Chapter 54: The Five Hundred and Fifty-Eight-Pound Mekong Giant Catfish Can No Longer Hold Out!-Pescador: Taxa Explosiva de Pesca, Em Busca de Gigantes de Mil Quilos(Xia é bonito)

"It's been over half an hour, and they still haven't reeled it in?"

"I'd say it's about time."

"Yeah, this kid is practically ready to be dragged down to chum the waters."

"What the hell! Can't you ever say anything nice about someone?!"

"Say your ass! If he could reel it up, he would have done it by now!"

"Bro, don't talk like that. That fish eats people; getting dragged into the water really turns you into bait."

"None of my damn business! I hope he dies! If he dies, I won't even burn joss paper for him!"

"???"

"A troll?"

"So malicious!"

"Damn it! Why is your screen name Yuan Hua???"

"Isn't this the guy who stole Handsome Xia's spot in the Douyin Fishing Cup?"

"Fuck! It really is that guy! This is his Douyin handle!"

"Stealing someone else's spot through connections is one thing, but now you're acting like a hater too?"

"I have never seen such a shameless person!"

...

Jiang Fan's fans cursed Yuan Hua for being utterly shameless.

Yuan Hua had skin as thick as a city wall; he wasn't embarrassed at all and even prepared to curse back!

But right as he edited his message and before he could send it, Blonde-hair kicked him out of the live broadcast room!

Blonde-hair: "Damn it! Some scumbag wandered into the stream, what damn bad luck!"

"Little Blonde-hair, we'll slide into his DMs and curse him out on your behalf!"

"Family, let's go flood that idiot's DMs!"

"Let's go!"

"He's trash-talking me right back! Damn, doesn't he know I'm a keyboard warrior?"

"Hahaha, we spammed him until he had to turn off his DMs! What a loser!"

"666!"

"Well played!"

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan was still locked in a tug-of-war with the 558-pound Mekong giant catfish, neither side willing to yield.

Mekong Giant Catfish: "I never expected this generation's angler to exceed this old man's expectations!"

"If this keeps up, it's a dead end. I'll have to fight another day!"

With that, the Mekong giant catfish opened its massive mouth, baring its teeth as it prepared to bite through the fishing line.

However, just how tough was a carrier arresting gear cable?

It took a bite and chipped two teeth. Another bite, and two more fell out...

Mekong Giant Catfish: "What the hell?! Is this fishing line literally a carrier arresting cable?! Fuck this!"

"Since that's how it is, this old man has no choice but to outlast you!"

"Giant Catfish Charge!!!"

The Mekong giant catfish exerted itself once more, thrashing its body wildly and pulling Jiang Fan's fishing rod into a sharp arc.

Liu Zhoucheng, He Qiang, and Zhou Hong stood directly behind Jiang Fan.

Seeing even the steel rebar fishing rod bent double, their eyes widened involuntarily.

"Even the steel rebar is bent! That fish has to weigh five or six hundred pounds!"

"Little punk, are you actually going to manage this? If not, let me do it!"

Liu Zhoucheng stood off to the side, rubbing his hands together in eagerness, itching to take a crack at it.

He Qiang chimed in, "Aren't you just a man sitting on a stone, striking an egg against a rock?"

"Brother Fan, I think you should let me take a shot at it!"

Liu Zhoucheng snapped, "Go cool off somewhere, let me do it!"

He Qiang: "Let me."

Liu Zhoucheng: "Let me!"

And just like that, Liu Zhoucheng and He Qiang bickered back and forth, getting so carried away they almost pushed Jiang Fan into the water.

Liu Zhoucheng cursed, "Damn it! That was almost a woman sitting on a stone—losing the big picture over a petty detail!"

"He Qiang, stop shoving around! If you knock the kid in, I'll throw you in to soak for a while later!"

Jiang Fan cursed back, "Can you two shut the hell up? You're already interfering with my execution of the Ultimate Fishing Art!"

Liu Zhoucheng and He Qiang exchanged blank stares. "You know an Ultimate Fishing Art?"

Jiang Fan: "Of course. The Desecrator of Worlds Fishing Art, charge!"

"..."

Liu Zhoucheng and He Qiang watched him for a good long while before rolling their eyes all the way to the back of their heads.

They actually thought it was some profound fishing art!

Turns out he was just shouting random slogans.

He'd be better off saving his breath to pull the fish up!

"It's coming, it's coming. I can feel the giant catfish getting weaker."

After a grueling battle of stamina between the two sides, Jiang Fan finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

Mekong Giant Catfish: "How is this possible?! Dammit..."

"This old man weighs 558 pounds! How can I lose to a mere fisherman? I'm going all out!"

Swish, swish!!

Watching its stamina plummet rapidly as Jiang Fan dragged it step by step toward the shore, the Mekong giant catfish simply could not accept it!

As a majestic 558-pound entity, how could it possibly lose to an angler? It couldn't lose—absolutely not!

Ah!!

Panting heavily, *forget it, forget it, I really can't move anymore. This fisherman is too damn beastly, my time has come!*

Unable to hold on any longer, the Mekong giant catfish finally floated slowly to the surface.

"Such a huge Mekong giant catfish! It really is over five hundred pounds!"

"Brother Fan is an absolute beast!"

: "Turns out it's a giant catfish, so huge!"

: "It's got to be five hundred pounds."

: "I'd say more than that!"

: "Insane! Fighting a 500-pound giant catfish all by himself, this kid's strength is absurdly off the charts!"

: "As an OG fan, I can only say this is standard operation."

: "Such a powerhouse, it's a waste if he doesn't go catch a 700-pound tuna."

: "Heh heh, little cutie above, who are you dropping hints about?"

: "I honestly think he should try deep-sea tuna fishing. Ocean fish are way more ferocious than freshwater fish!"

: "Ferocious my foot! Complete trash! I could beat him with one hand!"

: "???" "Why is there another hater? And level 1? You can tell at a glance this is a freshly made burner account."

: "Could it be that Yuan Hua from earlier?"

: "It really might be him. That guy is so shameless, there's nothing he wouldn't do!"

Blonde-hair: "Booted! What a scumbag! I'm kicking him every single time I see him!"

: "Well kicked! That guy is utterly disgusting!"

: "When he enters the Amazon Rainforest Giant Monster Competition, I'm going to report him for using connections and utterly ruin his social standing!"

: "Get him!"

: "Damn aristocratic parasites!"

...

At that moment, Yuan Hua was furious. He quickly called out to his second uncle, Yuan Jun, the middle-aged man who had been standing right beside him.

"Second uncle, have you made contact with that Jiang Qi yet?"

"I want to cripple that kid's hands! Make it so he doesn't even have hands left to wipe his ass after taking a shit!"

Yuan Jun nodded. "I'm contacting him right now..."

Meanwhile, parked in a coastal area of Sanya City was a speedboat, and sitting aboard the speedboat was an angler.

The angler was around twenty-six years old. Due to exposure to wind and sun, his skin looked very dark, but his muscle definitions were prominent—at a glance, anyone could tell he was no ordinary person.

And this so-called extraordinary person was none other than Jiang Qi.

At that moment, Jiang Qi held a fishing rod in one hand and scrolled through Douyin with the other.

As he scrolled, he happened to stumble upon Blonde-hair's live broadcast room and clicked inside.

"..."

Just as he was getting into it, a phone call suddenly interrupted him.

"Damn it! Who is this?!"

"Hehe, Mr. Jiang Qi, it's me, Yuan Jun."

"Don't know you! Get lost!"

"Beep!"

Yuan Jun, "..."

Yuan Hua: "Second uncle, what's the situation? Did he agree?"

Yuan Jun shook his head. "No, he actually hung up on me?!"

Yuan Hua grew angry. "So arrogant? Doesn't he know you're part of the Yuan family?!"

"Don't get excited, nephew. I'll call him back." Yuan Jun dialed the number again, cutting straight to the point.

"Mr. Jiang Qi, here's the deal. I actually have a one-million-yuan task I need your help with. What do you think..."

Jiang Qi raised his voice and demanded, "What kind of fish do you need me to catch? Speak!"

Yuan Jun was momentarily stunned, then forced a smile and said, "No, I'm not asking you to fish. I'm asking you to cripple someone."

Jiang Qi furrowed his brow. "Cripple someone?"

"Yes! If you're not satisfied with the price, I can add another half a million! By the way, this guy's name is Jiang Fan, lives in Yuanshan Town, an angler with a bit of strength. Only someone like Mr. Jiang Qi has what it takes to cripple his hands!" Yuan Jun chattered on, introducing the target to Jiang Qi.

Jiang Qi touched his chin and nodded. "So that's how it is."

"You're from the Yuan family, right? Mind giving me your current address?"

"I have to know where my employer is when I do business, otherwise it'll be a real pain if I can't collect the money after the job is done!"

Yuan Jun chuckled. "Pfft, surely Mr. Jiang Qi can trust the reputation of the Yuan family?"

"Very well then. I'm at the Hilton Hotel on Chaonan Road in Sanya City. Mr. Jiang Qi, you can contact me anytime."

"Good."

"Beep!"

Jiang Qi hung up the phone and tossed it aside.

At that moment, the fishing rod in his hand was jerked violently by a tremendous force.

He lowered his head to look, furrowed his brow, and then tautened his thick arms until veins popped like ropes. With a violent heave of the fishing rod, a dozens-of-pounds shark was yanked straight out of the sea water into the air!

"Damn it! Just a tiny little shark, why'd you take the bait?! No fun at all!"