on the trike, and patted the seat next to him. "Hop on. I’ll take you home first."

Yi Chen didn’t stand on ceremony, sitting down next to him with a small bag in her hand.

The small bag contained two silver pomfrets. Gu Nan knew she had a grandmother at home, so he’d given her two to take back for her to try.

He wouldn’t give her the imported fish from the game, but he knew the older generation would definitely like the silver pomfret.

There was little traffic at this hour, and Gu Nan had her home in three or four minutes.

"See you tomorrow, Boss."

"Yep, see you tomorrow."

Watching Yi Chen turn and head home, Gu Nan turned the trike around. He went home first to drop off the computer, then drove to the reef area.

The usual spot. No one was there tonight.

Gu Nan liked coming here, mainly because very few people did.

It wasn’t considered a great fishing spot. Most anglers preferred places like the breakwater or the sea inlet sluice.

Reaching the shore, he placed the insulated container on the ground. Gu Nan took out the Antarctic shrimp he had just bought that evening and began to chum the water.

He picked up his rod and switched the bobber to a night-fishing slip float. The bait, however, didn’t need changing.

He cast out gently, the bait tracing an arc before landing in the water.

He adjusted the drag, then used his daily guaranteed catch.

After a short wait, the distant bobber suddenly plunged into the water and vanished. Gu Nan snapped his rod up to set the hook!

He felt the pull—it wasn’t very strong. He began reeling in quickly, dragging the fish back.

A moment later, a fish appeared on the surface, surfing its way toward him before being lifted into the air.

It was a Pink and Blue Tang, about fifteen centimeters long. No wonder it felt so light.

’I have quite a few ornamental fish in the system’s Aquarium, and there are plenty in the shop’s tanks too. I have no idea how to sell these things.’ It was a bit of a headache.

He sent it to the Aquarium and cast his bait out again.

Fortunately, the next ten fish in a row were all edible, and his level finally reached seven.

The next level required seven hundred experience points. The EXP requirement increased by one hundred for each level, so getting from Level 7 to Level 10 would take a total of 2,400 EXP.

That meant he’d need to catch eight hundred three-star fish, or six hundred four-star fish. If Gu Nan worked hard and fished all day, he could catch about a hundred fish, meaning it would only take a little over a week.

Right now, he needed to get his driver’s license and buy a boat, so he had plenty of time.

’Once I figure things out, I won’t be so fixated on elite fish. When a new map unlocks, I’m sure I’ll be able to get the purple-grade set quickly. My speed at catching elite fish will definitely increase a lot then.’

With a light flick of his rod, he cast again. He still had nine guaranteed catches left for the day.

Unconsciously, he noticed a hint of chill in the sea breeze.

Startled, Gu Nan looked up and saw that the moon had been obscured by thick clouds at some point. This gave him a bad feeling.

Sure enough, after he used six more of his guaranteed catches, a light rain began to fall.

Luckily, it wasn’t a thunderstorm. Otherwise, Gu Nan wouldn’t have dared to keep fishing. ’I’d be afraid of getting struck by lightning while setting the hook or casting.’

’Having just gotten this cheat system, I have no desire to get transmigrated a second time.’

He had originally planned to catch more fish from the Fengqi Coast that night, but now he would have to use up his daily chances and head back early.

He swung the rod, using a bit more force this time, and cast the bait about ten-odd meters in front of him.

Gu Nan started turning the reel handle to retrieve some of the line; it was easier to fish at a closer distance.

Who would have thought that after just two turns, an unprecedentedly massive force would strike, dragging him forward two steps and nearly pulling him off the reef into the water.

When he saw the letters "BOSS" appear on the water’s surface, Gu Nan went numb. He’d wanted to go home early, and instead, he’d run into a BOSS.

’Fish or not to fish?’

After three seconds of hesitation, a fierce look entered Gu Nan’s eyes. ’Screw it, I’m doing this!’

The pull from this BOSS was much stronger than the last one he’d caught. It was likely over one hundred pounds.

’If I can find a big-spending sucker, this fish could probably sell for over ten thousand. I need money for a boat, so I absolutely can’t miss this chance. Besides, the height of the reef means the marlin can’t attack me.’

CREAK... GROAN...

The fishing rod was under unprecedented strain. The line seemed on the verge of snapping, trembling constantly, the water droplets clinging to it shattering into a fine mist from the vibration.

Gu Nan’s face was flushed crimson; he had never experienced pressure like this before.

The line spooled out uncontrollably. Fortunately, compared to the line from his previous green-grade set, the blue-grade set’s line was much stronger in both length and tension. In theory, it should be able to handle this hundred-plus-pound marlin.

But Gu Nan had to pit his Power against it in a brute-force struggle. He couldn’t let the fish get away so easily, or else even five hundred meters of line wouldn’t be enough to stop its run.

Judging by the angle of the line, the marlin was swimming straight away from him, near the surface.

The fish was strong, but Gu Nan was no slouch either. Under his forceful pull, the marlin’s speed dropped sharply. Even after two minutes, it had only managed to run about a hundred meters.

Taking two deep breaths, Gu Nan slowly adapted to the immense pull. He gradually squatted down to lower his center of gravity, held his breath, and then suddenly yanked the rod upwards with all his might. The higher the angle of the rod, the harder it would be for the fish to run.

The head of the distant BOSS was pulled up uncontrollably. In pain, it couldn’t help but leap from the water, twisting its body and shaking its head wildly in mid-air, trying to throw the foreign object from its mouth.

Gu Nan felt the fish’s movement through the line and immediately yanked the rod back hard.

This yank caused the hook, which had started to slip, to dig deeply into the fish’s mouth once again.

But the rod groaned nonstop. After failing to throw the hook, the marlin struggled even more frantically, and the full force of it was transmitted to the rod.

Gu Nan hadn’t touched the reel handle until now, but as its spinning slowed, he seized the opportunity and grabbed it.

His Power wasn’t enough to stop the line from spooling out, but it could further drain the fish’s stamina and keep it from making a strong run.

’I have to trust the quality of my rod and line. Besides, this isn’t the time to hold back.’

The two sides were once again locked in a tug-of-war. The marlin would run a long distance, and Gu Nan would forcefully reel some of the line back in.

Overall, however, the marlin was gaining more ground. It was now over two hundred meters from the shore, and only about twenty minutes had passed.

The rain grew heavier, and in just a short while, Gu Nan was soaked to the bone.

Fortunately, he always wore non-slip shoes when fishing, so the wet reef didn’t cause him to lose his footing.

Strength was being wrung from his body bit by bit. Gu Nan’s chest heaved, his breathing rapid and shallow, as if he had just run a 10,000-meter race.

He didn’t know how long he’d been holding on. ’Time feels like it’s dragging on forever. When will this fish finally tire out? I feel like I’m at my limit.’

Suddenly, he noticed the fish’s strength seemed to have lessened considerably, while a surge of Power seemed to materialize within his own body.

Gu Nan’s Spirit jolted. He tucked the rod under his arm and began to crank the reel handle with all his might.

’I have a vague idea where this Power is coming from. If I don’t drag this fish back now, I’ll probably run out of strength eventually and it will get away.’

The source of this Power was, in fact, a massive surge of adrenaline, which wouldn’t last for long.

After struggling for so long, both Gu Nan and the marlin were exhausted. After being pulled by his brute force once more, the fish had lost its initial momentum.

Seeing this, Gu Nan locked the drag completely and heaved the rod upward. Not only did this completely halt the marlin’s charge, but he also managed to reclaim several turns of line.

A smile touched the corner of his mouth. ’I think I’ve won this time.’

The marlin, not giving up, shot out of the water with a great SPLASH and leaped high into the air.

It was still trying to throw the hook, making one last, desperate struggle.

But in the instant it was airborne, a huge force yanked hard on the line, pulling it off balance. It crashed back onto the sea with a loud SMACK.

For a moment, water sprayed everywhere, and other nearby marine life scattered in fright.

The marlin was stunned by the impact and went still.

This time, Gu Nan reeled in the line with ease, pulling the fish back to within two hundred meters in just a short moment.

Unfortunately, the fish’s stupor ended. His reel handle seized up again, and the rod bent low once more.

Gu Nan just wanted to get the fish back as quickly as possible. No longer caring about the pain in his stomach, he braced the butt of the rod against his abdomen, heaved upward, and reeled.

The distant marlin, which had dived back under, was pulled to the surface again. This time, however, only its head broke the water; it didn’t leap high like before.

It didn’t have much strength left. Its body would occasionally turn on its side, a clear sign that it was too exhausted to control itself.

But even so, it still took Gu Nan over half an hour to finally drag the fish across the remaining two hundred meters to the shore.

The main problem was that the fish would try to run again every time it rested and recovered a bit of stamina. This happened a full five times.

The ordeal left Gu Nan’s face pale, though it was hard to tell if it was from exertion or the cold rain.

Both fish and man had reached their limits. The only difference was that a man could push on a little longer through sheer force of will.