Chapter 43: A Colossus Emerges! A Suddenly Changed Tournament Format!

With the first day of the competition concluded, Jiang Fan and his team successfully advanced to the second day.

As soon as they returned to the hotel, Jiang Fan saw that He Qiang had suddenly posted a message in the "Three-Up Fan Group".

*Emperor He Qiang: The venue for the second round has been announced: Yunyue Lake Reservoir in Sanya City. Start time: tomorrow morning at eight-thirty sharp, and everyone must use the official bait uniformly!*

*Little Master Zhou: Must use the official bait uniformly?? Does that mean we won't be able to use Brother Fan's homemade bait?*

*Blonde Handsome: Damn! Isn't this blatantly targeting us?*

*Ma Dongdong: My chance at the Fishing Association title is going down the drain!*

*Emperor He Qiang: All the rules are in the hands of the organizers, so we can only play by the rules. Although I'm not sure if this is aimed at us, many competitions mandate uniform bait anyway. Today's first round can at best be considered just another preliminary, while tomorrow's is the real competition. Let's all do our best!*

Jiang Fan merely glanced at the message briefly before opening his system interface.

*【Host: Jiang Fan】*
*【Title: Fishing King】 (15% higher probability of catching giant fish)*
*【Emotional Value: 33,350 (33,350/40,600)】*
*【Cashed-out Amount: ¥5,800,000】*
*【Fishing Gear: Rebar fishing rod; Standard hand pole; Two-meter diameter fish guard; Two-meter diameter landing net; Sunglasses detector;】*
*【Boat: One inflatable kayak;】*
*【Disciple Anglers: Five! (5/5, all fully bound)】*
*【Map: Water Curtain Karst Cave; (Other locations yet to be developed)】*
*【Ability: Listen to the voices of all things;】*
*(+)*

Having already reached the title of Fishing King, he possessed a 15% bonus probability of catching giant fish. Even without using the system's bait, he had a high chance of reeling in monster catches.

As for He Qiang, Zhou Hong, Blonde, and Ma Dongdong, they had all reached the rank of Master Angler, granting them a 5% probability of catching giant fish. Even without the system bait, their performance tomorrow wouldn't be poor.

With that in mind, Jiang Fan shifted his focus to the International Amazon Wild Fishing Tournament. This was a massive international wild fishing competition that would attract angling enthusiasts from all over the world. The first-place winner of the current Douyin Fishing Cup would secure a qualification spot for it.

Although Jiang Fan wasn't particularly interested in competing, the Amazon rainforest basin was virtually untouched by humans. Known as the "Lungs of the Earth," it also bore the moniker of the "Forbidden Zone for Humans." The level of danger went without saying... and yes, the sheer number of giant creatures dwelling there undoubtedly went without saying as well! As an avid angler, if you didn't go fishing in the Amazon rainforest once, you couldn't even bring yourself to call a true fisherman.

Pondering this, Jiang Fan went off to play Honor of Kings with his wife, Liu Ruyan.

***

The next day.

Early in the morning, the five of them set out from the hotel and arrived at the Yunyue Lake Reservoir.

As soon as they arrived, they ran into Song Rentou and his associates from the Wind and Rain Fishing Club.

He Qiang walked over with a smile and said, "Brother Fan, this is Song Rentou, the boss of the Wind and Rain Fishing Club. Any interest in considering joining them?"

Jiang Fan waved his hand dismissively. "Not important, not important..." With that, he walked away.

"Zhou Hong, Blonde, Ma Dongdong, what about you guys?"

Zhou Hong: "Not important, not important..."
Blonde: "Not important, not important..."
Ma Dongdong: "Not important, not important..."

He Qiang spread his hands. "Guess I'm not important either." Saying this, the four of them trotted right behind Jiang Fan.

Song Rentou's face turned green with anger, yet there was nothing he could do. After all, he had played himself during the first round and gotten all the contestants from the Wind and Rain Fishing Club eliminated!

"Hmph! Let's see how much longer you can be so smug."
"Today's match uses the official uniform bait."
"Without your homemade bait to help you, let's see if you don't get eliminated!"

Following the eliminations from the first day, only 500 contestants remained. As the competition was about to begin, the five hundred participants drew lots to select their fishing spots, then headed off to their respective positions to prepare.

Just as the starting whistle was about to blow, a broadcast suddenly rang out over the loudspeakers:

"Attention everyone, attention everyone, attention everyone! A giant creature has suddenly appeared in the Yunyue Lake Reservoir, causing a massive impact on the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, the organizers have decided to temporarily modify the competition rules..."

"Listen closely: any contestant who catches this giant creature will instantly become the champion of this Fishing Cup tournament! Repeating important things three times, any contestant who catches this giant creature will be the Fishing Cup..."

The sudden rule change sent the crowd into a buzz of murmuring discussions. At the same time, the audience in the livestream chat room began chattering away actively.

* *Could the organizers be afraid of cheating, so they changed the rules at the last minute?*
* *Got to admit it's pretty shady, but it's getting interesting now.*
* *Yeah, I think this is better too. What's fun about catching small fish compared to landing a giant? Best if someone hooks a thousand-pound monster, that would be epic!*
* *A thousand-pound monster? Are you kidding me?!*
* *Screw whatever rules they have, I'm here to look at Handsome Xia. Why isn't the livestream camera pointed at him?*
* *Exactly! I'm here for Handsome Xia too. Are the organizers dead? Quickly turn the camera to Handsome Xia's handsome face!*
* *Director of the livestream! Switch the camera angle right now, or I'm stopping watching!*
* *Not watching anymore! Trash tournament!*
* *Damn cameraman, you might as well quit the photography industry!*
* *That's right, basically goodbye to the photography profession!*

Suddenly, a massive wave of viewers in the chat began clamoring to see Handsome Xia, hurling curses in the livestream chat until the official camera feed had no choice but to pivot toward Jiang Fan.

* *Mmm~ He's on screen! So satisfying!*
* *He's out! The camera's on him! It's Handsome Xia!*
* *So satisfying!*
* *I'm satisfied too!*
* *So satisfying~~~*
* *This cameraman is alright, definitely going far in the photography industry!*
* *Good job, cameraman!*
* *Wait, I just got here. Are these bullet comments for real?*
* *Damn, I almost thought I opened Douyin instead of some shady app! My parents are right next to me, you scared the hell out of me!*

The broadcast sounded again: "Repeating the matter once more, repeating the matter once more... Whoever catches the giant creature in the Yunyue Lake Reservoir will win the championship of this tournament!"

"All other rankings will be determined by the total weight of the fish caught!"

"The competition will begin in five minutes, please get ready!"

As the broadcast fell silent, the discussions grew even louder.

"According to this rule, does that mean the scores from the first day don't count anymore? Whoever catches the giant creature directly takes first place??"

"Ha, then that kid who got 2,055 points yesterday must be kicking himself so hard! He could have easily locked in first place, but now he might end up second!"

"Hahaha, and here I thought we were all just fighting for second place today!"

In an instant, the enthusiasm of all the contestants soared once again. Especially those who had scored very few points on the first day; seeing a heaven-defying opportunity to turn the tables, they became more pumped than one another, racking their brains over how to reel the reservoir's monster out of the water.

Jiang Fan, however, felt like cursing out loud. After grinding so many points yesterday, it turned out to have zero connection to today's match? Damn! Wasn't this blatant targeting?

When Song Rentou, the boss of the Wind and Rain Fishing Club, learned of the news, he laughed until his stomach hurt. "Ahahaha, I'm dying of laughter! That kid racked up 2,055 points yesterday only for it to have nothing to do with today's match! The organizers really know how to play people! Hahaha!!!"