While Xiong Da was waiting for his rod to move, he placed his fishing rod on a rest stand and he began to exercise, starting with a series of air squats. “Is that the exercise routine that Zeru asked you to do?” Jin asked with some curiosity.
“Yeah, he said that I should train to have a solid lower body strength foundation since I have been sitting a lot due to all the paperwork I need to do. In addition, it would help me gain proficiency in balancing my large body while also increasing my core strength. That way, I can manoeuver effortlessly whenever I have the opportunity to counter attack.”
“Did he teach you any new techniques or anything?” Jin continued to question Xiong Da since he had not seen Xiong Da in action whilst training since he had to attend to his shop.
“Not really, but I did show him my techniques and he told me how to improve them. In fact, the advice he gave me was better than Sister Milk’s but please don’t tell her that! I am afraid she might get angry!” Xiong Da whispered to Jin but little did he know that Milk could hear everything Jin could hear.
“That ingrateful FATTY HIPPO! 🙁 ” Milk sent an emoji sticker through Jin’s phone, which he quietly dismissed.
At this moment, Xiong Da’ fishing rod started to shake again and in a flash, Xiong Da moved quickly from his squatting position to grab hold of the fishing rod. That transition caused Jin to be taken aback. “You are able to move that fast?”
“It’s part of my Hungry Hippo movement technique. Surprised?” Xiong Da smirked at Jin’s comment as he continued to struggle to hold onto the fishing rod. As compared to the previous attempt, He felt a real pulling sensation from the rod as he tried to reel it in.
“Do not rely on brute force! The line can break! Use your chi force to strengthen your fishing rod if need be!” The bear cub, which was lazing around while waiting for a catch to happen, suddenly perked up and told Xiong Da what to do while it was jumping around on all fours.
“Xiong Da! Calm down! Look where the line is going, you have to position yourself and the rod!” Jin had learnt a little about fishing when he was with one of his Grandpa’s friends. He had somehow forgotten his name but he took care of him when his grandfather had some urgent things to attend to.
Xiong Da took a deep breath and reeled in the fishing rod slowly while feeding a stable amount of chi into his fishing rod so that his line would not break easily. As the water was calm enough, he was able to see the vague movements of a fish’s silhouette and followed it closely. He knew that if he screwed up either the chi output or reeling in the fish, he would have to redo everything, so he was taking it slow with the guidance of the bear cub.
It felt like a tug of war, which was not what Xiong Da imagined fishing to be. He did not know that fishing was that tough… yet exhilarating. Suddenly, a bright ruby red coloured fin appeared from out of the crystal blue waters. “Oh, that could be a good catch!” Jin placed his hands over his eyebrows to block the sun for a better view in case the fish appeared again.
“Come on, Xiong Da just a little bit more! When I say pull, use all your might to pull!” The bear cub was also intensely staring at the line and the fish. It was definitely getting closer and the adrenaline rushing through Xiong Da was too damn high.
“NOW! PULL!” the bear cub yelled, which startled the other bear cubs and Mr Roro for a moment.
“HIPPO STYLE, GRAND SLAM FISSURE!” Xiong Da turned his body as he pushed his rod over his shoulders as if he was performing a magnificent judo throw. The fish that had been struggling finally gave in as it was being pulled out of the water and into the skies.
All three saw how the fish’s ruby scales sparkled in the air before it landed on the ground, still jumping and splashing around while gasping for air. “Holy shit, that’s the goddarn most beautiful salmon I have ever seen!” Xiong Da rubbed his sweat away from his forehead as a group of bear cubs pulled a metal tub towards Xiong Da. It was large enough to place the 19 meters long salmon in, whose scales beautifully sparkled in various shades of red under the sunlight.
“Do you want a photo with your first catch?” a bear cub was biting onto an analogue camera while the other was carrying a tripod stand. “Eh sure, how do I woah~!” Xiong Da saw that the salmon was still struggling even after it had been pulled out of the water and he tried to hold it as tight as possible, which was quite a difficult task since the scales were quite slippery.
Meanwhile, the bear cubs were already setting up the analogue camera along with the tripod stand and in the end, one of the cubs was holding onto the camera trigger wired to the analogue camera, ready to take the picture.
“Are you ready?” Before Xiong Da could even say yes, the salmon near wiggled its way out of his hold and into the metal tub. Out from the frying pan and into the fire. “Chef Roro!! He caught a salmon!” the bear cubs shouted as they came together to push the metal tub on wheels towards the sushi counter. Fortunately, the Cubs had managed to take a pic, which Jin later gave Xiong Da along with a large pat on the back, congratulating Xiong Da on a job well done. “Go enjoy your fish before you fight for another!”
“Hmmph decent catch. How do you want to eat it?” Chef Roro, who looked lazy initially, was now extremely serious, with his arms folded while standing on his hind legs. Xiong Da also did not realise that Chef Roro had a scar on his face until he looked closely.
Remembering how Jin said that this was the plan to eat good food to gain as much spiritual force as possible, Xiong Da decided to stretch a little before he gave his orders to the sushi chef. “Master Chef Roro! Salmon Nigiri, Aburi Salmon Nigiri and Salmon Belly Nigiri for starters!”
It was time to feast… big time.
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