After dealing with the big fellow, Li Haochen didn't continue fishing. There was still a day and a half left, which was plenty of time, and his physical condition didn't allow him to continue.
There wasn't an endless supply of fresh water on the boat, so Li Haochen didn't shower. He just boiled two pots of hot water to wipe his body and soak his feet. It had to be said, soaking one's feet after being tired was truly comfortable.
After soaking his feet, the self-heating meal boxes were ready. He was hungry at this moment, so he wolfed them down as soon as he opened them.
After eating, he grabbed a jacket to wrap himself in and prepared to sleep. Since the quilt had been used to pad the big fellow, he had to roll himself up to sleep. Fortunately, the cabin was warm. If he were outside, he would probably wake up to a funeral tomorrow.
Catching that big fellow was quite tiring. Li Haochen, lying down, started snoring loudly in less than a minute.
In the middle of the night, a chill crept in. Li Haochen, sleeping soundly, was woken up by the cold. He rubbed his groggy eyes, reluctantly tearing them open. The bright screen of his phone forced him to squint. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes, realizing it was only 3:30 AM.
It was indeed quite cold. Li Haochen shivered as soon as he sat up, his hair standing on end.
Without washing up, he first went to boil a pot of hot water to wash his face and hands to dispel the chill.
The water kettle was Supor, a big brand, and it boiled water quickly. In 3 minutes, it was very hot. For washing hands and face, it didn't need to be boiling, just very hot.
After pouring it into the washbasin, Li Haochen continued to boil another pot.
After washing his face with hot water, he did feel warmer. He then brewed a cup of hot coffee. Once it was down, his body immediately felt warm, and his spirits were greatly lifted.
With his mind clear, it was time to start fishing. Every extra fish caught meant one more step towards security. He couldn't completely bet all his hopes on yesterday's yellowfin tuna. As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry. Prudence ensures success, and the key to victory often lies in one's attitude.
Before fishing, Li Haochen still prepared two self-heating meals to eat before starting. After all, battling large fish was very draining. Just like yesterday's big fellow, if he hadn't eaten his fill beforehand, could he have lasted 7 or 8 hours? Without sufficient energy supply, relying on willpower to battle fish weighing hundreds of pounds for half a day or a day? That would be absurd.
He replaced the fishing line, baited the hook, and cast it out. He then put on his gloves and thigh protector, and wrapped his lower legs with two towels. He didn't want to experience that jarring soreness from the collisions again.
In just over a minute, the bait successfully reached the set depth. Seeing no activity, Li Haochen started doing warm-up exercises. His waist was stiff from yesterday's struggle, and he heard cracking sounds from his joints as he twisted.
"Bang~"
As he was doing his waist exercises, the boat suddenly lurched violently, causing him to lean to the side and bump into the ship's railing again.
"Damn it, what's going on?"
The bump caused him some pain. Li Haochen narrowed his eyes and cursed.
"This..."
Upon seeing what was in front of him, Li Haochen's eyes narrowed, and then he became terrified. He saw that the "Hidden Dragon" had made a turn beyond 90 degrees, and the sound of the taut fishing line vibrating and breaking through the air was so piercing it hurt his eardrums.
With this much force, the beast below must have surpassed yesterday's big yellowfin, and by a lot. Thinking of this, Li Haochen didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, quickly releasing a bit of drag.
Even with this slight release of drag, the reel continued to spin uncontrollably, with the fishing line zipping out at high speed.
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred meters of line had been released. Li Haochen dared not hesitate any longer. He immediately put his hands on it, but he couldn't completely close the drag because the force was too great. Otherwise, a broken line would be the least of his worries; he might even be dragged into the sea, or the rod would be taken.
The line continued to zip out rapidly. Li Haochen took the opportunity to glance at the reel's display. The amount of line released was nearing a thousand meters. This was alarming. If this continued, there would only be one outcome: the line would snap, and the fish would escape.
Li Haochen certainly didn't want this to happen. This beast was definitely the largest he had encountered so far, and he didn't want to let it go. If he could defeat it, this competition would be a sure win.
Of course, if it were a shark... well, he hoped he wouldn't be that unlucky.
Li Haochen gripped the fishing rod and quickly yanked, then let it go. With this single action, the hook must have pricked it, causing it to change direction and dart to the left.
This sudden change brought a jolt of joy to Li Haochen. "A good opportunity!" he thought. He quickly gripped the handle to resist the line release.
"Damn it!"
He managed to resist, but the immense force sent Li Haochen crashing into the ship's guardrail, making him see stars.
Li Haochen painstakingly righted himself. With no room to lean back further, he had to squat down, his back against the cabin, and use his feet to push forward, bracing himself to counter the beast.
A fierce, earth-shattering life-or-death struggle began.
While Li Haochen was locked in battle with the fierce creature, Li Dazhi and his companions on the other side were already celebrating their victory with champagne.
"Hahaha, this is too exhilarating! I can't believe the betting amount for this year's charity match is so high."
"Yes, it's already close to 7 billion, and with over a day left, it's estimated to break 8 billion. This is the first time ever."
"President George, those frogmen must work overtime. Also, their mouths must be kept shut tight; not a single mistake can be made."
"Don't worry, Dazhi. We are brothers on the same boat. I don't want to cut off my lucrative path. Moreover, they are all people from our side. We'll send them back after the competition, and who will know?"
"It's better to be cautious."
George and Stephen exchanged glances and smacked their lips, completely unconcerned. In their eyes, with a victory already in the bag, what was there to worry about?
At this moment!
In a sea area thirty to forty nautical miles away from Ao Island, a participating fishing boat was anchored. The bright red numbers "44" on the hull seemed a bit unlucky. For places like Hong Kong and Macao, which highly believed in feng shui and metaphysics, this was not good. Therefore, the betting amount for contestant number 44 was very low, only a little less than 20 million so far.
However, the man in boat number 44 exuded absolute confidence.
Just then, his fishing rod twitched slightly. A smile appeared on his face, and he pressed the start button. In less than ten seconds, he had pulled up a grouper weighing a few pounds. However, it was very strange that the grouper showed no signs of movement.
After throwing it into the ice hold, he cast the line out again without rebaiting, and it only sank a few meters. It was quite peculiar.
In less than a minute, he reeled in another one. This time, it was a red grouper, and not a small one, weighing about six or seven pounds. Yet, it still showed no signs of life.