Chapter 35: Prerequisites Met? Level Up!

[Punch Force (1/1)] can cause a brief moment of disorientation.

This was exactly the effect Du Yu was looking for!

While underwater, he utilized his Fighting Mastery and quickly threw a punch in the direction of the bluefin tuna, triggering his Punch Force (1/1)!

The speed of the bluefin tuna ahead slowed down visibly to the naked eye. Du Yu was startled himself; the power of this Punch Force was immense! The bluefin tuna was forced to turn sharply to buy itself some time, while Du Yu kept using Punch Force from behind to continue dragging down its speed. Gradually, after several rounds of this pursuit, the bluefin tuna’s speed became noticeably sluggish. Clearly, it was running out of stamina.

Du Yu took out the casting net he had prepared in advance, spread it out around the bluefin tuna, and quickly encircled it. Worried that the fish might suddenly thrash and escape, Du Yu chose to tighten the net bit by bit. The tactic worked perfectly, leaving the bluefin tuna with nowhere to run. As Du Yu tightened the net for the final time, the bluefin tuna was officially caught.

"System notification: Host has obtained a bluefin tuna for the first time. Luck Points +1000, Skill Points +2."

The system’s chime rang out. A heavy weight finally lifted from Du Yu’s heart.

"Prerequisites [Tuna (11/10), Bluefin Tuna (1/1)] have been met. Would you like to upgrade the system?"

"Proceed with the upgrade."

Du Yu naturally chose to upgrade. He had traveled thousands of miles to the East Sea for this very purpose; now that the requirements were met, there was no reason to hesitate.

"Current upgrade progress (1%)."

Without checking the system further, Du Yu began to carefully examine the bluefin tuna he had caught. The fish was 1.5 meters long. When Du Yu returned to the fishing boat to test his strength, he found that even with his [Stamina (3/5)], it was a bit of a struggle to pull it up. This thing must have weighed at least 200 jin.

Looking at his remaining 5 skill points, Du Yu decisively chose to spend them.

"Stamina (3/5) has been upgraded to (5/5)."
"Fishing Mastery (3/5) has been upgraded to (5/5)."

Having spent four skill points in one go, Du Yu felt a surge of warmth flood his body. He felt as though he could pull up a bluefin tuna with one hand now! It was terrifyingly strong. With just a slight exertion of effort, Du Yu hauled the bluefin tuna up. Standing nearby, Wang Xiaowei scratched his head, wondering, "Is this right, Brother Yu?"

***

Du Yu placed the bluefin tuna into the water tank, signaling the successful completion of the first half of their East Sea expedition. Returning home safely was now the top priority.

The brothers’ haul from this trip to the East Sea was astonishing. Counting all the various ordinary fish, they had over two hundred jin, and there were also a dozen or so precious sea fish. It was no exaggeration to say they were returning with a full load. This one trip alone provided enough stock for their shop to sell for over half a month!

The fishing boat’s diesel engine roared continuously, driving the vessel toward the beach at a speed of 30 knots. During this trip, Du Yu and Wang Xiaowei had truly witnessed the power of the [High-Efficiency Diesel Engine]. By all rights, after a long-distance voyage like this, most of the fuel should have been consumed by the return trip, yet they hadn't even burned through a quarter of it. It was truly exaggerated.

Amidst the roaring engine, the two rested. They chose not to fish on the way back; for one, they had enough, and for another, the water tank was so full of sea fish that there was no more room. The brothers enjoyed a rare moment of leisure.

After a meal, the system notification suddenly sounded.

"System notification: Host has left the East Sea region. [Luck Points Mall: East Sea] is now closed."

Du Yu wasn't surprised, though he felt a tinge of regret. If only he could buy the [Tuna Bait] every day, he would be flying high in no time. It seemed he would need to travel more in the future, Du Yu thought to himself.

However, this trip had also shown Du Yu his own shortcomings. If not for the hidden features of the Luck Points Mall and the timely opening of the [Luck Points Mall: East Sea] containing the items he needed, heaven knows how long it would have taken him to catch one. Du Yu decided he wouldn't make any more long-distance sea trips in the short term. Once the level-three system upgrade was complete, he wondered what sparks might fly between the Swimming Mastery and Farming Mastery. Though, with the [Wearable Underwater Propulsion Device], perhaps the Swimming Mastery would become redundant...

"Ding! Detected that [Luck Points Mall: East Sea] is closed. Sea-region-specific item [Universal Diving Suit] has been reclaimed. Compensating host with 1500 Luck Points."

...What? So the items from each sea region could only be used in that specific region? What kind of mechanism was this? Du Yu was helpless, but he had to accept reality. It seemed the Swimming Mastery from the level-three system would be quite useful after all. No, wait—it would be extremely useful! Without it, how else would he catch fish in the deep-sea zones?

***

Du Yu silently pondered his future plans, while Wang Xiaowei drooled on the floor, and the vast ocean occasionally kicked up a few waves. That night was exceptionally quiet.

The next morning, at the first light of dawn, Du Yu saw the sprawling beach in the distance and faintly heard the crowing of roosters from the nearby village. They were back. Returning from a sea voyage, he felt a strange sense of returning home in triumph. Du Yu was filled with excitement; he was about to start carving out his own world!

Wang Xiaowei was about to unload the sea fish, but Du Yu stopped him. Wang Xiaowei was confused—if they didn't unload the fish, were they supposed to let them swim off on their own?

Du Yu smiled slightly and held up a finger. Thinking Du Yu had something to say, Wang Xiaowei listened intently. Du Yu pressed the "Anti-Stranding" button. To Wang Xiaowei’s astonishment, the entire boat roared to life. Du Yu pushed the control lever forward, and the fishing boat began to crawl slowly onto the land.

"You can do that too???" Wang Xiaowei was amazed, watching the fishing boat move across the land without obstruction.

"There are wheels underneath," Du Yu explained.

Wang Xiaowei thought this amphibious fishing boat was truly incredible. Once again, before anyone else in the village had woken up, the brothers returned to the village, and Du Yu drove the boat straight into the fish pond.

The two began moving the harvested sea fish into their van using buckets. They filled over ten buckets of various sizes, and Du Yu even had to redeem two more [Buckets] from the Luck Points Mall just to finish moving all the fish into the van.

Du Yu called Ma Yue.

"Hello? Who is this?" The voice on the other end was soft and sleepy; clearly, Ma Yue hadn't woken up yet.

Du Yu scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. It was early morning, and he was indeed calling a bit too soon.

"It’s Du Yu, Xiao Yue. I just got back today and have a shipment for you. I’ll call Manager Han in a moment; there’s a high chance we can sign another contract."

Du Yu spoke clearly and concisely, without a word of waste. Ma Yue was surprised; having new stock was understandable, but how could Brother Yu be so certain that they would be able to sign another contract with Manager Han? Of course, Ma Yue probably couldn't grasp what Du Yu meant by a "shipment" of new stock.