The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 115: The 2% Lure Chance Triggers

After showering at home, Chu Mingcheng returned to the scenic area entrance to sell his catch.
Today, however, sales were disappointingly slow. The main problem was the size of his fish—they were simply too large for small tourist groups to finish in a single meal.
After a solid half hour, he'd only managed to sell two mangrove jacks, each weighing just over two jin.
Seeing the situation, Chu Mingcheng decided to try the seafood restaurant Old Man Wei had recommended.
He dismissed the idea of posting in his group chat. Today's catch wasn't anything particularly special, and his customers from the Xisha trip likely hadn't finished their own hauls yet. He'd have to wait a while longer.
He drove to the seafood restaurant.
A waiter greeted him as he entered. "Hello, welcome! How many in your party?"
"Hello," Chu Mingcheng replied politely, explaining his purpose. "Is your manager or owner available? I have some fish to sell and was wondering if you're interested in buying."
The waiter looked slightly surprised to encounter a fishmonger.
Working at a seafood restaurant, he occasionally dealt with vendors trying to sell their catch, but they were usually middle-aged men. He'd never seen one as young and well-presented as Chu Mingcheng.
"Could I see your fish first?" The waiter had handled vendors before and knew the procedure.
The restaurant didn't purchase just any seafood. If the quality was poor, he could turn them away immediately. Bothering the manager or owner for every person who walked in would earn him a serious reprimand.
"Of course." Chu Mingcheng led him to his car's trunk and opened it to display his catch.
"Wow, these are some impressive fish!" the waiter exclaimed, genuinely surprised. Wild fish exceeding ten jin were rare sights even in their restaurant. A catch like this would be a real showstopper on display.
Then he noticed the puncture wounds on the fish. "Brother, what happened to these fish?" he asked, puzzled.
"Oh, I speared them."
"Speared them?"
Not everyone was familiar with freediving and spearfishing. The waiter hesitated. "Is that... legal?"
Chu Mingcheng blinked. Legal or not, is it really appropriate to ask so directly? he wondered.
Even if suspicious, shouldn't he investigate privately or consult his boss first?
But looking at the waiter's youthful face, it was understandable that he'd be somewhat inexperienced with social etiquette.
"It's freediving spearfishing. I'm licensed for it—completely legal," Chu Mingcheng explained, retrieving his license from the car to show him.
Upon seeing the license, the waiter's smile returned. "Sorry, I wasn't doubting you. I was just concerned—if I got the restaurant in trouble, I'd be in trouble too."
"I understand. It's smart to be cautious," Chu Mingcheng nodded. "So, could you get your manager now?"
"Absolutely, just a moment. I'll fetch him right away." The waiter returned the license and hurried inside.
Chu Mingcheng shook his head with a wry smile, as if seeing a younger, more naive version of himself.
Minutes later, the waiter returned with a man and woman.
He addressed the man: "Boss, this is the gentleman selling the fish."
Having made the introduction, he returned to his duties.
"Hello there, young man. Did you catch all these yourself?"
The middle-aged owner examined the fish with interest, also noting the speargun in the trunk.
"Caught them this morning. Had a bit too many, so I thought I'd sell some."
"They're certainly fresh. Are you here on vacation, or do you live locally?"
From the owner's question, Chu Mingcheng could read his intentions. "I live here. Basically, whenever sea conditions are favorable, I'm out fishing or spearfishing."
He stated his profession but avoided mentioning partnerships.
This way, if the price wasn't right, he could simply walk away, avoiding the hassle of being lowballed by a shrewd businessman and souring his mood.
The middle-aged owner examined the fish but didn't propose a partnership.
He understood the young man's position. Besides, fresh, wild, large fish were difficult to source, and competition was fierce—he had to be flexible.
"Young man, if the fish you bring are consistently this quality, we could establish a long-term relationship. I won't shortchange you on price. As long as you can provide this quantity of fresh, large fish regularly, I'll pay market rates."
"Of course, for rare, oversized specimens, we can negotiate separate pricing. But if the fish are too small, I can't offer premium prices either."
"Deal. When I have something suitable, I'll bring it here," Chu Mingcheng agreed with a nod.
This type of flexible arrangement worked best. If they dared lowball him, he'd sell to their competitors.
Once or twice might not matter, but long-term, losing that extra profit would be their loss.
Even customers regularly seeing large fish at competing restaurants might impact their business.
Hearing Chu Mingcheng's agreement, the middle-aged owner nodded and had the woman beside him tally the catch and calculate pricing, while he returned inside.
He'd simply been bringing a friend for lunch today, and hearing about the spearfishing had piqued his curiosity enough to investigate.
Dozens, even a hundred jin of quality fish, if sold regularly, would provide decent revenue for his restaurant—especially with a long-term arrangement.
Chu Mingcheng's transaction was quickly completed. Fifty-eight jin of fish sold for 3,630 yuan total.
In just three days, his savings had grown from twenty-five thousand to over forty-three thousand. At this rate, he could break fifty thousand within the next day or two. Perhaps he could even pay off his fishing boat loan before next year's fishing moratorium.
After lunch, Chu Mingcheng considered whether to return to that reef system for more spearfishing in the afternoon.
Constantly getting in and out of the water was becoming quite inconvenient.
Sitting in his car, Chu Mingcheng scrolled through practice questions on his phone briefly. He thought of the earth dragon he'd seen at the market—six hundred yuan per jin. The idea was tempting.
Jiang Luoluo seemed eager to showcase her skills to her parents at year's end. In that case, he needed to show off his abilities too. Quality ingredients were crucial!
Muscovy ducks were easy to purchase, but earth dragons were hard to find. He should ask Old Man Wei where to catch wild ones!
"Agong, do you know where I can catch wild earth dragons?"
—--
Wei Jianguo was home enjoying a meal with several friends of similar age and a few younger companions.
"Let me tell you, don't be fooled by my sixty-plus years—my body's still in excellent shape! That giant snakehead put up quite a fight, you know. Initially, it nearly dragged me into the lake. I had to react quickly and release the line. I battled it all afternoon before finally landing the beast..."
He would occasionally raise his glass and regale them with tales of his epic struggle with the giant snakehead the previous afternoon, showing no embarrassment about his tall tale. His shamelessness was so complete that even alcohol couldn't add color to his cheeks.
This was completely different from the quiet, warm-hearted, slightly proud old man Chu Mingcheng had encountered while fishing.
This wasn't a man of few words—this was a boastful old rascal.
Just as he was hitting his stride in the story, a text message's buzz interrupted his flow.
He checked his phone and saw it was from Chu Mingcheng, asking about earth dragon locations.
Did the boy think he could just catch those things whenever he wanted?
Wild earth dragons were incredibly rare!
But rare or not, he couldn't let someone interrupt his good mood. So he casually sent a location and returned to his storytelling... no, his drinking.
—--
When Chu Mingcheng searched the address he'd received, he fell silent. Eventually, he found a closer alternative.
It was an expansive mudflat. The exposed sea mud guaranteed that stepping on it would sink him calf-deep.
This location wasn't far from the shipyard. A bit further southwest lay the Jiulong River estuary, but that remained quite distant.
Old Man Wei had mentioned catching earth dragons at the Jiulong River estuary, but it was rather far, so he'd come here to investigate first.
Upon arrival, however, he suddenly realized these creatures lived underground. He didn't seem to have proper tools for digging them up!
But since he was already here, returning empty-handed seemed wasteful.
So Chu Mingcheng rolled up his pants and waded in. Collecting some mud snails to pickle would make a delicious treat.
Plus, he could increase his Aquatic Species Codex experience. He couldn't return completely empty-handed.
Stepping into the mud, it wasn't long before he discovered some mud snails. He picked them up and dropped them into the plastic bag he was carrying.
He continued searching. Walking through mud was truly exhausting.
After struggling through five or six meters, Chu Mingcheng found a round hole resembling a crab burrow.
He reached in and scooped out mud. To his surprise, he actually extracted a small crab. But the Aquatic Species Codex didn't react, indicating it held no economic value.
He then moved to another spot and found a similar hole.
But knowing it was merely a small crab's burrow, he'd lost interest and resumed collecting mud snails nearby.
However, Chu Mingcheng had forgotten that the Premium Aquatic Species Codex possessed a "Fish Gathering" function, even with only a two percent activation chance.
But unlike certain gaming companies where a 99.9% success rate essentially meant zero, the Aquatic Species Codex was honorable. At this moment, the Fish Gathering function successfully triggered.
Nearly two meters deep within the hole, an earth dragon hiding there sensed a powerful attraction emanating from the entrance.
With its limited brain capacity, it couldn't comprehend why. It simply followed instinct and began crawling toward the opening.
Chu Mingcheng was collecting mud snails when movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned to look.
Well, well—a sea eel was emerging from the hole and heading toward his feet.
Chu Mingcheng paused, remained silent for seconds, then suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the sea eel.
The startled eel immediately writhed, attempting to escape.
Its body was coated in extremely slippery mucus, and Chu Mingcheng couldn't maintain a firm grip. It quickly slipped from his grasp.
But he reacted swiftly, employing both hands to secure it.
The sea eel opened its mouth and spat a stream of salty spray, soaking Chu Mingcheng's pant leg.
The damage was minimal, but the insult was tremendous!
But its fate was sealed the moment it emerged from the hole. Before it could slip from Chu Mingcheng's hands again, it was stuffed into the bag filled with mud snails.
He then examined this sea eel carefully.
It was a pig-nosed carmine-tailed eel—a genuine earth dragon, also known as Pisodonophis cancrivorus.
But Chu Mingcheng didn't understand why this earth dragon had emerged voluntarily. He glanced at the premium codex in his mind and comprehended.
The Level 2 Fish Gathering function had a two percent chance of attracting premium fish within a two-meter radius to actively approach him.
[Premium Aquatic Species Codex (Level 2)]
[Current Experience: (21/300)]
[Usable Tools: Hand, Fishing Gear (Can be hand-strung), Speargun (including fish spear, snare, etc.), Longline (Not Unlocked)]
[Fish Gathering (Level 2): Aquatic species within range that meet the premium standard will have a two percent chance of being actively attracted, thus appearing in the Host's line of sight (They will still flee if startled by the Host)]
[Area of Effect: 2-meter radius] 【TN: The area of effect will now be represented by radius for easier calculation than cubic meters】
[Deliciousness: +2%]
[Size: +2%]
When he'd stepped into the mud, his body had sunk several dozen centimeters, just enough to bring the earth dragon within this attraction range.
"What a reliable system!"
Chu Mingcheng had assumed the Premium Codex's current level was too low to be immediately useful. He hadn't expected to be proven wrong so quickly!
This earth dragon wasn't particularly heavy—maybe just over a jin.
Six hundred yuan per jin was expensive, but for a single specimen, given Chu Mingcheng's current income, it wasn't prohibitive.
But he'd lost interest in continuing to collect mud snails. Instead, he began searching for various holes. Whether they belonged to earth dragons or not, he would wait beside each one for a minute.
A two percent trigger rate was extremely low, but what if lightning struck twice?