Chapter 44: A Fierce Predator! A Massive Arapaima Weighing Hundreds of Pounds!

Song Rentou laughed until he had a cramp in his side. Anyone unaware would have thought he had suffered some massive blow and gone completely insane.

When the live broadcast camera turned to focus on him, netizens all shook their heads.

: Why is there a lunatic at a fishing competition?
: Just some random bystander, unimportant, completely unimportant...
: By the way, doesn't this suddenly changed competition format seem unfavorable for handsome Jiang?
: He scored a whopping 2055 points yesterday, leading the second place by a full seventeen hundred points!
: Exactly, isn't this clearly targeted at him?
: What the hell, isn't this targeting a bit too obvious?
: Even a fishing competition has capital pulling strings behind the scenes, what's the point anymore?!
: Damn it!
: Fuck!
: Are the organizers bunch of clowns?
...

The viewers in the live streaming room were hurling vicious curses.

Jiang Fan himself felt rather depressed as well.
However, thinking that catching a big fish would still secure him the championship, he didn't dwell on it too much.

"Beep!!"

Accompanied by the whistle signaling the start of the competition, Jiang Fan used the bait provided by the officials, hooked it, and cast his line.

"Swoosh!"

Before long, a strong pulling force came from the fishing rod!

Jiang Fan quickly swung the rod, flipping a one-and-a-half-pound tilapia out of the water.

Even though he didn't use the bait provided by the system, using the system-provided fishing rod still triggered a reward.

[Ding ding ding! Congratulations to the host for catching a one-and-a-half-pound tilapia. The system has burst forth with a 3x cash multiplier!]
...

After landing his first fish, Jiang Fan reeled in over a dozen fish within half an hour, every single one weighing over a pound. This was clearly the effect of the 15% increased chance of catching large fish acquired after attaining the title of Fishing King.

Don't underestimate that mere 15%; in this half-hour alone, Jiang Fan had caught over thirty pounds of fish, far more than anyone else. Even if he couldn't land that single behemoth, he would still easily claim the championship.

However, things did not go as smoothly as he imagined.

Just a few minutes later, at a fishing spot not far away, a competitor hooked the monster of the reservoir!

"Splash!!"

The behemoth was hauled up to the water's surface, whipped its tail fiercely, and then dived down at extreme speed, dragging that competitor head over heels directly into the water!

"Someone fell into the water! Save them! Quick, save them!"

A lifeguard jumped in and rescued the competitor.

The competitor cursed up a storm, shouting wildly, "Damn it! It's that behemoth, a huge, huge behemoth! Pissed me off to no end, I was *this* close to landing it!"

: ...
: ...

A bunch of viewers in the live stream posted a row of speechless dots!

: Your sister! The camera just turned to you, and we saw you getting dragged straight into the water. Do you call that *this* close to landing it?!
: Yeah, looks to me like he was the one being fished by the behemoth!
: A fisherman's lips are nothing but lyingips!
: Look, quick! Someone else seems to have hooked that behemoth!
: Holy crap! Is that behemoth already starting to bite again?

At this moment, at another fishing spot, the behemoth that had just dragged a competitor into the water bit someone else's hook and began frantically pulling against their fishing rod.

"Hahaha, it's mine, it's mine! I've hooked it!"

That competitor was ecstatic, letting out a wild laugh.

"Crack!!"

The very next second, the fishing rod snapped into two pieces!

(...)
"No way, what kind of fish is that? It broke the rod in under three seconds!"
"I think I saw it—it's an arapaima!"
"What?!"
"Isn't the arapaima a fish species native to the Amazon basin? Why is it in the Yunyue Lake Reservoir in Sanya City?!"
"You can tell at a glance it was released by someone."
"Why release it?"
"Because of their virtue~"
"Yeah, truly virtuous indeed. The fish in the reservoir will thank him for eight generations!"
"Arapaimas are ferocious predators from the Amazon basin. If you release them into a reservoir, won't they eat all the fish down there?! No wonder I couldn't catch anything for ages—turns out that monster is an arapaima!"

Upon learning that the giant of the Yunyue Lake Reservoir was an arapaima, the competitors and the live stream viewers quickly understood why the organizers had suddenly changed the competition format.

: So that monster was an arapaima!
: May I ask, what is an arapaima?
: One of the largest freshwater fish in the world, extremely ferocious. One bite and it's a direct explosion of blood mist!
: Damn! Such a terrifying aquatic predator, which murderous bastard secretly released it into the reservoir?
: Who knows? Catch them and beat the crap out of them!
: No wonder the organizers temporarily changed the competition format. The impact of an arapaima on the aquatic ecosystem is massive!
: Looks like the organizers came with a mission too. Now it all depends on whether these fishermen can reel it in!
: How could they possibly reel it in? Judging by the dark silhouette from the live stream earlier, it's at least a few hundred pounds... And an arapaima's pulling power is no joke; a single person can never pull it up!
: I agree, might as well just drain the entire reservoir!
...

The competitors looked at each other, muttering in heated discussion.

"A multi-hundred-pound arapaima is fiercely ferocious and can easily knock an adult unconscious. What's the point of fishing anymore? Everyone pack up your rods and let me fish by myself!"
(...)
"Buddy, you can't joke about that! That's an arapaima!"
"Do you think an arapaima would eat people?"
"Generally speaking, they wouldn't attack or eat humans, but who knows if this one is an exception or two?"
"Yeah, what if it's the third or fourth exception?"
"Look, quick! Someone else over there has hooked it!"
"Wait, isn't that... Master Deng Zhiqiang?!"
"Holy shit, it's hooked by Master Deng Zhiqiang. There's nothing left for the rest of us!"
...

At this moment, at a fishing spot two spaces away from Jiang Fan, Deng Zhiqiang gripped the rod with both hands, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"A multi-hundred-pound arapaima, huh? Let me have a go at you!"

"Swoosh!"

Suddenly, the fishing line tightened to the limit. The arapaima surfaced, revealing its grayish-green scales. The sheer oppressive aura made everyone else gasp.

"So big! It must be over four hundred and fifty pounds, right?!"
"Four hundred and fifty pounds?! If this gets landed, wouldn't it break the domestic record for the heaviest mega-catch in history?!"
"Since this big fish took Master Deng Zhiqiang's bait, there's a high probability it won't get away!"
"Master Deng Zhiqiang is one of the top three legendary competitive fishing masters in the country!"
"Bang!!"

As they spoke, the water surface erupted with another loud noise. A tremendous pulling force jerked Deng Zhiqiang's body violently from side to side, nearly dragging him straight into the water. Fortunately, he exerted force just in time to control the arapaima.

Deng Zhiqiang was overjoyed and coughed a few times toward He Qiang and Liu Gang not far away, "Ahem, Emperor He, Master Liu Gang, looks like the title of first place in this competition is going to be snatched away by yours truly!"

He Qiang cursed, "Stop being so damn smug, the fish hasn't been landed yet!"

Deng Zhiqiang curled his lips, "Then I'll make it come up right now!"

With that, Deng Zhiqiang took out a landing net, preparing to scoop the fish up.

However, the arapaima, which had just been stabilized, suddenly burst into fierce strength once more! With a massive tail-whip and pull, it directly dragged Deng Zhiqiang—landing net and all—straight into the water!

"Splash!"

"Master Deng Zhiqiang fell into the water! Save him!"

Before long, with the help of the lifeguards, Deng Zhiqiang swam back to the shore, looking rather disheveled.

"Haha, Master Deng Zhiqiang, what's going on?"

He Qiang pointed at Deng Zhiqiang, who looked like a drowned rat, and laughed out loud.

"Uh... The floor is slippery, the floor is a bit slippery..." Deng Zhiqiang said awkwardly.

At this moment, the arapaima surfaced, flicked its tail at Deng Zhiqiang dismissively, and swam away looking quite pleased with itself.

Arapaima: *Tsk tsk tsk, what a bunch of idiot fishermen. I gave you a chance, but you damn fools couldn't deliver!*

Having said that, the arapaima fixed its gaze on Jiang Fan: *Oh ho! Another idiot fisherman. What are you looking at? Never seen the ruler of the waters before? Still looking?! Damn it! I'm dragging your foolish ass down into the water to drown you right now!*

Jiang Fan: "..."