Chapter 1302: Lowering The Net
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The cargo s.h.i.+p was not a fis.h.i.+ng boat. Hence, it was inconvenient to fish on the deck. The body of the s.h.i.+p was tall and when the fis.h.i.+ng rod was thrown into the sea, one could not see anything. Any fis.h.i.+ng was thus done blindly.
They were now in the Kara Sea. The area was located within the Arctic Circle, seventy degrees north of the Arctic Circle lat.i.tude. The polar night phenomenon could be observed in winter when the sun was abnormally low. The northern sea area was frozen almost all year round, and even in the southern coastal areas, the freeze-up period was nine months long. Even in summer, there would be many icebergs floating on the surface of the sea.
Blizzards were common during winter there. In summer, there would be a lot of rain and fog. Li Du and his group chose a good day for setting off. The sun shone brightly and the weather was clear. Hence, they were able to spot the pirate s.h.i.+p and icebergs early.
The Kara Sea was located on the edge of the Arctic Ocean and could be considered as a part of it. Although the Arctic Ocean was relatively unpolluted by human industry, the fis.h.i.+ng catch there was inherently low.
Li Du threw out the fis.h.i.+ng rod and after waiting for more than two hours, he did not have any success.
He withdrew the rod from the sea and said, “Sh*t, there’s nothing here. Is this a piece of icy cold dead sea?”
Steve, who was playing cards, laughed. “Of course not. The Kara Sea is an important fis.h.i.+ng region in Russia. Contrary to what you said, many types of fish live here.”
Li Du could only continue to grumble in response to that. Their s.h.i.+p was moving at top speed and it was not easy to fish at that speed.
Brother Wolf asked, “Boss, you want to fish?”
Li Du said, “I’d like to get some fish, yes. When we get on land, we can dry the fish up and have it as a supplement to our menu.”
Brother Wolf removed his s.h.i.+rt and said, “Go down, throw the net.”
Li Du stopped him and asked, “What? How are you going to bring the fish?”
Brother Wolf pointed to the lifeboat at the stern of the s.h.i.+p. “Link up the lifeboat and the s.h.i.+p, and pull a net between the two vessels. If there are fish in the sea, we can definitely catch some.”
Madman said, “That’s a good idea.”
The captain did not agree. Seeing that they had released the lifeboats and connected them to the stern with a cable, he drew a cross in front of his chest. “G.o.d bless, please don’t let the small boat capsize.”
The captain could only pray, as he knew that he would not be able to stop them. He could already tell by now that all his pa.s.sengers were crazy. They were even crazier than the rebel gangs.
Brother Wolf and the rest got onto one of the lifeboats while Li Du got into another. They measured the distance between the two boats and then they threw the net together from their boats into the sea.
They had thought of the plan casually and had not expected much success.
However, their plan was just in accordance with the principle of the local fis.h.i.+ng trade. The northern sea was too cold and when it was summer, many fish would float from the deep sea to the surface for warmth.
Most people would know that because of the pressure of seawater, deep-sea fish were unable to migrate to shallow seas, and fish from shallow seas could not go to the deep sea. However, in fact, was not an absolute truth. Some deep-sea fish could move to shallow waters, but they would have to rise slowly.
If it had been one or two months earlier, there would not be much fish in the Kara Sea. Some sea areas would still be frozen. They would not have been able to catch much while fis.h.i.+ng.
However, things were much better in the current season. Li Du squatted in the small lifeboat, bobbing from the current. After a short while, he could sense that the towline of the fis.h.i.+ng net became tight, a sign that the net had caught something.
He was quite elated at the discovery and pumped his fist into the air. “Buddies, get ready to have a good reap!”
As their boat was not a professional fis.h.i.+ng boat, they were unable to withdraw the net directly.
Brother Wolf had thought of an idea. He paddled to move his lifeboat nearer to Li Du’s. The two lifeboats approached each other and with that, the two ends of the fis.h.i.+ng net could be moved closer together.
Although that was a simple idea, it was not easy to carry it out, because the s.h.i.+p was pulling the two lifeboats along at top speed. Brother Wolf’s lifeboat was moving forward and he still had to paddle it horizontally. It was not easy to control the lifeboat and it could capsize.
The wind blew and the waves splashed as Brother Wolf and Madman paddled as fast as they could to finally move the lifeboat in the intended direction.
The moment the two lifeboats neared, Li Du activated Time Deceleration and then connected the two boats via a hook. Just like that, they could wrap up the fis.h.i.+ng net and withdraw it from the water.
Finally, they all returned to the s.h.i.+p. Later, the s.h.i.+p’s winch at the rear spun to collect the lifeboats and fis.h.i.+ng net.
As their s.h.i.+p was not meant for fis.h.i.+ng, many of the fish fell back into the water when the net was being withdrawn. Li Du and his people squatted at the s.h.i.+p rear to look down. They watched as the fish dropped back into the sea from the net.
Ah Meow and the rest were also watching from the winch. Seeing one plump fish after another falling back into the sea, the animals called out in frustration.
Ah Bai was a glutton and it felt extremely pained to watch the fish going to waste. When it used to live by the lake, he would find fish washed onto the sh.o.r.e occasionally. It had tasted fish before and found in delicious. Hence, it felt quite put out when it saw the fish falling back into the sea.
The little white monkey was agile and it climbed down the cable, balancing with its tail.
Initially, Li Du had not taken notice of that. When he finally did, the little monkey was already nearing the end of the cable.
The s.h.i.+p bobbed up and down on the sea, the cable swaying. Ah Bai looked like it was playing on the swing. As the cable swung, the seawater splashed on the stern, quickly wetting the white monkey.
Seeing that, Li Du shouted in alarm, “Ah Bai, come back!”
If the little white monkey accidentally fell into the water, it would suffer a cruel death and they would not even be able to find its carca.s.s.
Ah Bai turned around to look at him. Then it continued to stare at the fis.h.i.+ng net. As the cable swung, it jumped lightly onto the lifeboat. Then it followed the path of the cables and climbed onto the fis.h.i.+ng net.
The two ends of the fis.h.i.+ng net had yet to be joined and the little white monkey tried its best to stop the fish from falling out of the net.
Some of the fish that were about to drop back into the sea were quickly stuffed back into the net. If they could, they would have cursed the little white monkey.
Everything was concluded safely as the winch spun and withdrew the rope, lifeboat and fis.h.i.+ng net.
Sophie swiftly carried the little white monkey away. It was still holding onto a sardine and when it calmed down, it stuffed the fish into its mouth.
Vika brought out the plump manul, Kuafu. Manuls also consumed fish, and seeing the fish, it rushed forward cheerfully.
Ah Meow was displeased, and Ah Bai was especially unhappy. That’s the fish that I risked my life for! You’re coming to be a freeloader? It can’t be that easy!
The animals rushed to crowd around the manul and snap at it.
Steve rushed over to chase Ah Meow and the rest away and waved his hands, scolding them. “Go, go, go. Friends.h.i.+p should be a priority, okay? All of you go away!”
Kuafu was frightened from the attack and seeing that Steve had come over to protect it, it hurriedly wriggled its way between Steve’s legs, looking pitiful.
Seeing that, Steve was ecstatic and smiled, saying, “Hey, it looks like my efforts are finally paying off. Look at this b*stard, it finally recognized me as its master!”
Li Du picked up a herring and threw it to Steve. “Congrats, congrats, here’s a gift for you.”
The herring was jumping and that fl.u.s.tered Steve. When the herring dropped onto the deck, Kuafu rushed up to grab it and dragged it back to its cage.