Chapter 577: Fishing for Swordfish? No, the Swordfish Comes to Us

Friends, after all.

It's just about looking out for each other.

Wu An urged him several times, but Hu Zi still refused to go, shaking his big head and every now and then letting out two cries, as if acting cute.

Wu An glared: "I'm doing this for your own good."

"Hurry up and go."

"Also, don't forget what I told you to do."

Hu Zi then sank into the sea, reappeared three meters away, poked his big head out to look; Wu An reached out and tapped him with a finger, whereupon Hu Zi sank again, then poked his head out two meters away.

He dawdled, really not wanting to leave.

Last time he sneaked off, even though he didn't get away, he got a stern scolding.

This time.

He managed to run away.

If he went back voluntarily, he'd surely get beaten half to death.

So he didn't want to go back.

His big head actually held little brainpower; his thoughts were simple—just to drag things out as long as possible.

But Wu An told him to go.

He couldn't just cling on stubbornly.

He could only take a step, look back three times, swim out twenty-odd meters, cautiously poke his big head out, and the next moment a beam of light shone on him; Wu An shouted through a loudspeaker: "Don't dilly-dally."

"I'm watching you."

"Hurry back."

Hu Zi: "......"

He sank into the sea, about to decide to go find his kin, when he suddenly spotted swordfish swimming nearby; Hu Zi observed for a while and realized these swordfish were actually hunting around the trawler.

Hu Zi's little eyes blinked, feeling that these swordfish seemed a bit off, as if they intended to harm the trawler.

Not good.

Wu An is in danger!

As a good friend, how can I just stand by and do nothing?

Hu Zi stayed put with a clear conscience, not wandering far; he wasn't hungry either, for Wu An had fed him ice blocks and also plenty of tasty food.

……

In the early morning hours.

Wu An checked the system.

Luck Value: 1800 (888)

That number is quite auspicious; looks like we're going to strike it rich.

Wu An greeted Lao Fu Tou, then went to the rest room to rest; amid various snoring sounds, he soon fell asleep.

In the morning, he was woken by A Qing's shout.

"Brother, it's 8:30."

"Oh, it's already that time."

"Mm, hurry up and wash up; I'll go get your noodles."

"What kind of topping?"

"Squid, and Brother A Zhu also sliced some fish fillet, very fresh."

Wu An gave an "oh" and said: "Add a few more eggs."

Compared to seafood, eggs are more substantial.

After eating noodles, he chatted with Fu Yongning and the others, learning that the trawl had been down for an hour; Wu An thought it over and decided to let this first net continue as is.

See how things go, then lower the second net.

He went to the wheelhouse; Lao Fu Tou pointed and said, "We've just entered the trench—do you see what's ahead?"

Wu An looked in the direction Lao Fu Tou pointed and saw a large flock of seabirds hovering over the sea surface.

"There's a school of fish."

"Right."

Lao Fu Tou handed him the binoculars.

Wu An picked them up and took a look; his heart skipped a beat—large shadows occasionally flashed on the sea surface, hard to make out but likely swordfish.

He felt annoyed: "Damn, now they've got it in for us."

Lao Fu Tou said nothing.

Wu An informed everyone, saying not to loiter on deck for no reason, lest the swordfish perceive the trawler as interfering and possibly attack the fishing boat directly.

A Qing shouted: "Brother, why not stop trawling and just catch swordfish like before?"

Mei Wu and the others were eager to try: "Exactly."

"Let's hook the bastard."

"We've caught them before, after all."

The Fan brothers were also excited; yesterday they'd done free-flow fishing for over an hour, got badly sunburned, and caught nothing—if they could snag swordfish today, it would be incredibly thrilling.

Wu An remained silent.

Fu Yongning saw that Wu An wasn't really in agreement and said, "Hey, don't make a fuss."

"We're still trawling the net."

"Let's get the trawling operation underway first."

Everyone was quickly sent away.

Lao Fu Tou looked at Wu An with some surprise, "A An, not fishing for swordfish?"

Wu An said, "Last time we fished for swordfish, when I hauled up the last one, if you hadn't pulled so fast, I think I would have been pierced clean through by the prison."

To be honest, he was indeed scared at that moment.

Too dangerous!

Lao Fu Tou nodded and smiled, "Indeed, it's better for us to trawl calmly and steadily."

Wu An, though still young, is so steady; that's actually a good thing.

Only this fishing boat owner can lead them out to sea, and also bring them back.

Wu An said nothing more.

He knows that as long as Luck Boost is applied, the swordfish is unlikely to strike back.

But he's afraid it might not get hooked.

The swordfish strikes back so fast, like an arrow shot, and if you can't react in time it's trouble.

Ten o'clock.

Lao Fu Tou called everyone to raise the net.

Quickly.

The net bag was hauled up, looking plump and not bad.

A Qing volunteered to go up and untie the net.

No one tried to snatch it from him.

The hoist arm paused, the catch poured out, and everyone, seeing that most of the haul were spiny pomfret, couldn't help but be stunned.

The schools of fish in the sea are fickle; unless it's in certain specific waters, like shrimp crab areas, the catch is always different each time.

Yet they kept netting spiny pomfret, and each net seemed to hit a school of them.

Fu Yongning realized and laughed, "What great luck."

"It looks like the direction we're moving matches the fish school."

Saying that, he walked forward.

The next moment.

A black silhouette suddenly shot up from the sea surface, casting a large shadow onto the deck in the sunlight.

Fu Yongning looked up, squinting, and when he saw what was in midair, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in fright!

"WTF!"

He let out a quintessential Chinese exclamation, then immediately lunged to the side, rolling to the side of the ship!

"My god!"

A Qing let out a startled shout, then sprang forward, and in a few steps ran to Wu An's side, grabbing Wu An and running.

The others were a bit slower, but all reached a safe distance, looking up at the swordfish with its long snout stuck in the net bag!

Yes!

It's a swordfish!

This swordfish that leapt onto the ship was huge, looking larger than several A Qings combined.

It kept writhing, its long snout stuck in the net bag and protruding far, making everyone shudder.

If it had jabbed a person instead of the net bag, even a deity couldn't save them.

In the blink of an eye.

Actually the whole process was extremely fast; in the blink of an eye, with a "bang", the swordfish landed on the deck's pile of fish, scattering the spiny pomfret.

The whole ship shook, and everyone's complexion turned a bit pale.

That's too scary!

Mei Wu said with lingering fear, "No wonder A An doesn't want to fish for swordfish."

Fan Dali nodded, "We'd better not provoke swordfish."

A Qing said smugly, "Obviously, listening to my brother is always right."

He must have selectively forgotten; earlier he was the one who first suggested fishing for swordfish.

Fu Yongning got up, looking terrible; it wasn't he who dodged quickly, so the thing that got smashed wasn't the spiny pomfret but him.

Being hit by a several‑hundred‑kilogram beast is definitely unpleasant.