Chapter Sixty-Two: Hooking a Treasure Chest

“Who said I wouldn’t last long?” Chu Cheng sat in the chair, casting his fishing rod into the sea, then grabbed the beer beside him and took a hearty swig.

“I want to see just how long you all can hold out.”

Draining the rest of his beer in one gulp, he turned to look at Sun Yu and Pan Yue, who had also given up pretense and were sitting beside him. With a sly grin, he said, “I could sit on this dock and fish every day. Can you do the same?”

Both Sun Yu and Pan Yue looked grim, but their faces were set with stubbornness. Gritting their teeth, they said, “I don’t believe you’ll really fish here for two whole months.”

“Then just watch me. Let’s see if I… huh, there’s a bite!”

He quickly grabbed the rod and pulled.

“Wow, it’s a big one!”

Excited, he jumped to his feet, wrestling with the powerful creature in the water. Ten minutes later, a razor-toothed bluefish weighing more than twenty pounds was hauled up.

“Notification: Fishing proficiency +1. Your fishing skill has advanced to Intermediate.”

“This is awesome!”

In just two days, having caught a little over thirty fish in total, he had already gained enough proficiency to level up his fishing skill. Back in the Black Sails Pirates instance, he’d fished for half a month and barely gained twenty or thirty points of proficiency. Now, in just two days, he’d racked up more than ten points—a dramatic increase in efficiency.

This leap, of course, was thanks to the boost from his golden finger. Originally, the skill acceleration effect of his golden finger hadn’t applied to life skills like fishing. But since unlocking its first stage, its power had expanded, now affecting all aspects of himself—even fishing.

“Let’s keep going!” Chu Cheng was intrigued, curious whether he could raise his fishing skill to Advanced, or even Expert, within this instance.

Though fishing wouldn’t improve his combat strength, at times it could be quite useful. At higher levels, one might even catch rare fish—or treasures.

Take the twenty-pound razor-toothed bluefish he’d just reeled in: it could easily sell for fifty copper coins. Two would fetch a silver.

And that wasn’t even the most valuable catch. According to the information he’d gathered, there were two particularly rare species in this instance: the Crystal-Scaled Fish, which sold for ten silver apiece, and the Dragon-Scaled Fish, which fetched a whole gold coin each.

Moreover, Gearwheel City’s authorities were officially buying up Dragon-Scaled Fish, offering fifty points of reputation per fish. But if you took the reputation, you didn’t get the gold. Still, it was a decent way to farm reputation—one could, in theory, grind all the way to “Exalted” status this way.

Because Gearwheel City’s purchase program wasn’t limited to this world, you could even buy Dragon-Scaled Fish elsewhere and turn them in for reputation, quickly reaching Exalted.

But the investment required was absurd.

One Dragon-Scaled Fish earned fifty reputation; reaching Exalted required twenty thousand points, equivalent to four hundred Dragon-Scaled Fish—four hundred gold coins’ worth.

Chu Cheng would never spend that much just for reputation. If he could really catch four hundred Dragon-Scaled Fish, wouldn’t keeping the four hundred gold be far more satisfying?

While he sat contentedly at the dock, fishing day after day, Sun Yu and the others were having a much harder time. At first, they endured patiently, but as Chu Cheng showed no sign of leaving and actually seemed to be enjoying himself, they grew restless.

“We can’t keep wasting time like this,” Pan Yue said, pinching the bridge of his nose with a stern expression. “He might be fine just sitting here fishing, but we can’t. We need to earn reputation, accumulate points, and improve our scores. We can’t afford to stay.”

Sun Yu was equally frustrated. “But what can we do if he won’t leave? Just forget about him?”

“We can’t just ignore him.”

“Here’s what we’ll do: one of us stays to keep an eye on him, the rest leave.”

“Who stays?”

“Let’s have Xu Zhiyuan stay. He’s the fastest.”

“He’ll stay for a week. If Chu Cheng still hasn’t left after that, we’ll let it go.”

“Fine.”

Chu Cheng only learned of Sun Yu’s group’s departure the day after they’d gone, but he paid it no mind and continued fishing.

After several more days, he realized he really might be able to reach Advanced fishing skill. Previously, catching the same type of fish would net just one or two proficiency points, and then no more. Smaller fish wouldn’t increase proficiency at all.

Now, though, each catch of the same fish might initially grant three or four points, and further catches would still give points—just at a slower rate, requiring more and more fish for each additional point as he progressed.

Still, any increase was a qualitative improvement.

If quality and variety fell short, quantity could make up for it. By focusing on a single spot and fishing diligently, he could gain over ten proficiency points a day—sometimes even more than twenty if he landed a few big fish.

Life skill proficiency always capped at a hundred points per level, like a percentage scale. At over ten or even twenty points a day, he could easily max out in a week.

If the pace kept up at Advanced level, he might even reach Expert within this instance. In that case, Chu Cheng felt the half-month spent here would be well worth it.

Exactly a week later, he accumulated the necessary proficiency; his fishing skill advanced to the next level.

Grinning, Chu Cheng cast his line once more.

He’d barely set the rod down and it gave a sudden, vigorous twitch. Instinctively, he pulled—and felt tremendous weight.

“Another big one?”

Thrilled, he gave a mighty tug, but this time it felt different—not the fierce struggle of a hooked fish, just pure heaviness.

“Did I snag some trash?”

With surprising ease, he lifted the rod, and a shadow broke the surface—a finely crafted chest, the hook caught on one of its ornate clasps.

“A treasure chest?”

A few goblin fishermen nearby glanced over in curiosity.

“Hey, you’re one lucky fellow.”

Chu Cheng chuckled. “Indeed, luck is on my side today.”

He’d just upgraded his skill, and now he’d reeled in a treasure chest.

He hauled it up, feeling its hefty weight, then wiped away the moss and silt to reveal exquisite gilded patterns.

“This is a high-grade chest!”

Treasure chests caught while fishing differed from loot chests, whose value depended on color. Here, material and craftsmanship determined worth—the finer the chest, the higher the value.

This one, with its intricate patterns and gilded lining, was clearly of superior quality and promised something good inside.

Instinctively, he glanced at Xu Zhiyuan, who quickly averted his head, feigning intense focus on his own rod.

Bored from watching Chu Cheng these past days, Xu Zhiyuan had tried fishing himself. But with no prior experience, a low-level skill and little know-how, he hadn’t caught much.

Chu Cheng smiled, then pressed the latch on the chest. With a soft click, it opened. He peered inside and his face lit up with joy.

Xu Zhiyuan, seeing this, couldn’t help but glance over in curiosity.

Inside the chest were three items: a small pouch emitting a faint red glow from its open mouth, a scroll, and a letter.

The moment Chu Cheng saw the glowing pouch, delight flashed across his face, while Xu Zhiyuan looked on in astonishment and envy.