You call this a fish?

Today's weather

The sky is clear and cloudless-a good day for fishing!

Location: Origin Sea

Daylight remaining: 5 hours

Temperature: 12-20°C

Wind force: 1

Yang Yi took a deep breath and checked his status.

Sanity: 100/100

Energy: 90/100

He also used the log's simple crafting function to make a crude spear from 5 wood, just in case.

He tucked the flintlock pistol behind his waist as well.

If he caught something huge later, he might have to subdue it by physical means.

As for bait, Yang Yi had already checked the log. Fishing here required no bait, presumably thanks to the system's power.

But attaching bait would improve fishing efficiency.

Preparations were complete.

Now... time to fish!

Yang Yi cast his line. The hook traced an arc and landed in the sea.

He wasn't particularly good at fishing, but now... he had all the time he needed to learn!

Fifteen minutes passed without the slightest movement from the float.

Yang Yi opened the world channel to see what the other anglers had caught, so he could prepare himself.

"How did you guys know I caught a fish? 100 cm!"

A photo of a large bass was attached.

"Who the fuck asked you?!"

"I caught a monster too!"

"How big?"

"Enormous. Couldn't reel it in!"

"Then what the hell are you talking about?!"

Yang Yi scrolled up and finally spotted an interesting message.

"Be careful when you're fishing. If you spot anything that looks wrong, cut the line immediately.

"There's no penalty. As long as you don't lose your rod, the line regenerates infinitely."

"What did you catch, then?"

"It looked like a human figure. Anyway, I cut the line right away."

"Must've been a mermaid. You released your wife!"

"There was definitely something wrong with that thing. Just look at my fishing rod."

[Name: Carbon-Fiber Refined Fishing Rod]

[Type: Tool]

[Grade: Fine]

[Description: An excellent fishing rod that you can pass down to your grandson.

Increases fishing success rate, reduces energy consumption while fishing, and slightly increases the probability of catching unidentified things.]

"That's good stuff! Why is my rod just a basic common one?!"

"Count your blessings! I'm a veteran angler, and I don't even have a rod. I'm still messing around with a grappling hook. Crafting a crude fishing rod takes ten wood!"

"You're getting jealous too soon. Take a look at my ship."

[Fisherman, level 1, durability 345/400, capacity 500 units, speed 25 knots]

[Hull skills: None]

[Description: It isn't sturdy and has no skills, but it can make you more like a fisherman.]

At the sight of the little boat's 25-knot speed, half the envious people lost their envy.

"Why has your fishing boat lost durability?"

"I just hauled up a three-meter great white shark. It almost swallowed me...

"Now I cut the line whenever anything big bites. Otherwise, once I haul it aboard, who knows which of us will eat the other!"

Yang Yi kept scrolling and discovered that fishing didn't just yield fish. Some people had caught other things, even treasure chests and fresh water.

"I caught a treasure chest!"

"A treasure chest? What's inside?"

"Secret!"

"You guys can all catch fish, but I haven't even seen a single one yet!

"All I've caught are socks, Nongfu Three Fists, and even a balloon."

"Nongfu Three Fists...?"

"Is that balloon actually a balloon? It hasn't been used, has it?"

From the chat history, he could tell.

Fishing here could yield all sorts of unbelievable things.

Even monsters.

Yang Yi was mentally prepared. If anything that surfaced looked wrong, he would cut the line immediately.

A few minutes later, the float finally began to tremble. Something seemed to be biting.

Yang Yi held his breath and focused.

He had a spear and a pistol. As long as it was a fish, there probably wouldn't be much of a problem...

The float sank. Now-pull!

Yang Yi yanked hard, his eyes fixed on the azure sea.

He saw no enormous shadow. A casual pull brought the thing straight out of the water, with virtually no resistance.

What landed aboard was a little fish as thick as his thumb, though it wasn't entirely a fish.

Its body was about three centimeters long and streamlined, much like an ordinary sardine.

But this fish had four long, five-centimeter legs growing from its sides, and it stood on all fours on the deck.

Yang Yi froze, staring into the fish's eyes...

"Is this a fish?"

Yang Yi was shocked.

[You discovered a strange fish. Sanity decreased by 2.]

The next second, the fish deftly used its long legs to flee toward the sea, only for Yang Yi to smack it dead against the deck with his spear.

[Name: Long-Legged Sardine]

[Type: Food]

[Description: An abyssal fish species. It is said that eating it regularly can give you long legs.

Edible, nontoxic, and delicious, but eating it requires courage and may lower sanity.]

Yang Yi picked up the fish. It probably weighed less than a hundred grams. Its four deathly pale legs were already broken, their structure identical to human legs, and they felt springy and bouncy.

"You can eat this?"

Yang Yi remembered the ship's skill-Angler's Curse: unable to catch normal fish.

He used the log to take a photo of the fish and shared it in the world channel.

"Has anyone here caught this kind of fish?"

His question caused an uproar.

"Holy shit, what is that thing? Mental contamination! Sanity -8."

"You call this a fish?"

"Why would you do this to my eyes? Sanity -10!"

"Blocked!"

"Blocked!"

"May we never meet again!"

Over a billion people instantly blocked Yang Yi. All of them had suffered some loss of sanity.

But someone suddenly sent him a private message.

"Is the water where you are black? You'd better leave quickly, or you might be attacked by unidentified monsters!"

Yang Yi glanced at the azure sea beneath his ship, somewhat speechless.

"No. My ship is a ghost ship..."

"Wow, impressive! Add me as a friend!"

Xu Da, captain of the Gale, sent a friend request.

Yang Yi accepted. It was just adding a friend; he wouldn't lose anything.

"You'd better stop posting photos like that. My sanity is only 54. Any lower and I'll go mad."

"Got it."

Yang Yi also realized how serious this was, but for food and fresh water, he had to keep fishing!

[You caught a Long-Legged Sardine.]

[You caught a Long-Legged Sardine.]

[You caught a Long-Legged Sardine with one lame leg.]

"SHIT!"

[Your sanity decreased by 1.]

Yang Yi felt the system had deliberately given him an abnormal ship.

An ordinary person would go mad before they could even fish for a full day.

After three hours of fishing, he had caught eight Long-Legged Sardines in total, some missing a leg.

But fresh water? He hadn't seen so much as a drop!

Where was that Nongfu Three Fists he'd been promised?

A person could survive over a week without food.

But without water, a person would die within three to five days, unless... they drank their own urine!

Unless he had absolutely no choice, Yang Yi didn't want to go that far!

Steeling himself, he grabbed a Long-Legged Sardine to use as bait and began fishing again.