Chapter 200: A Chance Encounter with a Killer Whale Pod

Today's Luck Value is already the highest ever.

But it's still not enough.

Each Crab Pot is ten points; he has twenty Crab Pots total, which can add 200 points of Luck Value.

And there's Longline Fishing.

One kilometer of Longline Fishing can add 20 points of Luck Value; just these two items alone allow a steady consumption of 220 points of Luck Value per day.

166 points of Luck Value is still far from enough.

In the short term, there's no need to expand scale; Luck Value is insufficient, and expanding wouldn't help much.

For example, a Trawler.

Trawling would surely yield more and bigger catches, but he doesn't have enough Luck Value to support it, so he'd lose his core competitiveness.

Compared to other experienced fishermen, he and A Qing are still far behind.

It might even turn out that after all the hassle, he earns less than he does now.

However.

Planning ahead is still possible.

For example, ordering a Trawler.

Especially a new ship; it's not ready to use just because you bought it— from order to delivery, it goes through a very long cycle.

He's only heard rumors; the specifics still require him to personally visit the shipyard.

Besides that, details can also be adjusted.

The specifics still depend on the harvest from this round of Crab Pots and Longline Fishing; let's talk about this time.

He didn't max out the Luck Value on every Crab Pot; some got one or two points, some three or four, varying.

He also worries that if he gives too much Luck Value, the catch might be too much and the Crab Pot might not be able to be pulled up.

That would probably bruise his thigh.

So he kept 15 points of Luck Value, planning to use them in the afternoon to try different operations, in order to quickly accumulate experience.

A Qing asked: "Brother, should we eat first or cast the net?"

"Eat first." Wu An saw the two of them sweating profusely, half from exhaustion, half from anxiety; after thinking, he said: "Our main purpose this trip is to set the Crab Pots and Longline Fishing; in the afternoon, casting the net shouldn't be too stressful—just treat it as play."

A Qing and Mai Hangyu nodded.

They were really tired, mainly feeling pressure inside, afraid of holding back the group.

Mainly, they're just not skilled.

What they know isn't hard; what they don't know is hard, and with no one to guide them, they rely solely on their own exploration.

Since following Wu An to work, handling human affairs in the village, and going out to sea to fish, he only then realized that originally, going to school was the simplest thing.

Mai Hangyu wiped his sweat and said: "Can we really make it like this?"

He always feels it's unreliable.

It's not doubting others; he's doubting himself.

The vast sea is just water; if they randomly pick a spot and toss a Crab Pot, can they really make money?

Then that money would be too easy to earn.

But Luck is really hard to say.

After eating.

After a brief rest, the time had already come to two o'clock in the afternoon.

At this time the sun is blazing, shining directly; even in full gear, one can still feel the sun scorching the skin.

Wu An asked: "Are you sure you don't want to rest a bit more?"

A Qing shook his head: "No, I guess not."

"I feel I've recovered my strength."

Wu An nodded, saying: "That's fine too; let's first try how it goes."

"If it's good, we'll do a bit more; if it's bad, we'll go collect the Longline Fishing early."

"Then we'll go home to rest, and come back early tomorrow to collect the Crab Pots."

Wu An grabbed the throttle, roared the engine, and headed toward the open sea between the two distant islands.

There, the chance of encountering a fish school is greater.

Of course, casting the net can't be done randomly; that would just waste effort—you must first find a fish school.

The pressure fell on him.

He also felt the pressure growing greater.

This search took half an hour.

Not to mention A Qing and Mai Hangyu constantly standing at the bow looking for fish schools; Wu An was also anxious.

He had already imbued the fishing boat with Luck Value, yet he still couldn't encounter a fish school, and he didn't know why.

After searching a while longer, it was already past three; A Qing walked over with a constipated expression.

Wu An glanced at him: "If you have something to say, just say it."

A Qing scratched his head and said: "Brother, why don't we stop and practice casting the net first?"

"I and Hangyu still haven't used a cast net; if we later encounter a fish school and botch the cast, that would be troublesome."

Wu An, upon hearing that, also thought it reasonable, saying: "That works."

"There happen to be three cast nets; each of us takes one, let's practice."

He knew A Qing said that to help him out of the predicament.

If we keep searching like this, we'll probably just be wasting fuel in vain.

The three of them took out the cast net, one each; A Qing and Mai Hangyu were a bit hesitant, Wu An stepped forward: "I'll throw it first to give you a demo."

Never eaten pork, never seen a pig run.

Although I've never done it myself, I've seen fishermen on the shore cast their nets.

He had A Qing and Mai Hangyu step back a little, took a stance, then faced opposite the water, exerted force and spun, his whole body's power bursting from his waist, driving his arm to fling the net out.

Fortunately.

Without Hua Tie Lu, the cast net was smoothly flung onto the sea surface.

Wu An was still quite pleased.

This is practically a divine body for fishing, born to be a fisherman?

Hmm?

Thinking about it, he didn't seem so happy anymore.

Sea cast nets and freshwater cast nets are different; freshwater cast nets need to sink, while sea cast nets naturally don't need to.

First, if you want the sea cast net to sink, you need to prepare a very long rope.

Moreover, sinking it isn't that meaningful, since the ocean doesn't have fish only at the bottom.

As long as you encounter a school of fish, toss the cast net, use the weight to gather the bottom, and you can net the fish and pull it up smoothly.

So first you need a school of fish.

Wu An casually threw it, without any luck boost, and when he pulled it up, naturally there was nothing but water.

Next was A Qing.

He also threw it very smoothly.

Mai Hangyu's throw was also not bad; after a few more tries, he basically grasped the technique.

Although they didn't catch any fish, the three found it quite fun, and since they didn't catch fish, throwing back and forth wasn't tiring.

Just as Wu An threw out a net, he heard A Qing shout: "Brother, quick look, quick look."

Immediately after, he heard sharp cries, looked up, and a huge figure leapt out of the sea, drew a beautiful arc, then plunged back in.

Not just one.

It was a pod.

Wu An narrowed his eyes and shouted: "Looks like a pod of killer whales."

Around here, fishermen do occasionally see killer whale pods; the whales are playful, nicknamed ocean scoundrels, but they don't attack fishing boats, so they're safe.

Mai Hangyu added: "Good thing they weren't heading straight for us, otherwise it would be quite dangerous."

Killer whales are large; a pod charging in would create a considerable surge.

With their small boat, they might not be able to withstand it.

A Qing looked enviously: "Such huge killer whales must be worth a lot."

Mai Hangyu said: "They are valuable, but can't be caught; they're protected animals."

A Qing scratched his head: "Why are so many valuable things protected animals?"

Mai Hangyu countered: "Guess why protected animals are protected, and why they're valuable?"

"We can't mess with the killer whales, but we can't just idle." Wu An smiled: "Get ready; we're going to make the killer whales pay a toll."

A Qing and Mai Hangyu were stunned.

They couldn't have heard wrong, could they?

Make the killer whales pay a toll?