Chapter 31

When Da Fei woke up, it was already 6 PM. By then, three days had already passed in the game, and the ship had been drifting at sea for three days, no one knew where it had drifted to. Da Fei's character, having been idle for three days, was extremely weak and his stamina had dropped to zero.

Anyway, it was good that nothing had happened. Da Fei went downstairs and hurriedly ate a plate of fried rice, then returned to continue playing the game, staring blankly at the sea.

The sea was calm, and the sky was clear. Generally, there would be more seabirds when the ship was near an island or land. Now, with not a single bird in sight, it was clear that they were in the middle of the ocean. Although the sea in the game wasn't as vast as in real life, compared to the current slow drift speed, it was terrifying. When would this drifting end?

Da Fei now had seven skill points. Should he max out his sailing skills? That would increase his speed by 100%, making the drift more effective... No, no! In this situation, it was highly likely that he would need to fight monsters and complete quests to earn repair costs after reaching land, so he had to save his skill points for battles.

Sigh, what a dilemma. Even after completing this trial quest, things wouldn't be easy. Well, it wasn't good for his character to be so weak. He needed to eat something. Although the seven days' worth of rations for new players had run out, he had still managed to catch some seafood on the island, which could tide him over.

Da Fei opened his inventory and was immediately stunned.

—Rotten Ingredients: Ingredients past their expiration date. Consuming them will cause poisoning and disease.

Damn! There's an expiration date? Don't be so annoying! What should he do? Just drink water?

Bah! That won't stop me.

Da Fei, dragging his weak body, slowly made his way to the lower gun deck, where he found over a dozen fishing rods in a box. He had felt them around in the dark that night. Sailors couldn't possibly be without fishing rods. And this slow drift was perfect for fishing. As for bait, of course, it would be the rotten ingredients.

The fishing rods had special hooks at the end, so Da Fei lined them up along the ship's rail, flipping through the boring sailing logs while waiting for the fish to bite.

The system didn't disappoint Da Fei. In a day, he caught quite a few small, random fish, which he had to eat raw. The sailors even said they treated fleas like sesame seeds. Anyway, although eating raw fish caused a negative debuff that reduced his damage, the issue of hunger and thirst was resolved, and his stamina was restored after drinking some water.

Then, Da Fei got annoyed again. He had to keep fishing. He really didn't like fishing, but if he could catch a bottle that granted him three wishes, or even a mermaid, it would be different.

This time, Da Fei used the small fish as bait. The system didn't let him be bored for long. The fishing rod suddenly shook, and he had a catch!

—System Notice: You caught a sailfish, gaining +135 experience!

Wow! A fish that gives experience! This was a big one! Back on the island, he couldn't even defeat a fish of this size in the seawater.

Da Fei finally found some fun. If he could use scraps to catch small fish, and small fish to catch medium-sized fish, then medium-sized fish should be able to catch big fish, right? He decided to go all the way.

Da Fei used a lot of energy and almost broke the fishing rod to pull up the fish, which was as big as a person. Then he tried to combine the lines of the dozen fishing rods and cruelly stuffed all the hooks into the fish's body.

To catch a big fish, the fishing line had to be strong, and the hooks had to be many. However, if a big fish did bite, these fishing rods and lines might not be reliable.

After some thought, Da Fei found a large bundle of spare thick ropes used for controlling the sails, tied the fish into a big bundle, and secured the other end to the mast. This should work. Then he put the fish back into the sea.

He wondered if the system would recognize this as fishing. If not, it would be considered fighting monsters.

Fighting monsters, huh? He loved that. His ballista was thirsty for action!

So Da Fei returned to the gun deck, spent ten minutes reassembling the ballista, which only had 8 HP left. But it didn't matter. The situation was different now. The gun deck was the life of the ballista. To destroy this 8 HP ballista, they would have to destroy the gun deck first. He believed a mere big fish wouldn't have that capability.

Time passed, the sun rose and set, and two hours in real life equaled a day in the game. It seemed that predators that could eat such a large bait weren't easy to encounter. Perhaps the system didn't recognize this method of using a dozen fishing rods and reinforced with ropes as fishing, so it didn't let the fish bite?

Whatever, let's keep drifting.

Da Fei couldn't bear to read the ordinary sailors' monotonous diaries. The system didn't give them much to do. The captain's diary was even more boring, full of preachy advice about being a good sailor. It was far less interesting than the gunner's diary. It seemed the information from the diaries was limited.

The night passed, and a new day began. Da Fei stared at the magnificent sunrise. Perhaps the first few days at sea felt beautiful and grand, but after a while, it would become monotonous and maddening. For example, the sailors in the gunner's diary who spent their days playing cards. Being a sailor wasn't a job for just anyone. If there were women on board, it would be better. Damn, with women, it wouldn't be called sailing; it would be a luxury yacht with bikini girls. How enviable.

If I get rich, I'll hire the most beautiful female heroes in the tavern and bring them on board, buy the sexiest bikinis for them, and let the sailors bleed every night! Hahaha!

He didn't know how long he had been daydreaming when the fishing rod hanging on the ship's rail suddenly shook and creaked, and the rope securing the fish tightened.

Da Fei's heart skipped a beat. A big fish had bitten? He quickly looked out, and the sea was churning! Damn, it really was a big fish! There was no way to pull it up. A fish that could swallow a person-sized fish would definitely give a lot of experience!

Da Fei immediately ran to the gun deck, where the ballista was already loaded—aim! Fire!

Two ballista arrows shot out, causing a huge splash— "Miss!" "Miss!"

Damn! Even a miss! The gunner had also complained about this in his diary. There was nothing to do but reload! This time, he had to see it jump out of the water!

—Boom! "−33!" "−21!"

—System Notice: You have obtained incomplete information about the giant tuna.

Da Fei's spirits lifted. A giant tuna? A boss? No time to think, keep firing. However, the damage fluctuated greatly, and the ballista was indeed less effective against underwater creatures. Fortunately, its throat had swallowed a dozen hooks, and the more it struggled, the more it lost HP: "−2" "−3" "−2" "−3" continuously. That was good!

The battle lasted for half an hour, and in a shower of blood and the roar of the ballista, a giant tuna over ten meters long finally floated to the surface, belly up.

—System Notice: You have defeated the giant tuna, gaining +20,000 experience and obtaining a special item, "Tuna Eggs."

—System Notice: You have defeated 10 leader-level bosses alone, completing the achievement "Lone Hero 10 Consecutive Wins," gaining +15 HP and +1 base damage. The next achievement, "Lone Hero 100 Consecutive Wins," requires defeating 100 bosses of a higher level without any troops.

—System Notice: You have further completed the information on the giant tuna.

Da Fei laughed heartily! Finally, he had completed an achievement! Sailing wasn't so boring after all. He didn't bother to read the information; encountering a boss in the sea was rare. He decided to check the tuna eggs.

—Tuna Eggs: Sea product. Can be used to breed tuna in a fish farm near a coastal territory. Tuna is a large, delicious sea fish, difficult to catch, and highly sought after in the market.

It was a territory specialty! This was a good thing. It was hard for players to become lords, and building and maintaining an army and a city required money. There weren't many ways to earn money, so having a specialty meant having a cash cow. If he sold it online, he could make at least a few hundred thousand. He was rich! Hahaha! Sailing was great!

No, no, no, encountering a big boss in the vast sea wasn't easy. Even if he did encounter one, defeating it was even harder. Not everyone was as smart and brave as him. Why should he sell it to others? He could occupy an island, build a city, and a fish farm, and raise fish himself. That would be like a money-printing machine. However, building a city wasn't easy and required a significant initial investment. For now, he would keep it and see the market situation.

Just then,

—System Notice: Reconnaissance Warning! A large number of enemies are approaching. Please be on alert.

Da Fei was startled! A large number of enemies! He immediately took out his telescope and looked. Sure enough, a large group of dark fish backs were breaking through the waves in the distance—sharks!

Damn! After the tuna, now sharks? "The Old Man and the Sea"!

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