As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: The New Data Panel

After Yao Xin had left, Chu Mingcheng hooked another big fish, this one pulling even harder than the previous two.

But luck wasn’t on his side this time. Halfway through the struggle, there was a splash on the water surface, and the fish broke free from the hook and escaped.

Chu Mingcheng, panting heavily, felt somewhat helpless; the fish was too big, and even if it hadn’t escaped, his line might not have withstood the force.

Catching three big fish today made him realize that his physical fitness was still somewhat lacking.

The dozens of life conversions he had before had long been used up, with the last one spent on digging for sea earthworms.

He could feel that his energy had improved compared to before, but it was still somewhat inadequate.

Chu Mingcheng decided to start running tomorrow to get in shape, and to perform a few more life conversions while he was at it.

Alligator Gar is an invasive species that can harm aquatic ecosystems. But there are other invasive species besides Alligator Gar that also threaten aquatic ecosystems, and he could look for those tomorrow.

Chu Mingcheng was no longer much interested in continuing to fish. He released the Carp back into the water, kept the Qiao Zui for Xiao Mi’s meal, and then packed up and drove home.

Once home, after taking a shower, he turned on his computer and uploaded the videos he had shot with his phone today.

Then he started to look into video editing. His lifestyle videos did not require high editing skills; he just needed to cut out the boring, poorly shot, and repetitive footage.

As it was his first time editing, Chu Mingcheng was somewhat unfamiliar with the process. It took him two hours to cut the original video of over eight minutes down to three, and he even added a few subtitle overlays.

After watching it twice and feeling there were no issues, he saved it and then sent it to Jiang Luoluo.

However, there was no response. She was likely out capturing night scenes for her dancing or practicing her dance. @@novelbin@@

In this period, Chu Mingcheng had come to understand that Jiang Luoluo was a very hardworking person. An original two-to-three-minute dance routine required her to practice for upwards of ten hours a day, consistently for a week.

She didn’t have a team specifically tailored for her, only a cameraman.

So, designing dance moves, selecting costumes and props—everything needed to be decided by her, which was far busier than Chu Mingcheng’s schedule.

Early the next morning, dressed in sportswear, Chu Mingcheng went out for a run.

Jogging along, he reached the breakfast shop area, where he slowed down to walk a stretch, giving himself time to catch his breath before getting breakfast and then walked back home.

As a man, he might have the strength for fishing, but what he lacked was endurance, a side effect of years spent sitting in an office.

Back home, he tossed the Qiao Zui to Xiao Mi. Since he was going to look for invasive species today, he wouldn’t be bringing it along.

Speaking of the most common invasive species, Fushouluo definitely ranked first, followed by the Scavenger and tilapia, much loathed by the Fishing Man.

Farmed tilapia actually tastes quite good, but he would pass on the ones from the river.

Many of our rivers and lakes are severely polluted, and wild tilapia not only harbor many parasites but those growing in such polluted environments also have very high mercury levels.

Thus, wild tilapia are not recommended for consumption, though farmed ones are edible.

Chu Mingcheng first decided to look for Fushouluo because they are the easiest to find—in abandoned ponds, small rivers, and even rice paddies, they can easily be spotted.

He drove along the coastal road, and before long, he arrived at a very desolate area.

This was an uninhabited wasteland with a large abandoned pond. He had played here as a child.

Back then, he didn’t know that the pink granules were eggs of Fushouluo, simply enjoying the act of scraping them off and stepping on them for fun.

Now, more than a decade later, the place remained unchanged, only more desolate than before.

Fushouluo lay their eggs mainly during May and June, as well as from August to October. Although it was past October, in places where Fushouluo lived, their eggs could still be found everywhere.

Approaching the big pond, one could see pink objects on many weeds; those were the eggs of Fushouluo.

Chu Mingcheng went over and broke off the weeds, habitually crushing the eggs on them, when suddenly, a new data panel appeared in his mind.

[Fushouluo (Eggs) (Invasive Species)]

[Ecological Destruction Index: 3 stars]

[Elimination of Fushouluo (Eggs): 1 piece (one whole clump of Fushouluo eggs is equal to one Fushouluo)]

[Tracking: 1/day (Upon use, it can automatically help the host find an area with Fushouluo)]

[Life Transformation: 0 times (1/100) For every one hundred Fushouluo eliminated, one transformation is possible]

Interesting, this data panel has quite a few differences compared to the Alligator Gar’s, the life transformation requires the elimination of one hundred Fushouluo to be possible, thankfully one whole clump of eggs counts as one, otherwise the difficulty would be significantly increased.

The scanning function of the Alligator Gar has turned into a tracking function, so now he wouldn’t need to search aimlessly for places with Fushouluo.

Track once a day, just take some time to handle the Fushouluo.

Next, Chu Mingcheng began to collect the Fushouluo, starting with their eggs.

Most of them are laid on the stems of weeds, just pull the weeds off.

For those laid on rocks, he pried them off with a dagger.

Before long, a heap had been collected on the empty ground beside him, and quite a few Fushouluo by the pond were collected along the way as well.

When there were no more pink eggs in sight, he took out a net from the car and began to gather them in the large pond.

The large pond had almost become the domain of the Fushouluo, with Chu Mingcheng almost catching one or two, sometimes even several Fushouluo with every scoop, they were truly proliferating unchecked.

But as he was catching, suddenly something in the net began to struggle violently.

With a puzzled face, Chu Mingcheng lifted the mucky net out of the water, only to see a turtle at the bottom trying to escape by flapping its short legs.

“Damn, there’s even this thing here?”

He wouldn’t have thought that just casually scooping for Fushouluo, he would also catch a turtle.

The pond might look dirty, but there was no industrial pollution, and the aquatic life that thrived within was far from scarce, it’s not surprising to find a turtle here.

However, nowadays too many animals are protected in the country, and whenever encountering any wild one, it’s necessary to be careful, thus Chu Mingcheng checked his data panel first.

[Chinese Turtle (Level 0)]

[Current Experience: 1/10]

[Size Increase +0%]

[Deliciousness +0%]

[Capture Probability +0%]

Turns out this was a Chinese Turtle, he quickly took out his phone and searched online whether wild Chinese Turtle was a protected animal.

Then he found out that there are mainly three types of turtles in the country, besides the Chinese Turtle, there is the second-class protected Mountain Turtle and the first-class protected Banded Turtle.

However, there was no need to worry about encountering the Banded Turtle, because it wouldn’t happen.

Known to the world, there are only three Banded Turtles left, what he needed to watch out for was the Mountain Turtle, which looks very similar to the Chinese Turtle.

So, it’s okay to catch wild turtles, but you must be careful not to get yourself caught up in trouble.

Having caught a wild turtle, Chu Mingcheng walked happily with the net towards the car.

The price of wild turtles was too high, at least two hundred yuan per pound in the market, and they were extremely rare, as most are farmed.

His turtle was not small, weighing at least three pounds. Not focusing on his regular job these past days, he had made over five hundred yuan, truly fortunes turn when one hits thirty!