Pulling open the curtains, he saw another cloudy day.

Feeling sore all over, Chu Mingcheng sank back onto the bed, not wanting to move.

He'd been fine after yesterday's spearfishing, but that final stretch of getting the fish back to the boat had nearly killed him.

That was more than enough exercise—no need for a morning run today.

But his biological clock had formed such a strong habit that it woke him early anyway.

He didn't plan to go to sea today. Instead, he'd take the boat to the shipyard and look into buying a speargun.

Thinking of the speargun, Chu Mingcheng couldn't lie still any longer. He got his laptop, opened it, and started researching how to make spearguns.

Wooden spearguns could be made by hand. Of course, a beginner's craftsmanship wouldn't be very good—it required constant practice and a lot of wasted wood to produce a decent speargun.

He didn't go to sea every day. In his spare time, Chu Mingcheng felt he could add a hobby and become a part-time carpenter.

Through his research, he finally understood why wooden spearguns were most recommended for spearfishing.

First, most aluminum alloy and carbon spearguns used hollow tube structures that needed watertight plugs at both ends to prevent seawater entry and negative buoyancy.

At the same time, the tubular structure of aluminum or carbon spearguns was designed to achieve maximum strength with minimum material, typically as elliptical or circular tubes.

The disadvantage was that increasing buoyancy without increasing the speargun's thickness was difficult.

Having spearfishing experience, Chu Mingcheng well understood the benefits of a speargun with sufficient buoyancy.

When spearfishing underwater, the speargun needs to move parallel to the fish's movement for aiming. Water resistance was much greater than air resistance, and the speargun had to overcome this resistance to move.

Spearguns are relatively long. With greater buoyancy, they become lighter and easier to stabilize when aiming.

Second, shape was also crucial. After all, proper design could reduce water resistance during horizontal movement.

Wooden guns could achieve this directly by making the gun body flatter to reduce drag.

Teak was generally used for wooden guns, with old Burmese teak as the premium choice, though the price was relatively high.

Alternatively, mahogany could be used. The cost was about one-third of teak, making it perfect for Chu Mingcheng to practice with.

Quality from Africa and the Americas was best, while Oceania quality was worst and cheapest.

The last option was rosewood—not the priceless variety, but African rosewood. The price was also cheaper than teak.

Therefore, if Chu Mingcheng wanted to buy a speargun first, he could choose a large gun made of old Burmese teak. The price would definitely be high, but it would also be very practical.

He could buy the other two wood types to practice with himself. If he could make a suitable one in the future, he could replace the carbon gun.

After finishing his research, Chu Mingcheng searched for wooden guns online, but couldn't find anything suitable.

He wanted to hunt large fish, but it wasn't simply a matter of the longer the speargun, the better.

Spearguns weren't chosen that way. The gun body length should suit one's height.

For example, Chu Mingcheng could use a one-meter or one-and-a-half-meter model.

But if he wanted the spear to shoot farther, he just needed to increase the number of rubber bands and line length.

The larger the fish and the greater the distance, the longer the speargun line needed, and the thicker and more numerous the rubber bands.

This type of speargun with thick, numerous rubber bands wasn't suitable for people with little strength—they couldn't draw it.

Someone like him, who was strong and would only get stronger in the future, was perfect for this setup.

Chu Mingcheng wanted to hunt large fish, so he needed six thick rubber bands.

He planned to ask Lu Zheqiang in Qiongzhou later. He'd bought the carbon gun from him before, so he should have channels for customizing a wooden gun.

Not noticing how much time had passed, Chu Mingcheng heard the electronic lock opening downstairs, followed by footsteps.

He quickly closed his laptop, set it aside, and immediately lay down to pretend sleep.

According to his plan, Jiang Luoluo would open the door, come to his bed to wake him for breakfast, and then he might have a chance to launch a surprise attack.

But the result was that she did gently open the door, but unfortunately didn't come in. Seeing he was sleeping, she gently closed it again...

Chu Mingcheng was dumbfounded. The plan had failed!

It seemed she thought he was tired and wanted him to rest well, so she didn't disturb him.

Hearing the footsteps downstairs leave and the door close again, he sat up with a wry smile.

Forget it—time to get up!

As for Sea King and the others, they'd left last night because of the dragon grouper.

The two videos they'd recorded would be edited by Sea King's team and released jointly by all three parties within the week. By then, Chu Mingcheng's account popularity should get a huge boost.

Walking out and going to Jiang Luoluo's house, she was surprised to see him arrive. "Did I wake you just now?"

"Wake me up?"

Chu Mingcheng looked confused, with a virtual question mark over his head.

"Uh, I went to your house just now. I was going to call you for breakfast, but I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't disturb you."

Jiang Luoluo said this while looking at him suspiciously. After all, she'd just returned, and he'd already washed up and come over.

This made it hard for her not to suspect he'd been awake when she went over.

"Really? I didn't even know you came..."

Chu Mingcheng's face was full of innocence as he spread his hands. If she suspected he was pretending to sleep, he might not get wake-up calls in the future.

"Alright then!" Jiang Luoluo didn't mind and went to the kitchen to get the breakfast she'd been keeping warm.

After breakfast, she was going to prepare a new dance today, so Chu Mingcheng could only set off alone.

He drove to the pier, then took the boat to the shipyard to ask about installing a winch or crane on the foredeck.

The sales representative who received him looked at the boat with surprise. "Your fishing boat shouldn't need those things, right?"

From a design perspective, this boat didn't account for such equipment.

It was a coastal fishing boat—what did it need those things for to pull large cargo?

Chu Mingcheng smiled modestly. "I caught a two-hundred-plus-jin dragon grouper yesterday. If there hadn't been many people on the boat, I wouldn't have been able to pull it up myself.

"And I often go spearfishing. If I have a winch or crane, getting the catch onto the boat won't be such trouble."

The sales representative immediately did a tactical lean-back. For some reason, he suddenly felt hit by a wave of showing off.

Finally, at Chu Mingcheng's request, he found a technician and asked if a winch or crane could be installed on the boat.

Of course, either could be installed, but according to the technician, since it was for pulling large fish, a small, retractable, fixed hydraulic crane would be better for his boat.

The winch would have to be placed on the steps behind the foredeck landing point. The hydraulic crane could be installed in the middle of the aft deck, near the outboard motor, and wouldn't be too obtrusive.

When not in use, the crane arm could be retracted. When needed, it could be extended.

Chu Mingcheng's boat only needed a crane that could lift five hundred kilograms—a thousand jin. It didn't need to be oversized.

The price was also reasonable. Including installation, it was only three thousand five hundred. A higher quality one was five thousand.

Chu Mingcheng had expected ten or twenty thousand. The price was much cheaper than imagined, so he directly chose the five-thousand-yuan option.

The sales representative then said, "If you're planning to specifically target large fish, I'd recommend buying at least a Category II fishing boat.

"A large boat has dedicated cold storage, better resistance to wind and waves, and higher endurance, so it can reach more distant waters. Your small boat can only operate in coastal waters. I estimate your crane won't get much use.

"After all, a two-hundred-jin large grouper is hard to come by, right?"

"I think you have some misunderstanding about me!" Chu Mingcheng laughed.

"What misunderstanding?" The sales representative was puzzled.

"Do you think I'm someone who can afford a Category II fishing boat?" Chu Mingcheng said matter-of-factly.

Eighty thousand could only buy such a small boat. A Category II fishing boat over sixteen meters would cost several million, right?

"Uh, you may have misunderstood. A Category II or even Category I fishing boat—the economical, practical type—actually isn't as expensive as you think."

The sales representative explained with a smile, then pointed to the shipyard's east side. "Our shipyard has recovered a seventy-eight-foot Category II fishing boat. Want to take a look? The price will definitely surprise you.

"Even if you don't buy now, it's good to learn about it in advance! Anyway, the crane installation will take time. Why don't you go look?"

He only had over two hundred thousand, and hadn't even repaid most of his father's life savings. Chu Mingcheng really had no plans to change boats.

But as the sales representative said, what harm was there in looking?

So he followed to the shipyard's east pier and saw a large white fishing boat.

The sales representative brought him aboard and began the introduction. "This is a seventy-eight-foot Category II fishing boat. It can go two hundred nautical miles to the open sea for deep-sea fishing.

"This boat is 23.8 meters long, 5.06 meters wide, and was launched in 2020."

After understanding the boat's basic information, Chu Mingcheng followed the sales representative inside.

Upon entering, the kitchen was on the left, bathroom on the right.

Honestly, a large boat meant a large space—the kitchen and bathroom looked as big as his own at home.

Further inside was the salon area, laid out like his fishing boat's sofa leisure area, but much larger. The sofas on both sides could seat twenty people if they squeezed.

Then came the cockpit. It had only a single seat—clearly, this nearly twenty-four-meter boat also needed just one person to operate.

As long as the boat wasn't over twenty-four meters, Chu Mingcheng's license applied.

Therefore, domestic fishing boats basically maxed out at this seventy-eight-foot length.

It was equipped with a domestic six-hundred-horsepower inboard engine, with a maximum speed of only twenty knots and cruising speed of fifteen knots.

Cruising speed was the economical speed, relatively fuel-efficient.

But for such a large boat, fifteen knots cruising was actually sufficient.

Below the cockpit were the bedrooms—four total.

But the rooms were very simple, truly just for sleeping, with only tatami mats. They couldn't really be called rooms.

There were three singles and one large room that could sleep twelve people.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng's interest in the boat dropped by half.

If he wanted to buy a large boat, he didn't need so many rooms, and the salon area was too large and impractical.

Then they came to the foredeck. This boat's aft deck wasn't very spacious—the main space was forward.

There was a freezer at the bow, but only five cubic meters, which was too small. The livewell wasn't large either, placed under the cockpit's front window, on the outside.

After understanding these features, Chu Mingcheng shook his head.

With his abilities getting stronger, this boat could work for now, but would soon be obsolete.

In the future, he'd specialize in large tuna and marlin. What use was such a small freezer?

And a Category II fishing boat wasn't what he wanted. If he changed boats, he'd choose Category I, which could reach the high seas.

The endurance wasn't bad—four hundred nautical miles—and the outboard motor had only been used for two hundred-plus hours. Maybe the owner couldn't afford fuel?

"How about it? This boat is only just over two million two hundred. Surprising and tempting, right?" the sales representative said with a smile after the tour.

Chu Mingcheng was indeed slightly tempted, hearing it was only just over two million. After all, the price was much lower than he'd imagined.

But soon, he shook his head. "This boat isn't very practical for me. The catch storage space is too small. This boat is obviously for charter fishing services. I don't do that myself.

"Second, this boat isn't Category I. It's somewhat wasteful for it to be so large."

If it were Category I, despite being nearly twenty-four meters, its resistance to wind and waves would be several levels higher.

As long as it didn't encounter extreme weather, reaching the high seas would be no problem.

But when encountering extreme weather, most boats would be very dangerous!