Chapter 184 - 131: Unlocking the One-Time Seaside Foraging Map (Part 3)

Chapter 184: Chapter 131: Unlocking the One-Time Seaside Foraging Map (Part 3)

The boat rod was short and not as flexible as a Fengqi Jigging Rod, so it didn’t bend dramatically. But the way it kept shuddering proved the fish on the line was powerful.

But as Gu Nan locked the drag and gripped the reel handle, the line immediately stopped spooling out.

’A purple-grade rod, all right. Hooking such a beast on the first try.’

The feel of this rod was completely different from a Fengqi Fishing Rod, so Gu Nan couldn’t easily estimate the fish’s size.

But he figured it had to be at least twenty or thirty pounds. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have pulled so fiercely at the start.

Gu Nan forcefully pumped the rod, then turned the handle to reel in the line. He repeated this twice, pulling in about ten meters of line before stopping.

Just now, the fish had been relentlessly diving for the bottom, forcing him to expend his energy to haul it up a bit.

Now the fish started to run forward, so he held the rod and let it tire itself out. This would not only quickly drain the fish’s stamina but also make things much easier for him.

After a few minutes of this, the fish’s energy was mostly spent, and Gu Nan began to slowly reel the line back in.

Slowly, a red figure appeared at the surface. It was an enormous Red Diamond Fish, a type of ruby snapper.

’That can’t be right. While this fish is found in other countries, there’s also a decent population in domestic waters. Why would it appear in the Seven-Star Rock index?’

Puzzled, Gu Nan picked up the gaff and hooked the fish, pulling it aboard.

Red Diamond Fish are deep-sea fish and can’t survive after being brought to the surface. That’s why Gu Nan used the gaff directly, unafraid of injuring it.

After removing the hook and placing the fish into his chilled storage, he opened the game to check the index description.

It was a two-star fish that awarded him 100 Gold Coins. He finally understood after seeing its name and description.

It was a specific type of Red Diamond Fish that could grow up to 1.1 meters long, about twenty centimeters shorter than the maximum length of a standard Red Diamond Fish.

However, a fish’s length was always a bit of a mystery. As long as they lived long enough, their weight and length could surpass any officially recorded data.

Gu Nan’s catch was a giant one, measuring ninety-three centimeters. It absolutely weighed more than twenty-two pounds, but he couldn’t tell if it had reached thirty-three.

This fish had a wide distribution, but domestically, it was mainly found in the waters east and south of Taiwan. It was also found in Australia.

This meant that, within the country, this fish was effectively an import. It wasn’t the same species as the Red Diamond Fish caught in the southern seas, just very similar.

Flavor Rating: Five and a half stars. Suggested Price: 120.

This fish had domestic substitutes and a decent supply, so its price couldn’t get very high. It was simply no match for another species, the long-tailed Red Diamond Fish.

Gu Nan wasn’t sure how well this fish would sell. He’d have to check the price of domestic Red Diamond Fish later. If his was cheaper, he could just match their price at worst.

He cast out his bait and continued. The next three catches were all Pool Fish Kings. They were all giant-sized, over eighty centimeters long, which was excellent.

On his fifth daily attempt, Gu Nan finally hooked a brand-new species.

A crab, flailing its claws wildly. It was a rather large spider crab.

Even without reading the description, Gu Nan was quite familiar with this crab. It was a type of Giant Spider Crab from Australia, one that was known for being extremely invasive.

This species of spider crab moved in groups of at least a hundred. Larger swarms could number in the tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands.

Gu Nan didn’t know if it was the same species as the invasive Giant Spider Crabs in Europe. In any case, this thing was delicious and expensive.

Flavor Rating: Six stars. Suggested starting price: 280.

The one Gu Nan caught was about four and a half pounds—quite large.

Moreover, this Giant Spider Crab happened to be a four-star catch, which completed his most difficult task for the day.

However, Gu Nan had celebrated too soon!

As he pulled up one Giant Spider Crab after another, his mood grew complicated. ’Here we go again!’

After catching a dozen or so, he saw he only had five daily attempts left. He picked up his rod and moved to a different spot.

But a dozen seconds later, that same familiar feeling traveled up the line.

Sure enough, when he reeled it in, it was another Giant Spider Crab.

’Catching these things is easy, and the price is high. Hotels would probably love them,’ he thought, ’but damn it, this is keeping me from unlocking new entries in the index!’

With his daily attempts used up, Gu Nan, who had already moved spots four times, sighed helplessly.

Before, changing spots had at least some effect. Today, he felt like he was completely surrounded by spider crabs.

Since his daily attempts were gone, he decided to just fish normally and finish up his daily quests.

Time quickly passed. By midnight, the bottom of his aquarium was densely packed with spider crabs.

He checked the count: 327 of them. The smallest was about one and a half pounds, and the largest was a little over five and a half.

He still had one task left: catch ten two-star fish.

To complete the quest, Gu Nan had specifically driven the boat to two different spots, even moving far away from Sanlian Reef, but it had no effect. It was as if the Giant Spider Crabs had it in for him.

With no other choice, he put away his fishing rod, took two of the four-and-a-half-pound crabs from the aquarium, and decided to make them a late-night snack.

A spider crab’s carapace isn’t very wide; one weighing four-and-a-half-pounds was only about thirteen or fourteen centimeters across.

But with its legs stretched out to the sides, the crab’s total width could reach about sixty centimeters. It was actually not small at all.

Gu Nan held up a pot to measure it. ’Can’t steam it in one go.’ Since that was the case, he’d have to prepare it first by chopping off the legs and large claws before steaming.

Because they came from a game map and had been kept in the aquarium for a while, these spider crabs were incredibly lively.

Gu Nan had to open a foam box full of crushed ice and toss them in to "cool off" while he got out the pot and other things.

A few minutes later, he opened the lid. The two Giant Spider Crabs weren’t completely dead, but they were close.

Gu Nan picked up a knife and, with a CHOP CHOP CHOP, hacked off the crab legs and large claws. This spider crab’s shell was especially thick and hard.

But when he cracked open the shell, it revealed a full load of yellow tomalley, looking extremely appetizing.

Gu Nan’s stomach GROWLED, making him feel even hungrier.

He quickly finished preparing the two spider crabs and placed them in the pot to steam.

Once chopped up, the pieces barely fit into the pot. ’Looks like I’ll have to buy a proper steamer when I get back,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, even steaming crabs is a hassle.’

Fortunately, there was a charcoal grill on the boat, so he could grill some in the shell later.