Chapter 210: Tasting Top-Grade Seafood

When he opened his eyes again, it was already 8:30; the sea breeze blew gently, the sunlight was perfect, and if not for the struggle to survive, Qin Yun would truly have wanted to bring a chair and sit down to fully admire the vast scenery.

But…

He opened his livestream and let the drone fly out on its own to capture footage.

"Oh oh, finally live! We've been waiting so long."

"Wagaga, yesterday's scene of Brother Qin single-handedly killing the whitefin shark was absolutely epic."

"What? Single-killed a whitefin shark? What the hell did I miss again?"

"???"

"Hahaha, last night around midnight, Brother Qin was ambushed by a whitefin shark, and in a fit of rage, he straight-up killed it."

"Damn, I missed something this intense? I'm crying."

"Guess I'll just have to wait for Brother Qin to upload the video. What a shame."

Qin Yun jumped into the seawater, stretched his body, took a sip of fresh water, and immediately felt revived.

He returned to the beacon block and spoke calmly into the livestream.

"Hello everyone, I'm Qin Yun, a temporary survivor of an air crash. This is my third day stranded in India. After a calm first day, yesterday I encountered my first survival crisis—a sudden storm swept through here."

"The storm was terrifying—waves were huge, and the gales forced me to rely on sheer willpower to endure. Thankfully, though the ordeal was perilous, I made it through."

At this moment, the drone slowly flew over from afar, gradually panning toward him.

Looking into the lens, Qin Yun waved his hand in greeting: "After the storm, three oceanic whitefin sharks were suddenly drawn here by my blood. They're an aggressive oceanic species that love attacking floating objects, but in the end, they got nothing."

"I didn't expect that last night, about seven hours ago, one of those oceanic whitefin sharks ambushed me. While I was asleep, I nearly got knocked into the sea—it was truly a hair's breadth. Viewers who watched the livestream know: anyone who disturbs my sleep like that? I won't let them live."

"Look here—these are the teeth of that whitefin shark. Now they're my trophy."

Qin Yun briefly summarized his first two days of livestreaming.

"666, Brother Qin's calm, cocky demeanor is endlessly entertaining."

"Haha, we think he's showing off, but Brother Qin is genuinely awesome."

"Basic move, no need to 6."

After his opening remarks, Qin Yun rubbed his stomach, his expression sinking.

"Yesterday's intense activity meant those few sardines couldn't replenish the energy I needed. I can clearly feel it now—my stomach is contracting, my stamina is dropping, and my overall condition is far worse than the past two days. So today, I must catch several fish I want to replenish my body."

He pulled out the parachute cord tied with the sea snake's vertebral hook, took out the remaining vertebral hooks, strung them along the cord, and attached sea snake meat to each hook. Fortunately, before the storm hit yesterday, he had stored the sea snake meat properly—otherwise, without bait, it would've been even harder.

'Swoosh—!'

With a powerful swing, he cast the parachute cord into the sea, then sat down heavily beside the beacon block.

"This stretch of the Indian Ocean actually has plenty of premium seafood—for example, the yellowfin tuna I accidentally encountered on day one. It's the king of sashimi here. Everyone who's eaten it knows: its flesh is sweet and fresh, with zero fishy odor, melts in your mouth, and is incredibly delicious. But with my gear, catching one is basically impossible."

"Besides yellowfin tuna, the mackerel here is also perfect for raw consumption—its flesh is white, firm, springy, and refreshingly sweet, delightfully crisp when eaten raw. Damn, just talking about it makes my mouth water and my stomach growl even louder."

Watching Qin Yun like this, the netizens' comments flooded the livestream.

"Hahaha, I just finished lunch, but now I'm hungry because of Brother Qin."

"Ugh… I was planning to eat braised chicken tonight, but now I'm going for sushi."

"Don't say more—I just finished a meeting and am on my way to Sha County."

"You guys eat so well—I'm eating manly fried rice."

Qin Yun looked at the comments and laughed: "I'd gladly trade a whole yellowfin tuna for a bowl of your fried rice."

Today's luck was good—the hook landed in the sea, and no sardines swarmed around, giving him a flicker of hope. If sardines were still nearby, he'd likely be stuck eating them again today.

He truly didn't want to eat them anymore—they'd made his mouth taste fishy.

Time passed slowly as he chatted and waited for the seafood to bite.

Around ten o'clock, the parachute cord, which had been completely still, suddenly jerked. Qin Yun instantly fell silent, his eyes locked on the section of cord floating on the sea surface.

The drone's lens adjusted in time, letting everyone see what was happening on the water.

Suddenly, the cord plunged sharply downward—a strong force surged through it.

"Haha, this pull's strong—looks like a big one."

Qin Yun didn't yank the cord—he let it stretch and retract in his hands. He pushed up with his hips and jumped straight into the water.

Though the vertebral hook was fairly sturdy, its connection to the cord wasn't secure—yanking too hard risked it detaching, so he decided to catch it by hand.

As he plunged into the water, the main camera switched to the motion camera mounted on Qin Yun's head.

Though visibility underwater was poor, the ocean water here was clear enough that the surface layer could still be easily filmed.

On the livestream, a fish sixty to seventy centimeters long, flat-bodied, with a distinct yellow stripe along one side.

Some viewers who recognized it immediately commented.

"Oh, Brother Qin's luck is damn good—it's an island trevally! This is the cream of the crop among sashimi."

"666, Brother Qin's luck has turned."

"I've eaten it—it has a milky aroma."

Qin Yun's attention fixed on the island trevally below, his face lighting up—he naturally recognized this sashimi elite. But the more critical the moment, the less he could rush; if this trevally broke free now, he might never get such a chance again.

The island trevally thrashed with tremendous force; Qin Yun dared not pull too tightly, and even slightly loosened the cord during its struggles.

But whenever the trevally paused, he immediately tightened the line and pulled it closer. Meanwhile, he himself slowly advanced.

After several minutes, Qin Yun slowly reached out, placed his hand on the trevally's back, and squeezed hard—this trevally had no chance of escape. He looped the cord around its neck, gripped its belly with his right hand, and surfaced from underwater.

"Phew… haha, good luck, everyone saw that? This is an island trevally—the cream of coral fish. Ordinary coral fish aren't edible, but this one's an exception—its flesh is incredibly tender, refreshingly sweet with a milky flavor, and almost no bones. I can't wait anymore."

Qin Yun returned to the beacon block and gave the trevally no chance to struggle—his strength made its thrashing negligible.

"When handling live fish, press your palm just below the eye—this is their nerve center. Press here and the fish instantly goes still." As he spoke, he plunged his knife just behind and below the gill cover. "This is the spine."

Then he sliced a small incision along the fish's lateral line, severed the vein there, and held the head downward to drain the blood.

"For this top-tier sashimi, you must drain all the blood—otherwise, it'll taste fishy. Only after fully draining the blood will the sashimi have a beautiful color."

When the fish's blood was fully drained, Qin Yun pried open the gap between the skin and flesh at the tail, then gripped the skin and tore it backward with force.

"Island mackerel skin is extremely tough—you can tear off the whole sheet in one pull."

Qin Yun's series of movements displayed the exact technique of a top chef—his Knife skill flowed like water, with not a single unnecessary motion.

"Damn, I never believed it when people said Chef Qin was amazing at cooking, but now seeing his moves, I believe it."

"I'm a head chef at a Japanese restaurant—I've got fifteen years of experience, and I'm nowhere near as good as Chef Qin. Fuck!"

"666, I can only say Chef Qin seems to master every single field."

Not long after, Qin Yun rinsed the surface of the sashimi with fresh water, laid it on the tarp to drain for about one or two minutes, then began slicing it.

Qin Yun sliced a thin piece with his survival knife and held it up to the camera, smiling: "Island mackerel meat is springy and firm—too thick or too thin is bad; two millimeters is perfect."

He placed the sashimi in his mouth, bit gently, and the crisp, elastic flesh instantly burst open with a clean, sweet freshness.

Raising his thumb, Qin Yun said with deep satisfaction: "The fish fat is smooth and not greasy—fresh, fresh, so delicious. Compared to the sardines I ate two days ago, it's a world apart. If possible, I never want to eat sardines again for the next few days."

Seeing his satisfied expression, Su Huan, far away in the Maldives, couldn't help but smile.

"Hmph, showing off—you've made me want to eat too."

From one large island mackerel, the sashimi portion yielded nearly three catties of edible meat. Normally, such a quantity of sashimi would be impossible to finish, but after fasting a full day, he devoured every last bit.

Pure sashimi, no matter how delicious, eventually grows dull—especially without any seasoning to vary the flavor. Otherwise, savoring it slowly would be pure enjoyment.

"The time is now eleven twelve in the morning—this meal counts as my lunch. Though it's still far from evening, survival food comes first, so I must keep going."

Saying this, he jumped into the sea and pushed the beacon block away from its original position.

"There's island mackerel blood here—don't want to attract more sharks. I'll move farther out."

……

The morning's luck seemed to have exhausted all of Qin Yun's fortune over these two days—he caught not a single sardine until five in the evening.

"Damn it, what the hell? Is this stretch of sea completely empty? Where did all the fish go?"

No sooner had he spoken than a low, deep vibration rose from beneath the sea.

Qin Yun's expression instantly changed—he leapt onto the beacon block and scanned his surroundings with caution.

"You probably didn't feel it, but just now there was a vibration in the water—it was a sound vibration."

Seeing Qin Yun's Grave expression, the livestream viewers perked up.

"Vibration? Could it be an earthquake?"

"Shit, does that mean a tsunami's coming?"

"Chef Qin, run!"

Qin Yun felt again—the water's vibration grew stronger. Suddenly, he realized something, and shock flashed across his face.

"I think I know what it is."

He snapped his head up. In the northeast, far across the sea, a slow-moving ripple rose on the surface—then, a vast shadow slowly lifted from beneath the deep blue.

The shadow was enormous—like a sunken giant ship, silent and motionless.

The next second, a geyser of water exploded skyward, shattering into a million droplets under the sunlight.

"Holy shit, it's a whale."

"Damn, you scared the hell out of me—Chef Qin, run!"

"What kind of whale is that?"

"Do whales eat people? Is Chef Qin in danger? If it swims over, he'll probably get flipped over instantly."

"Haha, this is intense."

Qin Yun stared at the distant behemoth and muttered to himself: "This is a sperm whale—a true deep-sea giant. But we don't need to worry. As long as I don't attack it, it won't see me as prey. Besides, it has a gentle temperament—even if I get close to observe, it won't harm me."

"This should be an adult male sperm whale—about twenty meters long, I estimate its weight at around seventy tons."

Qin Yun's words made the livestream audience draw in a sharp breath.

"OMG, twenty meters."

"Gentle temperament? Just looking at it makes me shiver."

"Better not get close—if this sperm whale happens to be in a bad mood, it'll swallow Chef Qin whole."

Qin Yun glanced at the comment section, about to speak—when he saw the sperm whale's tail fluke slapping the water, its agitation visibly radiating.

"…"