Five Frozen Centuries - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: This Fish Is Most Mischievous
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wei Huo regretted his small-sized fishing rod. The higher the rating of the fish caught, the higher the completion rate of the quest, and hence the rarer the game item reward was. It could be a Bloodthirster or a Guardian Angel1! He would not mind either! 5
Wei Huo did not have ready-made materials therefore there was no other way about it at the moment. He could only use the fishing rod he had previously made to complete the fishing quest. Truth be told, the quality of his fishing rod was quite good. It was pretty tough and strong.
However, that moment was not the right time to fish. A strong wind came from the north, and Wei Huo wanted to capitalize on that opportunity to get into the southward current once and for all. If he could do that, he could continue moving south without the wind’s help.
Nonetheless, as the ship moved forward, the sky was getting cloudier. The cotton candy, steak, and chicken thigh-looking clouds disappeared only to be replaced with dark clouds. 1
Wei Huo frowned. The weather was unpredictable, and the storms at sea were extremely horrifying. A ship could be capsized at any moment. One must be very careful when at sea.
After a while, bright silver snakes appeared across the skies followed by deafening sounds of thunder. It seemed as if they were about to tear the sky apart as terrifying sounds continued echoing in the air.
Lightning also struck the sea from time to time causing the nearby fishes and shrimps to instantly float on the surface of the sea. 1
Wei Huo stared at the sky. In the face of nature’s forces, he presently had no way to resist it. He could only pray that he was lucky.
There were constant strikes of thunder from the sky. Soon after that, the first drop of rain fell, and it seemed as if it unhinged a certain gear. Heavy rain suddenly started pouring down on the upper deck, causing loud pattering sounds.
The rain was violent as if the sky had split open and the raindrops formed a line. It poured like a river from the sky and flowed as if there was a waterfall opening among the clouds.
If the forces of Heaven and Earth were already so horrifying, the more so for God— which existed above it all!
‘Could humans eventually evolve into Gods?’ 4
Wei Huo was deep in thought while staring at the sky, but he eventually decided to be realistic about life. He did not know for how long humans were still going to be stuck in that time halt, but hundreds and thousands of years were nothing to the mighty God. If he did not have a long enough lifespan, he could be dead before humans even got out of the time halt.
The heavy rain poured for the entire day. When it finally ended in the evening, the sky brightened up. The sun was already setting in the west. Amidst the setting sun, a lotus-shaped cloud was shining with a golden-red glow.
All of a sudden, Wei Huo understood why people in ancient times believed in the Gods and worshipped them. It was at that moment that Wei Huo thought it was a passing Buddha who blew the clouds away.
Nonetheless, Wei Huo knew that was an impossibility. After all, even if there were Gods in their universe, why would Gods even consider descending to Earth just to save you for no reason? 4
After the heavy rain ended and the sun had set for the day, it was hard to see the horizons. The night sky was full of stars while both the wind and ship had stopped. Reflection of the starry night was all over the ocean surface.
Wei Huo felt like he had arrived in space. In front of, behind, above, and even beneath him; it was all stars around him.
There were tiny fishes appearing on the ocean surface and their appearances caused ripples to spread across the waters. The presence of ripples was the only reason one could tell that those stars beneath the ship were all just an illusion.
Wei Huo could not endure the beautiful view being ruined by those tiny fish. He decided to pull out his fishing rod.
Bloop! The fishing hook, along with its bait was thrown into the waters causing a huge ripple on the surface of the sea.
The panda climbed up from the lower deck quietly and shook off water droplets on its fur. It then climbed next to Wei Huo and joined him staring out to sea.
The view was peaceful for some time.
The tranquility was soon disrupted by those fishes in the sea which seemed to not have their guards up; probably because they had never been fished. Not long after Wei Huo’s fishing hook landed in the sea, a fish took the bait.
Wei Huo lifted his fishing rod and caught the fish.
Bloop! Bloop! It was a palm-sized fish flapping its tail.
At this moment, the Quest Evaluation appeared.
‘It’s a Normal fish. Awarded 9 out of 100 points.’
Wei Huo was speechless. “…”
Wei Huo grabbed that fish and threw it back in the ocean since it was only worth nine points.
Wei Huo continued fishing and soon after that, another fish took the bait. Wei Huo pulled it up excitedly to find…
‘Motherf*cker, it was that same fish!’ 1
Wei Huo threw it back in the waters and tried to fish again. Ten seconds later, the same fish took the bait.
Wei Huo pulled it up and stared at the two other holes on its chin. He was speechless. ‘Your skills included being caught 100% of the time, didn’t it?’
Wei Huo was confused.
‘Are you the only fish in this part of the sea?’
Wei Huo decided not to throw it back in the sea. Instead, he threw it over to the panda that was lying by his side. He rejected the quest completion option and continued fishing.
The panda looked at that flapping fish in fascination and picked it up with its mouth. It walked over to the edge of the ship and threw it over.
Wei Huo was speechless. “…”
‘Are you all messing with me?’ 1
Soon after that, another fish took the bait. Wei Huo did not bother to pull his fishing rod up.
However, he felt a sudden weight increase in his hands and realized that motherf*cker was a big one. 2
Wei Huo stood up and used all his force. The fishing rod was pulled into the shape of a bow.
It was truly a big one. The fishing rod nearly snapped in half. Wei Huo let go of it a little bit before using his force again. He was strong enough, but the quality of the fishing rod was not. If he used too much force, the fishing rod would have snapped.
Fishing was nothing like tug-of-war. If you caught a big one, you could only fight it out with wisdom and courage. If you continued exhausting the fish’s strength, you could pull it out of water in one go.
The fishing line continued moving vigorously disturbing the ocean’s surface. Wei Huo saw a gradual outline of a giant creature under the water which was pulling the fishing line, and shaking their ship along with it.
After ten minutes of pulling back and forth, the huge fish seems like it had run out of energy. Wei Huo pulled it out of the water immediately.
It was a swordfish. Its beak was long as a sword. Wei Huo pulled it out of the water, grabbed its long beak, and put it on the ship.
It was a two-meter-long swordfish. It was even taller than humans.
The Quest Evaluation appeared at that moment. ‘It’s a Normal fish. Awarded 29 out of 100 points.’ 3
Although Wei Huo was satisfied with that fish, he did not plan on completing the quest so soon. The Quest Evaluation score was too low and he would not be getting something good out of it.
However, the fish was good enough to feed them for a few days. He put it in the lower deck and continued fishing.
Wei Huo spent nearly the entire night fishing, but he still could not get a fish that was worth above 50 points.