Chapter 167 - 160: Crushed to Smithereens Before Even Entering the Arena

Chapter 167: Chapter 160: Crushed to Smithereens Before Even Entering the Arena

"Bro, wake up! Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is opening a new pond. They just posted the announcement for the grand opening event. You gotta go check it out."

Du Luming was silent for two seconds upon hearing the news. The person on the other end then hung up.

Du Luming was dazed.

’Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is opening a new pond?’

For some reason, he suddenly felt uneasy. His heart clenched as he hurriedly opened WeChat. In both his own fishing ground’s group chat and the Chong City Fishing Ground group, people were tagging him.

He tapped on one of the groups and quickly found a screenshot of the announcement from Chen Yuan Fishing Ground.

’He must be insane.’

Du Luming tapped the screenshot to zoom in. A single glance was enough to make him sit bolt upright, all traces of sleepiness gone.

A full 1,342 Daqing.

To put it in perspective, his own giant Daqing pond, hailed as the best of its kind in all of Chong City, contained tens of thousands of pounds of Daqing, but that only amounted to a few hundred fish.

This was an absolute blowout, more than doubling his numbers.

The most terrifying part was that Chen Yuan Fishing Ground had even stocked fish in the 65+, 75+, 90+, and 100+ pound classes. They even had three giant Daqing weighing over 110 pounds each.

Every single one of them was bigger than the one he’d just acquired. This was a strategic takedown.

Compared to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground’s giant Daqing pond, his own prized, signature pond seemed like a Little Kalami.

’He’s insane. That bastard has completely lost his mind...!’

But the real madness was still to come. When Du Luming read the event details, it felt like a heavy blow to his chest. His face turned deathly pale, and he struggled to breathe.

’Keep what you catch?’

’You’re fucking letting them keep what they catch? Even the 110-pound giant Daqing can be taken away? You even invited fishmongers to buy them on-site? Do you have any idea what that means?!’

’I spent a hundred thousand yuan and had to move heaven and earth just to find one of those! I was planning to use that giant Daqing to open up the market and raise my fees to make my money back!’

’And what do you do? You just toss three of them in your pond and let people take them home if they catch one!’

’What a fucking moron...!’

"Boss Du, take a piece of advice from me. See if you can return that Daqing. Just return it and cut your losses."

"Trying to compete with Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is like throwing an egg at a rock. That damn idiot is just too rich. Nothing stands a chance when he’s just throwing money at the problem."

"How the hell did an asshole like him pop up in the Chong City fishing scene? He’s completely trashing the market. And not only is he trashing it, he’s fucking killing the rest of us."

"It’s a tragedy for anyone trying to run the same business in the same city as him."

"Sigh... Time to find a new line of work, everyone. I’m getting ready to close down. See you around, if fate allows."

Old Wang of Jiangyuan posted the message in the group chat and promptly left.

He had been hesitating, wishing he’d been as decisive as the owner of ’Leisurely Fishing’. He’d been busy trying to sell his business, but not only had he failed to find a buyer, he’d actually sunk even more money into it.

Now, seeing Chen Yuan Fishing Ground making another move—launching a grand opening for the Old Pond before the Carnival event had even finished—with promotions that were every bit as intense.

With such a ridiculously powerful fishing ground right there, what kind of idiot would be willing to take over his business?

Closing down sooner meant escaping the misery sooner.

"It’s really impossible to keep a fishing ground running anymore. Everyone, I’m out too."

When the short, stout man known as Fisherman saw that even Old Wang was closing up shop and leaving the group, he instantly lost any will to keep going. Besides, Fisherman’s place was in Yinma, putting him on the front lines, and he’d been hoping to find a buyer.

’Hmph. In his dreams, maybe.’

"It might sound extreme, but as long as Chen Yuan Fishing Ground is around, there’s no room for any other fishing ground to survive in Chong City. If you still want to be in this business, you’d better start looking for opportunities elsewhere."

Solo Angler of Jiangyuan followed suit and left the group chat.

He and the owner of Leisurely Fishing had staked out the place and approached the fish dealers who worked with Chen Yuan Fishing Ground. Unfortunately, the dealers were extremely close with Chen Yuan—perhaps even partners in a joint operation—and wouldn’t give them the time of day.

’Opening a fishing ground in Chong City is absolutely the dumbest investment possible.’

"Sigh... It’s over, everyone. There’s no way for us to make a living in the Chong City fishing business anymore."

"Forget making a living, we can’t even get the scraps now."

After Old Wang of Jiangyuan took the lead and left, the other members followed one by one. Soon, only Du Luming remained, as if the group had been disbanded.

Staring at the empty group chat, Du Luming felt his heart sink, a chill creeping through him.

’Just how much money does he have to burn through it like this...?’

Du Luming was on the verge of tears.

If this had happened a month ago, he would have popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate. The other Chong City fishing grounds closing down one after another, leaving him the entire market to himself? He couldn’t have asked for anything better.

But now, he was left to face a juggernaut in the ring all by himself.

’How am I supposed to fight this?’

With a long sigh, Du Luming left the now-empty group chat and went to check on his own fishing ground’s group. Perhaps all he could do now was defend his own little patch of turf.

The chat was filled with people discussing Chen Yuan Fishing Ground. If he hadn’t been so sure this was his own group, he would’ve thought he’d clicked on the wrong one.

"Poor Boss Du. He’d just gotten that 110-pound giant Daqing and looked like he was about to make a comeback, but then Chen Yuan Fishing Ground just casually dropped another bomb."

"BOOM. My head’s still buzzing from that news."

"I just want to know if Boss Du’s fees are negotiable. Can you get the jackpot prize for the 110-pound giant Daqing on the first-tier ticket?"

"The group announcement makes it crystal clear: only the third-tier ticket is eligible for the 110-pound giant Daqing. If you catch it with a first or second-tier ticket, it’s invalid. You don’t get a single penny of the prize money."

"Even if they were negotiable, it wouldn’t matter. Chen Yuan Fishing Ground has the *real* giant Daqing pond. If you can snag a spot during the grand opening, you’ll have a shot at a 110-pounder. Even if you only catch one of the smaller ones, you’d still make a good profit."

"Actually, their small pond is pretty good too. It’s guaranteed to have at least 5,500 pounds of fish. They’ll keep adding the 110-pound giant Daqing to it, and the bite rate over there is excellent. People are getting hits from giant Daqing in every session."

"I heard Chen Yuan Fishing Ground has an unwritten rule, too: if you get skunked, you don’t have to pay the fee. You can fish for free until you finally catch something."

"For real? That’s amazing!"

"Let’s go, let’s go! Let’s get a group together and head to Chen Yuan Fishing Ground! If we can get spots for the Old Pond event, we’ll make a killing. Even if we only get into the small pond, it’s better than fishing here. At least you’re guaranteed to get some bites."