Just like the aroma from the kitchen during mealtime, you could see the schools of fish in the nearby coral reef being attracted by the plankton gathering in the sea, heading towards the reef where Xia Nan stood.

Plankton attracts small fish, and small fish attract big fish.

In just a few minutes, Xia Nan spotted several conspicuous large silhouettes beneath the water’s surface.

"It’s now!"

The baiting effect of the [Tide Rod] was unexpectedly good. Without wasting a single second, he tightly gripped his expensive [Albatross III Type Fishing Rod - 1015 Year Model], and the hook had already vanished amid the rolling waves.

Theoretically, fishing is a probabilistic and very simple task.

Skills, gear, and environment—Xia Nan had done everything he could to the best of his abilities, and the big fish he imagined arrived as expected.

Came very quickly!

The float on the distant sea surface suddenly disappeared, even though the hook had not been in the water for long.

"Creak!"

The fishing line tensed, the rod bent nearly to the point of breaking, uttering a pitiful wail under the strain.

Faced with the sudden "big catch," Xia Nan displayed textbook-level skill in that moment.

Carefully feeling the force from his palm, he engaged in a tug-of-war with the fish that bit the hook. When it struggled, he eased up slightly to wear down its stamina; when it was tired, he promptly reeled it in.

Ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet...

Xia Nan could even see the shadowy outline of the big fish under the sea.

But just as he thought he was about to succeed, the fish underwater launched a last round of resistance.

"Boom!"

With a powerful swish of its tail, the water erupted, and the sea’s surface rose in undulating waves.

Water sprayed as the ascending shadow plunged rapidly diagonally downward.

Sticking to the fishing techniques he had learned these days, even when on the verge of success, Xia Nan remained very patient during the fish’s final struggle, allowing it to swim downward.

Because he knew, this would be the fish’s last chance to resist; in the next round, it would utterly lose the strength to fight back, becoming a significant milestone in his fishing journey.

Unexpectedly, perhaps by coincidence, or maybe this fish, living in a magic-filled Otherworld, had developed a certain intelligence, its choice of resistance sent it directly below the reef where Xia Nan stood.

There, the extremely hard and jet-black reef had been sharpened razor-thin like blades by countless years of battering waves.

The tightly drawn fishing line brushed lightly against those sharp rocks under the force brought by the fish.

"Snap."

The fishing rod, bent at an exaggerated angle, snapped back instantly, the forceful counteraction causing Xia Nan to step back two paces.

The rod returned to its original shape in vibrations, naturally drooping as the broken line fell below.

Xia Nan stared at the fishing rod in his hand, his gaze frozen for two seconds.

No one knew what he was thinking at the moment.

His facial expression remained unchanged.

But in the next second, he gently placed the rod on the ground.

Forward, one step, two steps...

"Splash!"

Water splashed violently.

The fully armed figure vanished from the shore.

In its stead was a shadowy black silhouette briefly surfacing amid the restrained wolf howls being faintly transmitted from below the water.

...

White feathers drifted down from high above.

Accompanied by a high-frequency hum of magical energy, a Short-tailed Albatross descended slowly from the sky, wrapped in shimmering radiance, transforming and shrinking, the timing perfectly controlled.

As the pair of lady’s leather boots touched the ground, the last feather tip turned into slim fingers, dissolving with the light.

By inertia, Hai Yin took two more steps forward after landing before stabilizing her posture.

Her gaze fixed on the dripping wet Xia Nan in front of her and the giant grouper laying motionless as if struck, larger than an ordinary human, and she casually remarked:

"Looks like you had a good haul today?"

"Not bad." Xia Nan remained expressionless, his eyelids slightly lowered, "This coral reef of yours is indeed quite nice, an excellent spot for fishing."

"Heh heh." Hearing his praise, Hai Yin couldn’t help but smile, clearly pleased with his acknowledgment. "That’s good."

As a Druid of the Coral Association, she didn’t mind hunting activity happening within her protected area, as long as it wasn’t indiscriminate fishing, she was okay with it.

Moreover, if nearby fishermen faced difficulties, she was happy to use resources from her protected area to help.

What she cared about was the balance of the entire ecosystem.

Suddenly, as if she thought of something, her gaze inadvertently moved back to Xia Nan.

As a properly profession-leveled Spellcaster and an experienced senior adventurer, how could she not notice the excellence and uniqueness of his newly equipped armor?

The tightly fitted, layered white bone and steel could not be the work of ordinary craftsmen, and the faintly swirling magic particles in the air further confirmed this was an enchanted piece of equipment.

For some reason, seeing that armor gave Hai Yin an illusion as if she had glimpsed the terrifying Shark Beast that nearly wiped out their Vengeance Blade Squad in Twin Canyon.

Especially when she saw the water trickling down the muscle contours of Xia Nan’s arm, streaming off his dark, shark-like skin-tight garment.

Her lips moved slightly, wanting to ask something.

But ultimately, due to the taboo against probing personal details in the adventurer industry, she said nothing.

Noticing the Druid’s gaze not far from him, Xia Nan shifted his eyes from the grouper and looked up in puzzled expression at her:

"What’s up, is there something strange?"

"No..." Hai Yin shook her head, changing the topic, "I’ve heard a unique cooking method for this kind of fish."

"Place it over a furnace and steam it, supposedly preserving the deliciousness of the fish meat to the maximum extent. Do you want to try it?"

Steamed?

Possessing memories of his past life, Xia Nan seemed to recall something, his expression turning somewhat peculiar.

Speaking of which, grouper indeed seems to taste better steamed. Surprised that people in this world discovered this as well.

So he nodded and replied:

"Sure, I’ll take it back to Suo Yu Bay and let the cooks at Three-legged Sea Dog try it out."

"Remember to call Lorin and Sasha then, to taste the fish I caught... dredged up."

Not noticing the careful choice of words in Xia Nan’s response, Hai Yin was about to say more, her expression suddenly freezing, as she turned towards the other side of the shore.

This coral reef was part of her responsibility as a Druid to protect, and over the years, she’d formed an intangible connection with it, which made her react even slightly faster than Xia Nan, whose Perception Attribute was stronger.

Only after Hai Yin turned did Xia Nan follow her gaze to the direction she was looking.

What met their eyes were several small and medium-sized fishing boats.

Their style was nothing special, quite common in Suo Yu Bay.

But the ones standing on the deck were not the weather-beaten, sun-drenched, dark-skinned fishermen he remembered, but a bunch of menacing, nonchalant young people.

The most crucial detail was that they were casting nets into the sea.

The sturdy net ropes were tightly intertwined, with such small mesh that even fingers couldn’t pass through.

Hai Yin didn’t mind normal fishing activities, even within her protected coral reef area.

However, if the other party used such dense trawling methods that spared not even the fry, then as a Druid, she’d need to address the issue with them.

Amidst the flickering of Magical Radiance, she once again became a Short-tailed Albatross.

Flapping her wings swiftly towards the fishing boats.

Xia Nan stood by the shore and of course couldn’t stand idly by.

Even without considering their teammate status, the fact that she willingly brought him to this coral reef to fish was reason enough for Xia Nan to lend a hand when Hai Yin encountered trouble.

Moreover, his exceptional eyesight let him catch sight of a familiar, indifferent figure on one of the fishing boats’ decks.