A quiet night passed. Chu Mingcheng was awakened by a series of long, haunting calls from outside.

After washing up, he walked out of his cabin and onto the deck, where he was immediately stunned by the magnificent sight before him.

Several enormous humpback whales had appeared on the sea surface. Their arrival had sent the pod of orcas that had been resting by the boat fleeing.

Although orcas would hunt young humpbacks, they were no match for several adult whales.

After all, the humpback's motto was: eat, sleep, beat up orcas.

Of course, they hadn't surfaced specifically to chase off orcas, but because a breathtaking school of sardines had materialized.

The scale was so vast that from the boat, Chu Mingcheng couldn't see its end—just a dense, dark mass stretching to the horizon.

He climbed to the flybridge. The water erupted periodically—the commotion caused by giant fish preying on the sardines.

As for the humpbacks, they would shoot straight out of the water, massive mouths agape, swallowing countless sardines in a single gulp.

Chu Mingcheng looked at his now Level 2 Aquatic Species Codex. With the new ability, would scenes like this become common in the country's waters?

At some point, Jiang Luoluo appeared beside him, holding a camera and filming.

Clearly, a rare sight like this was far more worthy of recording than a sunrise.

Unfortunately, Chu Mingcheng didn't have a drone; an aerial shot would have been even more spectacular.

As if reading his mind, a drone suddenly appeared overhead and flew directly toward the center of the action.

Wei Jianguo stood there operating the remote, a screen displaying the captured footage.

Jiang Luoluo immediately ran over. "Agong, let me fly the drone for a bit!"

"You know how to operate it, right?" Wei Jianguo asked first. If she didn't, she might fly his drone straight into the sea.

"I do, I do, I've flown one before." Jiang Luoluo took the remote and skillfully piloted the drone over the water.

Suddenly, she seemed to spot something and immediately shouted, "Ah Cheng, Agong, look—there are sailfish!"

Wei Jianguo's eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed over.

He saw a school of sailfish speeding in from the distant sea surface. The moment they hit the school of sardines, they were like cavalry charging into battle, instantly breaking through the sardines' defensive line and cutting dozens of gaps.

"Let's go fish for sailfish!" Wei Jianguo immediately headed to the cockpit, ready to pilot the boat over.

Part of the reason for this Dongsha trip was that Chu Mingcheng had hitched a ride, but the other part was Wei Jianguo's desire to get a sailfish specimen.

Now that sailfish had actually appeared, how could he hold back?

"Luoluo, you and Agong fish from the boat. If you hook a sailfish, be careful of its long bill. Have a crewman help pull it up. I'm going to change and go spearfishing."

Chu Mingcheng was equally excited. The perfect hunting target had finally appeared.

"You be careful too. Bring the electric prod this time," Jiang Luoluo said, as she always did.

She knew this was Chu Mingcheng's work, so she wouldn't try to persuade him not to enter the water, but she couldn't hide her concern. After all, this target was quite dangerous.

"I'll be safe," Chu Mingcheng nodded and returned to his cabin to change.

The sun was bright today. He put on his underwater camera, wanting to record a first-person perspective video of spearfishing for sailfish.

Both of Sea King's videos had been released. As Jiang Luoluo had predicted, the second one, combining his spearfishing perspective with the giant grouper, had gone viral.

In just a few days, his follower count had reached one hundred thirty thousand, and each video had at least several hundred comments.

A small portion of his followers had also started asking to buy fish from him.

When he started fishing for more common species or coral fish later, he could try selling them online.

After Chu Mingcheng had changed, Wei Jianguo's boat had already reached the area where the sailfish were hunting.

As the boat moved, the school of fish would automatically part and then close behind them, as if they were surrounded by an army of a thousand strong—quite a spectacular sight.

As for bait, there was no shortage of live fish on this trip.

They hadn't used the live squid from last night, and today's sardines were readily available.

But in this situation, could they really attract fish with bait?

Chu Mingcheng had his doubts. He personally felt that when encountering such a large school, it would be difficult to catch anything unless you were lucky enough to have a fish bite by chance.

Chu Mingcheng jumped into the water. The fish around him scattered instantly, then, seeming to sense he posed no threat, gathered around him again.

He could feel the sardines brushing against him, like a unique massage—quite comfortable.

These sardines would be perfect for a foot soak tonight!

Sardines: What did we ever do to you?

However, being surrounded by sardines with no visibility made Chu Mingcheng extremely uncomfortable.

He loaded his speargun, then took a breath and dove beneath the surface.

The fish spear he usually carried on his back had been replaced by the electric prod.

The electric prod was powered by current, similar to an anti-wolf stun baton, which could deter sharks from getting too close.

The school of sardines was surprisingly thick. Chu Mingcheng had to dive to ten meters before he could see clearly again.

Visibility was average—not because the water wasn't clear, but because the school blocked most of the sunlight.

Fortunately, light was everywhere, and some still managed to filter through.

The water quality in these distant waters was exceptionally clear, similar to his Xisha trip, allowing him to see quite far.

Chu Mingcheng then spotted many predators below. Besides the humpback whales he'd seen earlier, there was also a school of tuna and mahi-mahi. Mahi-mahi were also known as dolphinfish.

They were also large fish, capable of growing to two meters, but relatively light, not exceeding a hundred jin, so they weren't considered giant fish.

Their price was only about forty or fifty yuan per jin, so they'd probably be classified as common aquatic species.

But Chu Mingcheng was still quite interested in this fish. Its colors were beautiful, and it was large enough.

For now, though, he had to get a suitable sailfish first to satisfy Wei Jianguo.

He began swimming, slowly approaching the sailfish's hunting range.

It wasn't far. After a short while, Chu Mingcheng spotted the sailfish.

This was a school of Indo-Pacific sailfish. Their dorsal fins covered almost the entire length of their backs, and when raised, looked like flags—very different from the dorsal fins of swordfish and marlin.

Although this type of sailfish could grow to a maximum of 3.4 meters, its weight was just two hundred jin, barely making it into the giant fish category.

Among these schools, there were several very large ones, visually longer than the bigeye tuna he'd hunted last night. But Chu Mingcheng didn't immediately target these giants.

He didn't know the habits and aggression of this fish. He'd only heard that sailfish were very fierce and had even killed quite a few anglers.

But he'd also watched many spearfishing videos and found that after being hit by a spear, their reaction was no different from other fish, and their companions wouldn't bother with the attacked sailfish.

They would even engage in cannibalism to reduce competition for resources and mates.

Perhaps this was the main reason they ignored their companions being killed!

If they had hands, they might even be clapping in approval.

But a video was just a video. Perhaps special situations did happen, but anyone who encountered them was already dead and couldn't post about it?

He held his speargun in the water, quietly waiting for a sailfish to approach.

Suddenly, a sailfish shot toward him at incredible speed, seemingly targeting him directly.

But Chu Mingcheng didn't panic. The sailfish was fast, but not beyond his visual tracking ability.

Besides, his agility in a small area was arguably higher than these large fish. As long as he wasn't surrounded, he should be fine.

However, this sailfish, which seemed to be charging at him, actually zipped past at a distance of three or four meters and plunged into the school of sardines.

After eating a few sardines, its speed slowed considerably.

Chu Mingcheng's eyes lit up. This was the one. Who told it to scare him?

This Indo-Pacific sailfish was about two meters long, but probably didn't weigh over a hundred jin, at most slightly over.

Its body was like a thick water pipe, and its long bill was included in the length measurement, so the lighter weight was understandable.

At this moment, the sailfish turned, preparing for its next hunt.

But its speed after turning was also its slowest. Chu Mingcheng had been aiming with his speargun for some time. Seeing this opportunity, he immediately pulled the trigger.

The spear shot through the water, instantly piercing the fish's body right in the belly area behind the gills, penetrating its internal organs.

This was already a serious injury. The spear had passed completely through, so Chu Mingcheng could pull on the line without worrying about it coming loose.

The sailfish, just as in the videos, didn't turn aggressive after being injured to attack him. Instead, it panicked and tried to escape.

But even at two meters, its pulling force was far less than that of a tuna of the same length.

Plus, it was injured, so Chu Mingcheng didn't find it particularly difficult to control.

The nearby sailfish really didn't come to attack him because their companion was injured. They simply went about their business, hunting sardines.

In that case, Chu Mingcheng was completely at ease.

There were currently no sharks in the sailfish's hunting range, allowing him to peacefully battle the fish.

Chu Mingcheng held the line, letting the sailfish circle within his sight while he turned to observe his surroundings, avoiding any surprise attacks.

After a short while, seeing the sailfish could no longer swim, he pulled the line and swam toward the boat.

He'd been underwater for a long time—almost five minutes—but the dense school of sardines provided cover.

Normally, he only needed to stick his snorkel out to breathe. Who could spot him?

Swimming back to the boat and pulling the now-dead sailfish along, Chu Mingcheng surfaced, held up the fish, and shouted, "Agong, your specimen is here!"

Wei Jianguo quickly came over. Seeing the sailfish was a good size, he nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad."

"This fish looks really dangerous!" Jiang Luoluo reached out and touched the sailfish's long bill, sighing.

"It just looks dangerous! In reality, after being hit by the spear and injured, its reaction is no different from an ordinary fish. I think it only gets aggressive when you're angling for it."

Chu Mingcheng said with a smile. He had indeed dealt with this sailfish very easily.

Of course, he wouldn't blindly assume that sailfish weren't dangerous.

Spearfishing itself was an extreme sport, just without the high mortality rate of some other extreme activities.

Having a dive buddy would be much better. People like him, without a dive buddy, weren't recommended to attempt this.

It was only because Chu Mingcheng had his cheat that he played like this. Otherwise, with his personality, he would have definitely dragged Chen Yang or Zhang Wei into it long ago.

The sailfish was then pulled up by a crewman through the small gate, without even needing the winch.

Wei Jianguo carefully placed the sailfish in the cold storage compartment, then stopped fishing and started calling his friends.

Don't misunderstand—he wasn't showing off the fish to his friends, but contacting a friend who knew how to make specimens, inviting him to a fish feast, and then having him take the fish skeleton back.

Having hunted a sailfish that satisfied Wei Jianguo, Chu Mingcheng no longer targeted them.

The price of Indo-Pacific sailfish was very cheap, only about sixty or seventy yuan per jin.

The overall price wasn't much different from mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna, so he stayed near the boat. Whatever large fish came over, he would hunt.

The situation underwater was very complicated now. He had already discovered several sharks over two meters long.

When he'd brought the sailfish back, some sharks had shown signs of wanting to snatch it.

It was just that there were too many sailfish nearby, and Chu Mingcheng himself was not small, which made these sharks wary and reluctant to approach.

Now, relying on the fishing boat, which was a behemoth in the eyes of fish, except for some particularly aggressive sharks, ordinary large fish wouldn't dare provoke it.

Only some weak, smaller fish would approach. After sensing that the fishing boat wasn't aggressive, they would seek shelter beneath the boat.

Moving slightly away from the fishing boat, another large fish appeared in Chu Mingcheng's line of sight.

A huge giant trevally materialized in front of him.

Chu Mingcheng, holding his speargun, hesitated. He didn't know if he should take this fish.

Giant trevally, also known as GT, was a fish that sea fishing enthusiasts liked to catch.

Because it was strong and large, the experience of catching it was excellent.

But this fish's meat was very tough and had a strong fishy smell, so it wasn't popular in the market. The price was as low as ten yuan per jin.

If he were lucky enough to encounter someone filming a food video, he could sell it for about thirty yuan per jin.

In short, it wasn't a profitable fish to sell.

But in the end, thinking that he hadn't hunted this fish before and could gain some experience, he still took the shot.

After all, it was openly swimming in front of him, only three meters away, and had even turned its side toward him. It would be a shame not to take the opportunity.

One shot pierced its head, but the giant trevally's strength was indeed considerable. Chu Mingcheng was caught off guard, and the speargun was directly pulled away.

He quickly went to chase it. Fortunately, it only swam a dozen meters before turning belly-up.

Its head had been pierced, yet it could still swim a dozen meters. Quite impressive.

Grabbing the line, he quickly pulled the fish back to avoid it being attacked by other predators.

But the giant trevally's treatment was really poor; no fish nearby showed any interest in it.

Lifting it onto the boat, Wei Jianguo took one look and dismissed it.

Only Jiang Luoluo ran over to ask, but of course, she wasn't asking about the giant trevally.

She was telling him not to work too hard, to catch a few fish, and come up quickly. They had already earned enough on this trip.

His girlfriend was still so considerate, but with such a rare and spectacular scene, he was unwilling to end it so hastily.

He currently had sixteen uses of Life Conversion and hadn't used any. He had to use one or two, right?