Just three or four minutes later, the rod sprang to life.

It trembled lightly twice, then, with a swoosh, bent down violently.

The curve was so extreme it looked like the rod would snap—and this was a heavy-duty boat rod!

Line from the reel was being stripped out at incredible speed. The nearly locked drag seemed completely useless, making Chu Mingcheng wonder for a moment if his spool had come loose.

All signs pointed to one thing: he'd hooked a true behemoth.

Chu Mingcheng grabbed the rod with both hands and tried to lift it. It was incredibly heavy—with his strength, he could barely budge it.

He reached out to grab the rapidly spinning reel handle. The handle slammed into his palm—painful, but he couldn't stop it from turning.

Worse, the resistance he created caused the rod to bend even more, putting it under greater strain.

Chu Mingcheng's expression changed. He quickly let go. "Luoluo, start the boat!"

Seeing the gravity in his stern expression, Jiang Luoluo nodded and hurried into the pilothouse to start the fishing boat.

Chasing the fish with the boat would significantly affect Zhang Wei's fight, but luckily, he was using an electric rod, which could rely on the machine to pull the fish back.

But it all depended on the situation. If it wasn't feasible, they'd have to give up on his fish.

The priority right now was Chu Mingcheng. The line was only a thousand meters long, and the fish had already taken out over five hundred. Any more delay and the line would break.

"How big is that fish that you have to chase it with the boat?" Zhang Wei, busy with his own fish, couldn't see what was happening on the other side and asked curiously.

Zhou Jiayi knew next to nothing about fishing, so she couldn't answer.

In truth, Jiang Luoluo didn't quite understand how big a fish had to be to require chasing it down, either.

But she could only shelve her questions for now, planning to ask after the fish was caught.

"I'm not sure either. Ah Cheng looks really serious. The fish must be huge," Chen Yang said, walking over to check on Zhang Wei. Seeing that the fish hadn't been brought up yet, he started feeling anxious himself.

"Who knows when you'll get yours up. Think it'll interfere with his?"

"Won't be that fast. A fish over two hundred jin will take at least two hours to bring in," Zhang Wei said, nervousness creeping into his voice. He grabbed the handle and began working in tandem with the electric reel, loosening the drag slightly.

With the boat now moving to chase the other fish, he was forced into a trolling situation.

Trolling requires high skill. If the person driving the boat and the angler weren't perfectly in sync, it would end with a snapped line and lost fish.

And right now, Jiang Luoluo had no intention of coordinating with him. This naturally made his task much more difficult.

Loosening the drag a bit would increase his margin for error.

"Help me out in a bit. Let's try to get this fish in as quickly as possible so we don't interfere with Ah Cheng."

"Alright!" Chen Yang agreed readily. Watching Zhang Wei put his back into reeling, he prepared to take over when needed.

Chu Mingcheng couldn't spare a thought for them right now. He had to focus. The line was already out seven hundred meters. The boat was moving, but the line remained taut.

"Jiayi, tell Luoluo to speed up a bit." The boat was moving, but Chu Mingcheng couldn't reel in a single inch of line. In fact, the fish was pulling so hard that his hand was forced to follow the handle's rotation.

Frustrated, he had no choice but to ask Zhou Jiayi, who was standing at the pilothouse door, to relay the message.

He'd never imagined he'd need the walkie-talkie on his small boat—it usually just sat on the console as decoration.

So now, the idle Zhou Jiayi had to act as a messenger.

She quickly went to inform Jiang Luoluo to increase their speed.

But she returned just as quickly, bearing bad news for Chu Mingcheng.

The fishing boat had a small fuel tank. Although they'd refueled at the Qiantang River mouth on their way out yesterday, they'd already used a third of their fuel getting to the Twin Islands.

And now, they weren't heading back toward the coast but further away from it.

This meant they'd need even more fuel to get back. They could call for a fuel boat to come and refuel them, but that was a last resort.

After all, fuel at sea was exorbitantly more expensive than onshore. It would be a shame if this big fish's total value didn't even cover the fuel cost.

Chu Mingcheng thought for a moment. "Keep going for an hour, and we'll see how things are. Tell Luoluo to go full speed."

Zhou Jiayi nodded and relayed the message to Jiang Luoluo.

A moment later, the fishing boat lurched, its speed increasing again. The waves it cut through splashed onto the deck, quickly drenching Chu Mingcheng.

The winter sea breeze was bone-chillingly cold, and combined with the icy seawater, it was truly soul-chilling.

Zhang Wei and Chen Yang, in the corner of the stern, weren't faring much better. In a short time, all three men's lips had turned pale from cold.

Chu Mingcheng actually had other ideas. He'd considered jumping into the water and letting the fish pull him, or even sitting in the inflatable boat and letting it tow him.

But he held back, considering he might lose his sense of direction.

The fish had too much energy right now. If he did that, there was no telling how far it would pull him.

By the time Jiang Luoluo caught up in the boat, they would've used up most of the fuel anyway and would be waiting for rescue.

It was better to stay on the boat from the start. This way, the fish pulling the larger vessel would actually tire out faster.

Now he was just waiting, hoping that within this hour, he could wear down a good chunk of the fish's stamina.

Once this initial burst of energy was over, although there would be second and third winds, the fish's strength wouldn't be as overwhelming as it is now. He'd be able to exert some influence and control its direction.

As long as he could get past this first explosive run, the fish would not escape his grasp.

Chu Mingcheng struggled to control the reel handle, but the line was still slowly being pulled out.

By now, he was certain the fish in the water was a swordfish. No other fish, not even tuna, had the power to make him feel so helpless.

After all, the largest Pacific bluefin tuna rarely exceeded six hundred jin.

Only Atlantic bluefin tuna could surpass eight hundred jin, and a fish of that weight would be record-breaking.

The only fish that could be this difficult to handle was a swordfish, which could reach a maximum weight of a thousand jin.

Of course, a female marlin could get even bigger, but he'd have to be lucky enough to encounter one.

Seawater trickled down his forehead and into his eyes, making Chu Mingcheng extremely uncomfortable.

But he could only grit his teeth and maintain his grip on the rod and handle, unable to wipe it away.

Only a thin layer of fishing line remained on the reel. He had no choice but to clamp down on the handle with both hands, refusing to let any more out.

If he let out a few more rotations and the fish made another sudden run, he'd have no buffer at all.

Chu Mingcheng had never found fishing so exhausting. In just a short time, most of his stamina was gone.

As his energy drained, his throat grew increasingly dry—a sign of dehydration.

"Water! Can someone get me some water!" Chu Mingcheng shouted.

But the roar of wind and waves was too loud. Zhang Wei, who'd just been relieved and was resting on the other side, didn't hear him.

Zhou Jiayi had run back into the pilothouse and was completely unaware of the situation outside.

Chu Mingcheng was helpless. He glanced at his Life Conversion ability, wondering if it could quench his thirst.

Fortunately, the other two weren't having an easy time with their fish either. After swapping places again, a short while later, Chen Yang also felt thirsty and was about to go into the pilothouse to grab a bottle of water.

He passed by Chu Mingcheng and saw the veins bulging on his forehead and his chapped lips. "Ah Cheng, are you thirsty? I'll get you a bottle of water."

"Yes!"

Chu Mingcheng was relieved. It was good he'd introduced him to a beautiful woman—he'd been on the verge of using Life Conversion prematurely.

A moment later, Chen Yang emerged from the pilothouse with a bottle of mineral water.

Seeing that Chu Mingcheng was in no position to drink, he thoughtfully opened the bottle and brought it to his lips.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

"Just so you know, my nose isn't thirsty, thanks!"

"Sorry, sorry! The boat's too shaky!"

Having finally gotten some water, Chu Mingcheng felt some energy return, but he'd lost a few more rotations of line.

His hand had unconsciously loosened when Chen Yang made him choke. Fortunately, he'd left himself a buffer, so it wasn't a problem for now.

The hour passed incredibly slowly. It wasn't until his hands were numb that Chu Mingcheng used Life Conversion once to reset his condition.

But the fish showed no signs of stopping. On the contrary, it was Zhang Wei on the other side who had good news.

With Chu Mingcheng chasing his fish, their situation had turned into trolling. Since their fish was much smaller and they had the electric reel's help, a swordfish about two and a half meters long was finally pulled to the boat's side.

But with the boat still moving, it was difficult for them to kill it.

The fish had been brought in so quickly, mainly because the boat had been dragging it, completely exhausting its strength.

Now the swordfish was being helplessly towed, looking utterly defeated.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei came over to Chu Mingcheng's side to ask about his situation.

At the same time, Zhou Jiayi appeared at the door asking if the hour was up and if they should stop the boat.

Chu Mingcheng could feel the swordfish's stamina had been significantly depleted. "Tell Luoluo to slow down gradually—don't just stop all at once. Let me see how it goes first."

Zhou Jiayi went back inside to relay the message, and the fishing boat began decelerating slowly.

As the boat's speed dropped to a crawl, the pressure on Chu Mingcheng suddenly increased, as did the strain on rod and line.

The rod creaked and groaned, bent into an inverted U-shape, looking as if it would snap at any moment.

But the rod was sturdy. Though it looked at its limit, it held strong.

Seeing the rod could take the strain, Chu Mingcheng had Jiang Luoluo maintain this speed for another half hour to see what would happen.

And with the reduced speed, Zhang Wei's side could finally land their fish.

The two worked together to kill the fish, then successfully used the crane to hoist it aboard.

The crane had a weighing function and could be used as a scale. The swordfish's weight was, as he'd expected, two hundred and seven jin.

With its cylindrical body, it looked very plump.

The two men began bleeding the fish. The boat didn't have a refrigerated hold, so bleeding was the only way to preserve it. This one was destined to be sold.

And so, after about half an hour, the situation with the rod finally started improving.

It was no longer constantly on the verge of breaking as before. Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng tried to reel in and, to his surprise, managed to gain some line back.

The fish was tired. The first explosive run was finally over.

But the real fight had just begun. It would likely take several more hours of struggle to bring this fish in.

However, the boat could not follow it any longer. They only had half a tank of fuel left and had to consider whether it was enough to get back.

While the fish was resting, Chu Mingcheng had Zhang Wei quickly inflate the inflatable boat and put it in the water. He was going to try a different approach.

Zhang Wei and Chen Yang saw no problem with this, but Jiang Luoluo was frantic. She came straight out of the pilothouse to protest.

"No, you can't go trolling on the inflatable boat! It could easily capsize. It's too dangerous!"