Chapter 81: World Two [51] Part 1

The equipment provided by the production team fell into just two categories: either fishing for your own meal, or diving to get food by completing designated interactive objectives.

Once the keyword “fishing” was triggered, the group of fishing enthusiast fans who had previously followed Shao Qing because of her uncanny ability to catch fish with a simple rod surfaced again. They flooded the comments, urging Shao Qing to test the fishing conditions here for them.

If the conditions were good, maybe a certain small fraction of wealthy fishing fanatics would actually find their way to this island to test their own skills in the same spot.

Liu Chang had personally witnessed Shao Qing’s fishing prowess. As soon as the yacht stopped, he quickly remembered it.

“I remember Teacher Shao was catching fish one after another on the island earlier. She even caught that valuable yellow croaker,” Liu Chang said.

“Teacher Shao, want to try some sea fishing now? You might catch some gigantic deep-sea fish!” Liu Chang’s remark held no malice; he was purely curious to see if Shao Qing’s fishing skills were genuine.

A one-time success could be a fluke, but if she could still land fish after switching to sea fishing in a new location… then Shao Qing saying she couldn’t fish was impossible; she must be a person blessed by the sea god.

“Sure, why not. Since we’re here, it’d be a shame not to try,” Shao Qing agreed with a smile.

Anyway, this Hildeya Island was Jing Ke’s. If she wanted to dive, there was plenty of time for that. Letting someone else go first now was no issue.

After Shao Qing chose sea fishing, Jing Ke naturally wasn’t going to go diving alone. She picked a suitable rod and bait, then stood beside Shao Qing, casting her bait in a different direction to avoid their lines getting tangled.

Liu Chang, as a survival expert, had actually obtained a diving certificate—and what he ultimately earned was a diving instructor’s certificate.

Seeing Jing Ke and Shao Qing seriously start fishing, Liu Chang turned to negotiate with the production team, asking if his team could go first to secure their supplies via the diving challenge.

“Sure, but the diving challenge has conditions. Starting from the moment you enter the water, you can only go in once every two hours. Whether you dive for one minute or one hour, you have to wait for the cooldown to expire before going again.” Director Qin, who was not on the same boat as the guests, had the cameraman relay her instructions.

“Xu Yi, let’s go complete the check-in dive first. We were dead last yesterday; we can’t let that happen again today,” Liu Chang said, turning to call Xu Yi.

Xu Yi’s face showed some hesitation, but when the camera focused on him, he adjusted his expression and agreed to Liu Chang’s proposal.

With only two people going in the water, they could have three diving instructors per person. Plus, since Liu Chang already had his certification, it was a case of seven leading one.

Other than Xu Yi himself being a little nervous, everyone else was very relaxed, not seeing any issue with escorting someone for a dive.

After pulling Xu Yi to quickly complete the designated objectives for the check-in dive, Liu Chang felt much more relaxed. He signaled the diving instructors that he wanted to wander around a bit, then focused his attention on a baited fishhook.

Realizing the people on the yacht couldn’t see him through the water’s surface, Liu Chang figured a little harmless prank wouldn’t matter.

Having decided to randomly pick one of the guests and give them false hope, Liu Chang gestured elaborately at the underwater camera, then swam his body over with surprising agility.

But Liu Chang’s luck was poor—or rather, he underestimated the reaction speed of the fishing rod’s owner. Just as he mischievously tugged the fishing line, the hook was retrieved with lightning-fast speed.

Caught completely off guard, Liu Chang had his face slashed open by the fishhook. Blood quickly spread.

The three diving instructors watching over Liu Chang instantly noticed something was wrong. After exchanging a flurry of hand signals, they hastily dragged him to the surface.

Xu Yi was terrified by the sight. Not daring to stay another second, he quickly followed the instructors back up to the yacht.

[Whoa, what’s happening? Why is Liu Chang’s face bleeding? He wasn’t bitten by some carnivorous fish, was he? That’s terrifying!]

[Damn it, why can’t the underwater camera be live-streamed? If it could, I could see the exact footage.]

[The production team definitely has equipment for live underwater broadcast, but they’ll be releasing a final polished show later. They probably want to maintain some mystery.]

[It shouldn’t be a fish bite, right? The wound looks like a straight line. Is there any fish that bites like that?]

While the barrage comments worried over Liu Chang’s condition, Jing Ke and the other three fishing guests were also distracted by the diving instructors’ sudden flurry of foreign language.

“What’s going on? How did Teacher Liu get injured?” Yao Lan, who was closest, was the first to ask.

The diving instructor was a foreigner but could roughly grasp that Yao Lan was asking about the situation. He launched into another rapid-fire explanation in his language.

Yao Lan’s English was about the level of the average university graduate. She’d maintained a CET-4 level right after graduation, but now, some time later, her already unexceptional listening and speaking skills were nearly returned to her teacher.

“It was a fishhook. Liu Chang had a sudden impulse to tug on a hook as a prank. But he happened to tug on the line of a novice not very experienced with sea fishing, and the hook accidentally slashed his face,” Jing Ke, who was multilingual, translated.

Seeing Shao Qing’s slight frown, Jing Ke quickly added an explanation. “Generally, when a fish bites, there’s a process. Experienced people don’t yank the rod instantly, or the risk of the fish getting away is very high.”

“Liu Chang likely knew this and wanted to prank whichever lucky guest he chose. But his thinking was a little lacking, which led to this outcome,” Jing Ke said.

Hearing the truth of the matter retold by Jing Ke, Liu Chang, who had brought it upon himself, felt embarrassed. He stood up and apologized proactively.

“I’m sorry, this whole thing was my responsibility. I was overly ambitious but lacked skill,” Liu Chang said.

The fishhook had indeed left a mark on his face, but the wound didn’t look deep. Properly treated, the chance of scarring was relatively small.

While they were talking, the security guard on the yacht had already arrived with the first-aid kit and immediately told Liu Chang to stay still so they could treat the wound.

[Boss Jing is so direct. She didn’t give Liu Chang any face at all. I’m already cringing for him.]

[What’s direct about it? Boss Jing was just relaying the instructor’s words. I’m a foreign language major; she didn’t add or twist anything.]

[Didn’t Liu Chang himself say he brought this on himself? He should have just dived properly. He just had to try to show off, but it backfired completely. And he scared my poor brother; his face looks even paler now.]

[I have a question. Liu Chang bled, right? If there are sharks nearby, won’t they smell it and come?]

[Probably not. I know a bit about yacht construction. These two yachts should be top-tier, equipped with specialized sonar that can deter sharks to some extent.]

[The production team let the guests dive, so the safety prep should be in place, right? Even without sonar, they’d probably have released some shark repellent or something?]

[Hard to say. Qin Zheng and Yao Lan seem a little scared. They’re going to focus on fishing first. If they really can’t catch anything, then they might try the diving check-in.]

Liu Chang’s injury gave the sea outing a rather poor start. But as Liu Chang’s wound was being treated, fish started biting on Jing Ke’s and Shao Qing’s lines one after another. Judging by how much the tips of the rods were bending, they were big fish.

Drawing on her accumulated experience, Shao Qing reeled in the fish, gradually releasing and retrieving the line. When she brought the hooked fish close, a security guard quickly took a landing net and helped scoop it up.

Jing Ke’s situation was similar. The original boat operator eagerly used the net to scoop up her catch, even taking out a tape measure to check its length. He flashed two thumbs up at Jing Ke, grabbed a camera, and snapped a couple of photos.

[Boss Jing caught what looks like a grouper. What did Wife Qingqing catch? A coral trout?]

[It’s a coral trout, and a huge one! Its value is comparable to a wild yellow croaker!]

[What?! You can catch grouper and coral trout there?! Hurry up, give me the exact address and coordinates! I gotta try it too!]

[Hahaha, the fishing fanatics have arrived, even if a little late!]

[Didn’t the production team say the island’s name from the start? Hildeya, I think?]

[Right, it’s Hildeya. You can find its general location with specific map apps. It’s marked as a private island.]

[I bypassed the firewall to check. The island seems to belong to a Chinese person. Not sure if they’re a mainlander or a foreign citizen of Chinese descent.]

[Probably a mainlander. Otherwise, how would the production team have the means to rent the island smoothly?]

[No, no, no. Whether you can rent an island has nothing to do with the owner’s nationality, purely a matter of whether you have enough money. If you have enough, you can not only rent it, you could buy the island outright.]

The livestream viewers’ conversation drifted off-topic, as it often did. No one noticed that the three security guards on the boat were being exceptionally attentive to Jing Ke. They missed the moment when one of them lowered his head and quietly reported something to her.

The twenty security personnel on the island were all hired by Jing Ke under her own name. Their salaries were paid directly from her account. They only occasionally collaborated with the management team when the boss wasn’t present.