Lin Ye didn't lift his fishing rod. Right now, he only wanted to open the treasure chests Little Ye had caught until he could synthesize an Ultimate Skill. He no longer had any desire to deal with the monsters in the water.

But the fishing rod kept vibrating up and down incessantly. Whatever was below clearly had no intention of letting Lin Ye off, as if Lin Ye were the one who had been hooked.

"You're interfering with my fishing... otherwise it should have bitten long ago."

Little Ye pulled up another treasure chest.

"Can you move somewhere else... Can I just throw the fishing rod in?"

Lin Ye felt there was something strange about the creature below. The more desperately it wanted to come up, the less he was willing to let it surface.

"Better not, because it doesn't seem afraid of you discarding the fishing rod."

Little Ye cast her fishing line back into the sea.

Lin Ye's fishing rod suddenly stopped moving, and then Little Ye's rod began vibrating violently.

"Huh?"

Little Ye decisively lifted her fishing rod, pulling whatever was below out of the water.

A several-meter-long deformed flesh monster covered entirely in eyes was hauled up. Once it left the water, its body began swelling violently, eventually transforming into a flesh giant over ten meters tall, covered with massive eyeballs.

This flesh giant was completely different from the creatures caught before. It didn't immediately attack, but instead tore open numerous fissures across its body surface. Sharp, piercing, dull, and venomous sounds emerged from those cracks.

"Human, you've touched something you shouldn't have."

Lin Ye's body froze stiff. This monster existed on an entirely different level of life from him. Just by making sounds, it rendered him completely rigid, unable to move even a single finger.

"Convert the Rule Fragments into skills now, or I'll crush you directly."

The flesh giant spoke these words.

"Have you mistaken who you're talking to? I'm the one who caught you. This is the first time I've caught something other than a treasure chest."

Little Ye sounded slightly excited. She also wanted to catch something different to stretch her body a bit.

"Then you're really lucky. The probability of catching treasure chests here is very low. Wait, how could you possibly have caught so many treasure chests..."

The flesh giant looked at the three treasure chests at Little Ye's feet and suddenly fell into silence.

"If he had caught you, I couldn't have intervened. I don't know why either, perhaps due to some rule restrictions. But you bit my fishhook."

Little Ye extended her left hand toward the flesh giant. The giant's body began cracking and disintegrating into more fundamental units. Those crimson fundamental substances converged toward Little Ye's fingertip.

"Damn it, how could something as terrifying as you appear here!"

"So that's why none of them dared to bite the hook!"

"I was too careless!"

Sounds of fear and regret emerged from the remaining fissures on the flesh giant's body.

All the crimson substances concentrated at Little Ye's fingertip, forming a smooth crimson sphere. The sphere rotated as it concave inward at the center, eventually disappearing completely without leaving anything behind.

"Teacher Little Ye, that move was so cool. Can I learn it?"

Lin Ye looked at Little Ye holding the fishing rod with one hand and suddenly felt he had been somewhat disrespectful before.

"I don't really know how to teach you either. It's like instinct—it doesn't require any control at all."

Little Ye replied somewhat awkwardly.

"Alright, never mind then."

Lin Ye opened the three treasure chests one by one, receiving several notifications.

[Obtained Red Fragment x5]

[Obtained Portal Fragment x1]

[Obtained Red Fragment x10]

[Obtained Red Fragment x5]

[Obtained Portal Fragment x1]

"How many Portal Fragments are needed to synthesize a complete portal?"

Lin Ye asked.

[Ten Portal Fragments can synthesize one complete portal]

"Still need seven more..."

Just as Lin Ye was debating whether to continue fishing, Little Ye caught another golden treasure chest.

'Forget it, I better not cause more trouble.'

Lin Ye happily put down his fishing rod and opened the treasure chest. Opening treasure chests was much more enjoyable than fishing.

[Obtained Gray Fragment x5]

[Obtained Portal Fragment x1]

"Huh?"

Lin Ye turned his head and discovered the surrounding seawater had turned gray.

Little Ye didn't care at all about the seawater's color change, as it made no difference to her.

Seeing the seawater change color, Lin Ye picked up his fishing rod and cast another line into it. He didn't think he could catch that kind of monster again this time.

But the moment the fishing rod entered the water, it began vibrating violently.

"...Is it still that kind of monster below?"

Lin Ye could only seek Little Ye's help.

"I don't know. It didn't bite my hook."

Little Ye wasn't omnipotent either. She was constrained by certain limitations and couldn't provide Lin Ye with too much assistance.

"Alright, then I'll just have to drag it out."

Lin Ye gripped the fishing rod and continued practicing his skills. After all, he couldn't catch treasure chests anyway.

Little Ye kept fishing up golden treasure chests while Lin Ye handled the opening. At this rate, it wouldn't take long to gather ten Portal Fragments.

Just as Lin Ye obtained the ninth Portal Fragment, a very small black dot suddenly appeared on the distant sea surface.

As that black dot gradually approached, Lin Ye finally recognized it as a medium-sized sea vessel.

The ship seemed to have noticed the island and headed directly toward it.

Ten minutes later, the ship stopped near the island.

It was a small fishing boat less than twenty meters long. Nine fishing enthusiasts wearing diving suits and holding fishing rods stood on board, along with an old captain in uniform.

"Young man, are you fishing here alone?"

The captain looked curiously at Lin Ye. He didn't believe an ordinary person could fish in such a place.

"No, is there something you need?"

Lin Ye currently only wanted to gather ten Portal Fragments and didn't want to waste time with unnecessary talk.

"Why aren't you reeling in?"

One of the fishing enthusiasts suddenly spoke up.

The other fishing enthusiasts also stared at Lin Ye's constantly shaking fishing rod. They could tell whatever was below was substantial.

"Can't be bothered. Do you want it?"

Lin Ye glanced at Little Ye and, seeing she didn't object, continued:

"I can sell you whatever's below, but you have to return the fishing rod to me after you're done."

"What do you want?"

One of the fishing enthusiasts immediately responded.

"Anything of value will do."

Lin Ye didn't really know what he wanted either.

"I'll offer one high-tier spiritual energy item."

"Damn, I spoke first, don't cut in line! I'll offer a book recording advanced combat techniques. You can learn the techniques inside by reading this book."

"Trying to scam people with that mass-producible garbage again? I'll offer a book containing rune knowledge. You can learn some rune knowledge from it."

"You're even worse than him! Who would want to learn fallen knowledge related to the Abyss? Young man, I'm the most sincere—I'll offer one high-tier protective spiritual energy item. This price is already very high."

...

Lin Ye watched as these fishing enthusiasts bid for his fishing rod, giving him the illusion that he was actually the fishing master.