50: Caught a fake fish

Yang Qi, do you want to eat lunch first?

Bai Xue suggested.

Yang Qi looked at the time; it was already 11:30 AM. "Now that you mention it, I really am hungry. How about we eat self-heating rice?"

"Okay, I'll make it! You rest for a bit."

After lunch, neither of them rested. Yang Qi continued to steer the boat, searching for fish schools.

After another ten minutes, they saw a low-lying reef cluster on the seabed. Seven or eight Black Sea Bream were chasing and pecking at small shrimp around the reef.

There was also a Green Grouper weighing over ten jin, waiting motionlessly at the entrance of a rock cave for a fated fish.

Seeing Yang Qi stop the boat, Bai Xue knew there were fish below. She had that mysterious confidence.

They each started fishing from one side.

Yang Qi ignored the Black Sea Bream, wanting to catch the Green Grouper first. So he tried to get the bait as close to the Grouper as possible.

The Grouper saw a small shrimp wiggling in front of it, acting so arrogantly. Its temper flared up instantly.

It rushed forward and swallowed it in one gulp.

Yang Qi already knew this was a fish weighing over ten jin, so he didn't really play with it.

After a few minutes of initial stalemate, he went all out, not holding back.

"Xiao Xue, I've hooked a big one again!"

"Yang Qi, I've hooked a big one!"

Almost at the same time, Bai Xue also shouted happily.

Such a coincidence? Since they were standing back to back, Yang Qi hadn't noticed Bai Xue's situation.

"Xiao Xue, do you need help?"

"No, this fish is a bit strange."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"It's hard to describe. It feels a bit heavy, but the struggle isn't very strong. I can handle it myself," Bai Xue replied.

Upon hearing this, Yang Qi quickly reeled in his Grouper. He saw that the air bladder of this Green Grouper, weighing over ten jin, had popped out.

He took the pre-prepared needle, pricked the air bladder, released the air, and then pushed the air bladder back into the fish's belly.

He then threw the fish into his live fish tank and left it alone, not caring if it lived or died!

He quickly went to Bai Xue's side to observe this so-called strange fish.

Well, it really was strange enough!

From the surface, the entire fish's back was bluish-black. As Bai Xue reeled it in, it slowly approached. The whole fish wiggled its body, but it wasn't struggling fiercely.

Through his ability, Yang Qi had already seen this strange fish. It was about 1.5 meters long, with a blackish-green back and a bluish-white belly. It had large fins. From its appearance, it was a half-grown shark.

He turned to look at Bai Xue's focused expression, which also showed some confusion, as her right hand vigorously cranked the fishing reel.

The big fish was quickly pulled to the side of the boat. Yang Qi used a landing net to drag the fish onto the fishing boat.

"Yang Qi, this thing is like a dead fish. It's really strange," Bai Xue said curiously, stroking the shark.

Yang Qi looked it over and over; it was indeed a dead shark.

"Xiao Xue, should we throw the dead shark back into the sea?"

Bai Xue didn't answer, continually touching the dead shark, when she suddenly exclaimed in surprise:

"Yang Qi, this looks like a fake fish!"

"Fake fish?"

Yang Qi squatted down in confusion and began to stroke the shark.

What a guy! He wouldn't have known without touching it, but upon closer inspection, he could indeed feel that this was definitely not a living fish.

It didn't feel like flesh; it felt more like a silicone-like material.

The two exchanged glances, excited, and shouted in unison: "Spy fish"!

"Xiao Xue, call the police!"

"Hehe, I'll make the call, I know the number!" Bai Xue said.

Coastal villagers were often taught that if they found a "spy fish," they should hand it over to the state, and there was a specific police hotline for it.

The relevant authorities would also give corresponding bonuses based on the different "spy fish."

"I'll make the call. I know the number."

Bai Xue picked up her phone and started dialing.

"Hello! I caught a strange fish. No, it's that strange fake fish. ..."

"Not a soft-shelled turtle, it's a fake fish! ..."

Seeing Bai Xue angrily hang up the phone.

Yang Qi was a little curious about how the other side finally handled it.

"What did they say?"

"They told us to wait, saying someone would contact us."

Bai Xue was still fuming, indignant that the operator on the other end couldn't distinguish between 'fake fish' ( Fake fish) and 'soft-shelled turtle' ( soft-shelled turtle).

The two waited less than 10 minutes when Bai Xue's phone rang.

This time, after connecting, Bai Xue repeated what she had said before. This time, the other side added one more sentence: wait where they were.

Now they were stuck; they couldn't go anywhere.

While waiting, they caught three Black Sea Bream from below.

After that, they had nothing to do. So the two began to examine the fake fish.

And indeed, this fish was made so realistically. Its mouth could open, its tail could sway; it had everything a real fish had. It had reached the point of being indistinguishable from the real thing. Without a close look, you couldn't tell at all.

Since they were going to hand it over anyway, they started taking various photos and selfies.

While they were having fun, a Coast Guard speedboat broke through the waves in the distance.

To say they were professional was an understatement. They didn't even ask where they were, and they found them in twenty minutes.

The speedboat approached, and an Uncle Seapolice nimbly jumped onto their fishing boat.

"Are you the ones who reported it, saying you caught a fake fish?"

The question made Yang Qi think of a TV show he had watched, where a police officer asked a suspect's gender during an interrogation.

Because the fishing boat wasn't large, it was clear at a glance, and the fake fish lying in the middle of the boat was immediately visible.

The Uncle Seapolice asking this was just following procedure.

The two immediately cooperated, saying, "Yes, we made the call."

The Uncle Seapolice had already squatted down to examine the fake fish, touching it here and there, exclaiming in wonder:

"A bionic underwater glider! This is the first time one has been discovered!"

"You two young people have made a great contribution this time!"

The two didn't dare to explain their relationship further. Even though they were both law-abiding citizens, a sense of awe for the uniform naturally arose.

"Bionic underwater glider?" Yang Qi and Bai Xue looked at the Uncle Seapolice with puzzled expressions.

The Uncle Seapolice explained, "This is an underwater glider that mimics the appearance and swimming style of fish. It can perform tasks such as intelligence gathering and is very likely used by other countries to spy on our country's waters."

Then, the Coast Guard carefully lifted the bionic underwater glider onto the speedboat.

One of the Uncle Seapolice, holding a folder, began to ask questions.

The two also recounted the entire process of how they discovered the fake fish, completely and in detail, then signed to confirm.

They also registered the detailed information of the two and gave them a police report receipt. Only then was the entire process completed.

One of the Coast Guard, who was clearly a leader, smiled and said to them:

"Keep your phones on recently; there should be a bonus. You will be notified to come and collect the award then."

He then left them his phone number, saying that if they found any suspicious objects in the future, they could contact him directly.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue were excited, feeling that they had done something remarkable and would also receive a bonus from the government.

After the Coast Guard left, Yang Qi looked at Bai Xue and said,

"I never thought fishing could catch something like this. It's truly an unexpected surprise."

Bai Xue also smiled and said, "Who knows, maybe there will be more surprises in the future?"