Chapter 348: Chapter 348

[Today’s available time: 2 hours]

"Two hours is quite a bit—might as well skip shooting fish with a sword and directly go for the gold chef shark." Han Qiwu thought to himself.

Time is precious, not to be wasted.

He rushed to the secret realm’s trading post, bought twenty gold chef shark baits in one go, and sat on a reef to begin fishing.

The weather in the secret realm today was overcast as well. The dark, oppressive seawater looked a bit eerie, and the wind blowing across the surface felt salty.

After attaching the bait and gearing up, Han Qiwu quickly encountered his first gold chef shark for the day.

With the support of a custom-designed bobber and skills, this gold chef shark didn’t pose much trouble.

Fifteen hundred secured!

In less than half an hour, Han Qiwu’s storage compartment had already gained six gold chef sharks.

One shark every five minutes on average.

As he was intently staring at the bobber, waiting for the nearby gold chef shark to trigger the fishing game so he could reel it in...

A massive shadow, about ten meters long, quickly rose from the seabed and approached the gold chef shark. Opening its bloodied jaws, it bit the shark cleanly in half!

While it was chomping down on the gold chef shark, Han Qiwu managed to catch a clear view of the armor-like exoskeleton on its head.

Coupled with its razor-sharp teeth and outstanding impact force...

Han Qiwu concluded that this beast must be the ancient ruler, Big Deng’s Fish.

After biting the gold chef shark in half, Big Deng swiftly shredded the remains into pieces and swallowed it whole. The surrounding seawater turned red with the shark’s blood.

The scene became shockingly gruesome.

At this moment, however, Han Qiwu felt anything but thrilled at encountering the ruler of the ocean.

Fine, you eat—why do you have to eat the gold chef shark attracted by my bait?

Not capable of finding food yourself?

This fish is just like those people who always hijack someone else’s opening note when singing!

Don’t know the value of self-reliance?

Standing on the reef, Han Qiwu compared the size of Big Deng’s Fish’s teeth to his own physique briefly and reluctantly changed his location.

If I can’t afford to provoke it, I can at least avoid it!

Han Qiwu moved to the rocky shore near the crab cages and cast his hook once more. He kept an eye on the sea before him while also diverting attention to Big Deng’s Fish’s movements nearby.

It seemed Big Deng was a fast eater—before long, it devoured the 1,500 gold, then quietly sank back into the seabed.

"You won’t choke on it, I suppose!" Han Qiwu cursed, turning back just in time to see another gold chef shark swimming over.

Another 1,500 incoming!

But just as the gold chef shark approached, the shadow beneath the sea rose again, biting another one cleanly in half.

The familiar scene replayed on the water’s surface.

Han Qiwu tried two more times, and each attempt ended with the same results.

This Big Deng’s Fish seemed to have turned his spot into its personal dining hall.

"Are you deliberately doing this to mess with me?" Han Qiwu scanned the surrounding coastline where he stood—it was already the midpoint. Based on Big Deng’s speed, even fishing along the edges wouldn’t prevent it from intercepting.

Should I just give up on the remaining hour of fishing time?

Han Qiwu shook his head.

It’s just a Big Deng’s Fish, isn’t it?

If it’s fish, I can catch it!

If you freeload off my bait, then this time I’ll see what Big Deng’s Fish tastes like!

With his resolve set, Han Qiwu returned to the secret realm trading post and bought three Big Deng’s Fish baits.

Because of its sheer size, even the bait for Big Deng’s Fish was enormous—it looked pretty much like a water barrel.

With some difficulty, Han Qiwu equipped the oversized bait and tied the Red Sun tightly to a rock on the shore with a rope for precaution. He directly cast the line into the sea using his hands.

The bait hitting the water caused a thunderous sound.

At the instant the bait entered the water, the nearly sated Big Deng’s Fish suddenly swished its tail, darting toward the bait.

Han Qiwu felt as if he was witnessing a miniature tsunami.

Murky seawater mixed with small fish and shrimp surged heavily toward the rocks, its force astounding!

This is way too intense!

Han Qiwu immediately dropped to the ground and pressed the Red Sun firmly, mentally bracing himself to lose the line but keep the rod!

The fishing game activated.

[Big Deng’s Fish, heavy sinking type, skill effect: Crushing the bobber]

"What? Skill effect: Crushing the bobber?"

Reading the intermediate guide’s description caused Han Qiwu’s heart to sink. He quickly focused his attention on the fishing game interface.

Inside the game, Big Deng’s Fish’s icon was much larger than Han Qiwu’s bobber, which donned a fisherman’s hat and rain jacket. The fish arrogantly occupied the game window’s bottom-most section.

Seeing this, Han Qiwu figured the only faint chance he had to catch it was by using Mr. Tang’s Qingying!

This thing’s too massive!

In the game, Big Deng’s Fish acted as dominantly as expected—it didn’t wait for Han Qiwu’s bobber to approach but ferociously rushed toward it instead.

Recalling the skill description, Han Qiwu dared not waste any time and immediately controlled the bobber to flee upwards.

Big Deng chased while the bobber fled.

Han Qiwu’s task now was to protect the bobber from being crushed by Big Deng until the fishing game naturally ended.

Otherwise, the losses would be colossal.

After a while, possibly due to its heavy sinking nature, Big Deng’s speed gradually decreased, and it started sinking back downward.

Just as Han Qiwu breathed a sigh of relief, the sinking Big Deng’s Fish suddenly utilized the rebound force from the bottom and launched itself at the bobber, biting savagely.

Fortunately, Han Qiwu reacted swiftly, tugging the bobber away right in time.

Even so, the bobber instantly cracked, its durability plummeting.

Luckily, the fishing game ended just then.

[What luck—Big Deng’s Fish has left.]

Reading this notification, Han Qiwu helplessly gazed at the still-murky seawater below.

"Don’t think you can act all high and mighty just because of your size. Wait until the day I reel you in!"

The only reply was the frothy waves stirred by Big Deng’s movements.

Still unwilling to give up, Han Qiwu stubbornly peered through the murky waters attempting to discern what lay beneath.

Just then, he spotted a smaller figure swimming near Big Deng’s Fish—a Little Deng.

Little Deng’s external armor had fully developed too. At the moment, it was ferociously tearing through the bloodied meat of a gold chef shark, appearing ravenous.

"Can’t catch the big one? Surely I can handle the small one!" Han Qiwu attached another Big Deng’s Fish bait to the line, grabbed the Red Sun, and—despite the risk of losing his rod—used precision fishing to hurl the bait near the pile of gold chef shark flesh.

The power of the bait spoke for itself. The hungry Little Deng instantly abandoned the shark flesh and headed madly toward the bait.

Not sensing anything unusual, Big Deng didn’t have time to react before Little Deng bit down on the bait, falling right into Han Qiwu’s trap!