367: Team Competition 3

After lunch, Yang Qi didn't take a break. After all, this was a competition, the winner hadn't been decided yet, and he wanted to work hard to lead everyone to a good ranking.

So, he steered the fishing boat and began heading toward the next fishing spot.

When he encountered schools of fish along the way, he acted differently than before. As long as the individual fish were large enough, even if they weren't valuable, he would stop the boat to fish.

Sure enough, a small school of Ladyfish appeared ahead, chasing after a school of small fish. These used to be a species that even dogs would turn their noses up at, but now they were a prize in Yang Qi's eyes, making his eyes sparkle with little stars.

These Ladyfish were all about 1.7 or 1.8 meters long, weighing roughly fifty or sixty pounds.

Yang Qi immediately steered the fishing boat to block the school of fish and shouted over the broadcast:

"Everyone, big fish ahead! Everyone to the port side to use metal jigs. Once you hook one, pull it toward the front or back deck to avoid tangling lines!"

Hearing Yang Qi's shout from the cockpit, everyone quickly walked toward the port side railing.

On the sea surface not far away, many small fish were jumping out of the water while being chased by the large Ladyfish. Everyone saw the situation over there.

Everyone quickly reached the port side, picked up their fishing rods equipped with metal jigs, and cast them forcefully toward that spot.

Not to be outdone, Yang Qi skillfully operated his fishing rod, accurately sending his lure near the school of fish.

Soon, a fish took the bait, and within a second, the fishing rod bent into a deep arch.

Zhang Jun shouted excitedly:

"I've got a bite! It's a big one! Hahaha!"

Following that, others also began to have success, hooking fish one after another.

"Hahaha, I've got one too! Such strong pulling power!"

"This is the first time I've ever caught such a big fish, hahaha!"

Tang Long also let out a burst of excited laughter.

For a moment, the side of the boat was bustling with activity as everyone worked hard to fight the fish.

The Ladyfish were incredibly strong; pulling them in was exhausting yet satisfying, and several of them gritted their teeth and persevered.

While fishing himself, Yang Qi didn't forget to guide Tang Long. The others were very experienced, so he didn't need to worry about them catching fish weighing dozens of pounds:

"Steady the rod, keep the line tight, don't let the fish throw the hook."

Under his guidance, Tang Long also steadily controlled the line. Especially when the Ladyfish shook its head to throw the hook, he managed to keep it under control without any mishaps.

As time passed, Ladyfish were successfully hauled onto the boat one by one. Seeing the increasing number of fish on the deck, everyone's faces were filled with joyful smiles.

"Hehehe, another one up! Hahaha, definitely sixty pounds."

Yao Shanshan looked at the large Ladyfish she had caught and laughed triumphantly.

Yang Qi was also secretly happy. At this rate, they had a very good chance of getting a high ranking in this competition. Even the championship wasn't out of reach.

The other Ladyfish had disappeared to who knows where, so Yang Qi took the group to a reef area for half an hour and caught some Mangrove Jack.

Seeing that it was already three in the afternoon, Yang Qi decided to head back first. After all, the return trip would take about three hours.

As they neared the waters around the pier, Yang Qi and the others spotted many fishing boats anchored there, fishing.

They had likely returned early for fear of missing the final weigh-in time. Finding they still had time, they decided to fish a bit more in these nearby waters.

Even small fish could add weight to the scale; catching a little more meant a better chance of winning.

Yang Qi didn't plan to join in, so he steered the fishing boat straight toward the pier without looking back.

"Eh? That fishing boat looks like a contestant's. Why didn't they fish a bit longer and come back early? Everyone else is still fishing, aren't they?"

A few staff members from the Competition Committee at the pier said suspiciously as they saw the setting sail approaching.

"Yeah! Every other contestant is thinking about catching just one more fish, as long as they get back within the time limit."

"Maybe it's because they didn't catch anything and have just given up!"

When they saw it really was a contestant, several people went to meet them.

"Brother Wang, the contestant boat 'setting sail' is back. Arrange for someone to do the weigh-in!"

The Competition Committee staff member surnamed He, who had been on the boat, said after disembarking.

"Little He, how did they do?"

"I should say very well! They caught quite a lot. Arrange for the weigh-in!"

Little He said with some excitement.

When several staff members hauled the fifty-to-sixty-pound Ladyfish out of the Freezer Hold, the onlookers on the shore let out exclamations of surprise.

"So many Ladyfish! Each one must be fifty or sixty pounds!"

Although Ladyfish weren't valuable, seeing five such large ones at once was quite shocking.

When the 1,400 to 1,500 pounds of Jinmu Sea Bass were brought up basket by basket, even the staff members were dumbfounded.

"Damn, they must have hit a school of fish. Otherwise, it would be impossible to catch this many in such a short time."

"They did hit a large school. I have recordings of the whole process as proof. There were no violations; every single fish was caught with a rod."

Little He took out the camera and handed it to the shore staff to check. After confirming there were no issues with the footage, the weight of the catch was officially counted.

Finally, a line of text appeared on the display screen: setting sail (2,032 lbs).

Yang Qi and the others were in high spirits as they returned to the setting sail and began cleaning the boat.

As time passed, other fishing boats also returned one after another for the weigh-in.

Yang Qi saw his father's wave chaser and Liu Yao's group; their results were also very good, ranking third with 1,164 pounds.

Second place was 1,630 pounds, but most of the fishing boats only had a few hundred pounds, and the ones at the bottom of the rankings only had one or two hundred pounds of catch. It was clear how scarce the fishing resources were.

Just when everyone thought the results of the first day of competition were settled, a competing team suddenly raised an objection.

They claimed that the amount of fish Yang Qi and his team caught was too staggering and suspected them of using illegal methods.

"We sailed around all day and only caught over three hundred pounds, yet they managed to catch over two thousand pounds. We suspect they used other illegal fishing tools."

"Exactly! It would be understandable if they caught a bit more than us. But being able to catch this many fish is a bit suspicious."

The surrounding contestants nodded and began to gossip, and the situation showed signs of escalating.

"Fine! In the interest of fairness and justice, we will conduct another careful inspection."

The Competition Committee immediately took it seriously, re-examining the video footage filmed by Little He while also conducting a detailed inspection of the setting sail.

After a rigorous investigation, no signs of any violations were found.

But that team still wouldn't let it go, demanding to inspect Yang Qi's fishing equipment. Yang Qi gave a cold laugh and generously let them check.

In the end, they still found nothing. The Competition Committee announced that the original verdict stood: the setting sail's first-day score of 2,032 pounds firmly held first place.