Chapter 322: Chapter 215: A Pity Not to Swing a Hammer

Gu Nan’s current physical condition was leagues beyond what it was when he first bonded with the game. When he wasn’t fishing, he did plenty of hauling work at the shop.

His body of lean muscle looked powerful. Combined with the ten-percent boost to factors like Power and stamina, plus the effect of the fishing rod, dealing with a tuna of around fifty pounds truly wouldn’t take too much effort.

He straightened his back, engaged his core, and planted his feet in a lunge. Pouring strength into his hands, he jammed the butt of the rod against his belt and forcefully heaved upward.

The tuna, its charge halted, was just about to take off again when an even greater force than before struck. This time, it couldn’t even swim—its head was pulled completely sideways.

But the tuna was no pushover. Compared to specimens weighing several hundred pounds, it might seem like a mere minnow, but when it fought back fiercely, Gu Nan still couldn’t manage to drag it back.

’A tuna is a tuna, after all,’ he thought. ’This one’s probably just Meter Level, around fifty pounds, but its strength is really something else.’

After one clash, they were evenly matched; neither could overpower the other.

Gu Nan was having a blast. This was what made fishing truly satisfying—fighting an evenly matched opponent.

Catching bigger fish was usually a matter of technique and wearing them down over time. You could never just go at it with brute force like this.

However, this scene left the viewers in the livestream who understood deep-sea fishing completely stunned.

Who fishes for tuna like this?

Even with a twenty-pounder, you’d have to let it run for a while.

[Holy shit, that’s insane! I once caught a twenty-pound Sea Bass, and forget about stopping it—the initial jerk nearly threw my ass right off the boat.]

[To the guy above, maybe the fish just isn’t that big? It’s not like small tuna don’t exist. Maybe it’s only five pounds?]

[That’s not impossible. You can never trust a fisherman’s word. They’ll catch a five-pounder and call it fifty.]

Skepticism was the prevailing opinion. After all, no one had seen the fish yet, and since it was a livestream, it was only natural to assume the streamer was exaggerating for dramatic effect.

Even some of the fishermen who had been astonished moments before were now growing skeptical. After all, to stop a fifty-pound tuna with sheer force—just how much strength would that require?

Gu Nan didn’t see the live comments, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared. Once he got the fish on board, all doubts would be silenced.

Yi Chen had wanted to refute the comments, but just then, the electric jigging rod suddenly sprang to life.

WHIZZZZZ—

"Whoa, I’ve got one too! The line is running out so fast! Ah Nan, can this rod really handle it?" Yi Chen pressed the retrieve button, only to find the line was still spooling out. She turned to Gu Nan, her voice tight with nerves.

"It’s fine. They’re just small fry. They only run hard at the beginning; they won’t get far," Gu Nan reassured her.

He genuinely wasn’t worried. Even if the rod didn’t grant Yi Chen any special effects, the electric reel’s motor was plenty powerful. It could haul in anything under a hundred pounds.

’Then again,’ he thought, ’I should probably buy a couple of heavy-duty electric setups, the kind that can handle two-hundred-pounders. Otherwise, Yi Chen will just have to watch if we hook something bigger. It’s not realistic to expect her to land one with her own strength.’

Just as Gu Nan had predicted, the line stopped running after more than two hundred meters and then slowly began to retract.

Tuna rely on ram ventilation, meaning they must force water over their gills to get enough oxygen to swim at high speeds.

This means that as soon as they slow down, their bodies become oxygen-deprived. Much like a long-distance runner gasping for air after exhausting their stamina, the fish will unconsciously open its mouth to try and alleviate the lack of oxygen.

Therefore, once this tuna was brought to a halt, it was helpless against the pull of the electric reel—a force it would have otherwise shrugged off—and could only be dragged back bit by bit.

The same was true for the one on Gu Nan’s line.

After being forced to a stop, it struggled for a while, but the growing oxygen deprivation sapped its strength. Gu Nan then reeled it in with ease, far faster than the electric reel could.

And just like that, while the electric reel still had one hundred and fifty meters of line out, Gu Nan had already pulled his fish right up to the side of the boat.

The electric rod didn’t require her attention, so Yi Chen had a free hand to adjust the camera angle and film the tuna beside the boat.

"Ah Nan, what kind of tuna is this?"

Most tuna look alike and require a trained eye to differentiate. Yi Chen lacked the experience and hadn’t studied them in detail. She could only recognize yellowfin and bluefin tuna, so she couldn’t identify the specific species next to the boat.

"This is an albacore tuna," Gu Nan explained. "See its pectoral fins? They’re much longer than the ones on the other tuna you’ve seen."

Gu Nan often caught large fish, frequently holding the rod with one hand while using the other to land his catch, so his movements were quite practiced.

He grabbed the nearby gaff and precisely sank it into the head of the tuna, which was lying exhausted on its side in the water.

Trickles of blood seeped out. The albacore, just over a meter long, thrashed its tail like a tiny motor, sending water splashing everywhere.

Fortunately, Gu Nan’s grip was steady. He held the long handle of the gaff firmly, keeping the tuna under control.

After a short while, the fish grew feeble and its movements ceased.

Gu Nan gripped the long handle with both hands, flexed his arms, and slowly hauled the fish aboard.

Lifting around fifty pounds was still quite an effort, but he was used to it. After all, many of the large groupers from the game maps weighed more than this.

He had long since grown accustomed to it, having hauled in countless fish every time he used his guaranteed-catch chances.

The livestream chat erupted.

Those in the know, of course, understood the significance of this albacore. As they explained it, the rest of the viewers were finally won over. The customers who had already paid deposits were especially thrilled.

[Haha, I paid a deposit! I didn’t expect to get so lucky. It’s actually albacore! I hope the host catches a few more tonight.]

[There should be plenty. I just saw the host’s girlfriend fishing with an electric rod, too. Plus, there are more than just the two of them on the boat. Most of us should be able to get one.]

[I hope everyone gets one. But I gotta say, with a build and strength like that, it’s a shame the host isn’t swinging a sledgehammer for a living.]

[@ a_poster_above, you really know your hammers! LOL]

[SLURP~ The host is so ripped. I love it! Oops, why am I so wet?]

[Whoa, so forward! Hey, pretty lady above, I’ve been a professional dehumidifier for a hundred years. Wanna give me a try?]

The fish on Yi Chen’s line still needed a while longer. After hauling his own fish aboard, Gu Nan started to bleed it.

However, the bleeding process couldn’t be shown on stream, so the camera was turned away from the fish and pointed at the ocean surface.

The timing worked out perfectly. Just as Gu Nan finished processing his fish and placed it in the refrigerated hold, Yi Chen’s fish arrived at the side of the boat.

However, since her rod lacked the special stamina-draining effect, this fish was still thrashing about when it reached the boat, darting back and forth.

Fortunately, Gu Nan was a pro by now. He waited with the gaff in hand, and seizing the moment the fish broke the surface, he plunged the gaff deep into the area just above its pectoral fin.

The location wasn’t instantly fatal, but it was a grievous wound.

Even though this fish struggled more fiercely than the first, Gu Nan was now gripping the long handle with both hands, giving him better control. Thus, the fish only flailed for a moment before the double whammy of blood loss and oxygen deprivation finished it off.

He lifted the fish onto the deck, leaving the task of bleeding it to Yi Chen, while he went back to fishing.

Catching tuna was not a fast process. In an hour, Gu Nan barely managed to land three by himself. Combined with Yi Chen’s catches, they had a total of five, which was actually quite a lot.

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao’s efficiency couldn’t compare. They had only landed one fish so far and were just starting the fight with their second.

Their stamina and recovery rates weren’t nearly as high. Catching a single fish was exhausting, and they needed to rest for a while before they could continue.

As time went on, the gap would only grow larger.

The school of tuna had arrived and would be staying by the oil rig overnight, so tonight was destined to be an all-nighter.

Yi Chen streamed until midnight before signing off. The donations for the day weren’t huge, totaling just over three thousand yuan, but for a small-time streamer, that was actually an excellent haul.

But tonight’s donations were due to the rare spectacle of a tuna school. Future, more normal fishing streams would certainly earn far less.

So for Gu Nan and Yi Chen, streaming was really just a side gig. Neither of them had any intention of pursuing it as a career.

With the stream off, their efficiency shot up. Yi Chen no longer had to juggle streaming, so she could take over miscellaneous tasks like bleeding the fish.

Another hour passed. By one in the morning, Gu Nan and his girlfriend, working in tandem, had caught eleven albacore tuna ranging from forty to sixty pounds. It was a massive haul.

But it had also left him thoroughly exhausted. He had been relying almost entirely on brute force, stopping each tuna in its tracks and letting it suffocate until it was powerless so he could land it quickly.

"Chenchen, go to the kitchen and make some late-night snacks. If I don’t eat soon, I’m going to run out of steam."

Catching so many fish burned a ton of energy.

Gu Nan was starving and had no choice but to ask his girlfriend to make him something to eat.

"Okay, I’ll go right now," Yi Chen agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

"Brother Wang, Brother Guo, are you guys hungry? Should I make some for you, too?"

"Yes, yes, yes! We’re starving," Wang Junhe nodded enthusiastically. How could they not be hungry at this hour?

Even if they weren’t desperately hungry, they had to take this chance to refuel. The school of fish would be here until dawn, which was still hours away!

Yi Chen nodded and immediately headed to the kitchen to get started.

Even if she and Gu Nan worked all night, they might not be able to catch enough tuna for all the orders, so they would definitely have to buy some from the others in the end.

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao only needed to keep a fish or two for themselves; any more would be difficult to get through. While they could give them away as gifts, it was better for everyone if Gu Nan just bought them.

Gu Nan stopped fishing for the moment. He drank some water and ate a piece of bread to tide himself over.

He then walked over to Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao and got straight to the point. "Brother Wang, Brother Guo, you brought your electric reels, right? Help me out tonight and catch some tuna. I’ve got a lot of customers waiting, and the two of us won’t be able to catch enough."

Wang Junhe and Guo Xiao were already satisfied for the night. They had gotten their fill of the thrill of catching tuna and hadn’t planned on catching many more, intending to just take it easy.

But upon hearing Gu Nan’s request, they both nodded in agreement.

They would be eating soon, so while they had a moment, both men went to the storage hold to switch to their heavy-duty electric reels and boat rods.

Gu Nan was there to help, starting by setting up the rod holders.

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