CHAPTER 547: CHAPTER 534: TAKEN DOWN!

"Whoa! That fast?"

"What’s going on? Must be luck."

"Speed fishing only cares about the number of catches. Catching big yellow croakers is too tiring—totally not worth it."

Hearing the chatter around her, Aunt Hong Mei was displeased. She stood up, pulling Aunt Guo along to stir up the crowd. "This kid fishes like crazy!"

"Exactly! He can reel in a catch in just over ten seconds. I don’t think many people here can pull that off."

At the center of the buzz, Han Qiwu calmly unhooked the big yellow croaker and placed it in the bucket next to him. With swift precision, he baited his hook again, aiming at the spot Xiao Lin had baited.

"Whish"

The hook plunged into the water.

The power of the system bait quickly became evident, immediately attracting a small yellow croaker.

In the fishing game, the float’s length was almost 2.5 times the size of the small yellow croaker!

Too easy.

In just ten short seconds, the progress bar filled up again. With another smooth lift of his rod, Han Qiwu brought the small yellow croaker up.

On stage, even the host couldn’t help but cheer, "Angler Han Qiwu really lives up to being our mystery guest—he’s already caught two fish in under half a minute! Looks like angler Xiao Lin has met a tough opponent this time!"

"Ugh, stop babbling!"

Xiao Lin grumbled, grabbed his rod, unhooked the sardine, tossed it into the nearby bucket, and deftly re-baited. Then with his right hand, he casually cast his line back into the water.

"Angler Xiao Lin isn’t backing down, successfully hooking one fish!"

Soon enough, the other anglers started making catches one after another.

Twenty minutes later, Han Qiwu waved at the staff helplessly, "Bring me three more buckets!"

The staff nearby, stunned, exclaimed, "Mr. Han, you’ve already filled four buckets! There’s less than ten minutes left—why three more buckets?"

"The small fish are almost all caught. From now on, it’ll be big fish." Han Qiwu baited his hook and smiled.

Hearing this, Xiao Lin waved his hand as well, "Bring me two more buckets." After speaking, he couldn’t help but glance at the main stage’s display screen.

Angler #001: 111 fish.

Angler #002: 83 fish.

Damn it! He has so many 1s!

Xiao Lin still couldn’t figure it out—how was Han Qiwu fishing from the spot he had baited?

Could it be his bait had ingredients similar to his?

Han Qiwu glanced at the dazed Xiao Lin nearby but didn’t bother to explain. Instead, he took advantage of the time to keep casting his rod.

The first-place victory in speed fishing was already secured, but since this was a points-based competition, the more catches, the higher the score. He decided to capitalize on the low difficulty of this stage and rack up more fish.

Later, for the weigh-in round, the advantage might not be as significant.

For the next nine-plus minutes, Han Qiwu continued fishing while steadily accumulating energy and skill uses to save for the weigh-in round.

Before long, the speed fishing phase came to an end, and spectators flocked to the display screen to check the results.

"Three, two, one! All anglers, please immediately reel in your rods. The first phase of the speed fishing competition is now over! Scores and points will be displayed shortly on the screen. Please take a half-hour break," the host announced with a smile.

Han Qiwu let out a long breath, put away his "Golden Sun" rod, and turned to look at the display screen.

Angler #001: 146 fish.

He glanced at everyone else. None had surpassed 50.

This round was solid.

The others, after checking the scores, were left in shock.

Though they’d already realized midway through the competition that Han Qiwu was exceptional, they hadn’t expected him to be this exceptional.

Nearly 300 catches per hour in sea fishing.

Unbelievable!

"I told you the mystery guest was incredible! Old Huang may be a big mouth, but at least he’s honest."

"Exactly! Heroes really do emerge young! I think he’s got what it takes to become the Fishing King!"

"Handsome and fast at fishing—I’m definitely introducing him to my daughter later."

Amid the chatter, Mrs. Tang found herself swelling with pride. Grinning, she turned to Mr. Tang and said, "See? Xiao Han certainly has skill. At the very least, Qingying won’t ever go hungry in the future."

"More than just not going hungry. Based on Xiao Han’s stats, I’d say he’s one of the top anglers in the country. Amazing—he must practice a lot," Mr. Tang nodded approvingly.

"I just hope he put on some sunscreen. With such strong sunlight, I’d hate for him to get sunburnt," Mrs. Tang said with concern, debating whether to bring him an umbrella.

Thankfully, the event organizers noticed the heat and began setting up parasols for the participants.

A few minutes later, the points were calculated automatically.

Han Qiwu’s fish count represented 34% of the total catches, earning him 34 points. Xiao Lin came in second, with 21% of the total, scoring 21 points.

After looking at the screen, Xiao Lin turned to Han Qiwu, gritting his teeth, "You won’t beat me in the next round! There’s no way I’ll lose in the weigh-in!" Saying that, he immediately began rummaging through his tackle box for other types of bait and floats.

Han Qiwu smiled lightly, saying nothing as he pulled out a bottle of frozen birch sap, sipping it as he munched on some pine nuts to replenish his energy.

Too young.

Twenty-plus minutes later, the weigh-in began. This round was about the combined weight of fish caught within half an hour, meaning a big fish could outweigh ten smaller ones.

Nearby anglers started noticing that Han Qiwu hadn’t changed his hook or float, leaving them puzzled.

Xiao Lin noticed too and snapped angrily, "Are you looking down on me? Why aren’t you using your full strength?"

"You want to see my full strength?" Amused, Han Qiwu asked with a laugh.

"Of course! I want to beat you fair and square!" Xiao Lin replied confidently.

Han Qiwu stood, stretching his arms, "Then watch carefully."

"Whish"

Han Qiwu targeted an 80-centimeter-long barramundi and cast his hook.

With the precision fishing skill activated, even an unbaited hook managed to lodge firmly into the barramundi’s mouth.

Triggering the fishing game, he unleashed a barrage of skills, and within seconds, filled the progress bar completely.

"Splash"

Accompanied by the sound of seawater, Han Qiwu leisurely lifted the barramundi from the water and called for a staff member, "Could you get me a large box? These buckets are too small."

"Of course, right away," the staff replied promptly, rushing over with a large foam box.

Nearby, Xiao Lin, waiting for his own catch, was utterly stunned, his jaw hanging open.

What... what was that!

How could this even happen?

It was one thing for him to dominate the speed fishing phase, but to casually reel in a giant barramundi during the weigh-in?

Others were equally astonished. Witnesses whipped out their phones to snap photos and post online, as though they’d just witnessed the rise of a fishing legend!

Twenty-plus minutes later, Han Qiwu happily packed away the "Golden Sun" rod, turning to the despondent Xiao Lin and said, "Don’t lose heart. I told you before—there’s always someone stronger out there. Keep working hard. If you manage to beat me next year, I’ll give you my ’Shadow’ rod."

Xiao Lin, initially downcast, perked up immediately, pulling out his phone eagerly, "Really? Let’s exchange WeChats! Next year, I’ll definitely beat you."

Han Qiwu chuckled.

Next year?

There are many "next years" ahead. Keep at it, kid.