Bigeye Tuna

Ye Yuan sensed the three large fish from earlier and discovered that they were already circling the fishing boat, likely drawn in by the Spatial Bait. At the same time, the Fishing Rod in his hand was suddenly bent into a crescent by an immense force.

Before Ye Yuan could give any warning, the Fishing Rod on Second Brother's side was also seized by a fish. The reel spun rapidly as both men hooked large fish at the same time.

Ye Yuan hurriedly had two crew members go help Second Brother, leaving only Ding Er at his side. This time, all the fishing lines Ye Yuan had brought out to sea were specially made for catching big fish.

An enormous pulling force traveled through the Fishing Rod.

"I don't believe I can't handle you," Ye Yuan muttered, pulling hard on the Fishing Rod.

The reel kept spinning, and more than ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. A three-meter-long Bigeye Tuna had been worn down by Ye Yuan and had little strength left. By then, the Fishing Rod had bent to ninety degrees.

Ye Yuan told Ding Er to take out the Spear Gun. Standing on the deck, Ding Er fired at the fish's back.

The harpoon fired by the Spear Gun had barbs. Once it pierced the fish's body, it was difficult for the fish to escape.

A rope was attached to the tail of the harpoon and tied directly to the crane. Using the crane, they easily hauled the Bigeye Tuna aboard.

The Bigeye Tuna, over three meters long, was completely out of the seawater and suspended a meter above the deck by the crane. It still thrashed desperately, struggling against its restraints to return to the sea.

Bigeye Tuna resembled the world-famous Bluefin Tuna in shape. Their eyes were relatively large, their bodies thick and somewhat hammer-shaped. Their midsections were cylindrical, with nearly circular cross-sections. Their tails were short, while their pectoral fins were long. Those under one meter in length were considered juveniles.

Their backs were blue and their bellies grayish white, while the area above their pectoral fins was blue-black. Most of their flesh was pink and somewhat soft. They could be made into sashimi and were a common species used for tuna sashimi.

Besides being eaten raw, they could be canned, frozen, or dried. Their livers could also be made into cod-liver oil.

Ye Yuan had Ding Er bring over a dagger and cut an opening near the Bigeye Tuna's tail. This was done to drain the blood from the tuna's body.

Because this type of tuna lived in the deep sea, its blood pressure and the gas pressure in its blood were extremely high in order to adapt to the high-pressure environment. Once it was caught and brought aboard, the high pressure inside its body would become unbalanced with the outside air pressure, seriously affecting its taste later.

Therefore, deep-sea fish had to be bled promptly after being caught in order to release the high pressure within their bodies and keep the flesh fresh.

On Second Brother's side, another Bigeye Tuna over two meters long was soon hooked. Second Brother directly abandoned his own fish and instead had the two crew members help him take several photos with the three-meter-long Bigeye Tuna.

After the photos, Second Brother seemed to lose interest in the fish and ran straight into the cabin, though no one knew what he was doing.

Ye Yuan had everyone immediately send the two large fish into the freezer compartment to preserve the freshness of the meat.

Bigeye Tuna were not as valuable as their close relatives, Bluefin Tuna, but they could still sell for 150 yuan per jin. A Bigeye Tuna weighed at least 400 jin, meaning one fish might fetch as much as 60,000 yuan. To fishermen, that was an astronomical price.

In a high-end club in Western Province, two young men drank red wine while watching beautiful women dance onstage. One of them idly fiddled with the custom-made phone in his hand.

When he came across a post on his social feed, the young man directly waved his phone in front of the other man. They looked at each other and both gave bitter smiles.

After posting to his social feed, Second Brother returned straight to the deck and saw Ye Yuan feeding some raw meat to Golden Eagle.

"Fourth Brother, I'm happy today. I'll cover the expenses for this trip." After saying that, he stretched lazily and glanced at the phone in his hand.

Ye Yuan turned back and shot him a disdainful look. After feeding a piece of raw beef to Golden Eagle, he said, "I wasn't planning to head back yet. At the very least, I'm going to drag the nets twice in international waters this time. The fuel and supplies for the round trip would cost more than you could cover even if you sold both those fish."

"Did you forget what I told you last time? We're after the process, understand? The process is what matters. Who said those fish were mine? I only used them for pictures. I said I'd cover this trip, so I'll cover it. Do you know how much this photo is worth?"

Without waiting for Ye Yuan to answer, he continued, "I'm telling you, forget one trip. The expenses for ten trips wouldn't be worth as much as this photo of mine."

Ye Yuan could hear that there was something going on that he did not know about.

Second Brother realized he had let something slip. Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head. "It's nothing much. I made a bet with a few friends. If I could catch a fish bigger than what they caught last time, they'd withdraw from competing for one of my family's projects. That would save my family quite a bit in extra expenses."

Now that Ye Yuan understood what was going on, he also understood why Second Brother cared so much about fishing but did not care about the fish after catching them.

Ye Yuan rolled his eyes at him. "You should've said so earlier. There are plenty of large fish in the deep sea. Catching you a shark wouldn't be a problem."

"Really? You're not lying to me, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you? We'll see. If we run into one, we'll fish again. This isn't the best fishing spot," Ye Yuan answered casually.

The fishing boat sailed across the sea as Ye Yuan and Second Brother enjoyed the sea breeze. In the distance, Little Gold circled the fishing boat in flight.

While chatting, Ye Yuan continued observing the waters below with his senses. They had already been at sea for two days, yet apart from the two Bigeye Tuna, they had caught nothing else.

He had planned to bring back something good this time. As the fishing boat moved along, Ye Yuan sensed that the waters here were relatively shallow and that there were many shrimp and crabs below.

Although Ye Yuan's fishing boat did not have equipment like crab traps, the swimming abilities of his crew members went without saying. They were robots and did not need to breathe.

Ding Yi stopped the boat, and every crew member except Ding Yi went into the sea to catch seafood. Each of them symbolically brought along an oxygen tank so that Second Brother would not grow suspicious. Ye Yuan handed Second Brother a set of diving gear and began putting on his own.

"I haven't played around like this since graduation. Want to compete this time?" Second Brother asked as he put on his diving gear, tilting his head toward Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan ignored that look and continued with what he was doing.

With a splash, Second Brother jumped straight into the sea. Ye Yuan finished putting on his gear and followed him down, trailing Second Brother to the seabed. He saw him skillfully feeling around and poking through the seabed sand. He gave Ye Yuan a thumbs-up, apparently showing that there was no problem at all.

No longer paying attention to him, Ye Yuan swam off into the distance. After all, he could not let Second Brother discover his secret. Through his senses, he could grasp everything around him underwater.

Relying on his advantage beneath the sea, Ye Yuan quickly filled the net bag he had brought down. When he surfaced, Second Brother was already sitting on a chair aboard the boat, drinking a beverage.

"Why did you come up so quickly? Not going to play around a little longer?" Ye Yuan asked as he swam toward the fishing boat.

"I'm too tired. This body of mine is done for. After staying down there for a while, I started feeling uncomfortable."

"Then rest on the boat. We'll need some more time here. There's plenty of seafood below."

PS: Thanks to 08a for the reward, and thanks to several friends for the monthly votes. Today was the first recommendation slot for Fingertip's first book. Although the results were not very good, Fingertip would keep working hard. Keep it up, and thank you all for your support.