Legendary Fishing Rod

Ling Chu silently prayed as she opened the blind box, Please don't let it be wood. Even if I don't get a weapon, some food would be fine.

The moment she opened the blind box, a slender item materialized in her hand.

[Lucky Jelly Octopus Fishing Rod]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Comes with Jelly Octopus Bait, emitting a strange aroma with extremely strong suction. Every cast guarantees a bite, greatly increasing the chance of catching special fish and special items. Of course, certain bizarre creatures may also be attracted to it, so use with caution.
Fishermen Never Come Back Empty-Handed!]

Ling Chu's eyes lit up. This was like a pillow arriving just as she felt sleepy—with a fishing rod that came with its own bait, she wouldn't have to worry about bait anymore.

The quality was even Legendary. Before her transmigration, she'd played those "one-slice-999" online games, and the word "Legendary" sounded far more impressive than the ordinary dagger someone had shown off in the channel earlier.

Too bad it was a fishing rod; she'd rather have a weapon for self-defense.

But she couldn't be too greedy. Compared to players who drew five pieces of wood, Ling Chu felt this was already a heavenly start.

She examined the fishing rod carefully. It was far more finely crafted than the beginner rod, with ornate patterns carved into the handle. At the end of the fishing line hung a transparent little octopus, crystal-clear like jelly.

She poked the jelly with her finger, and the little octopus was actually alive, its eight tentacles tightly wrapping around her finger. Ling Chu personally experienced just how strong that "extremely strong suction" was—she couldn't pry it off at all.

"Let go."

She tapped the octopus's head with her other hand, and the octopus seemed to realize it had latched onto the wrong person, quietly releasing her finger.

Facing the sea, rod in hand, Ling Chu cast a beautiful arc.

This was a Legendary-quality fishing rod; she refused to believe it wouldn't catch fish.

As for the warning in the item description to use it with caution, Ling Chu completely ignored it.

When you're starving to death, who cares about bizarre creatures?

No matter what she caught, as long as it was edible.

Less than two minutes after the bait hit the water, the float suddenly sank beneath the surface.

Ling Chu's wrist dipped, the tip of the rod bending into an arc under the pulling force.

Something was on the hook!

The pull wasn't very strong. Ling Chu swung the rod onto the raft in one go, and a silvery little fish landed on the wooden planks, flapping its tail.

[You have obtained Mackerel*1]
[Auto-decompose? (Fish meat and materials decomposed by the system will be reduced)]

Ling Chu chose "Yes." Without proper tools nearby, she couldn't handle the fish's internal organs, and she wasn't about to eat it raw.

[You have obtained Mackerel Slices*3]

Weighing the slices in her hand, one mackerel was about a pound. After decomposition, it was reduced by over three hundred grams—roughly a third skimmed off by the system. Ling Chu decided that once she had proper tools, she'd process the fish herself. This system was way too shady.

After fussing around for half a day, Ling Chu was getting hungry. She took a bite of a fish slice. The texture was soft and sticky with a slight sweetness, even more delicious than the sashimi she'd eaten at Japanese restaurants.

Indeed, freshly caught fish was something else.

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She finished the slice in a few bites but was only half full. There was no helping it—the fish was just too small.

Ling Chu gripped the fishing rod tightly and cast the bait into the sea again. With this rod that never came back empty-handed, why worry about food?

Before long, the float sank again. Another fish was on the hook.

Ling Chu pulled up the catch without much effort.

The sun was setting, and the sky had grown dim. The thing was especially bright in the fading light. Ling Chu thought she'd gotten lucky and caught something valuable, but when she looked closer, it turned out to be a starfish.

[Fluorescent Starfish]
[Inedible. Emits light in the dark. Can serve as a cute little bedside lamp.]

Ling Chu's mouth stiffened. She only wanted edible fish. This starfish could only glow—seemed like a beautiful waste.

Once caught, the starfish didn't move or run, so Ling Chu tossed it aside.

But in the time that followed, she only caught two mackerel and one sea bream. The rest were all fluorescent starfish, piling up on the raft until it was nearly full—blue, green, pink... They seemed to have made an appointment, rushing one after another to bite her hook. Ling Chu wondered if she'd stumbled into a starfish nest.

With no moon or stars in the pitch-black backdrop, the pile of fluorescent starfish became the only light source. Blue, green, pink, purple—all colors interweaving and shifting, casting the entire raft in a bizarre, eerie glow.

Ling Chu's face, her hands, the wooden planks beneath her feet—all were stained with a flowing, unreal light. The glow even projected onto the dark sea around her, as if the raft were sailing across a magical sea of stars.

Though the raft had no sail, it kept drifting along with the waves. Ling Chu couldn't help but wonder if she happened to be in waters where fluorescent starfish thrived, which was why all she caught were starfish.

She rubbed her sore wrist and heard a system notification.

[Friendly reminder to all players: It is now 11 PM. From now until 5 AM, the chance of catching bizarre creatures and special items will double. It is recommended that you sleep early and rise early. Staying up late is bad for your health~]

The three fish she'd caught today were all small—a meager haul.

Besides securing food for tomorrow, she also wanted to trade fish meat with other players for some freshwater. But the system's warning made her uneasy. She decided to cast one last line. If she caught another starfish, she'd go rest and sleep.

She cast the line into the water again. Within a few minutes, her hand felt a heavy pull. This time, the force at the rod tip was noticeably stronger!

It had to weigh at least fifty or sixty jin. Ling Chu pulled the line back with all her strength, secretly relieved that this time, at least, it wasn't a Fluorescent Starfish.

Ling Chu had always been more athletic than her peers since childhood, sweeping the long-distance and sprint awards at sports meets. In university, she could still carry a Mineral Water barrel with one hand, and when she rolled up her sleeves, the muscle lines on her arms were clearly visible.

Ling Chu tugged at the fishing line and realized the other end didn't feel like a living thing—there was no back-and-forth struggle.

Could it be hooked on some coral or a rock?

Ling Chu reeled in unhurriedly, dragged it to the edge of the raft, and then hauled it aboard with her bare hands.

It turned out to be a Wine Barrel as tall as a person.

Ling Chu didn't open it right away. She first leaned in and tapped the lid to make sure there was nothing alive inside, then wedged a wooden plank into the gap along the lid's edge and pried it open.

As the lid came off, a long-sealed, decaying stench rushed out.

Ling Chu covered her nose and leaned in to look. Inside, curled up, was a complete human skeleton.

The skull wore a wide, triangular Pirate Hat, an Eyepatch over one eye socket, a Rusty Revolver clutched in its left hand, and on the finger bones of its right hand was something gleaming—a ring, it seemed.

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