With fuel and water topped off, Chu Mingcheng started the fishing boat and headed straight for the large yellow croaker fishing grounds.

As luck would have it, they hadn't gone far when they ran into Zhao Jun, who'd just finished pulling in his nets.

"Brother Zhao Jun, fancy meeting you here!"

Zhao Jun had already noticed a fishing boat approaching, but he hadn't expected it to be Chu Mingcheng.

"Cheng, is this your boat?"

"It is! Bought it in Xiamen. What do you think?"

"Impressive!" Zhao Jun gave him a thumbs-up.

"Brother Zhao Jun, how's your catch been lately?" Seeing him, Chu Mingcheng once again had the thought of asking him to join his crew.

"It's been so-so!" Though he said "so-so," the bitter look on his face told a different story. But he clearly didn't want to talk about it and changed the subject. "By the way, where are you guys headed?"

"We're going to fish for large yellow croaker! Brother Zhao Jun, since your catch has been so-so, why don't you come with us? My boat has a fish finder, so it's easy to locate schools. It's definitely better than casting nets."

"No charter fee, and I'll provide the bait and crushed ice. All I ask is that you sell me the fish you catch at wholesale price. What do you say?"

He gave Zhang Wei and Chen Yang a better deal because the three had grown up together and had always been close.

Although Chu Mingcheng's relationship with Zhao Jun was good, it was still just in the range of ordinary friends. It was only because he was a decent person that he was thinking of bringing him along.

Therefore, the price he offered for the fish wasn't as generous. Providing bait was already a good deal.

Knowing the current price of a large yellow croaker, Zhao Jun was immediately tempted.

And with no charter fee and free bait, and since fishermen usually sold their catch at wholesale price anyway, it was a perfectly normal arrangement. He had no reason to refuse.

Zhao Jun needed to pull in his nets and also explain the situation to his family.

So Chu Mingcheng and Zhang Wei returned to the pier, drove to buy more crushed ice and bait, then came back to meet up and set off.

As the boat sailed across the sea, the three men got their fishing rods and rigs ready.

After lunch, it was past one in the afternoon when the fishing boat finally reached its destination.

Chu Mingcheng was steering toward some isolated reefs, searching for yellow croaker schools, when he spotted fish gathered at the surface in an open stretch of water.

He pointed to the fish finder. "There's a school here. Want to try fishing for them first?"

"Are they large yellow croaker?" Zhang Wei asked.

"Not sure, but large yellow croaker like to gather near isolated reefs. This surface school probably isn't them," Chu Mingcheng said, shaking his head. "We can give it a try, though. If it's a valuable species, we don't necessarily have to stick to large yellow croaker."

If it were a species he hadn't caught before, his Aquatic Species Codex would gain experience points. No reason to pass it up.

"Then let's give it a shot." Zhang Wei didn't mind, and Zhao Jun had no objections either.

Seeing they were all in agreement, Chu Mingcheng picked up his fishing rod, walked to the deck, and started fishing.

The fish were at about ten meters depth. The moment his line went down, it immediately attracted attention from seven or eight nearby fish.

When one took the hook, Chu Mingcheng could tell from the feel that the fish wasn't very big.

He'd assumed it was some cheap fish, but when he pulled it to the surface, he saw a silvery-white figure.

"Huh, it's a silver pomfret." Chu Mingcheng was a little surprised. He'd never caught this fish before.

The one he'd just caught was probably about five liang—decent size.

"Aren't silver pomfret pretty cheap?" Zhang Wei asked, a little disappointed seeing the pomfret.

But Zhao Jun shook his head. "That depends on size. Small silver pomfrets aren't worth much—only selling for about ten yuan per jin. But large ones are very expensive. A single fish over a jin can sell for over a hundred."

"Whoa, a fish over a jin makes that much difference?" Zhang Wei was shocked.

Chu Mingcheng put the silver pomfret in the fish box and added, "The difference is huge because silver pomfret rarely grows over a jin. Normally, even five or six liang is considered a good size. Many net-caught ones are only two or three liang. Brother Zhao Jun knows this best."

Zhao Jun gave a wry smile. "I do catch lots of silver pomfret in my nets, but very few are over five liang. It has to do with coastal waters. The silver pomfret here should be much bigger."

"Since the ones over a jin are so rare, should we still fish for them?" Zhang Wei asked. He felt that since their goal was making money from large yellow croaker, there was no need to waste time on this.

"Since we've run into them, might as well catch a few. We don't have to catch too many. Silver pomfret is delicious, so we can catch some for ourselves," Chu Mingcheng said as he cast his baited hook back into the water.

Seeing him do so, the other two followed suit.

But this time, all three got bites almost simultaneously. Zhang Wei and Zhao Jun both pulled their fish up with ease, but Chu Mingcheng's took more effort.

This made the other two excited. If he could land a big one, it would mean plenty of large fish in this school, making it worth staying longer.

After a moment, a silver pomfret the size of a dinner plate appeared on the surface. Zhang Wei, who was free, quickly scooped it up with the landing net.

Zhao Jun took the fish grip, lifted the fish, and weighed it. "Nice! This one's two jin and one liang. It can sell for over four hundred!"

"A two-jin fish can sell for four hundred?" Zhang Wei now had a clear idea of silver pomfret's value.

He didn't hesitate, immediately casting his baited hook back into the water to continue fishing.

Chu Mingcheng looked at the silver pomfret's data panel in his Aquatic Species Codex with a hint of disappointment. It wasn't a premium fish.

If it were premium, he might've been able to attract even larger silver pomfret to the hook.

His Premium Aquatic Species Codex was currently at level nine. He only needed a dozen or so more premium fish to reach level ten.

Based on the Codex's usual pattern, once the data reached a 10% boost, his efficiency in both fishing and hunting would see significant improvement.

If he couldn't catch a particularly large yellow croaker in the next few days, he might have to go into the water and use Fish Gathering to attract larger specimens.

Afterward, the three fished for silver pomfret for nearly another hour, only stopping when the school dispersed.

This kind of surface school generally wouldn't stay in one place long unless you used chum to keep them there.

But Chu Mingcheng had no intention of fishing for silver pomfret all day. The main reason was that ones over a jin were too rare. The three had only caught five total, though there were plenty over five liang.

They sorted the silver pomfret. Chu Mingcheng returned to the cockpit and began searching for large yellow croaker schools near the isolated reefs.

Today was high tide, and there were even more fishing boats on the sea than in the past two days.

Chu Mingcheng searched for a full hour before finally finding a suitable fishing spot.

When the first catch came up golden, all three men on the boat had satisfied smiles.

But as Chu Mingcheng was catching his tenth or so large yellow croaker, his expression suddenly froze.

He silently placed the large yellow croaker in the fish box, continued fishing, and simultaneously checked the new changes in his Premium Aquatic Species Codex.

[Premium Aquatic Species Codex (Level 10)]

[Current Experience: (0/1100)]

[Usable Tools: Fishing Gear, Speargun, Longline]

[Fish Gathering (Level 10): Aquatic species within your range that meet the premium standard will have a ten percent chance of being actively attracted.]

[Area of Effect: 10-meter radius]

[Deliciousness: +10%]

[Size: +10%]

[Mode Switch: When fishing, Fish Gathering effect centers on the hook. When hunting, Fish Gathering effect centers on the host.]

[The 10% Fish Gathering effect is enhanced for wild aquatic species, so the host can freely switch this function on and off to avoid trouble. It is ineffective on farmed aquatic species.]

He hadn't expected such a change after reaching level ten. The Premium Aquatic Species Codex was finally starting to be useful.

With a thought, the Fish Gathering effect immediately activated. Within a ten-meter radius of the hook, seven or eight large yellow croakers that had been swimming freely suddenly seemed controlled, starting to swim toward the hook.

They completely ignored Zhang Wei's and Zhao Jun's hooks. The sandworms that had been so attractive now seemed bland and tasteless.

One large yellow croaker, weighing over a jin, was closest. It bit down almost without testing, taking the hook aggressively.

Sharp pain in its mouth immediately snapped it back to reality, but it was already too late.

Chu Mingcheng felt the bite and immediately lifted his rod. A smile touched his lips—he could already tell from the rod's feel that the fish wasn't small.

From then on, he was basically getting bites as soon as his hook hit water, entering a continuous catching mode that left the other two stunned.

They didn't have that kind of efficiency. Even on good days, they'd have to wait five or six minutes for a bite. They'd occasionally get strings of catches, but most times had to wait quite a while.