"God..."
Aruk tentatively shook the handle.
There was no rattling or grinding noise from the gears; it was smooth and silky.
" Shimano's flagship, a deep-sea angler's dream. This thing is a work of art."
Aruk clicked his tongue, his eyes revealing a kind of obsession that only a fisherman could understand, before turning into that familiar teasing.
"Hey Su Wei, bringing this thing onto my beat-up ship is like wearing a custom Armani suit to shovel manure in a pigsty. I'd feel sorry for you if you got even a single drop of that damn seawater splashed on you."
Tools are meant to be used.
Su Wei took the wheel from his hand, calmly secured it to the rod seat, and tightened the locking nut. The metallic click was crisp and pleasant, like the click of a bolt being cocked.
"If it can't pull the fish up, then it's just an expensive piece of scrap metal. Even the prettiest scrap metal is still scrap metal."
Su Wei inserted the assembled fishing rod into the rod holder on the side of the boat, then took off his coat and put on the spare rubber vest and waterproof boots handed to him by Aruk, his movements efficient.
Are you ready?
Su Wei looked at Aruk, his tone calm, but a barely perceptible fervor lurked in his eyes.
Clearly, he was looking forward to this trip.
Aruk paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, and gave a thumbs-up. He jumped into the cockpit and pressed the start button.
"Hold on tight, my big boss. I'll take you to see the real Bering Sea."
Once you leave the breakwater of the harbor, the world goes wild.
The sea was not calm in the early morning. Black swells were a meter and a half high, and the aluminum alloy hull jumped on the crests of the waves. Each time it fell, it slammed heavily into the water and made a loud bang.
Sudovi sat in the passenger seat, gripping the handrail with one hand, adjusting his center of gravity as the boat rose and fell.
This kind of bumpy ride is different from off-road driving on land. It's completely erratic, with up-and-down undulations mixed with side-to-side swaying, making your internal organs feel disoriented. Novices would have long been lying on the gunwale feeding the fish.
Su Wei had never tried sea fishing in his previous life, which means he himself had never been on such a boat.
In this life, it's unclear whether it's due to the influence of the original owner of this body.
This meant he didn't seem to show any signs of seasickness.
This allowed him to relax a little, and his body became less tense.
As long as you don't get seasick, it's fine.
Su Wei had already prepared himself for the possibility of seasickness.
It seems the seasickness pills in my pocket are no longer needed.
Aruk's mockery could be swallowed back down his throat, with no chance to escape.
"The waves were a bit big today, but that's nothing. For the Kodiak people, it's just the beginning."
Aruk had to shout loudly to drown out the sound of the wind and waves.
As he said, the idea that the Kodiak people don't know how to fish or travel by boat is a joke.
He skillfully controlled the rudder, cutting through the waves at a 45-degree angle to minimize turbulence.
It took about forty minutes to drive.
There was no land in sight; all that remained was the cold, gray-black seawater and a few skuas circling overhead.
"We've arrived at point one."
The Aruk slowed down, its speed dropped sharply, white spray rose from its stern, and the boat gradually stabilized due to inertia.
This is the edge of a continental shelf, tens of meters deep, where the seabed is covered with reefs and mud-sand mixtures, making it a favorite habitat for stone crabs and snow crabs.
While Aruk was tidying up the crab traps, Su Wei quietly activated the Water Condition Perception of the Fishing Module.
This perception is very strange; it is not something seen with the naked eye, but a unique sensation.
Within a ten-meter radius of him, everything in the sea was within his sight.
Looking down, it's already more than ten meters.
It seems that the distance Water Condition Perception is horizontal, but not vertical.
Once his senses were fully engaged, he could clearly see the scattered fish lights swimming by in the sea, as well as the dense clusters of lights at the bottom.
It must be a stone crab or a snow crab.
We were lucky; there were quite a few crabs here.
"Come quickly, Su Wei!"
Aruk shouted loudly, urging Su Wei to act quickly.
Su Wei stopped watching and walked over.
The work that followed was tedious and arduous.
Su Wei stood on the ship's railing, and in the sub-zero temperatures, each breath he took carried a thick white mist.
He and Aruk worked together seamlessly— Aruk was responsible for adjusting the ship's position against the current, Su Wei was responsible for launching the cargo.
Lift the steel crab cage, which weighs over ten kilograms.
Throw.
"Whoosh!"
The cage crashed into the water, splashing up icy spray, and sank rapidly with its orange buoy bobbing in its wake.
The connecting rope glided rapidly through my gloved hands until it touched the bottom, giving me that unique feeling of relaxation.
Thirty cages.
As the last buoy bobbed on the sea, Su Wei's arms ached, and a fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Alright, now we just wait."
Aruk climbed out of the cockpit, took two cans of ice-cold Red Bull from the cooler, and tossed one to Su Wei.
"It takes time for the crabs to be put into the cage; they need to soak for at least five hours. This time is our entertainment time."
He pointed to the deep water area not far away, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Over there. I've been there a few times. The black cod that have been migrating back these past few days should be in that area. If we're lucky, we might even spot a halibut. Those flat guys are valuable."
Aruk restarted the boat and headed towards the fishing spot a few nautical miles away.
The ship headed towards Shipwreck Bay, where the complex seabed topography makes it a good hiding place for fish.
The engine speed dropped, and the roar turned into a low, sputtering sound.
The Wavebreaker broke through the last swell and came to a stop in this sea area that Aruk called the Golden Zone.
All around was a vast expanse of gray and white.
The seawater had a deep, almost blackish blue color, a sign that the water was over two hundred meters deep.
The sea breeze, carrying tiny ice crystals, crackled and popped against the hard shell of the windbreaker.
"This is it."
Aruk leaned out of the driver's seat, pointing to the chaotic waveforms on the sonar screen with an air of certainty.
" Old Tom got drunk at the pub yesterday and let the news slip. He said he encountered a school of migrating black cod on the edge of this continental shelf, and he could catch them with just one cast without even using bait. This old guy is usually very tight-lipped, but he never lies when he's drunk."
He rubbed his frostbitten hands, picked up the old, weathered fiberglass boat rod, and deftly began baiting the hook.
Frozen herring, cut into sections, was pierced by a huge, corrosion-resistant hook, and the fishy, foul smell instantly filled the cold air.
Su Wei did not move.
He stood at the ship's side, one hand on the railing, the other resting on the cold aluminum hull.
My gaze pierced through the turbulent sea.
[ Fishing Module LV1: Water Condition Perception Unlocked]
The image on my retina changed instantly.
The originally murky seawater seemed to have been filtered, becoming clear and transparent.
Within a ten-meter diameter cylinder centered on the ship's hull, all biological activity was transformed into points of light of different colors.
He continued to delve deeper into his perception.
Fifty meters.
One hundred meters.
Two hundred meters.
The outline of the seabed gradually formed a rough 3D model in his mind.
This is a flat, muddy bottom with a few large, scattered reefs.
open.
Dead silence.