Chapter 26: The Sunglasses Detector

He Qiang: (╬◣д◢)
This shouldn't be happening!
Why has his "Hainos Technology" hodgepodge bait failed?
In the past, he’d get bites the moment the line hit the water, but today it was like a curse—he’d barely caught a single small fish after a long while.
Could it be that the bait used by those three little punks was so fragrant that it had lured all the fish away from his spot?
With that thought, He Qiang grumbled, gave up on his spot, and moved his little stool far away from Zhou Hong and his two companions.
He then used the rest of the bait in his basin to chum the water, poured out a new pile of bait, added water, and kneaded it.
Once he cast his line again, he finally got a bite from a big fish.
"Beautiful!"
He Qiang hauled in a three-pound tilapia, wearing a triumphant grin.
Sure enough, those three guys' bait was so fragrant it had attracted all the fish in the area, leaving him with nothing for half the day!
Now that he was getting bites, let’s see how those three would beg for mercy later!
Seeing He Qiang start to catch fish, Zhou Hong, Yellow Hair, and Ma Dongdong had no choice but to speed up their casting frequency.
"Splash!"
Just then, a massive sound of something hitting the water came from the center of the lake.
The group thought it was just a big fish jumping, but when they looked, they realized it was Jiang Fan, who had been lure fishing from his kayak, being dragged off the boat by a huge fish!
"Brother Fan, did you hook another big one?!"
Zhou Hong and the others widened their eyes in disbelief. They immediately took out their phones to record video, planning to post it on Douyin later.
He Qiang shouted, "Damn, what a huge fish! Brother Fan, swim to the shore to reel it in, swim to the shore!"
When Jiang Fan reached the bank, He Qiang dragged his injured leg over, grinning. "Brother Fan, are you holding up? If not, want me to take over?"
Jiang Fan glanced at his injured leg and rolled his eyes. "You really are addicted. Where would you get the strength with one leg?"
He Qiang chuckled. "Actually, it's two. The other one is just a bit smaller."
"...That won't work either. This fish might be a hundred pounds; what if you lose it?" Jiang Fan said, letting out some line to tire the fish, guiding it toward the opposite bank.
A few minutes later, He Qiang asked with a smile, "Brother Fan, are you tired? Can we switch? I can do it!"
...
"Brother Fan, tag me in, tag me in! I can really do it!"
...
"Dad! Please, your son hasn't caught a hundred-pound fish in ages. Let me experience it, won't you?"
"..."
As they spoke, Jiang Fan had already dragged the fish to the bank.
The massive fish gave a fierce struggle, trying to swim back. Suddenly, Jiang Fan pulled out a wooden stick and performed a "Shaolin Temple" style net scoop!
"Bang!"
The fish flipped onto its belly and floated obediently onto the bank.
"I've been dragging you for ages, you're exhausted, and you still want to run?"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for catching a 110-pound silver carp. Cash multiplier triggered at 220x!]
[Wild Silver Carp: 110 pounds. Market price: 6 yuan per pound.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 145,200 RMB!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 2,100 points of emotional value!]
...
Wait, he remembered silver carp being five yuan a pound before. How did it become six?
[Fish prices fluctuate daily, and the system adjusts accordingly. However, the overall change is minor.]
Uh... alright. The system has the final say, anyway...
Jiang Fan and He Qiang worked together to drag the silver carp onto the bank. Jiang Fan then took out a two-meter diameter keepnet to secure it.
"..."
He Qiang stared at that two-meter keepnet and recoiled in shock, watching the entire process of Jiang Fan loading the fish.
"Brother Fan, this keepnet of yours... it's not exactly standard, is it?"
Jiang Fan spoke calmly, "Of course. This isn't just any keepnet; it's the one from Wang Wei's poetry."
He Qiang grinned. "You're specifically here to hunt the monsters, aren't you?"
"I thought Lu Bu was invincible, but I didn't expect Brother Fan to be even fiercer. I'm impressed."
Jiang Fan glanced at him. "Say what you need to say, don't beat around the bush."
He Qiang smiled. "It's nothing, really. I just saw you have another bag of that 'Wai Zui Long Wang' bait. Could you sell me some so I can try it out?"
Jiang Fan squinted. "Aren't you in the middle of a competition with Zhou Hong and the others? Wouldn't selling it to you be cheating?"
He Qiang waved his hand. "Eh, in war, all is fair!"
"There's no such thing as cheating when it comes to battlefield strategy."
"Oh, really?" Jiang Fan mused, then took it out anyway. He had purchased five bags of the "Wild Field Blue Crucian - Wai Zui Long Wang God of War Edition" bait, intending to give one to He Qiang. Since the guy asked to buy it, that worked out.
"Twenty."
"Hehe, alright, alright!"
He Qiang transferred twenty yuan via WeChat and returned to his spot to fish.
Just then, Jiang Fan heard the system prompt.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for reaching the 12,000 emotional value milestone. You have earned the title "Angling Spirit"!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the "Sunglasses Detector"!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for unlocking two apprentice anglers!]
[Apprentice Anglers (3/5), two slots remaining... Hurry up and bind more anglers to help you earn money!]
Finally, more slots... arrived just in time.
[Ding! Apprentice angler successfully bound!]
[Name: He Qiang]
[Age: 45]
[Fishing Experience: 30 years]
[Title: None]
(+)
Thirty years of fishing experience?? Truly terrifying!
With He Qiang as an apprentice angler, if he doesn't end up counting money until his hands cramp, it would be an insult to He Qiang's skill.
But what is this "Sunglasses Detector"?
Jiang Fan remembered the reward and immediately opened the system panel.
[Host: Jiang Fan]
[Title: Angling Spirit (10% higher chance to catch big fish)]
[Emotional Value: 8,870 (8,870/12,300)]
[Cash Balance: 954,600 RMB]
[Fishing Gear: Standard Hand Pole; Iron-Grade Lure Rod; Two-Meter Keepnet; Sunglasses Detector;]
...
Jiang Fan clicked on the description for the "Sunglasses Detector."
Note: The Sunglasses Detector allows the wearer to observe the location of large fish underwater. As your title improves, the chance of catching big fish increases, and the observation range expands. Currently, it can cover 10% of the entire lake!
So it's sunglasses that can track fish... and the range is tied to his title.
Jiang Fan had been wondering how to land that three-to-four-hundred-pound monster, and the "Sunglasses Detector" was exactly the boost he needed.
He didn't hesitate; he put on the sunglasses and started scanning for big fish.
He was stunned by what he saw!
When the lens displayed the schools of big fish swimming back and forth, Jiang Fan was completely dumbfounded.
The dense clusters of big fish looked like an overturned ant nest. Although the fish shown by the glasses were rendered as red digital markers, each one was labeled with its weight.
At a glance, he could see five or six fish over a hundred pounds! As for the ones weighing a few dozen or seven or eight pounds, there were countless.
The Water Curtain Cave was truly untouched; the resources were incredibly rich!
"Wait! This one... it's actually three hundred and fifty-eight pounds?!!!"