The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 155: The Dragon Grouper

Retreating to create distance, Chu Mingcheng no longer hesitated and aimed for its head.
But the dragon grouper lifted its head, and the spear struck its gill cover.
It penetrated only slightly. The dragon grouper shook its head, and the spear fell out.
This pain enraged the dragon grouper, and it immediately accelerated toward Chu Mingcheng.
But its speed was too slow—it couldn't catch up at all.
Chu Mingcheng retreated while reeling in his line. This dragon grouper was putting serious pressure on him!
But whether for the fish's value or to gain experience spearfishing large species like tuna or marlin, he was determined to wear this dragon grouper down.
After retrieving the arrowhead, he reloaded.
Then he raised his speargun and aimed at the wound on the grouper's face. Though the wound wasn't deep, the protective gill cover had been breached.
If the spear could hit this spot again, it would be fatal to the dragon grouper.
Unfortunately, the second shot landed slightly behind the wound, enlarging the gill cover damage but having little effect on the grouper.
It turned its head again, and with Chu Mingcheng's pulling force, the spear was yanked out.
But this time, it was spooked. The dragon grouper no longer pursued him but chose to flee.
Unfortunately, its fate was sealed the moment it met Chu Mingcheng. Whether it chased or ran, it wouldn't escape his sight.
But it didn't know that fleeing had accelerated its own demise.
Because Chu Mingcheng was surprised to discover that every time the fish breathed, its gill cover opened wide, exposing the gills inside.
This target wasn't easy to hit, but it was much easier than the small wound on its face.
Reloading the speargun for the third time, Chu Mingcheng followed behind, aiming carefully.
This time, he prepared for a full thirty seconds. When the dragon grouper breathed again and opened its gill cover, he pulled the trigger.
The sharp spear instantly pierced the gills' interior, lodging deep inside, possibly even reaching its brain.
This attack was fatal, and the dragon grouper struggled like never before.
Chu Mingcheng gripped the line, staying close to the fish's body to prevent the line from being cut by the gill cover. Then he was dragged along without even a chance to resist.
But remarkably, the dragon grouper swam only twenty-odd meters before slowly stopping, its entire body beginning to list sideways.
Though it could still move, it was in its death throes.
Only then did Chu Mingcheng approach, but looking at the dragon grouper's massive body, he didn't know where to start.
Finally, he chose to grab the gill cover and lift.
It was heavy—unprecedentedly heavy.
This dragon grouper, nearly one and a half meters long, was at least over two hundred jin.
And at this water depth of over twenty meters, he had negative buoyancy.
Chu Mingcheng dragged the dragon grouper and struggled to swim. When he reached fifteen meters depth, it became much easier.
Then, the higher he went, the easier it became as the seawater's buoyancy helped him.
He finally reached the surface, but holding the fish, he couldn't see the boat—his view was blocked by a corner of the isolated island, so the people on the boat couldn't see him either.
Chu Mingcheng took several deep breaths. The fish was enormous. Though he had the seawater's buoyancy helping, dragging it was still extremely difficult.
He'd been spearfishing all afternoon, and his condition wasn't optimal.
He looked at his remaining three charges of Life Conversion and ultimately couldn't bear to use them.
Mainly because someone was there to help, and he wouldn't be spearfishing anymore.
When he swam out from the corner with the grouper, Sea King on the boat immediately spotted him.
First, he exclaimed, then shouted loudly, "Ah Cheng, do you need the boat to come pick you up?"
Chu Mingcheng waved his hand to indicate it wasn't necessary. He could swim the few hundred meters himself. Every boat movement cost money.
At this moment, Jiang Luoluo and Jiang Yuqi in the cockpit were startled by Sea King's shout and emerged together.
When they saw the massive creature beside Chu Mingcheng, their eyes widened in shock.
Jiang Luoluo immediately ran back to the cockpit to start the fishing boat.
Seeing this, Sea King quickly went to stop her. "Hey, hey, hey—Ah Cheng just said he doesn't need us to drive over. Let's think about how to pull the fish up later!"
Chu Mingcheng's boat had an outboard motor with the propeller installed externally, so there was no special side door for pulling up large fish.
Mainly because this boat type wasn't designed with large fish in mind. After all, everyone knew about the resources in their country's coastal waters.
Additionally, Chu Mingcheng had chosen an outboard motor for several reasons: first, the price was cheaper.
Second, outboard motors were lighter with lower fuel consumption than inboard motors, significantly reducing costs.
Third, in terms of speed, they were faster than inboard motors, and finally, replacement and maintenance were more convenient and economical.
Inboard motors naturally had their advantages, but for Chu Mingcheng at the time, an outboard motor was clearly better.
He'd never imagined that just playing around in coastal waters for a while would result in encountering all kinds of big catches.
Previous ones were fine—they could come up via the steps—but pulling this grouper up wouldn't be easy!
Jiang Luoluo was stopped. Hearing that Chu Mingcheng would swim back himself, she didn't restart the fishing boat.
Now they had to consider how to pull the fish up. First, they needed thick rope.
Jiang Luoluo looked at the buoy behind Chu Mingcheng on the sea, and an idea struck her.
She went into the bedroom and retrieved the safety rope she'd bought with her wetsuit.
This rope was thick enough and should work.
Sea King nodded after seeing the safety rope. "This is perfect. Later, with the four of us working together, we should be able to pull the fish up."
Then Jiang Luoluo, who'd emerged from the cockpit, looked at the deck height and the boat's side and frowned.
At this height, the fish would crash onto the deck after being pulled up.
If it fell hard, never mind the deck—at least a large piece of the fish meat would be damaged, affecting the fish's value.
So she went and fetched the cotton quilt used to keep fish warm, folded it, and placed it on the deck beside the boat.
This way, there would be significant cushioning when the fish fell, protecting it from damage.
"Well done!" Sea King praised.
He already had plans for this grouper. If he could buy it, he definitely would.
Because he was heading somewhere next, and he'd originally planned to buy a large farmed giant grouper. Now he had a better target.
After more than twenty minutes, Chu Mingcheng finally swam to the boat's side.
Sea King threw down the safety rope and said, "Ah Cheng, pass the safety rope through the gills and out the other side, then we'll help pull it up together."
"Got it!" Chu Mingcheng took the safety rope and nodded.
This was the best method for now. It seemed he had a lot to do tomorrow!
Not only did he need to buy a speargun, but he also had to get a winch or crane for the boat.
He passed the safety rope through the right gill and out through the left gill opening.
This way, when they pulled it up, the entire fish's weight would rest on the fish's head, not on one side's gill cover.
The dragon grouper was nearly dead by now and barely reacted.
He handed the safety rope back to Sea King. The three men pulled in front, with the women behind.
"One, two, three, lift!"
Chu Mingcheng pushed the dragon grouper in the water, coordinating with those on the boat.
With all six working together, though the two-hundred-jin weight wasn't easy to handle, it was still manageable to get it onto the boat.
The dragon grouper landed on the spread quilt and stayed there.
"Incredible—I can't believe we encountered such a large dragon grouper in our coastal waters!" Sea King patted the grouper, his eyes gleaming.
"What do you think, Sea King—interested?" Chu Mingcheng had come up through the back door by now. Seeing his expression, he smiled.
Sea King nodded. "Of course I'm interested! I hesitated forever about that large moray eel yesterday and didn't buy it in the end, but I can't let this dragon grouper go.
"I have a trip coming up, and I was originally planning to buy a large farmed giant grouper. Yours is perfect."
"Alright, if you want it, I'll sell it to you for one hundred twenty a jin!" Seeing his interest, Chu Mingcheng offered it directly.
Let Agong rest for a while. He was already trending on a certain short-video app.
If it happened again, the relevant departments would probably visit the old man!
But actually, for a single elderly man like Wei Jianguo, a large moray eel was fine. If he got another large dragon grouper, it would obviously show he was wealthy and could easily attract bad actors. This wouldn't be good for him!
"One hundred twenty a jin? How about we follow convention and take off five? This is my second purchase!" Hearing one hundred twenty a jin, Sea King secretly nodded. This price was neither high nor low—very reasonable.
Dragon groupers aren't like seven-banded groupers, which taste better the larger they are.
This type of fish actually becomes quite tough when large, not as delicious as imagined, and requires considerable cooking skill. Therefore, size doesn't mean the price can be inflated.
Dragon groupers have long been farmed domestically. Small dragon groupers are only forty yuan a jin, and super-large ones are only seventy to eighty.
That Chu Mingcheng could sell for one hundred twenty was because it was wild.
Additionally, it showed that the resources near this isolated island were excellent to support such a large grouper.
He'd only explored a small area today. He could return when he had time.
"Alright then, let's follow the old rules and take off five." The cooperation had been pleasant so far. Chu Mingcheng didn't mind losing a thousand.
Over two hundred jin—the large scale in the cockpit should handle it.
He had two scales in his cabin; the large one could weigh up to four hundred jin.
Working together, they moved the dragon grouper onto this large scale. The grouper's weight matched the estimate—exactly two hundred twenty-three jin.
Calculated at one hundred fifteen yuan per jin, that came to just over twenty-five thousand six hundred.
There was no signal at sea, so the money transfer had to wait until they returned.
Also, because this large dragon grouper needed to stay fresh, the original plan to cook dinner on the small beach was canceled. They had to return first to pack and ship this dragon grouper.
Three hours later, the sky was completely dark.
Back at the pier, Sea King immediately transferred the money to Chu Mingcheng and arranged for transportation.
Shipping this large grouper wasn't cheap—probably over a thousand yuan.
Chu Mingcheng didn't sell today's fish to the customers in his group but sold everything directly to the seafood restaurant.
He also contacted Xie Xiao, who'd been stingy when buying fish before. He came over first and bought five painted sweetlips.
Exactly thirty jin, sold for three thousand six hundred.
Chu Mingcheng was amazed. In one afternoon, he'd caught only thirteen painted sweetlips total, and he'd found five that weighed exactly thirty jin. Incredible.
But Chu Mingcheng held no grudge against him. At least he wouldn't take a thirty-one-jin catch and bargain to only pay the thirty-jin price.
The remaining catch was sold directly to the seafood restaurant. There were many large fish today. Except for the sea wolf that Sea King had chosen for tonight's filming, the remaining fish were also quite valuable.
The red snapper was thirty-three jin at one hundred yuan per jin, sold for three thousand three hundred.
The remaining catch, added together, sold for fifteen thousand eight hundred yuan.
Therefore, Chu Mingcheng's income today, excluding costs, reached forty-eight thousand.
His savings had only reached over two hundred forty thousand, but the money earned today would probably be spent tomorrow.
After all the catch was handled and the boat was hosed down, the group took the sea wolf back to Chu Mingcheng's house to start filming and recording, and to solve the dinner problem.