Chapter 516: Sea Trial

The wind is strong today.

A light southwesterly wind of about force 6.

There are wind and waves.

Lao Fu Tou set sail and chatted with Wu An in a scattered way: "A An, the weather is nice today."

Wu An frowned: "Is this even called nice?"

The weather changed unexpectedly.

In such wind and waves, the fishing boat rocked quite a bit; a person could still barely sit and steer, but the rocking was uncomfortable.

If it were a small fishing boat before, it might not even be able to go out to sea.

Fortunately, this 25‑meter large fishing boat can brave the wind and waves; though it rocks, it's actually quite steady.

If it were thirty‑plus meters, fifty‑plus meters, or over a hundred meters…

Wu An dared not let his mind wander any further.

Not to mention a fifty‑meter one, even a thirty‑meter trawler, given his requirements, would cost at least three to four million.

If it were over fifty meters, he'd probably have to throw all his money into it.

He can only imagine for now.

But for now, before he can actually order a ship, he still has room for "improvement."

Lao Fu Tou smiled and said, "We're here to test the boat, to find flaws and problems. If the sea were calm, what could we test?"

"Are we following the shipyard's plan, or setting our own route?"

Wu An replied offhand, "Let's follow the shipyard, just drop a net and try it."

"The weather isn't great; if there are no issues, we'll turn back."

"How will the weather be later?"

Lao Fu Tou muttered, "It's not good weather."

Wu An shrugged, "Alright."

"Regardless of the weather, let's get the boat back early; when the weather improves, we'll go out for official fishing."

Lao Fu Tou nodded without saying anything.

Living off the sea is just like that.

Heaven isn't being kind.

If you can go out a few times a month, that's definitely Goddess Mazu's blessing.

Wu An watched Lao Fu Tou's actions, told Mei Wu to study well, then went out, found Uncle Li who was talking with the shipyard technicians, stood aside, said nothing, and just listened silently.

There was nothing worth interjecting.

He didn't understand, and there was no need to pretend he did.

After a while, Uncle Li took out a small notebook, tore off a page, and said, "The new boat has no major issues, just a few minor ones."

"Just give this to the manager when the time comes."

"If all goes well, it can be delivered tomorrow."

Wu An quickly thanked.

Uncle Li smiled and said, "Just a verbal thank you?"

"We'll be dropping the net later."

"When you haul up fresh sea fish, give me two to eat."

"The Earth Dragon you sent last time was so fresh, it was truly invigorating to eat."

Wu An clapped his hands: "Uncle Li, that's a must."

"By the way."

"About the welding rod frame…"

Uncle Li said, "When your ship reaches the dock, I can immediately bring people to set it up, guaranteeing that even several hundred jin of blue‑fin tuna can be easily hauled up."

Wu An chuckled, "Pull up the blue‑fin, Uncle Li, just wait to see how I thank you."

While they were chatting, A Qing shouted, "Brother, it's time to drop the net."

Wu An hurried over.

This boat is naturally a single‑trawler; trawls actually come in many varieties, classified in countless ways—by operation method, target catch, net structure, even mesh size—yielding different types of trawls.

The boat currently uses a bottom frame the shipyard gave, which Manager Wang described as a winged single‑bag type; Wang gave a brief introduction.

Wu An actually wasn't completely clueless; plainly put, this trawl is like a big net bag dragged behind the boat, attached to the hull, catching fish, and after dragging for a while, it's hauled up.

As long as luck is good, the haul will be pretty good.

Wu An went up to the Deck, waiting for the boat speed to reduce; A Qing pointed at the sea and shouted, "Brother, look, a sea turtle."

Wu An went over to look.

He tried to greet it, and the sea turtle actually came close; to him, the sea turtle looked ordinary, but since this turtle could communicate with him, he realized the turtle he saw was Turtle Brother.

Manager Wang saw it and laughed, "Encountering a sea turtle at sea is a good omen."

Wu An replied, telling Turtle Brother to stay away.

Turtle Brother refused to leave and waved at him.

Wu An didn't understand.

At this moment, Lao Fu Tou had already reduced the boat speed and shouted, "A An, drop the net."

Wu An didn't dare delay, and he and A Qing got busy together.

Besides the normal operation, he also boosted the Luck Value for the trawl; trawling is actually quite complex—aside from everything else, the water‑splitting board can have Luck Boost applied individually.

The water‑splitting board, also called the trawl net board, is a crucial component that can expand the net opening and stabilize the trawl.

Every important component of the Trawling can individually give a Luck Boost; of course, the most important Trawling naturally provides the most, able to give a one‑time Luck Boost of 20 points.

Adding the water‑split plates and other parts, it can give a one‑time Luck Boost of 100 points.

If a trip runs every two hours, the daily minimum can consume over a thousand Luck Value, and the fishing boat can also give a Luck Boost.

Two thousand Luck Value a day can be easily used up.

With so much Luck Value poured in, it's hard not to make money.

Very quickly.

The Trawling was smoothly placed into the sea, everyone standing on the Deck looked at each other, A Qing asked: "Brother, what's next?"

Wu An smiled: "Wait."

A Qing scratched his head: "That's it?"

Indeed it is.

Next, the fishing boat sails slowly, carrying the Trawler to net all the sea goods along its path.

Wang Jingli accompanied Wu An to the Control Room.

Lao Fu Tou said: "A An, the Trawling opened normally."

Wu An was startled: "How did you know?"

Lao Fu Tou smiled: "I feel resistance, and the ship speed is also stable now."

Wu An was enlightened.

Wang Jingli said: "This Elder gentleman looks impressive at a glance."

"Currently single Trawling is actually more troublesome; once another Trawler comes online, double Trawling will be even simpler."

Lao Fu Tou nodded.

Wu An also noted silently; even if waiting for another Trawler to come online, perhaps it really needs to switch to double Trawling.

At first.

He wanted the two Trawlers to operate independently, but now thinks that's probably impossible.

Why?

Because he doesn't have the Clone Technique.

On one fishing boat, the Trawling on the other fishing boat cannot constantly boost Luck Value; it can only boost once, and the rest is left to fate.

Everyone chatted.

Time passed quickly.

Two hours later, Lao Fu Tou asked whether to haul the net, giving his reasons: first, unfamiliar with the local sea conditions; if the terrain is complex, it's better to haul early to avoid tearing.

Second, today's wind and waves are strong, so early hauling is still better.

Most importantly, this is the first trial sail, the Trawling is new, and if the catch is too large, the net bag might rupture.

Lao Fu Tou spoke in great detail, also teaching Wu An and Mei Wu.

Wu An nodded: "Then let's haul."

Meanwhile.

The catch inside the Trawling rose, stirring restlessly in the net bag.