I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 350: Chapter 232: Underwater Pursuit of a Prized Stone Grouper

Half an hour later, when Yi Chen, panting for breath, was about to head back to the boat to rest, Gu Nan wrapped an arm around her waist and teased, "You really can’t last long, can you? It’s the same in the water as it is in bed—you’re done in half an hour."

Yi Chen puffed out her cheeks and gave Gu Nan a vicious two-fingered pinch on his waist, only letting go when he sucked in a pained breath. "Hmph, you just wait! I’m still young, after all. We’ll see who’s laughing in a few years!"

They had been living together for a month, and the young couple, having gotten a taste for the pleasures of the flesh, had their fair share of "battles" at night. She, who used to blush so easily, had toughened up. Now, when it was just Gu Nan, she no longer got flustered and angry at the slightest provocation like she used to.

"Alright, alright, we’ll see in a few years." Gu Nan glanced at Yi Chen’s slender frame. ’She probably won’t be able to keep up even in ten years,’ he thought.

Yi Chen huffed again, shot him a coquettish eye-roll, and then slowly swam back with her catch.

With Yi Chen gone, Gu Nan, who had been sticking close to look after her in the water, was finally free.

In the half-hour he’d spent by her side, he had only managed to spear two sea bream that had practically swum right up to him. Now, he could finally cut loose.

The weather today was actually perfect for spearfishing. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it had rained for over ten days straight, but ever since, the weather had been sunny and calm, with no typhoons out at sea.

As a result, the seawater was exceptionally clear today. While not quite reaching the level of true blue water, it was a beautiful bluish-green, with underwater visibility of around fifteen meters.

However, they were spearfishing in the reef area by the deserted island, where the water was a bit murkier than where the boat was anchored.

Considering the abundance of marine life and the sediment runoff from the island, visibility of over ten meters was still considered excellent.

Gu Nan put on his diving mask, loaded his speargun, activated the dive mode on his sports watch, and plunged into the water.

With just two kicks, he descended several meters, enough to vaguely make out the seabed below.

There were plenty of small fish, but he would have to wait for an opportunity to find a big one.

He slowly approached a large, slightly raised reef. He’d had plenty of time to scout the underwater terrain here while watching over Yi Chen earlier.

This large reef was an excellent ambush spot. In front of it was a depression in the seabed where many small fish swam, which in turn attracted larger fish looking for a meal.

Sure enough, after a wait of only ten seconds, two wrasse swam into view.

But wrasse are extremely cautious. Seeming to sense his presence, they made a sudden turn just as they reached the edge of the depression, swimming away to the right along its rim.

Having spearfished so many times, both here and within his "Foraging Map," Gu Nan knew how difficult wrasse were to catch. They offered a hunter precious few opportunities.

Only a seasoned hunter could seize such a fleeting opportunity.

Gu Nan raised his speargun with one hand, aiming at the wrasse five or six meters away.

After predicting its trajectory, he decisively pulled the trigger. THWUMP! In the blink of an eye, the spear struck the leading wrasse, the slightly larger of the two.

An easy catch. Gu Nan tugged on the line and began his slow ascent to the surface.

The timer on his sports watch showed just one minute and twenty-three seconds had passed. Spearing a fish in just over a minute—his efficiency was clearly off the charts.

By the time Gu Nan broke the surface, he had the orange-and-green wrasse—a type of parrotfish—firmly in his hand.

The spear had struck it just below the pectoral fin, and the fish had mostly stopped struggling.

Still, after pulling the fish off the spear, Gu Nan took out his knife and pierced its brain before starting to bleed it.

He cut the artery connecting to the spine behind the gills, then clipped the fish onto his stringer.

The fish wasn’t huge, only about three or four pounds.

Still, these flashy, colorful wrasse could sell for a pretty penny—around a hundred yuan per jin.

Gu Nan went on to spear three more fish near the large reef, but after that, no other big ones appeared.

Seeing this, he decided to move. Yi Chen had scared everything off around here earlier, so he figured it would be a while before any good fish returned.

He swam off to the left, and after only a dozen or so meters, a massive school of bonito suddenly swept toward him.

Upon encountering Gu Nan, they scattered in every direction. These bonito weren’t small, either; each one looked to be five or six pounds.

Remembering his goal for this trip was tuna, he immediately raised his speargun to take aim.

But he gave up after a moment. The school of bonito was moving too fast; he wasn’t confident he could land a shot, so he had to let them go.

Then, something that looked like a ’chef’s hat’ with a beard drifted into his view. ’What is this thing?’

He studied it for a moment, figuring it must be some kind of creature. Since it was just drifting, it was most likely a jellyfish.

Luckily, he had his Appraisal ability. His motto was ’When in doubt, use Appraisal.’ It was the best way to avoid getting taken out by some deadly marine creature without even knowing it.

[Lion’s Mane Jellyfish: One of the largest species of jellyfish in the world. Its sting can be fatal to humans.]

Gu Nan shuddered and immediately put as much distance as possible between himself and the jellyfish.

It wasn’t that he’d never encountered jellyfish while diving—he’d even been stung a few times. Usually, it was just a minor sting that hurt for a little while.

But this thing was in a whole other league. He didn’t dare get anywhere near it.

He then read the rest of the description, which noted that this species primarily inhabited colder waters and rarely appeared in warmer regions.

He’d really hit the jackpot, running into one today.

After giving the life-threatening jellyfish a wide berth, Gu Nan finally spotted a large striped beakfish on the seabed.