Sea Fishing

After listening to his father and the villagers, Ye Yuan looked at Ye Zhuang. Ye Zhuang knew he had done wrong and was about to explain, but Ye Yuan directly waved him off.

"I'll have Ding Yi transfer this month's wages and bonus to your card. You're not fit to work on my boat anymore."

Ye Yuan finished speaking and pulled his father away. Ye Zhuang watched Ye Yuan's retreating back, his mouth moving a few times, but no sound came out.

Ye Zhuang's uncle, seeing this outcome from the sidelines, quietly pulled his wife and slipped away.

Ye Yuan's expression was grim. He instructed Ding Yi and the other man to move the broken jade and some fishing rods from the pickup truck onto the boat, then returned to the cabin.

He really hadn't expected that Ye Zhuang, whom he had considered honest, would do something like this.

The matter of the Abalone Habitat itself wasn't a big deal to Ye Yuan, since he had already caught all the abalone there.

What angered him was Ye Zhuang's lack of conviction. If he could trust an uncle who had treated him so poorly in the past, then as more secrets accumulated on the boat, would Ye Zhuang spill those too if he stayed?

After this incident, Ye Yuan decided it would be better to get a few more robots. Not only were they capable, but their loyalty was something no outsider could match.

Just then, Ding Er brought in a large bag of broken jade. Ye Yuan asked about the boat's supplies; Ding Er and the others had already restocked in the morning, and the boat was fully provisioned. Ye Yuan ordered them to set sail back to Fishing Bay Island.

Sitting in the cabin, Ye Yuan converted the entire bag of broken jade into points. Just as he was about to check his current point total, the system's voice rang out.

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

Ye Yuan realized that during this system upgrade, he wouldn't be able to enter the space. He would have to wait until the upgrade was complete to see the specifics.

Back home, Ye Yuan was in a bad mood because of the Ye Zhuang incident. He went straight to his room alone.

Second Brother, meanwhile, took out the toys he had bought on Blue Island and played with Niuniu in the villa's courtyard.

In the courtyard, Niuniu hugged a doll taller than herself, riding Big Yellow as she chased the Golden Eagle, which was flying low, two meters off the ground. Second Brother kept taking photos with his phone and posting them on his social feed.

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

"Fourth Brother, check the internet. Big news. I know that person is you, haha. You're a national hero now."

The cryptic message confused Ye Yuan. He opened a browser and found that the headlines on every website were the same.

All the major forums were buzzing with this news.

"Awesome, my bro." "What's this all about?" "Since ancient times, the second floor has been full of idiots." "Little fisherman, big wisdom!" "Fisherman bro, leave your contact info. We can meet in person, I can warm your bed. Don't need name brands, don't need bags, just a bowl of spicy hotpot..." "Awesome, my bro. Awesome, my country."

Looking at these comments, Ye Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He, the instigator, hadn't even realized he was so great. The netizens made him sound incredibly impressive.

Watching the online comments and replies, time passed bit by bit.

"System upgraded to version 2.0." System initializing...

After a brief prompt, Ye Yuan arrived in the space.

The gray sky had turned a clear blue. The cluster of reefs had become an island about an acre in size. The original stone tablet was gone, 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 (Basic): Accelerates the growth rate of organisms in the fishery. Can use points to change organism appearance. Points Mall (Intermediate): Can use points to exchange for items in the mall. Currently exchangeable items are as follows...

Using a few hundred points, Ye Yuan figured out some of the changes after this system upgrade.

Strength 25 was his current index. According to the system's estimate, an average human's strength was 15, while some martial arts masters had a strength of 30. Speed and endurance were similar. Ye Yuan's stats were higher than ordinary people but lower than the top-tier individuals in these areas.

Second was the points. Previously, points only showed the current balance. From now on, points would show the cumulative total. 50300/50800 was the point display after Ye Yuan inquired.

The mall had upgraded to intermediate, and many items appeared that Ye Yuan had never even imagined. But seeing the exchange cost for those items, he quickly lost interest.

Remembering the Ye Zhuang incident from earlier, Ye Yuan directly exchanged for four robots in the system. He told the four robots to report to Ding Yi and learn some knowledge about Blue Star on the boat.

The "Water Controller" sailed across the endless sea. The seagulls that usually surrounded the fishing boat were gone, replaced by a Golden Eagle circling above the mast. Perhaps because it had just learned to fly, the Golden Eagle occasionally landed on the mast to rest.

"I'm telling you, Fourth Brother, you've got style. Other people bring bodyguards when they go out, you bring a Golden Eagle. Are you going to become a 'Condor Hero' or something?" Second Brother was still his usual unserious self.

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

Ye Yuan was in a good mood and bantered back with Second Brother.

They had been at sea for half a day, and Second Brother had already urged Ye Yuan multiple times to find a place with lots of fish to go fishing.

Ye Yuan sensed the surrounding waters—no large fish nearby. This trip wasn't just about fishing with Second Brother; he also needed to catch some rare seafood for Wang Yueshan.

From their last transaction, Ye Yuan had noticed a hint of disappointment in Wang Yueshan's eyes. He didn't want to lose the sales channel he'd worked so hard to establish.

The fishing boat pressed on. Ye Yuan had great confidence in fishing, thanks to a chance discovery: the pool of water in his space held a strong attraction for fish. Bait soaked in that water could lure in plenty of them.

After Second Brother asked several times, Ye Yuan finally sensed three large fish approaching the boat. A slight smile tugged at his lips as he told Ding Yi to reduce speed to a minimum. He took out the Spatial Bait and started sea fishing with Second Brother.

Soon, a fish was hauled up—its back a greenish-gray, belly white, with irregular black spots on its sides. This was a type of Sea Perch called White Perch.

Sea Perch are divided into White Perch and Black Perch. White Perch have greenish-gray backs, white bellies, and irregular black spots; Black Perch are darker, a deep black-gray overall, with less noticeable black spots.

Most Sea Perch weigh 1-2 jin. The one Second Brother caught was a solid 3 jin—a decent haul. But Second Brother didn't look particularly happy. Ye Yuan felt that Second Brother had something weighing on his mind coming here, but since he hadn't brought it up, Ye Yuan didn't feel right asking.

PS: Thanks to brother 08a for the tip.