The bites had stopped completely, and with no groupers in sight, Chu Mingcheng figured the bait was the problem. Live mackerel would probably work much better.

The water depth was likely another factor. Some of the other anglers were targeting mid-water species.

It wouldn't be surprising for deep-sea fish to leave the bottom in search of abundant food. Maybe they had moved up to the middle depths?

Chu Mingcheng decided to try changing his depth first. If that didn't work, he'd switch baits.

He wasn't sure if changing depths would make a difference, so he didn't mention it to Jiang Yuqi yet. Better to test it himself first.

Chu Mingcheng reeled in his line and repositioned for the middle water column.

The moment his baited hook reached the mid-layer—just a second after he paused the reel—the tip of his rod began to tremble. He could hardly believe he had a fish.

The rising Antarctic krill bait must have attracted something, and it had struck the instant he stopped reeling.

Chu Mingcheng pressed the button again to haul it in, calling over to Jiang Yuqi, "Ah Qi, reel in your line halfway. I don't think there are any fish at the bottom anymore."

"No fish at the bottom? Okay, got it!"

Jiang Yuqi didn't hesitate, immediately reeling in her line halfway, though she wasn't lucky enough to get an instant bite.

Chu Mingcheng's fish came up quickly. When he saw it, he was genuinely surprised. It was a rockfish.

But it was different from the rockfish he usually caught along the coast.

The common rockfish was a brown scorpionfish, but this one was a white-spotted scorpionfish, also known as a white-striped rockfish.

The two species grew to about the same maximum size, but the rich environment and abundant fish resources of the Xisha Islands had allowed this one to grow to over a jin. One more, and he'd have enough for a full dish.

Unfortunately, for truly large scorpionfish in China, you had to go to the East China Sea, where a tricolor variety could grow to three or four jin.

This fish wasn't cheap—one over a jin could easily sell for a hundred yuan.

Near the coast, they were usually only two or three liang, selling for about forty yuan.

One thing puzzled him, though. Rockfish were poor swimmers and usually hid in reef crevices. How had he caught one in the middle of the water column?

It didn't make sense.

Maybe the fish had taken the bait while he was reeling in, and he just hadn't noticed?

Then, when he paused, the fish's struggles caught his attention, making him think it was a mid-water interception.

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Chu Mingcheng glanced over at Jiang Yuqi's motionless rod...

"Whoa, a big one!"

"..."

Just as he was thinking she had no fish, she hooked something substantial. From the bend in her rod, it was a decent size—not a rockfish.

This confirmed it for Chu Mingcheng. The one he'd caught must have bitten at the bottom, but he'd been reeling in at that exact moment. The combination of the sinker's weight and the fish's small size had prevented him from noticing until he paused.

With Jiang Yuqi's hook positioned in the middle of the water column, the fish came up much faster than before.

When he saw it was a sea wolf, he was baffled again.

How could a fish as fierce as a sea wolf be attracted to Antarctic krill? This was completely unscientific!

When he helped her land the six or seven-jin sea wolf with the net, he saw the small squid in its mouth and immediately understood.

The small squid had been after the shrimp, and the sea wolf had been after the small squid. It was just a coincidence that she'd hooked it.

"Ming-ge, what kind of fish is this?" Jiang Yuqi asked, crouching down to examine the sea wolf's sharp teeth.

"It's a sea wolf, also known as a barracuda. It's a species of great barracuda—very fierce, and they usually travel in schools," Chu Mingcheng explained as he used a hook remover to extract the hook.

Thankfully, he had used a steel leader for the grouper fishing.

Even so, the leader was severely frayed with bite marks. He'd need specialized tackle for this.

He didn't have the right gear, but the Sky High did. He had a crewman bring over two boxes of live small squid and, at the same time, bought some size 30 alloy steel bite-proof leader line and 10/0 bite-proof steel sea hooks.

Sea wolves had a habit of protecting their own. When one was attacked or hooked, the others would swarm to help, trying to bite through the fishing line.

This was a major reason why fishing for sea wolves often resulted in snapped lines.

It wasn't just Jiang Yuqi who had caught a sea wolf—several other anglers within sight had also hooked them. But many more, caught unprepared, had their lines snapped one after another.

While the crewman went to get his supplies, Chu Mingcheng went to his room and brought out his #80 boat rod.

Sea wolves were upper-layer fish; using an electric reel to catch them was just too boring.

As for his electric reel rod, since he'd just caught a rockfish, there were probably more at the bottom. He'd just leave it there. The fishing spot beside him was empty, so it wouldn't interfere with his battle against the sea wolves.

He baited his hook with a live squid. The moment it hit the water, it attracted the attention of the school of sea wolves.

The squid hadn't even reached the middle depths when several sea wolves were already in pursuit. The first one to reach it took a vicious bite.

It had successfully snatched the food, but it had also fallen into a human's trap—the hook piercing clean through its mouth.

Feeling the foreign object and the pain, the hooked sea wolf instinctively tried to flee.

But on the boat, Chu Mingcheng had lifted his rod to set the hook the moment he felt the bite. The ten-plus-jin sea wolf couldn't match that force. Its downward swim was abruptly halted, its head yanked upward, and its direction forcibly changed.

Seeing this, its companions immediately rushed to help, trying to bite through the leader line.

In their experience, all they had to do was sever the line, and their comrade would be free.

Unfortunately, this was a bite-proof leader and a bite-proof hook, specifically designed to deal with them. Their razor-sharp teeth were useless.

A ten-plus-jin fish was an easy catch for the current Chu Mingcheng. With every lift of his rod, he could reel in several turns of line. Soon, a sea wolf was pulled to the surface.

The fish was lying on its side, belly turned up, clearly exhausted.

He called over a crewman, and the sea wolf was hauled directly onto the boat.

Jiang Yuqi had watched the whole process. Even someone who knew nothing about fishing could tell this was an expert at work.

Her "Sea King" brother—the one she collaborated with—knew many people who loved sea fishing, even friends with deep-sea fishing boats. This made her feel that partnering with Chu Mingcheng was an extremely wise decision.

While Chu Mingcheng was battling sea wolves, his electric reel rod also showed some action. The fish came up even faster than the sea wolf—another jin-plus white-spotted rockfish.

It seemed a school of rockfish had gathered at the bottom. This was shaping up to be another sleepless night.

His only regret was that catching sea wolves lacked excitement; they weren't particularly large specimens.

But with a school of fish here, his plans for a late-night snack were officially canceled.

Jiang Yuqi, unable to fight off exhaustion, retreated to her room at two in the morning. Chu Mingcheng fished through the night.

[Barracuda (Level 2)]

[Current Experience: 1/30]

[Size +2%]

[Deliciousness +2%]

[Capture Chance +2%]

The sea wolf was not a premium fish, and he had caught thirty-one of them throughout the night.

The cost was five leader lines and several hundred yuan worth of bait.

But the harvest was immense. The sea wolves were mostly between six and fifteen jin, totaling over three hundred jin—nearly four hundred.

He had also caught over twenty jin of rockfish and three ten-plus-jin deep-sea groupers.

But he was utterly exhausted. Chu Mingcheng packed up his gear, returned to his room, showered, and collapsed straight into bed.