After two hours of sailing, the surroundings were pitch black. Not a single light was visible as far as the eye could see, indicating that no contestants were in this part of the ocean. After mooring the boat, he lay down in the bedding beside it to rest.
"Haha, I got a bite! I got a bite!"
In a daze, several shouts drifted in from outside. Li Haochen reluctantly shifted his body, wanting to doze off a bit longer, but the noise from outside continued relentlessly.
With the incessant noise, sleep was impossible. He might as well get up. He checked his watch; it was only four in the morning.
Li Haochen sat for a while before standing up. He could now clearly identify the source of the voice. It had to be Tang Shengtian. With that distinctive, loud voice, he must have caught a fish.
Indeed, as Li Haochen rubbed his eyes and walked out, the battle was nearing its end. However, the performance of the fishing rod made it difficult for Li Haochen to judge if the force exerted was sufficient.
"Hope it's not a false alarm."
About ten minutes later, Li Haochen was ready. As soon as the big fish was dragged out, the hoist was in position. After successfully securing the tail, he pressed the start button, and the winch whirred to life.
A few minutes later, the yellowfin tuna was successfully hoisted up. Strangely, the fish was still alive and surprisingly cooperative, remaining motionless. The screen displayed a weight of 311 pounds, just barely over the line. They were very lucky. Seeing this figure, Tang Shengtian breathed a sigh of relief and then broke into a smile. Although it wasn't as heavy as the fish they had caught, they hadn't come back empty-handed.
After Li Haochen pushed the yellowfin into the ice bin, he said to Tang Shengtian, "Go wash up and get some sleep. You look like you didn't sleep last night."
Li Haochen was right. Tang Shengtian had secretly slipped out to fish while everyone else was asleep, finally having something to show for himself and his teammates.
"Alright, thanks for your hard work. I'll go get some shut-eye."
Despite his exhaustion, Tang Shengtian's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Even though it was still early morning, Li Haochen was no longer sleepy. He decided to continue fishing. With one more fish, he would be one step closer to the coveted top spot.
He rigged the fishing rod, replaced the hook and line. The previous ones had been strained for too long during the struggle with that big fellow, so it was better to be safe.
After baiting the hook with mussel meat and casting it, Li Haochen quickly ran to prepare the hoist. The others were still asleep, and if no one helped later, he would have to do it himself.
Soon, a streak of white light scattered from the distant horizon, dispelling the pitch-black night. Watching the slowly rising sun, Li Haochen smiled again. Indeed, the early morning held the promise of a good day.
In just two and a half hours, Li Haochen had caught two fish that just scraped past the minimum weight. He was truly abnormal. Although there were no bonus points, the speed of his catches greatly alarmed Charlie and Jones, who were monitoring from the secret base at the competition site.
He quickly dialed Robert again. As the phone rang, Robert's usual "uh-huh" came through. He had to admire the old man's vigor; he was truly energetic.
Interrupted at a rather crucial moment, one could imagine how bad his mood would be. As soon as he answered, without regard for pleasantries, he launched into a barrage of curses. However, after hearing Jones' report, he immediately deflated.
Without bothering to wipe himself, and ignoring his complaining lover, he rushed to the garage. After a screech of accelerating tires, a car was seen speeding away from his suburban villa.
This time, he was fast. In less than half an hour, he arrived at Jones and the others' location. His speed astonished Jones and the others; it was unprecedented for him to be on time.
"Quick, quick, quick, bring up their video feeds!"
Charlie was prepared. The computer monitor was turned around. Robert looked at the video of the Chinese team, one fish after another. When he saw Li Haochen, who had caught two fish in just over two hours, he exclaimed, "Damn it, I'm not even that fast when I hang bait."
The more he watched, the more panicked he became. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Not only the Chinese team but even the "Little Sun Country," their subordinate, had results that made him feel overwhelmed. How could they, the most famous in the world of fishing, be so thoroughly out-fished by these two teams?
"Quick, check the status of our team!"
When he saw his own team, Robert, who had been about to fly into a rage, felt slightly better seeing that Arthur and the others were not slacking off and had already landed two good-sized bigeye tuna.
However, the ice bin only contained a pathetic five ordinary tuna. To defend their championship title, besides quantity, quality was the key. Just like the big fellow Li Haochen caught, one fish was worth more than their entire ice bin.
Robert called Charlie to get the satellite phone and called Arthur, who was at sea.
"Another country has surpassed us. In the time remaining, you must organize everyone well and absolutely not be complacent."
"Don't worry, boss. Matt just got a bite. Judging by the fight, it's definitely over 500 pounds."
"Really?"
Robert's mood instantly shifted from worry to joy. This was the best news he had received all night.
"Excellent. When you return victorious, I will host a welcoming feast for you and give you a grand gift, hahaha!"
While Robert and the others were daydreaming, Li Haochen caught another 420-pound bigeye tuna. Upon hearing this news, Robert, who had just recovered, became enraged and spat out a mouthful of bile.
"It's over..."
After the words "It's over" flashed through Robert's mind, he fainted.
"Ah... Boss, boss, are you alright?"
When he woke up, his first question wasn't about his own condition but about the size of the fish they had caught.
"Jones, tell me, did Arthur catch that fish he said was no less than 500 pounds? How much did it weigh?" Robert asked, grabbing Jones excitedly.
"It... it was landed. It should be over eight hundred..."
"Really? That's great, that's great! There are still three days, so our chances are still very high. No, I need to go back to the base to monitor."
"Boss, the doctor said your blood pressure is high, and the examination isn't complete yet. Please wait a moment. Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on things here, and we'll give Arthur timely data for reference. Please rest."
"Is that so? Alright then, you guys hurry back and monitor. I'll head over after my check-up." Robert valued his life very much.
After leaving the hospital, Jones looked helplessly at Charlie. He had lied just now. It was true that Arthur and the others had landed that big fish, and it weighed over eight hundred pounds, but it was a great white shark. Even ten thousand pounds wouldn't be enough.
"Sigh!"
Jones gave a bitter smile. "You think he'll beat us up if we lied to him?"
"Sigh, if we didn't lie to him, he'd probably be having tea with God right now."
The two exchanged glances, shook their heads, and left the hospital.