Chapter 218 - 142: Successfully Got One

Chapter 218: Chapter 142: Successfully Got One

Gu Nan had never dived before, but in this age of information, he’d certainly seen videos about it.

He knew how to go about diving and foraging from the sea.

After getting used to the flippers, Gu Nan discovered that diving down wasn’t as hard as he’d imagined. The thrust they provided was decent, allowing him to descend quickly despite the water’s strong buoyancy.

While practicing just now, he had swum a distance around the underwater reefs and found many large abalones at a depth of four or five meters.

He even saw a few lobsters and several large groupers.

’Too bad I don’t have a speargun; otherwise, I would’ve given it a try.’

Surfacing, Gu Nan caught his breath, then took a deep one and dived back into the water.

This time, he swam toward an underwater reef about five or six meters deep. Several large abalones were clinging to it.

He swam closer and slid the small shovel in his hand down against the reef. He moved before the abalone could notice and tense its muscles to grip the rock, prying it loose.

Then he grabbed the detached abalone and put it into the mesh bag hanging from his waist.

The South Africa abalones weren’t particularly large; he estimated it would take two of them to make up about a pound.

Price-wise, they couldn’t compare to varieties like black gold abalone. They sold for around 230 yuan per half-kilo at the nearby abalone shop.

’I guess I’m stealing business from that guy now, but it’s not a big deal. It’s not like I can get these things often.’

’This foraging map is completely random. I have no idea what the next one will be.’

After collecting all six abalones from the reef into his mesh bag, Gu Nan quickly swam to the surface. Once his head was out, he spit out his snorkel and gulped in large mouthfuls of air.

He had never trained to hold his breath. Currently, he could only last a little over two minutes underwater, and that was only because of his good physique and strong lung capacity.

But it wasn’t a hard skill to learn. With a diving instructor, he could learn the techniques and hold his breath for over three minutes after just three days of practice.

Gu Nan kept diving for abalone, but after just over an hour, the game warned him of insufficient stamina and kicked him out.

He was stunned to be kicked out of the space, but he fell into a deep sleep the moment he returned to the real world.

He didn’t wake up until a little after six the next morning. Since he had only foraged for a little over an hour, he woke up earlier than usual.

Gu Nan looked at the game notification and smiled wryly.

’I really took things for granted. It turns out that foraging consumes my Spiritual Power, and a physical activity like diving uses up far more of it than digging for mud crabs.’

Fortunately, after a night’s sleep, his mental state was excellent, and his physical stamina was completely restored.

In that hour or so of foraging, he had managed to get seventy-eight South Africa abalones, which were worth nearly ten thousand yuan. Not bad at all.

’The mud crab haul was an anomaly. A result similar to the Spotted Prawn Shrimp is more typical.’

Gu Nan prepared breakfast for himself. After eating his fill, he did some stretches on the deck.

During that time, not a single boat passed by. There really were fewer boats out at sea during the fishing ban.

This was ideal for his plan to start fishing for the Legendary India Marlin later. Even if someone saw him, it wouldn’t be an issue. ’Marlins all look pretty much the same. Without a close look, no one could tell the species, and it’s not like I’d let anyone just board my boat anyway.’

Feeling great, Gu Nan mounted the boat rod holder on the gunwale. After making sure it was secure, he took out the golden Fengqi boat rod and set it in place.

A Legendary India Marlin would weigh upwards of six hundred pounds, possibly even seven or eight hundred.

’With that kind of weight, I’d be pulled into the sea before I could even react if I were holding the rod. It’s much safer to mount the rod on the gunwale. With the help of the electric reel, I’m confident I can land the fish by myself.’

To catch an India Marlin, besides casting to increase the chances, float fishing was also an option.

Gu Nan took out his speargun and set it aside. He rarely used it, but for an India Marlin, he had to have it ready to kill the fish as soon as it was alongside the boat.

A gaff wasn’t quite enough for a fish over four hundred pounds; it could easily be torn from his grasp by the struggling catch.

He checked the stickers in his game space. Currently, he had 32 "Big Fish Bonus" stickers and 35 "Rare Fish Bonus" stickers.

Gu Nan had used about a hundred of these two types of stickers before, but because he was planning to fish for a Legendary BOSS, he had always kept about thirty in reserve, waiting for this very moment.

After applying both types of stickers, he had a total of sixty attempts, combining his accumulated daily chances with today’s. He began fishing.

After a little while, the rod dipped sharply, and a Meter Level silhouette appeared at the surface. It looked like a grouper.

Gu Nan activated the electric reel to haul in the line, then picked up the nearby snare rope to get it ready. He planned to put these large, Meter Level groupers into his aquarium first.

’As for whether to send it to the shop live or chilled on ice, I’ll decide at the time of shipping based on the store’s current stock.’

’Live fish are more valuable, but it’s not always about the money.’

’There’s a time to show off, like when I catch a huge fish normally. But with the fish from the game maps, it’s better to only make a splash occasionally.’

One after another, various four- and five-star large fish were pulled up. Occasionally, there were also two- or three-star fish that liked to appear at the surface.

After applying the rare stickers, bottom fishing would definitely yield four- or five-star seafood, but this wasn’t guaranteed for float fishing.

After all, the rare fish bonus wasn’t 100%, so it was normal for low-star fish to appear. This was related to the habits of the sea creatures.

After fishing for about an hour, the rod suddenly reacted violently, bending sharply and getting pulled into an inverted U-shape.

When Gu Nan saw the BOSS icon appear on the surface of the sea, his eyes lit up. He quickly grabbed the rod with both hands, heaved it upward, and then activated the electric reel to begin the retrieve, also grabbing the handle to help crank it.