Landlord in the Arctic

To this end, Alvin specifically contacted a professional shipyard in Anchorage to refit the River Beach.

The CCa5712LS was a multi-purpose fishing vessel.

When the hull was first designed, the company had fully considered the various operational functions the vessel would need for different sea regions, seasons, and fishery resources.

During construction, a series of structural modules were specially reserved. It was like preparing building blocks for the vessel’s future upgrades, just waiting for the right time to be assembled and expanded upon.

After receiving Alvin’s order, the Anchorage shipyard poured all its effort into the job.

Following cutting-edge marine fishing technology, they installed high-precision sonar equipment, giving the River Beach what amounted to eagle eyes that could pinpoint the location, size, and swimming direction of fish schools. They also added an openable ramp to the stern.

When a trawling operation began, the crew could easily and quickly deploy the heavy trawl net down the ramp into the water. When it was time to haul in the catch, they could use the ramp’s slope and mechanical assistance to effortlessly drag the full net from the sea onto the ship. This greatly improved fishing efficiency and reduced the intensity of the labor.

The crew of the River Beach were all elites, handpicked by Alvin.

Every one of them was an old fisherman who had spent years on the Bering Sea. They had toiled away for years in these icy waters and possessed a wealth of fishing experience.

The crab fishing season only lasted for a brief half-month each year. During the off-season, they would take short-term jobs on other fishing boats to earn some extra money.

So, for them, switching from crabbing to fishing was as easy as a sailor turning around on deck. There was no difficulty at all.

As Alvin issued the order to begin, the entire crew quickly entered a state of intense focus.

The usual scenes of idle chatter, joking, and laughing on deck completely vanished. Everyone’s nerves were taut, their gazes focused. Not a single person dared to slack off.

Alvin stood alone on the upper deck, the sea wind cutting at his cheeks like a knife.

He had just received a cold snap warning from the maritime bureau.

After reading the message, even though the cold snap was projected to mainly pass through the northern regions, Alvin could already sense the telltale signs appearing in this part of the Bering Sea.

The wind howled past, and the air it carried was bone-chillingly cold, heralding an approaching storm.

A worried Alvin walked back to the cockpit, his eyes inadvertently sweeping over a wooden statue on the control console.

His boss, Feng Mountain, had placed it there during the River Beach’s maiden voyage. He’d said it was a deity from the ancient East, meant to ensure safe passage at sea.

Seeing the statue, a pang of sorrow welled up in Alvin’s heart. He stopped, closed his eyes, and silently prayed for his boss.

’I hope he makes it through the cold snap crisis in the Crown Territory unharmed.’

"Captain, trawl preparations are complete. We can start fishing at any time." The First Mate turned to Alvin after receiving a reply from the boatswain on deck, breaking the brief silence in the cockpit.

"Any response from the fish finder?" Alvin snapped back to the present and looked at the second mate, who was in charge of locating fish. His voice held a trace of tension.

The second mate was staring intently at the detector screen, where the data was constantly refreshing and changing like dancing musical notes.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Based on the information displayed on the screen, he shouted,

"Small school of fish detected one thousand meters to the northwest, depth 125 meters! It’s a school of Atka Mackerel!"

Hearing this, Alvin strode to the helm, sat down in the chair, and quickly disengaged the autopilot. Gripping the wheel tightly, he said calmly,

"Heading northwest, speed five knots. Begin trawling."

"Roger that, beginning trawl!" The First Mate immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie, ran out of the cockpit onto the upper deck, and relayed the captain’s orders at the top of his lungs.

"Alright, boys, time to work! Let’s move!" the boatswain yelled, his voice still clearly audible over the howl of the sea wind.

"Open the ramp!"

"The net! Quick!"

"Attach the floats to the cable!"

The deck crew was well-trained, and their roles were clearly divided. Some skillfully operated the crane and hoist; others worked together to mount the trawl net on the winch, ensuring nothing could go wrong; and still others carefully lowered the net and its steel cable down the ramp and into the sea.

All tasks proceeded in an orderly fashion. Everyone was like a part in a precision instrument, working in close coordination.

No one uttered a single complaint.

However, just as Alvin was focusing all his energy on the fishing operation, the Fire Totem on the control console flashed with a faint, strange light.

The Fire Totem was following a standing order from Feng Mountain. As soon as the River Beach began a fishing operation, it would automatically cast Harvest Witchcraft on the fishing gear.

The moment the trawl net slowly entered the water, something magical quietly began to happen.

The second mate, who was monitoring the echo sounder, had been staring at the screen. Suddenly, his brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of confusion in his eyes, as if he had seen something abnormal.

On the screen, the school of fish that should have been swimming about randomly was now, as if drawn by some mysterious call, swimming rapidly in a straight line toward the River Beach.

According to the sonar data, the fish seemed to be voluntarily rushing to a feast, eagerly throwing themselves into the net in complete defiance of their natural instinct to avoid danger.

The second mate was filled with astonishment. He swallowed subconsciously and quickly turned on the underwater camera, wanting to see what was going on.

As the camera feed lit up, a view of clear, cold seawater filled with dense bubbles appeared before him.

And amidst these bubbles, Atka Mackerel, each about 25 to 35 centimeters long, were frantically writhing, scrambling over one another to rush into the trawl net.

Their scales shimmered with a silver light in the dim glow filtering through the water. The scene was a magnificent spectacle.

"Captain, the school is in the net!" The second mate’s voice trembled with excitement as he hurriedly reported the good news to the captain.

In truth, even if the second mate hadn’t reported it, the experienced Alvin had already noticed something was off.

The ship’s speed was slowly decreasing.

This was because the massive amount of fish caught in the trawl net had drastically increased its weight, which in turn was affecting the River Beach’s forward speed.

Alvin immediately gave a calm command.

"Monitor the fish entering the net. Control the numbers."

"Roger." The second mate gave a short reply, his eyes once again glued to the screen, staring unblinkingly at the constantly tumbling and changing data, not daring to slack off for a second.

Meanwhile, on the wide deck of the River Beach, the sailors didn’t dare to lower their guard either.

The boatswain lay on the stern, closely watching the trawl net’s behavior in the water.

By observing the subtle changes in the drag on the net and the real-time load data from the winch, he used his vast experience to judge the size of the catch inside.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

A massive school of Atka Mackerel, like a surging tide, rushed madly toward the trawl net.

Their numbers were so astonishingly large that the trawl net was about to burst. Some fish were even spilling out of the mesh.

"Haul in the net!" The second mate, who had been staring at the detector screen, saw that the school had reached a staggering size. He snatched the intercom and shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice instantly echoing throughout the River Beach.

In almost the same instant, the boatswain raised a burly arm high and yelled to the surrounding crew to haul in the net.

The crew responded immediately, rushing without hesitation to the winch, flipping the switch, and beginning to reel in the cable.

As the winch drum turned with steady power, the steel cable attached to the trawl net grew taut, emitting a creaking sound like a tightly wound heartstring.

With everyone working together, the trawl net was slowly pulled out of the sea, kicking up a huge spray of water.

As the trawl net gradually emerged from the water, a shocking scene greeted their eyes.

The net’s mesh was packed solid with Atka Mackerel desperately trying to escape. Their silver scales glittered in the sunlight as their bodies pressed and writhed against one another.

Viewed from a distance, the entire trawl net looked like a gigantic, spiky sea urchin floating on the surface, radiating the unique, vibrant life of the ocean.

.....