Chapter 157: Bait

Ethan also wanted to know what the hell this place actually was.

But he did not have to wait long.

As the column of lava created by the enormous whale gradually subsided, familiar lines of text appeared before his eyes.

[Entered the first challenge area.]

[Location: Lava Sea.]

[Challenge Duration: 48 hours.]

[Objective: Fishing.]

Ethan stared at the final line and fell silent for several seconds.

Laira, standing beside him, immediately noticed his expression. Since she was considerably taller than Ethan, she had to bend slightly to get a clear look at his face.

"What is it?"

"Wait a moment."

Ethan continued reading the notification.

[For the next 48 hours, participants must use Challenge Fishing Rods to hunt creatures living within the Lava Sea.]

[The greater the target’s weight, the higher the score.]

[The greater the rarity, the higher the bonus score.]

[Special creatures may provide additional hidden rewards.]

[Every participant will receive one Fishing Rod Blind Box.]

[The quality of the fishing rod depends on the result of opening the Blind Box.]

[Absolute Rule of the First Area: Combat between participants is prohibited.]

[Deliberately attacking, injuring, or killing another participant is prohibited.]

[Violators will be directly dealt with by the rules of the Lava Sea.]

[Challenge begins in: 10 minutes.]

After finishing, Ethan slowly looked toward the lava sea ahead.

A school of transparent red fish had just swum past the stone buildings that protruded only halfway above the surface. Farther away, purple trees grew leisurely amid temperatures hot enough to melt ordinary metal.

The scene was so bizarre that if Ethan had not witnessed it personally, he would have found it difficult to believe this was actually the setting for a fishing competition.

He remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"The first challenge is fishing."

Ruo Yan turned toward him.

"What?"

"Fishing."

She looked at the lava sea, then back at Ethan as if trying to confirm whether he was joking.

"You are sure?"

"That is what the notification says."

Laira, on the other hand, had no difficulty accepting it at all.

Instead, she immediately remembered the creature that had jumped out of the lava sea earlier, and her orange-red eyes brightened slightly.

"Does the one from earlier count?"

Ethan looked toward the place where the whale more than a hundred meters long had disappeared beneath the surface.

"Probably."

Laira’s eyes grew even brighter.

"Then catch it."

Ethan turned toward her.

"First, we should think about what kind of fishing rod can survive you pulling something over a hundred meters long."

Laira lowered her gaze toward her hands and replied naturally:

"I can pull it myself."

"I am not questioning your strength," Ethan said helplessly. "I am worried about the rod."

Mumu, standing nearby, also looked toward the lava sea and tilted its head slightly.

"Mumu?"

Ethan had not even had time to explain what fishing was to his third Partner when a cold laugh came from behind.

"Looks like your luck has finally run out."

Ethan turned around.

More than fifty meters away, six nonhumans had just been transported onto a large section of stone architecture protruding from the lava sea.

They had clearly seen the challenge notification as well, since several of them were still looking around, but one with dark gray skin and two curved horns paid no attention to the lava sea whatsoever.

From beginning to end, his gaze remained locked on Ethan.

Ethan vaguely remembered seeing him outside the Challenge Gate, but he had no idea what race the man belonged to.

The nonhuman slowly walked to the edge of the structure, the corner of his mouth curling upward.

"Qing Lian is no longer here."

Laira immediately turned around.

Ruo Yan also looked over.

Mumu merely tilted its head, apparently still unable to understand what the person in front of them intended to do.

"Mumu?"

Ethan said nothing.

His calm attitude instead made the nonhuman assume he was being cautious.

The smile on the other man’s face immediately grew wider.

"Outside, you had two King-rank experts protecting you. But here..."

He bent his knees.

Boom!

The stone beneath his feet exploded.

The nonhuman shot directly toward Ethan.

"...let us see who can save you now!"

Laira looked at him.

Ruo Yan looked at him too.

The expressions on both women’s faces became slightly strange at the same time.

Even Mumu slowly shuffled to the side, as though instinct were telling it not to stand too close to someone who was about to have a very bad time.

The nonhuman noticed none of this.

The fifty-meter distance rapidly disappeared.

When less than ten meters remained, he raised his fist, black energy spreading across his entire arm.

The pressure around his fist forced the scorching air apart, making his savage expression even clearer.

"Die..."

BOOM!!!

The lava sea below suddenly exploded.

An enormous mouth surged upward.

The nonhuman, still in midair, only had time to lower his head.

His pupils contracted, and his words froze in his throat.

"What..."

CRUNCH!

The blazing red jaws snapped shut.

The nonhuman instantly disappeared.

The lava whale that had dived beneath the surface not long ago burst out of the sea once again.

Its enormous head was less than several dozen meters from Ethan, while the violator from moments earlier was now completely inside its mouth.

The creature’s body, more than a hundred meters long, continued soaring into the sky before making a full turn in midair.

Its movement was beautiful enough that, if one ignored the fact that it had just swallowed someone alive, the scene was actually rather spectacular.

Ethan raised his head.

Laira also looked up.

Ruo Yan stood still.

Mumu opened its mouth.

"Muuu..."

The whale completed its arc and fell back into the lava sea.

BOOM!!!

A wave dozens of meters high immediately surged upward and spread violently in every direction.

The stone beneath Ethan’s feet shook hard, and nearby buildings swayed with each wave.

Only after the lava slowly settled did the area become quiet again.

The remaining five nonhumans stood in the distance, staring at the part of the sea where their companion had disappeared.

No one spoke.

A long while later, one of them slowly took a step backward.

Then a second.

Ethan looked at them.

"Anyone else want to try?"

Naturally, there was no answer.

Their eyes were still filled with hatred, but the moment a deep sound came from beneath the lava, all five turned around almost simultaneously and left the stone platform.

Very quickly.

Laira watched their retreating backs.

"They ran away."

"At least that proves one thing."

Ruo Yan looked at Ethan.

"What?"

He turned his gaze back toward the lava sea, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"An Absolute Rule really is absolute."

Ethan was beginning to find this challenge more interesting than he had expected.

...

A point of light suddenly appeared in front of him.

Laira, Ruo Yan, and Mumu showed no reaction, proving that only Ethan could see it.

The light quickly condensed into a small dark-red Blind Box with the symbol of a fishing hook on its lid.

[Fishing Rod Blind Box has been distributed.]

[Each participant may choose only one Fishing Rod.]

Ethan reached out and touched the Blind Box.

Light immediately burst outward.

The Eye of Truth activated at the same time.

No special analysis window appeared.

Ethan simply looked calmly through the light and examined the hidden structures deep within each fishing rod.

Rank C.

Slightly more durable than an ordinary fishing rod.

Skip.

A Rank B rod capable of automatically detecting fish within a hundred-meter radius.

Not bad.

But still not enough.

Ethan’s gaze continued sweeping across the Rank A rods, Rank S rods, and then the Epic ones.

Only after a long time did he finally stop on a completely black fishing rod.

There was nothing remarkable about its appearance.

The handle was smooth, its diameter only slightly thicker than his thumb, and a silver metal ring sat at the end.

Placed beside the other brightly glowing fishing rods, this one actually looked the most ordinary.

But its internal structure was completely different.

Ethan observed it for several more seconds before confirming:

"This one."

The surrounding light immediately disappeared.

The black fishing rod fell into his right hand.

[Boundless Fishing Rod.]

[Rank: Mythic.]

[Trait 1: Absolute durability within the limits of item rules.]

[Trait 2: When the target is classified as a "fish," 99% of the weight transmitted to the user is reduced.]

[Trait 3: The length of the rod and fishing line can be adjusted according to the user’s will.]

[Maximum extension depends on the amount of energy supplied.]

After reading the information, Ethan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Laira also bent down to look at the black rod in his hand.

"That is a fishing rod?"

"Mm."

"It looks weak."

"Mythic rank."

Laira immediately changed her attitude.

"I think it looks quite nice."

Ruo Yan silently looked at her.

Ethan had no idea what to say either.

He walked to the edge of the stone platform and sent a little energy into the handle.

Crack.

The tip immediately extended.

One meter.

Three meters.

Ten meters.

Only then did Ethan stop.

"Looks usable."

He shortened the rod again, then casually swung it to the side to test its flexibility.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistling sound immediately rang out.

Ethan froze.

BOOM!!!

A streak of white light shot from the tip of the rod and slashed directly into the lava sea ahead.

The surface split apart.

Not by a few meters.

A trench more than a hundred meters long appeared across the lava sea, exposing the black stone beneath for a brief instant.

The blazing liquid on both sides rapidly surged back in, the two walls of lava crashing together with a deep explosion.

Boom!

A wave of heat swept across the stone platform.

Ethan remained standing with the fishing rod in his hand.

Laira looked at the lava sea, then at the Boundless Fishing Rod.

Ruo Yan also fell silent.

Mumu poked its head out from behind them.

"Mumu?"

Ethan looked down at the item in his hand for a while before finally saying slowly:

"I feel like the System has slightly misunderstood the concept of a fishing rod."

Ruo Yan calmly asked, "Are you sure that is not a weapon?"

"The notification says it is a rod."

Laira immediately extended a hand.

"Let me try."

Ethan pulled the fishing rod away at once.

"Not yet."

"I will only try once."

"I barely swung it and split the sea for more than a hundred meters." Ethan looked at her. "If you try once, every fish within ten kilometers might end up dead."

Laira thought seriously for several seconds before replying:

"Then they would be easier to catch."

"Dead fish probably do not count."

"What a shame."

Ethan examined the Boundless Fishing Rod for a little longer and eventually confirmed that the item really did come with both a hook and fishing line.

But he quickly discovered a more important problem.

There was no bait.

Ethan looked at the empty hook.

Laira also bent down to look.

Ruo Yan moved closer.

At some point, Mumu had squeezed its head between the three of them.

All four stared at the fishing hook.

After a while, Ethan finally asked:

"Did anyone bring fishing bait?"

Laira shook her head.

Ruo Yan looked toward the lava sea.

"Do you think normal bait could survive this temperature?"

Ethan immediately fell silent.

She had a point.

Even if they had meat with them, the moment it was thrown into the lava sea, it would probably burn to ash before sinking very far.

He looked around.

Trees.

Stone.

Fish swimming beneath the lava.

Then Ethan’s gaze slowly stopped on Ruo Yan.

Laira, standing beside him, also turned toward her.

Both of them stared at her.

Ruo Yan immediately became wary.

"Why are you two looking at me?"

Ethan did not answer immediately.

Instead, he asked in the most natural tone possible:

"Ruo Yan."

"What?"

"The Undead Mage is extremely durable, right?"

Ruo Yan fell silent.

Ethan continued as though he were merely analyzing an entirely normal problem.

"I remember its body is almost unaffected by ordinary temperatures, and its magic resistance is also extremely high."

Ruo Yan still said nothing.

But Laira already understood.

Her eyes immediately lit up.

"Right."

Ruo Yan turned and glared at her.

"You be quiet."

"I was only confirming it."

Ethan cleared his throat softly.

"The Undead Mage is almost completely repaired now too."

"Ethan."

"I am only suggesting a possibility."

Ruo Yan looked at him, her face beginning to stiffen.

"You want to use Owin’s high-level inheritance as..."

She paused.

"...fishing bait?"

Ethan turned his head toward the lava sea.

"Not bait."

Ruo Yan narrowed her eyes.

"Then what?"

"A lure."

"How is that different?"

Ethan thought for a moment before answering very seriously:

"It sounds easier to accept."

Ruo Yan: "..."

Laira had already started laughing beside them.