After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH83

Chapter 83

The bluefin tuna beneath Lu Ao’s rod was astonishingly powerful.

The moment he pulled, he immediately understood that this fish was much larger than the moonfish he had caught a few days ago.

A tuna this big would not be easy to pull up.

Lu Ao’s heart sank slightly. He braced the rod in the fighting belt at his waist, loosened the reel at the same time, and rapidly let out line, giving the bluefin tuna room to struggle.

More than thirty meters of line were released from the reel in no time.

The tuna below relaxed a little. It no longer pulled with all its strength, but instead circled around the boat, trying to escape.

With such a large hook buried in its mouth, the fish was also in pain.

As long as it was not forced into a dead end, it generally would not struggle with everything it had. As long as the line did not snap, there was actually a good chance of bringing the bluefin tuna onto the boat.

Lu Ao had already prepared himself for an hour-long battle with this fish. His movements as he reeled in and let out line became increasingly steady.

Captain Chen hurried over and shouted against the sea wind, “Lu Ao, about how big is that fish you hooked down there? Do you need help?”

“Not for now. I’m still fine.”

“All right. If you need help, call us right away!”

After saying that, Captain Chen did not leave. He stood beside him with his arms folded, quietly watching Lu Ao. If Lu Ao showed any sign of running out of strength, he could immediately step in to help.

The people around them grew anxious when they saw that Lu Ao had already hooked a fish. Several were so anxious that they started cursing.

Heaven rewards those who work hard. Before long, the kites rose into the air. Kites of all colors flew above the sea, occupying the sky alongside the seabirds.

Human voices, the sounds of the boat, cries of seabirds—all kinds of noise mixed together, making the scene extremely chaotic.

Suddenly, someone roared, “Got one!”

The shout was so loud that even Lu Ao, who was fishing on this side, was startled.

Everyone else was also alarmed and turned to look toward the source of the voice. On the other side of the rail, a middle-aged team member had hooked a fish.

The bluefin tuna’s pull was extremely strong. Even with the rod braced in his fighting belt, the man’s forehead veins still bulged from the strain.

Seeing his companions look over, he grinned smugly and kept pulling.

Within half a minute, several more team members shouted that they had hooked fish.

The boat became even livelier. Those who had hooked fish gritted their teeth and fought the big fish below. Those who had not hooked any fish desperately cast their hooks into the sea, waiting for luck to favor them next.

Zhong Honghai shouted, “Hold steady! Hold steady! Keep throwing bait into the water, or the tuna will get startled and run!”

When everyone heard that, they hurriedly dumped box after box of the fish they had cut up into the sea.

The deck was busy and chaotic.

“Ah—!” someone let out a roar.

The cry was so full of grief that everyone instinctively turned to see what had happened.

Lu Ao turned too. He saw that the man who had been the first to hook a tuna after him had already thrown down his rod and was kneeling on the deck, pounding it hard with his fists, his face filled with unwillingness.

Everyone knew at a glance that his line had snapped and the fish had escaped.

This was not rare for anglers. Getting a fish to bite was only the first step. Whether the fish could actually be pulled up involved a great deal of skill and luck.

Perhaps influenced by that man, or perhaps because they lacked experience, several more people soon had their lines snapped, letting their hooked bluefin tuna escape.

Zhong Honghai was patting the first man on the shoulder to comfort him. Seeing this, he quickly raised his head and shouted, “Don’t panic! Keep baiting! There are still chances!”

The people whose fish had escaped seemed to wake from a dream. They hurriedly changed hooks, baited again, and cast their lines back into the sea.

The kites attached to the lines wobbled as they flew. They were clearly lifeless objects, yet as they swayed above, they looked even more panicked than the seabirds.

After four or five fish escaped in a row, the bluefin tuna school was alarmed. They became wary and swam around the outer area, refusing to bite no matter what.

Everyone looked at the bluefin tuna swimming near the boat, both nervous and excited. But after several attempts and half an hour without landing a single fish, many people could not help growing anxious.

Someone could not resist asking Zhong Honghai, “Brother Zhong, what do we do now?!”

Zhong Honghai said in a deep voice, “Wait! The tuna are still here, so there’s still a chance! Keep fishing. Don’t give up!”

As he spoke, he continued throwing large amounts of bait into the sea. Big chunks of fish meat were tossed into the water, spreading a fishy smell. More and more seabirds gathered, and more and more other fish appeared. The seawater below seemed to boil, splashing up clusters of water from time to time.

Everyone gritted their teeth and patiently continued fishing.

Sure enough, after another half an hour, people gradually began hooking fish again.

This time, the anglers did not dare pull hard. Instead, they learned from Lu Ao and slowly let out more line to play the fish.

Lu Ao had already been fighting his fish for more than an hour, and he was still at it.

Captain Chen had tried to persuade him several times, wanting him to let someone else take over for a while so he could rest.

Lu Ao refused. Such a large fish might not be manageable if someone else took over. If the person was not skilled enough, the fish might escape very quickly.

He did not want to take that risk.

His strength was running low now, but he could still hold on a little longer. Once the fish was caught, he could rest then.

Seeing him like this, Lin Qiyan suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He slapped his forehead and said, “Lu Ao, I’ll go get you something to eat. Wait here!”

Before Lu Ao could refuse, he saw Lin Qiyan turn and run into the cabin out of the corner of his eye.

A moment later, Lin Qiyan returned with a pile of bread, fish, and energy drinks. “Here! Lu Ao, eat something first!”

Both of Lu Ao’s hands were holding the rod, leaving no hand free to eat. “Feed me. I want meat.”

“Got it. Wait a second.” Lin Qiyan hurriedly opened a plastic bag, picked out a piece of braised meat, and fed it to Lu Ao.

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony. He bit down on the braised meat and ate it in large, fierce mouthfuls.

As he ate, his hands kept working the rod.

After fighting the fish for so long, his strength was completely overdrawn. His hands on the fishing rod trembled slightly.

Anyone could see that his stamina was nearly exhausted. Before long, either the fish would escape, or he would have to hand the rod to someone else, or he would have to give up on the fish himself.

Some of the people on the boat who envied him secretly rejoiced at his misfortune.

Apart from him, only two others had managed to hook tuna.

As for the rest, either they had hooked one briefly only for the fish to escape almost immediately, or they had not even touched the shadow of a tuna.

Lin Qiyan fed Lu Ao a large amount of meat, then several pieces of bread, and finally poured an entire bottle of energy drink into him.

Lu Ao ate while fishing. As he slowly digested the food, after ten minutes, he finally recovered somewhat, and strength returned to his body.

His gaze sharpened. The muscles in his arms tensed, veins bulging as he slowly and forcefully dragged the fish toward the boat.

The bluefin tuna had completely run out of strength. It struggled weakly once before being dragged closer and closer to the boat.

Captain Chen, who had been sitting nearby smoking, immediately stood up and shouted, “Lu Ao’s fish is about to come up! Quick, quick, bring the iron hook over!”

Zhong Honghai shouted, “That fish is probably huge. An iron hook won’t be enough. Prepare the crane!”

Captain Chen saw it too and quickly gave a string of instructions.

The deck fell into chaos, everyone busy with their own task.

The bluefin tuna under Lu Ao’s line had been dragged around for an hour and a half. It had long lost its strength. When Lu Ao pulled it beside the boat, it no longer struggled much.

Captain Chen had people prepare the crane and the large iron hooks.

The instant the fish was dragged to the side of the boat, Old Chen acted swiftly. With all his strength, he threw the iron hook down and hooked the tuna’s body.

The sharp iron hook firmly caught in the fish. When the bluefin tuna struggled, the hook sank deeper into its flesh.

It was in pain and tried to move again, but no matter what, it could no longer break free.

In that brief moment, Captain Chen and Old Zhang exerted all their strength to pull the fish upward, their faces turning reddish-purple.

This bluefin tuna was enormous. Anyone could see with the naked eye that this was no ordinary catch.

“It’s hooked!” Captain Chen shouted with a twisted expression. “Come help!”

As he shouted, he forcefully pulled the iron hook up. The others crowded forward to help, their expressions excited and stirred.

Together, everyone pulled on the large iron hook. Gradually, the huge tuna was lifted out of the water.

The crew quickly brought over ropes, tied the iron hook to the crane, and started the crane.

The bluefin tuna’s tail was hooked by the iron hook. As it was slowly hoisted up, it still struggled once.

But after being exhausted for so long, it had completely run out of strength. No matter how it struggled, it could not break free of the hooks. It could only flick its tail and resign itself to being lifted onto the deck.

“It really is a bluefin tuna! A huge tuna!”

“Too amazing, too amazing! Where’s my phone? I need to take a photo.”

“Damn, this is the first time in my life I’ve seen a bluefin tuna caught and lifted out of the water with my own eyes!”

The bluefin had come out of the water. Apart from the few people still fighting fish, everyone crowded over.

Several people were so excited by the sight of the huge bluefin tuna that their blood seemed to boil.

“Amazing!”

“This bluefin tuna has to weigh at least two hundred jin, right?”

“How much would a fish this big be worth? Could it be several million?”

Lu Ao heard the voices around him, but it was as if he heard nothing.

The instant the bluefin tuna was placed on the deck, his strength completely gave out. He set down the rod and sat on the deck with trembling hands.

He no longer had the slightest bit of strength and did not want to move at all.

If this tuna still had not been caught, he would have had no choice but to hand it over to someone else.

Hearing the noisy exclamations around him, a faint smile appeared in his eyes. He leaned his head back against the deck, but had no strength to do anything else.

Captain Chen came over and shouted, “Lu Ao, how should we handle this big bluefin tuna? I’ll help you bleed it and let it rest first?”

“Okay.” Even Lu Ao’s voice sounded a little weak. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“No trouble at all.” Captain Chen laughed heartily. “In all my years on boats, this is the first time I’ve personally seen someone catch a bluefin tuna this big. Let me enjoy handling it!”

After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood [Farming]