Chapter 456 [Albatross Type III Fishing Rod]

Life at sea was as boring as ever.

This was especially true for adventurers.

The sailors handled all the chores on the ship, and as for potential battles during the voyage... there were certainly plenty of monsters in the ocean, but on such a vast expanse of water, stretched over a round trip of more than ten days, running into them even once was considered unlucky. Anything more than twice, and the adventurers aboard would have to wonder if they were being targeted by something foul. The more cautious ones would likely set up altars right on the deck to pray to the gods.

Right now, it had been nearly three days since the Blade of Vengeance Ship sailed out of Barracuda Bay.

The journey had been smooth, without the slightest ripple of trouble.

A vast expanse of blue filled their vision; naturally, there was no other scenery to see.

Sailing on the open ocean, facing those monotonous, rolling waves that seemed as though they would never cease, Xia Nan wouldn't even have been able to tell how far they had traveled if not for the shift from day to night.

At the same time, the slight inner stirrings he had felt upon departure—that thrill of excitement toward the upcoming adventure and unknown enemies—were gradually wearing away amid the endless sound of the crashing waves.

Fortunately, the others on board were adventurers with rich sailing experience and had their own ways of warding off boredom. As for the two newcomers, Alton went without saying, and Xia Nan had developed a new hobby.

"Strum..."

A melodious tune echoed across the deck along with the sea breeze.

The Halfling, Alton, sat alone on a wooden barrel by the ship's rail, swinging his exquisite leather boots—embroidered with four-leaf clovers—back and forth. In his arms rested his equally small, miniature Lute.

He clearly wasn't playing seriously. The gentle breeze brushing against his cheeks ruffled his slightly curly hair. He squinted, his gaze unfocused as if lost in thought. With a few careless plucks of his fingers, a light and free-spirited melody flowed from the strings.

A long tail hung down from the air. Nearby, about three yards above the deck, a hemp rope as thick as a baby's wrist was stretched tightly between two masts.

The Tabaxi, Sasha, was lying on it.

At that moment, the introverted Sasha displayed a touch of the unbridled elegance unique to felines.

Even though only a single hemp rope supported his entire body, he maintained his center of gravity on it with casual ease. His hands were clasped behind his head like a pillow, the paw pads of one foot resting on the rope while his other leg lay lazily across his knee. It was as if he was resting not on a taut, sagging rope, but on a warm afternoon meadow.

With his eyes closed, he seemed to be taking a nap. His dangling, furry long tail swayed gently to the rhythm of the music in the air, much like a fishing lure. His pointed ears occasionally perked up and twitched, catching any unusual movements on the deck.

"Thud... thud..."

The muffled thud of leather boots landing heavily on the wooden planks sounded like the beating of a drum mid-song, interweaving with the sound of the Lute.

Aken was bare-chested, his flashy, tattooed bronze skin dripping with sweat. He was holding a massive iron anchor with both hands, doing squats on the deck to train.

His bulging muscles looked like some kind of living creature hiding deep within his skin, twitching and squirming beneath the surface with every breath he exhaled.

The Barbarian class endowed him with muscle density and Strength far exceeding that of Class Holders at the same level. However, the source of his power—the "Flame of Fury" constantly burning deep in his heart—also drove his body like a furnace, making it impossible for him to stay still.

He could only suppress the fire in his heart by burning through massive amounts of stamina with repetitive training.

A few young apprentice sailors responsible for cleaning the deck hid far to the side, their eyes filled with awe and curiosity. One of them even mimicked his training routine by doing a squat in the air with his mop, drawing snickers from his companions.

"What are you doing!? Is the deck all cleaned up!?"

A scolding shout from the other side of the deck made the youths jump in fright, and they quickly lowered their heads and got back to work.

Ryan, who usually appeared a bit quiet and wooden, was standing with his hands behind his back. He supervised the sailors performing their various tasks on the deck, occasionally barking out orders:

"Stow those mooring ropes away, don't let anyone trip over them!"

"Check the rigging again, there might be a storm tonight."

"Who told you to bring those barrels up here! The captain? Fine, just leave them there."

"..."

His twin brother, Gordon, was down in the cabin leading the stewards in preparing today's dinner.

Caw—

A white-feathered seagull flew fearlessly low overhead, its flapping wings churning up the white tobacco smoke drifting out from the captain's cabin, before gently landing on the Ocean-Embracing Siren Figurehead.

This provoked the silver-banded snake, Ayin, who had been coiled on top of it sunbathing, to rear up and hiss in dissatisfaction.

But just as she opened her mouth to bare her fangs, a pale hand reached out from behind and pressed down on her head.

"Ayin, don't be so mean!"

Hein scolded in a low voice.

She gently wrapped a finger around Ayin's slender snake body, winding it back around her arm.

Since she couldn't get any sunlight as a "bracelet," the cold, silver-and-black snake slithered all the way up Hein's arm until she reformed herself into a slightly thicker "necklace." Only when she rested her small diamond-shaped head in the hollow of the Druid's collarbone did the little female snake finally settle down.

Squinting her eyes, she nuzzled her head against the Druid's neck and lazily resumed enjoying the sunlight.

Long accustomed to Ayin's willful nature, Hein sat cross-legged where she was, closed her eyes again, and continued to meditate.

The seagulls around her, which had scattered slightly due to her sudden movement, flapped their wings and gathered around once more, cawing incessantly.

On a mid-voyage afternoon, everyone was busy doing their own thing.

Naturally, that included Xia Nan.

Except, the expression on his face was far more serious and focused than anyone else on the deck. His dark eyes were fixed on the distant water. Out there, a brightly colored bobber rose and fell with the waves. A fishing line, so thin it was almost transparent, could faintly be seen dangling from its tip, extending all the way back to the creamy-white fishing rod in Xia Nan's hands.

[Albatross Type III Fishing Rod - 1015 Model] — from a boutique fishing tackle shop called St. Andrew in the White Cliff District. It was said that the champion of the 127th Fishing Competition in Barracuda Bay had used this very rod to catch the king of the fish that year.

Xia Nan had personally seen the specimen of that fish in the shop; it had been nearly the size of a grown man's torso. A portrait of the champion holding the fishing rod and squatting proudly in front of his prize was mounted on the wall of the tackle shop, accompanied by numerous newspaper clippings covering the news at the time.

The main body of the rod was crafted from perennial Upstream Coast ash wood grown along the shores. The timber had been specially treated by professional craftsmen, rendering it exceptionally tough and elastic, capable of bending to an exaggerated degree. The reel seat featured anti-slip patterns hand-carved by artisans; its delicate wave designs not only enhanced its aesthetic appeal but were also believed to bring good luck.

To get his hands on this top-tier fishing rod, Xia Nan had paid the steep price of nearly ten gold coins.

You got what you paid for. A rod of this quality was essentially the absolute limit of what an ordinary person could attain. Even many of the nobles in the White Cliff District might not have been willing to part with the coin for it. Anything beyond that level would be enchanted gear with special effects.

Xia Nan felt no regrets about this.

Just like his complete disregard for prices when eating and staying at the Three-Legged Sea Dog Tavern, it was perfectly fine to use the money he had worked so hard to earn for a little enjoyment. Not to mention, this was an investment in his own hobby.

Xia Nan firmly believed that the value of the catches he would soon reel in with this rod would easily offset its ten-gold-coin price tag.

Even now, on the third day after leaving port, he remained brimming with confidence about it—

Even though, up until this very moment, the greatest prize he had managed to pull in with this rod was a battered leather shoe that had rotted from being soaked in the water, having fallen into the ocean god knew what year.

It definitely couldn't be an issue with his skills. Xia Nan was sure of that.

After all, he had already proven himself on that front.

He shouldn't need to remind anyone again about the blue-flowered grouper he caught on the way back to Barracuda Bay from Cliff Rock Island—the one that was exactly three feet, two inches long and weighed eighty kilograms, reeled in on the second day after the storm at exactly 3:27:18 PM, right?

If anyone had forgotten, Xia Nan would be more than happy to repeat the tale.

Such a glorious past had already proved that his fishing skills were absolutely flawless!

Now that he had upgraded his gear to the absolute best, if he still wasn't catching any fish... then it could only be a matter of luck.

'Dammit!' Xia Nan thought, feeling highly indignant.

He felt he was being unfairly targeted by this world because of his status as a transmigrator. He even pulled the [Fate Coin]—whose uses had already been exhausted—from his belt pouch, rubbing it between his fingers a few times to pray to the Goddess for good luck.

"Alton, do you have any more soothing tunes?"

Xia Nan asked the Halfling sitting on the barrel beside him, his hands still gripping the fishing rod.

"The kind that even the fish in the sea love to hear."

It was just a dry joke tossed out casually while waiting for a bite, but unexpectedly, Alton actually put on a look of deep concentration, as if trying to recall something.

Could it be...

"Hehe, nope."

The little guy gave a sly grin and bounded off the barrel.

Plucking the strings of his Lute, he strolled over toward Xia Nan.

"Though if you really want to achieve that kind of effect, you could try catching a Siren. I've heard their singing can attract schools of fish."

Xia Nan very seriously committed this piece of knowledge to memory.

"Hey! Sea Fang!"

"Come arm-wrestle me! The loser gets up an hour earlier tomorrow to train!"

The bald, burly Aken yelled from the other side of the deck, holding up the heavy ship's anchor.

Xia Nan hadn't originally intended to accept, considering he had much more important things to do right now.

But at the same time, it occurred to him that his current physical fitness, boosted by the gains he'd reaped across multiple Secret Realms, was already far higher than that of ordinary adventurers.

In terms of Agility and Perception, he had practically reached an entirely different level.

Yet his Strength attribute was still "only" at 9 points.

If every combat technique he mastered was a basic type like "Spinning Slash," which only provided stat boosts upon reaching Level 5 Mastery, then even if every single technique boosted Strength, one would still need to reach Level 4 to raise their Strength to his current level.

And the Barbarian before him, Aken, definitely wasn't over Level 5 in his Class Level.

On some level, despite the man's robust and burly appearance, purely from the perspective of raw power, he might not actually be stronger than Xia Nan.

The timing seemed just right. Perhaps he could use this as a chance to find out?

Turning this over in his head, Xia Nan stood up from the deck and casually handed his fishing rod over to Alton for safekeeping.

But the very moment the professional-grade rod left his hand and was shoved into the Halfling's arms, he suddenly realized something.

'Oh no!'

Sure enough, almost the instant Xia Nan let go of the fishing rod...

The Tabaxi Sasha, who had been resting on the hemp rope nearby, abruptly swiveled his notched, pointed ear, the fine fluff inside the auricle pointing straight in the direction of the fishing rod.

Zzziiing—

The gently drooping rod suddenly bent sharply!

"It's here, Xia Nan!"

"You've got a bite!"

Alton cheered excitedly, gripping the fishing rod tightly with both hands. The upper section of the rod, which had been hanging naturally just a moment ago, was now bent in the air at an exaggerated angle. The bobber out on the sea had long since disappeared, replaced by a fishing line that was pulled so taut it was nearly snapping.

It was hard to put Xia Nan's current mood into words.

Worse yet, his exceptionally keen Perception told him with absolute certainty that the fish had only taken the bait after he let go of the rod. There was no ambiguity about it.

Still, no matter what, he had been sitting here for half the day, and the fishing rod was the one he had specially prepared. Rounding things out, this should definitely count as his catch.

Comforting himself with this logic, Xia Nan stepped forward to take the rod from the clearly struggling Alton.

The pulling force was unexpectedly massive!

It was far stronger than the eighty-kilogram blue-flowered grouper from before, which couldn't help but ignite a trace of inexplicable anticipation in Xia Nan's heart.

He was highly proficient in all kinds of fishing techniques, and he could even combine his own combat techniques when reeling the rod in. Normally, average fish wouldn't last long at all against Xia Nan's pulling.

To his surprise, however, this fish was exceptionally stubborn. Xia Nan even noticed that the elite fishing rod in his hands seemed to be vaguely approaching the limits of what it could withstand.

As he exerted his strength, the massive silhouette swaying its tail fins beneath the surface revealed its ferocious outline amidst the struggle.

It looked... genuinely quite large.

Just the portion of the fish's body visible from the deck looked to be over five feet long.

That was several heads taller than Alton!

This was no longer something that could be pulled directly up with conventional fishing gear.

He would need a landing net or have to get into the water himself to secure the catch.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Xia Nan decided to first strip off his Plate-Chain Composite Armor to avoid the hassle of maintaining it later, before diving into the water to haul up the thrashing sea fish himself.

However, in the very next second, the Barbarian Aken, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, charged past the corner of his eye with wild momentum, leaping into the water like a cannonball.

The physical fitness of a veteran Class Holder was vividly demonstrated at this moment.

The rolling crest of the waves abruptly exploded, and the harsh rushing sound of something moving at high speeds beneath the surface could faintly be heard.

Within just a few breaths, there was a muffled thud, accompanied by a slight vibration traveling up the fishing rod into his palms.

The rod, which had been bent near the point of snapping, finally returned to its original state, drooping gently under its natural weight.

And the unprecedentedly massive fish that Xia Nan had hooked was hoisted up to the surface by Aken.