“Hey, do you still want your clothes?”
“No, keep them for you to use tonight…”
Damn, this demoness is truly a demoness. But this scent is really captivating, or…
“Bring them back, lest you defile them tonight.”
Before Li Haochen could react, Xu Qing had already snatched the white T-shirt from his hand. Her speed was so fast that not even a shadow was seen, leaving behind only a faint floral scent.
“What an interesting girl!”
Beautiful jokes always bring joy, adding much color to the dark night.
Two hours later, Li Haochen stopped. The fuel tank was nearly empty. Fortunately, he had refilled several buckets before setting off, otherwise, he’d be in deep trouble.
After refueling, Li Haochen returned to the cabin. Xu Qing had already cooked dinner. Although it tasted a bit unpleasant, he didn’t mind; filling his stomach was enough. After all, he could reach the shore in at most two meals.
After dinner and another half-hour rest, Li Haochen started the boat again and headed back. He had no intention of sleeping. Time was running out, and pushing through the night would make returning tomorrow much easier.
While Li Haochen was racing through the night, the American team was also pulling an all-nighter, not by sailing, but by fishing.
They hadn’t been able to contact headquarters for two days. Without information about other teams, they could only use their rest time to increase their chances of winning.
“John, including this one, have we caught up to the Chinese team in points?”
“Captain, we’ve caught up, but only to their data from two days ago. They probably haven’t been standing still these past two days, right? And the Japanese team, we’re a bit on the defensive.”
“Alas, everyone just does their best. What we’ve achieved is already pretty good. There are only a few more hours, everyone hang in there, hope for a miracle…”
Arthur shook his head, trying to comfort himself. He no longer held out much hope. A two-day gap, even with the worst luck, they should have caught three or four fish over the line. If luck wasn’t bad, how could they catch up to me? Unless they can land a fish over a thousand pounds.
“Captain, Captain, you… you need to come out, Cruz he…”
Just as Arthur was feeling helpless, Brook rushed in from outside the boat, his face a mixture of excitement and fear. He had never seen such a scene.
“What is it?”
“Cruz he’s… he’s hooked a fish.”
“Hooked a fish, so what? Why are you making such a fuss? You need to work harder too.”
“No, you need to come out and see!”
With that, he didn’t wait for Arthur to respond before pulling him outside.
“Hey, slow down, be careful or I… Holy cow, this…?”
Arthur, already in a bad mood, was about to get angry, but upon seeing the fishing rod in Cruz’s hand bent at an incredible curve, he was stunned for a moment, then shouted excitedly, “There’s a chance, we have a chance, Cruz, go for it!”
“Captain, we will definitely win the championship!”
Cruz, locked in a struggle, shouted with determination, his words igniting passion in the others. They all clenched their fists, eagerly awaiting the outcome.
Two hours later, Cruz was starting to lose stamina. This wouldn’t do. Arthur immediately shouted, “Brook, get ready to take over and switch people to continue.”
“Captain, won’t that be a violation of the rules?”
“It’s fine, this is our territory, we make the rules, hehe!”
Arthur walked into the cabin, grabbed paper and pen, and scribbled. A minute later, he held the paper against the surveillance camera, knowing that headquarters would surely see it.
Indeed, in the secret headquarters, Charlie, who was on duty, suddenly exclaimed in shock upon seeing Arthur’s note, “Boss, you need to come quickly, quickly.”
These past two days had been like years for Robert. Unable to contact anyone, he could only watch the videos. He had long lost all hope for this competition. Once the competition ended, he would lose everything.
“What is it? I’m already annoyed.”
“Arthur wants us to process the video from their boat.”
“Are you kidding me? The satellite phone is broken, and he’s telling you this? Do you believe in Chinese ghosts and spirits?” Robert grabbed Charlie’s collar and shouted, “Damn it, you know I’m in a bad mood and you’re here to tease me? You think you can step on me when I’m down?”
“Boss, I’m not lying. Come and see, Arthur wrote it down with paper and held it up to the camera.”
Robert let go, snorted, and walked over to the computer. Looking at the captured video footage, he was indeed very confused. Why process the video? Was there something illicit…
“Illicit?”
At the thought, a scenario flashed through Robert’s mind. He immediately opened the external video and watched. This made him go completely dumbfounded, and then he shouted excitedly, “Ah~ Heaven will not abandon me, heaven will not abandon me!”
That’s right, Robert saw Cruz struggling with a fish. Although the guy was lecherous, he was an undeniable fishing master. The incredible bend of the fishing rod in Cruz’s hands, he felt, definitely exceeded a thousand pounds. Now he understood why Arthur had asked them to erase the traces. Looking at the time, they probably needed to take turns.
“Charlie, quickly help Arthur and the others erase the video records. I knew my luck wouldn’t be so bad, hahaha!”
This news rekindled Robert’s hope. At this moment, they were all gathered around the computer, watching Arthur’s team, completely ignoring the other teams.
As they nervously and eagerly stared at the screen, Li Haochen on the other side stopped the boat. After sailing for so long, it was time to rest. Strangely, despite sailing all night, he wasn’t sleepy; instead, he felt energetic. He wondered what was wrong.
The sky gradually broke, the fog thinned, and a sliver of fish-belly white appeared on the eastern horizon. Soon, the boundless sea was covered in a layer of golden sand. Sunrises are beautiful no matter where they are.
Li Haochen stood at the bow of the boat, watching the fiery sun. He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, feeling refreshed in body and mind.
After exercising for a while, he felt completely invigorated. It was still quite early, so Li Haochen took out his fishing rod. He loved the feeling of quiet fishing by himself; it allowed him to calm down and wash away the fatigue brought by his noisy life.
“Bang~”
“Holy…”
Li Haochen, still immersed in that moment of tranquility, was suddenly yanked by a fierce pull on his fishing rod, causing him to hit the side of the boat. Although it hurt, his hands held the rod handle tightly. This was a reflex from his body.
Shaking his head, Li Haochen adjusted his stance and tightened the drag by two notches. However, the reel was still spinning at high speed, which filled him with dread. This speed…
“Marlin, it must be a marlin, and… a huge one!”