Super Zoo

Chapter 369 Illegal Sand Mining Boat

The Wuchang Fish, with its flattened body and smooth curves, is extremely fast in the water, and it darted to Suming's bait in the blink of an eye.

From the perspective of the Overlord Turtle, it was clear to see that once the Wuchang Fish were out of the Overlord Turtle's menacing threat, their speed gradually slowed down. The scent of the chicken intestines used by Suming as bait seemed to have caught their attention. They flicked their tails and approached the chicken intestines.

Compared to the fish in domestic ponds that are fed regularly and with nutritional balance, life is much tougher for the wild fish in the great river, where living from hunger to fullness is the norm. A tender chicken intestine is an absolute huge temptation... for the Wuchang Fish.

However, wild fish are much 'smarter' than pond fish and didn't pounce on the bait right away. They circled the chicken intestines, pecking carefully with their small mouths.

Seeing this, Suming chuckled and slowly cranked the reel to reel in the line.

Below the surface, the Wuchang Fish were startled to see the 'food' suddenly move, and they rapidly turned tail and fled. However, they couldn't quite let it go and stopped after swimming less than half a meter, turning back to stare at the small section of chicken intestine.

Under the pull of the fishing line, the chicken intestine was dragged away at a steady pace. A few Wuchang Fish hesitated; they wanted to eat but feared there was a trap. Yet, they couldn't bear to give up the tantalizing morsel, like donkeys lured by a carrot, following at a not too close, not too far distance behind.

Greed kills fish! On the boat, Suming's line started pulling faster, and the chicken intestines 'fled' swiftly below the surface. Just as they were about to disappear, a large Wuchang Fish over a dozen centimeters long couldn't resist any longer. Its tail flicked, and its flattened body sliced through the clear waves like a scalpel, rushing ferociously at the chicken intestines and biting down!

On the boat, the bell on Suming's fishing rod suddenly rang wildly. The fishing line snapped taut, and the rod bent into a large arc.

"Heh, Mr. Su has caught a fish too," Gu laughed from inside the cabin, poking his head out and looking over with a grin.

Zhao Yun laughed heartily at the side, "A worthy pupil! Not bad at all..."

Not bad my ass, Suming rolled his eyes. What does this have to do with you?

The sea rod in Suming's hands was strong enough to handle fish weighing tens of pounds, so this little fish weighing less than two pounds did not put up much of a fight. It was dragged aboard rather violently after just a few pulls.

Gu chuckled as he saw the catch, "Mr. Su, you're quite lucky, a Wuchang Fish, now that's a rare find!"

"I need to take this fish back and raise it; it'd be a pity to eat it," Suming was also beaming. The Wuchang Fish is an economically valuable species that could be raised in reservoirs. They are hardy and grow quickly, far more valuable than the 'four major domestic fishes'.

Initially, the fishermen tried to negotiate with them, but it was futile. The huge profits from illegal sand dredging meant they couldn't care less about ecological damage or whether the fishermen could catch fish—it wasn't their concern at all.

The fishermen who went to negotiate, if lucky, would be turned away; if not, they might even get beaten up by 'unidentified' thugs on their way back. Over time, the fishermen no longer dared to negotiate.

Suming was also aware that there were many illegal sand dredgers in the Yangtze River. Despite seeming insignificant, the sand was essentially worthless on its own, dirty enough to be refused even as a gift. Yet, in large quantities, the insignificant sand could add up and become quite profitable. With the dredgers able to haul in tens of tons at a time, a simple startup of the engines translated into a rolling in of cash. No one did business at a loss, and some would even risk their lives when there was profit to be made. Despite the government's repeated bans on illegal sand dredging, it continued unabated due to the significant profits, causing serious damage to the local river ecology and leaving behind numerous safety hazards. Due to the backward technology of illegal dredging and the lack of regulatory restrictions, the riverbed would be left with difficult-to-repair craters after dredging, easily creating whirlpools and undercurrents.

Because the government had been cracking down hard, most illegal operations were conducted sneakily at night. But to do this openly during the daytime in the fishing ban period took a lot of guts.

"Sigh, this section of the river is quite special," Gu shook his head. It turned out that the area where the sand dredger was located was at the junction of three counties upstream, downstream, and across the bank. Due to many historical reasons, it had become a lawless vacuum zone, which the other party exploited.

As soon as the sand dredger appeared, there was no point in trying to fish nearby, so Gu stopped the boat about a kilometer from the dredger before casting the nets again.

Strangely enough, perhaps as Gu mentioned earlier, the fish didn't move much in the morning, but as it got close to noon, after changing locations, the catch increased significantly!

With his spiritual power, Suming herded the Wuchang fish that had been scared away earlier. Gu threw the net and immediately felt a heavy pull. When they hauled it in, they had almost two hundred jin of Wuchang fish, their silver scales glinting in the sunlight.

Zhao Yun caught fish one after another, and both Nangong Huang and Suming were also lucky. Although Suming used his spiritual power to regain the Wuchang fish, during the actual fishing, it was all about the pleasure of waiting for a bite. Subsequently, he didn't use his spiritual power much, and in a little over an hour, relying on luck, he and Nangong together caught seven or eight fish.

Although they didn't catch the knife fish Zhao Yun kept talking about, they did catch a spiny toadfish!

The spiny toadfish is closely related to the river toadfish and looks similar in appearance and habits, but it has a body covered in hard spines. When "angered", its body inflates, turning it instantly into a porcupine of the water, with spines that are not only hard but also carry a trace of poison, causing excruciating pain if pricked.

"Gu, quick, quick! Over there!" Suming pointed to a patch of water about ten meters away, calling for Gu to cast the net.

That last haul of Wuchang fish was thanks to Suming's directed position. Gu gave Suming a thumbs-up incessantly, even he, a veteran fisherman, couldn't pinpoint fishing spots with such precision. So, with renewed confidence in Suming, he immediately cast the net.

Indeed, once the net was cast, it sank. When they lifted the net, it was full of spiny toadfish, looking like many miniature fish caught in the mesh.

"Gurgling... gurgling..." Over a hundred spiny toadfish caught, angry and making noises.

Just then, the walkie-talkie Gu carried crackled with a joyful voice, "Gu, Gu, I've hauled in a net full of knife fish, twelve of them, weighing over five jin each. Do you want them?"