174: Let's go eat barbecue tonight.

After seeing his ranking, Bai Ye temporarily put away his fishing rod.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

He stretched, speaking to the Sea Demons in front of him.

"Everyone worked hard. Tonight, I'm treating you all to a feast."

Hearing their boss speak, the Sea Demons stopped singing one after another.

Even the Sea Demons whose Rank was lower than Mela couldn't help but yawn.

Even for them, singing at full power was tiring, and their voices were a little hoarse.

Luckily, their Physique was much stronger than humans', and they could recover with just one night's rest.

Bai Ye had the infinite use its mechanical arm to process the Demonic Beast corpses that had been accidentally killed, storing all the useful Materials in the whale breaker's warehouse.

Night fell, and the Bustling Catch finally came to an end.

Several bonfires were lit on the deck of the whale breaker, and the infinite activated the ship's autopilot mode.

The tentacles of the Initial Lord Rank Deep Sea Nightmare Octopus were cut into uniformly sized chunks.

They were skewered using Vine Whips and placed over the fire for grilling.

It was clearly a powerful Lord-level creature, yet now it had become dinner for everyone.

Bai Ye didn't kill it outright; he just cut off a few of its tentacles.

For this type of Demonic Beast with extremely strong regeneration abilities, losing a few tentacles was similar to a human clipping their nails; they would grow back in a few days.

"Boss really has great cooking skills."

Mela held a skewer of sizzling, oily octopus tentacles, eating until her mouth was slick with oil.

Having lived for over a hundred years, this was the first time she had eaten the meat of a Lord-level Magical Beast.

The texture was chewy and springy, and the energy contained within was incredibly pure.

It was infinitely more Advanced than the small fish and shrimp they usually ate.

The other Sea Demons also looked blissful, and besides awe, they felt a few more points of genuine adoration toward Bai Ye.

Following a boss like this meant they could not only grow stronger but also eat Lord-level Demonic Beast meat.

Life couldn't get any better than this.

"If it tastes good, eat more." Bai Ye tore off a piece of grilled meat himself and ate a large chunk in one go.

As expected of a Lord-level Demonic Beast, the meat quality was truly extraordinary.

Song San looked at the slightly charred octopus tentacle skewer in his hand, feeling a mix of emotions.

He couldn't even compare to a Mechanical Demonic Beast when it came to grilling meat.

"Brother Bai, are we still fishing here tomorrow?"

Song San took a bite of grilled meat and asked indistinctly.

"Of course."

Bai Ye replied as if it were obvious.

"There are many Demonic Beasts here, it's not very dangerous, and they are all so enthusiastic, actively delivering themselves to us. Where else can you find such a good spot?"

If they were in the Storm Sea Eye, he wouldn't dare let the Sea Demons sing loudly.

If they accidentally attracted a large group of Lord-level or even Monarch-level Magical Beasts, even he would be in danger.

He glanced at the Scoreboard; the gap between him and the first-place Zhao Tianyu was already small.

With just one more day, he was confident he could directly overtake him.

Why bother going to that troublesome Storm Sea Eye and competing for prey with a bunch of Fourth-Tier and Fifth-Tier Beast Tamers?

"But the Demonic Beasts in the Storm Sea Eye yield higher points."

Song San still felt it was somewhat inappropriate.

"What good are high points if you can't fish them up?"

Bai Ye shot him a glance.

"Besides, how long do you think that broken ship behind us could last if it entered the Storm Sea Eye?"

Although the deep sea had been repaired by the infinite, its main structure was still fragile, and it was genuinely uncertain whether it could withstand the harsh environment of the Storm Sea Eye.

Song San nodded.

Indeed, safety first.

Following Brother Bai, as long as he stayed put, his safety was guaranteed, and he could freeload on food and drink.

"Fine, I'll listen to you."

Song San gave up the struggle and focused on dealing with the grilled meat in his hand.

Staying in the Silent Windless Zone was quite good; he could move around freely here.

The other contestants who entered the Storm Sea Eye were not as relaxed as Bai Ye.

Gale-force winds, torrential rain, massive waves, and powerful, elusive Sea Beasts made their navigation extremely difficult.

Many ships were damaged in the harsh environment and had to withdraw from the competition in embarrassment.

Even powerful teams possessing Fifth-Tier Beast Tamers and Lord-level Warships had to be extremely vigilant, carefully navigating through the storm.

Occasionally, they would also check the movements of other contestants via the live stream.

When they saw Bai Ye leisurely holding a "Sea Concert" in the Silent Windless Zone while effortlessly boosting his points to second place, every single one of them looked like they had seen a ghost.

"Is this kid cheating? Since when did the Silent Windless Zone have so many Elite Rank Demonic Beasts?"

"And what's the deal with that group of Sea Demons? They're actually willingly helping him lure monsters?"

"This year might be a bust, but we can learn from this experience. When we return in ten years, we can also capture some Sea Demons..."

Envy, jealousy, and various other complex emotions were intertwined in their hearts.

But no matter what they thought, Bai Ye's points continued to steadily chase after the first place.

The next day, the sun rose as usual.

Bai Ye comfortably stretched and walked out of the whale breaker's Captain's Cabin.

After a night of rest, the Sea Demons and his several beast pets had all recovered to their optimal state.

"Good morning, Boss."

Mela led the group of Sea Demons, standing respectfully on the deck and bowing slightly to Bai Ye.

"Time to get to work."

Bai Ye nodded and walked to the bow of the ship.

Understanding his intent, the Sea Demons lined up again along the rail, and melodious singing echoed over the sea.

Song San, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, crawled out of the warehouse.

He had dreamed all night again, filled with the Mermaid Miss smiling at him, leaving him feeling somewhat dazed now.

"Brother Bai, starting again?"

He greeted him weakly.

"The champion and runner-up titles are waiting for us to claim them; we can't rest yet."

Bai Ye said without looking back, skillfully casting his fishing rod.

The Angler never returns Empty-Handed!

With yesterday's experience, today's fishing operation proceeded even more smoothly.

Song San took the opportunity to tally the number of spoils.

Soon, he narrowed the gap between them and the first-place Zhao Tianyu to a negligible degree.

The viewers in the live stream had gone from initial shock to numbness.

"Another Elite Advanced one. I bet fifty cents that Bai Ye will fish up a Lord-level creature with his next cast."

"Don't bet, upstairs commenter. I just came from the neighboring live stream. They're fighting tooth and nail in the Storm Sea Eye, and the ships of Fifth-Tier experts were almost flipped over, yet they haven't caught as much as Bai Ye."

"Comparing people is infuriating!"

"I think the champion title is his. What does Zhao Tianyu have to compare with him?"

Time passed for another day in this seemingly monotonous scoring process.

The competition entered its fourth day.

Bai Ye woke up early and habitually opened the Scoreboard.

He originally thought he could smoothly reach the top today, but when he saw the ranking on the Scoreboard, he froze.