Sea Fishing

After hearing his father and the villagers' account, Ye Yuan looked at Ye Zhuang. Ye Zhuang knew he had been in the wrong and was about to explain himself, but Ye Yuan directly waved him off.

"I'll have Ding Yi transfer this month's wages and bonus to your card. You're no longer suited to work on my boat."

After saying that, Ye Yuan pulled his father away. Ye Zhuang watched his retreating figure, his lips moving several times, but no sound ever came out.

Seeing this outcome, Ye Zhuang's Uncle quietly pulled his wife away.

Ye Yuan's expression was unpleasant. He instructed Ding Yi and Ding Er to move the broken jade and several fishing rods from the pickup onto the boat, then returned to the cabin.

He had never expected Ye Zhuang, whom he had considered so honest, to do something like this.

The matter of the Abalone Habitat itself meant little to Ye Yuan. After all, he had already taken all the abalone there.

What angered him was Ye Zhuang's complete lack of principles. He could trust an uncle who had treated him like that before. There would only be more secrets on Ye Yuan's boat in the future. If Ye Zhuang remained, would he reveal other things as well?

After this incident, Ye Yuan decided he needed to get more robots. Not only were they capable workers, but their loyalty was beyond comparison with outsiders.

At that moment, Ding Er delivered a large bag of broken jade. Ye Yuan asked about the boat's supplies. Ding Yi and the others had already taken care of them that morning, and the boat was now fully stocked. Ye Yuan ordered them to set sail back to Fishing Bay Island.

Sitting in the cabin, Ye Yuan exchanged the entire bag of broken jade for points. Just as he was about to check how many points he had, the system's voice rang out.

"The system has obtained sufficient points. Upgrading... Estimated upgrade time: 10 hours."

Ye Yuan discovered that he could not enter the space during this system upgrade. It seemed he could only wait until the upgrade was complete to see what had changed.

After returning home, Ye Yuan was still in a bad mood because of Ye Zhuang's matter. He went straight back to his room alone.

Second Brother took out the toys they had bought on Blue Island and played with Niuniu in the villa courtyard.

In the villa courtyard, Niuniu hugged a doll taller than herself and rode Big Yellow as she chased a golden eagle flying low in the air, two meters above the ground. Second Brother kept taking pictures with his phone and posting them to his social feed.

Back in his room, Ye Yuan anxiously waited for the system upgrade to finish when a voice message from Eldest Brother caught his attention.

"Fourth Brother, go online and take a look. Huge news. I know that person is you, hahaha. You're a national hero now."

The incomprehensible message left Ye Yuan confused. He opened a webpage and found that every site had the same headline.

Major forums were in an uproar over the news.

"My brother is amazing!"

"What even is this?"

"Second-floor commenters have been idiots since ancient times."

"Little fisherman, big wisdom!"

"Fisherman cutie, leave your contact info. I can meet up, I can warm your bed, no designer brands, no handbags—just one bowl of spicy soup..."

"My brother is amazing, and so is my country."

Looking at those comments, Ye Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. Even he, the person responsible for it all, had not felt that he had done anything so great. Yet these netizens made him sound incredibly impressive.

As Ye Yuan read the comments online, time slowly passed.

"The system has upgraded to version 2.0." System initialization in progress...

After the brief notification, Ye Yuan entered the space.

The gray sky had turned sky-blue. The reef cluster had become a sea island about one mu in size. The original stone monument had disappeared, replaced by a projection-like screen floating above the island. The former pool had also become a sizable inland lake on the island.

Host: Ye Yuan

Points: 50800/50800

Strength: 25

Speed: 15

Endurance: 20

Title: Intern Fisherman (Aquatic creature affinity +11)

Fishery Space (Beginner): Accelerates the growth of creatures in the fishery and can alter their appearance through point exchanges.

Points Mall (Intermediate): Points can be used to exchange for items in the mall. The currently available items are as follows...

After spending several hundred points, Ye Yuan figured out some of the changes brought by the system upgrade.

Strength 25 was his current rating. According to the system's assessment, an ordinary human's strength was 15, while some combat experts had a strength of 30. The same went for speed and endurance. Ye Yuan's values exceeded those of ordinary people but fell below the top figures in those fields.

The second change involved points. Previously, points only displayed the current amount. From now on, they would also show the cumulative total. 50300/50800 was the point display after Ye Yuan asked the system about it.

The mall had upgraded to Intermediate, revealing many things Ye Yuan had never even imagined. But once he saw the points required to exchange for them, he lost all interest.

Thinking of what had happened with Ye Zhuang during the day, Ye Yuan directly exchanged for four robots through the system. He had them report to Ding Yi and learn some knowledge about Blue Star aboard the boat.

The Water Controller sailed across the boundless sea. The seagulls that usually followed the fishing boat whenever it went out were nowhere to be seen. In their place, a golden eagle circled above the vessel. Perhaps because it had only recently learned to fly, it occasionally landed on the mast to rest.

"I'm telling you, Fourth Brother, you've really got style. Other people bring bodyguards when they go out, but you bring a golden eagle. Are you planning to become some Condor Hero too?" Second Brother was still as unserious as ever.

"I don't want to lose an arm. Besides, I don't have an aunt."

Ye Yuan was in a good mood, so he joked around with Second Brother as well.

They had been at sea for half a day already. Second Brother had repeatedly urged Ye Yuan to find a spot with plenty of fish so they could start fishing.

Ye Yuan sensed the surrounding waters and found no large fish. This trip was not only to accompany Second Brother on a fishing outing; he also needed to catch some rare seafood for Wang Yueshan.

During their last transaction, Ye Yuan had seen Zhao Yueshan's disappointment. He did not want to lose the sales channel he had worked so hard to establish.

The fishing boat continued onward. Ye Yuan had great confidence in fishing. He had discovered by chance that the pool water in the space was highly attractive to fish. Bait soaked in that water could draw in a great many fish.

After Second Brother asked several more times, Ye Yuan finally sensed three large fish approaching the boat ahead. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he told Ding Yi to reduce the speed to the minimum. Then he took out Spatial Bait and began sea fishing with Second Brother.

Very soon, a fish with a bluish-gray back, a whitish belly, and irregular black spots along its sides was hooked. It was a type of sea perch known as White Perch.

Sea perch were divided into White Perch and Black Perch. White Perch had bluish-gray backs, whitish bellies, and black spots along their sides; Black Perch were darker overall, a deep blackish-gray, with less noticeable black spots.

Most sea perch weighed only one or two jin. The one Second Brother caught weighed a full three jin, which was a decent haul. Yet Second Brother did not seem particularly happy. Ye Yuan felt that Second Brother had something on his mind this time, but since he had not said anything, Ye Yuan did not feel comfortable asking.

PS: Thanks to brother 08a for the reward.