"Baka... this kid is too disrespectful."
"Slap..."
Takahashi Katsujin slapped the man across the face without warning and said coldly, "Is it your turn to speak? If there's a next time, you'll have to commit seppuku."
"Hai!"
"Alas, if only our country had more such patriotic youths, why would we need to bow to the United States of America." Looking at Li Haochen's upright back, Takahashi Katsujin couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Returning to the room and video-chatting with Murong Yanran and the others, he couldn't sit still or lie down. "It's incredibly boring to have nothing to do, the TV is uninteresting, and the videos are all the same old jokes, sigh...!"
"Knock knock knock..."
"Who is it?" Hearing the knock, Li Haochen walked over with a hint of confusion. "Coming."
"Uh... Brother Liang, Brother Hong, is there something?"
"Aren't we just bored? Let's go play ping pong. Lao Gang and the others have already started, wanna go?"
"Sure, I'll change my clothes, wait for me."
A few minutes later, Li Haochen and the others arrived at the hotel's top-floor fitness and recreation area. It was bustling with activity, with members from almost all the participating teams playing inside. It made sense; everyone was bored, it was raining heavily outside, and they couldn't go anywhere. The only activity area was naturally popular.
The most lively was the ping pong area. Li Zhigang and a member from the Axe Flag country were engaged in an intense match, with back-and-forth attacks and defenses, drawing continuous cheers from the onlookers.
While their match seemed evenly matched, Li Haochen and the others could tell that Li Zhigang was doing it intentionally.
"Good shot..."
The match ended with Li Zhigang emerging slightly victorious, earning him friendship from abroad.
Li Haochen also played a couple of rounds, emmm... he was clearly outmatched and embarrassingly gave up his spot, heading to the fitness area to use the treadmill.
He ran for over half an hour, sweating profusely and feeling refreshed all over. From then on, Li Haochen happily frequented this fitness area, spending the most time here besides his room.
At first, it was fine; he tried all sorts of equipment. But as he continued, it became monotonous. Fortunately, by the fourth day, the storm had passed, and everything returned to normal.
In his room, Li Haochen pulled back the curtains, and the bright sunlight streamed in, warm and very comfortable.
"Ah... I haven't seen the sun in days, it feels so good."
"Ring ring ring..."
Li Haochen, who was stretching and enjoying the sun, had his moment of bliss interrupted by the phone ringing. He picked up his phone with a hint of annoyance. "Director Liu, are there any notices?... Oh, okay."
Arriving at Liu Qinghe's room, he saw a rather delicate-looking woman inside, which made him feel a bit confused. Not long after, everyone arrived, and their expressions were identical to Li Haochen's.
"Ahem, everyone, let me introduce my daughter, Liu Xiying. We're short of an assistant, so I've brought her along to experience things with everyone while we go out to sea. Of course, I've also used some positional convenience, so please don't blame me, hehe!"
"Please give me your guidance, big brothers." Liu Xiying stood up, bowed slightly, and her words were full of youthful vigor.
"Of course, we don't blame you. We're eager. With such a beautiful woman on board, our harvest will surely be plentiful, hahaha!"
"I say, Old Liu, you're really generous. How can you bear to let such a beautiful woman endure the wind and sun at sea? Be careful you don't have to kneel on a keyboard when you get back, courtesy of your wife."
Liu Qinghe smiled slightly, offering no explanation.
"Alright, let's get down to business. There have been new developments in the competition. Due to the typhoon, the competition was suspended for four days, so the last seven days will no longer follow the rule of returning every three days."
"That means we'll be staying at sea for the next seven days?"
Liu Qinghe nodded and continued, "That's right. We can only set sail at twelve midnight. We still have some time, so let's discuss how to approach this final round."
"I think it's better to focus on securing a good position at the tail end. After all, Haochen ge's oarfish length is already a significant advantage. To put it bluntly, even if we don't get first place, second place is not a problem. Also, a weight of over five hundred catties is a very high figure, so we can at least secure a few points. However, the tail end has too many variables; with good luck, it's not difficult for them to surpass us."
The speaker was Liu Xiying. Everyone understood what she was implying, but doing so would cut off any further possibilities, and they would ultimately only finish in the top ten.
"This is not a bad approach. Does anyone else have any other ideas?" Liu Qinghe, to give his daughter some face, didn't state it too directly.
"I think we should go for it." Wang Jiepeng, who was usually quiet, spoke up, suddenly becoming the focus of attention. He even blushed a little under their gaze.
"Jiepeng, then tell us your thoughts."
"Cough, cough, then... then I'll share my humble opinion." Wang Jiepeng was a little flustered, but his eyes gleamed with joy.
"Even if we dominate the tail end rankings, our final position will likely be around 18th to 15th. However, Haochen's oarfish is our bargaining chip. Even if we lose the tail end rankings, we should be able to maintain a ranking around 25th. But I don't see much difference between 25th and 18th. If we take a risk, we still have a decent chance of breaking into the top eight, and with good luck... even the top three. Why not go all out?"
Why not go all out? Yes, this was exactly what Liu Qinghe was thinking. He would also take a gamble; if he succeeded, he could advance before retirement. If he failed, at worst, he would retire.
"By this stage of the competition, I am already very satisfied. This time, I will not interfere with anyone's decisions. You guys decide."
Liu Qinghe's words quieted the room as everyone fell into deep thought, calculating their gains and losses.
"I... I agree with Brother Peng's idea. Let's take a gamble." Li Haochen gave his answer after thinking for only a moment. He wasn't happy with the current situation. With the divine bait, securing the top spot in the tail end rankings was effortless for him. He wanted to hunt for fierce creatures and strive to further improve the ranking of the China team.
"I agree too!"
With Li Haochen and Zhang Yuan's support, the others who were still contemplating also made their decisions.
"Then... let's gamble!" They all said in unison, their expressions firm.
"Hahaha... good, good, good. Then I eagerly await everyone turning their bicycles into motorcycles." Liu Qinghe laughed heartily, showing how much he desired to advance in the rankings.
After the meeting, Li Haochen headed to the dock. Since they would be at sea for seven days, he needed to prepare a lot more mussel meat. Without even eating lunch, he entered his spatial dimension and stayed there for the entire afternoon. When he emerged, his fingers were swollen.
"This should be enough, hehe!" Looking at the sixty boxes of mussel meat on the small cart, Li Haochen seemed to see countless fish beckoning to him.
After loading all the mussel meat onto the Conquest, he returned to the hotel's living supermarket and almost cleared out all the Snickers and Kinder bars from the shelves.
At eleven fifty PM, all the boats were ready to depart. A few minutes later, the resonant sound of ship horns filled the air, igniting their blood.
On the Conquest, Li Haochen ascended the deck at the bow and gazed out at the ocean.
"Fierce beasts, tremble!"