The sun was high in the sky, the clock hands pointing to eleven. It had been over six hours since he started wrestling with this marlin.
Li Haochen's back and palms were both worn raw. The intense stinging pain made him suffer immensely. Although he had reeled in a third of the fishing line through hours of desperate struggle, there were still six to seven hundred meters of it trailing in the sea.
It felt like watching a horse run to exhaustion while the mountain remained far away. He kept running, but the mountain was still in the distance. This feeling was most likely to break a person.
Fortunately, Li Haochen possessed strong willpower and was not eroded by these negative demons.
At this moment, the marlin was showing signs of fatigue, not as fierce as before. However, Li Haochen was no better off. His physical strength was severely depleted. He hadn't eaten a single morsel, nor drunk a drop of water. Hunger, fatigue, and dehydration attacked him simultaneously. An ordinary person would have given up long ago.
Li Haochen swallowed dryly. When his throat touched, it felt like double-sided tape sticking together. When it separated, there was a tearing pain, and his lips were chapped and peeling.
Despite the immense hardship, Li Haochen gritted his teeth and persevered. He knew that the marlin was also expending enormous energy. Both sides were waiting to see who would last longer.
Perhaps unable to break free from the hook for so long made the marlin very displeased. After all, it was one of the ocean's overlords; how could it be so humiliated?
Indeed, after circling once, this creature actually turned its spearhead towards Li Haochen. With an explosive acceleration of up to 120 kilometers per hour, hundreds of meters were covered in mere seconds. This made Li Haochen's pupils constrict, and a sense of impending death washed over him.
"Holy crap!"
Li Haochen wanted to move, but hours of fighting had made his legs numb.
He hardened his resolve, bit his tongue hard. The intense pain brought back a sliver of strength to his body. He lunged towards the aisle.
Just then, a massive shadow streaked across the top of the fishing boat, creating a sense of eclipsing the sun and the moon. Especially its sharp, sword-like jaw, which was incredibly terrifying to behold. And it was incredibly fast, so fast that his eyes couldn't even determine its species.
"Boom~"
A loud bang came from the other side of the boat. At such high speed, it actually managed to execute a beautiful dive. As expected of a natural athlete.
Although the maneuver was graceful and caused no internal injuries, it should have had some effect on it. You see, the marlin actually showed a brief pause.
This was a golden opportunity, not to be missed. Li Haochen quickly got up, walked to the other aisle, activated the electric reel, and began to retrieve the line at high speed.
Simultaneously, Li Haochen's eyes never left the figure on the sea surface. After seven or eight seconds, it seemed to wake up, accelerating rapidly and swimming away into the distance.
Li Haochen quickly shut off the electric reel, switched back to manual, and also opened a slight bit of the drag. This creature was now in a frenzy, and he couldn't go head-to-head with it.
Fortunately, Li Haochen had opened a bit of the drag, otherwise, this move would have definitely flipped him over.
Not only did it snatch back the hundreds of meters of line he had just reeled in, but it was even more audacious, launching another surprise attack. Li Haochen was once again forced to duck.
"Huh, nothing?"
After waiting for a few seconds, the expected event did not occur. Li Haochen was very puzzled.
The still rapidly outgoing line from the reel startled Li Haochen. This time, the third of the line he had reeled in earlier was gone, and it had taken an extra one to two hundred meters with it.
"Damn it, you're playing dirty, I'll kill you!"
Li Haochen quickly braced the rod handle against his stomach, gripped the fishing rod tightly with his left hand, and held the reel handle with his right. Seizing the moment, he gave a fierce tug.
The intense pain caused the marlin to change direction. Unexpectedly, it was so cooperative. This change of direction came at the perfect time, exactly as Li Haochen wished.
Li Haochen squinted, staring closely at the change in the fishing line. Just as it was about to become taut, he gave the rod another hard pull. The marlin paused. It was at this moment that Li Haochen quickly braced the handle to stop the line from going out.
The fishing line instantly let out a "buzz." The timing was perfect, and it didn't snap.
Li Haochen grinned. You think I'm easy to bully? Now it's time to show you our might.
At this moment, Li Haochen was like someone who had drunk a super potion. A surge of immense power erupted from him. With each pull and each crank, he firmly suppressed the creature's arrogant momentum.
Whenever the marlin was about to surge, Li Haochen would interrupt it at the most opportune moment, extinguishing all its ferocity. Soon, its rhythm was completely under Li Haochen's control, and its fate was sealed.
Although this super marlin could no longer escape Li Haochen's grasp, its massive body, even if it remained still, posed a great challenge to drag it to the boat. Moreover, it hadn't given up resisting. The occasional flip and splash could generate considerable impact force, making the severely depleted Li Haochen suffer.
Unknowingly, another hour passed. By then, both the marlin and Li Haochen were exhausted. However, a fish was still a fish. In the same condition, it couldn't compare to a human with a strong will.
Although victory was within sight, Li Haochen couldn't afford to be even slightly lax. If he let his guard down and it escaped, how could he face himself after nearly ten hours of desperate perseverance?
One turn, two turns... Li Haochen painstakingly cranked the handle, reeling in the fishing line. Each rotation brought in tens of centimeters. The marlin had no strength left to resist and lay flat in the sea, allowing itself to be dragged towards the fishing boat.
Just as it was nearing the edge, for some unknown reason, this creature suddenly charged madly again.
With the loss of leverage, Li Haochen's entire body was thrown backward. A second after he fell, Li Haochen felt a high-speed gust of wind whistle past his head, followed by a loud bang.
"Boom~"
Li Haochen, who had just reacted, felt his head explode. His face turned ashen white. If he hadn't lost his balance and fallen just then, he…
Thinking of this, a chill ran down his spine. In his dehydrated state, he actually broke out in a cold sweat.
Li Haochen slowly turned his head and looked at the sword marlin, which had lost all signs of life. It felt like a dream. He hadn't reacted at all to the sudden turn of events, let alone escaped into his spatial dimension.
If death hadn't blinked, he would have needed someone to do his makeup.
A few minutes later, Li Haochen finally emerged from the shadow of death. Dragging his battered and exhausted body, he shuffled into the ship's cabin.
Looking at the Red Bull in front of him, he couldn't even manage to open it. He had to walk over to the faucet and drink tap water.
After a few gulps, he dared not continue. Severe dehydration meant he couldn't rehydrate too much, or he'd suffer from water intoxication.
Li Haochen sat down and struggled to tear open a Snickers bar. The first bite made him want to cry. He had never thought it would be so sweet and so delicious.
"It's so damn good."