A god-tier fishing spot, anglers lined up to give me money.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Fei put his phone back in his pocket and sat back down at his fishing spot.

I picked up the sturdy casting rod and started fishing "normally".

Grounding, grounding, grounding, grounding...

Bait the rod, cast it, and wait a few minutes.

Reel in the line, bait the fishing spot, bait the fishing spot, bait the fishing spot again, hang the bait, and cast the line.

Wait a few minutes...

Repeat this process over and over, keeping your eyes focused on the water's surface. As soon as the float moves, lift the rod to change the bait.

The brownish-purple color disperses upon entering the water and sinks to the depths.

Occasionally, someone passing by would notice how serious he was about fishing.

I didn't think much of it; it's just baiting the area, everyone baits the area when fishing.

This targeted, rhythmic, and planned poisoning and nest-digging was the main reason why Yang Qike couldn't detect anything unusual.

That's perfectly normal.

But the poison he used was incredibly potent.

It dissolves in water and its composition is impossible to determine.

It causes chronic damage to fish organs, which doesn't manifest immediately but rather after a few days.

This poison is too good; it's harmless to the human body and won't cause too much of a fuss.

This was only the second day since Zhang Fei raided the drug den. What he didn't know was that, besides himself, there were other people doing the same thing.

They didn't know each other and all thought they were fighting alone, but in fact they were a group of people.

If you say Zhao Hua only released invasive species into the water, then they are poisoning fish and destroying people.

The reason is simple: envy.

Purely bad.

……

In the evening, after Yang Qigang returned to the fish market, the system issued a warning.

[Detection detected: The Sky-Devouring Gar is critically ill; cause unknown. Host, please check immediately.]

"What the hell? Near death?"

Yang Qi was shocked and immediately probed into it with his mind.

Pass through the bottom of the reservoir and enter the underwater world.

The moment you enter, your thoughts spread throughout the entire space.

The 6-pound behemoth was floating belly up on the lake's surface, its gill covers barely opening and closing.

His belly was swollen beyond belief, as bloated as a balloon.

The Sky-Devouring Gar sensed Yang Qi's intentions and wanted to respond.

It tried to flip itself over by wagging its tail, but after two attempts, it still couldn't flip over.

Yang Qi scanned the entire lake with his mind; all the other fish were fine, but this one was the only one like this.

"System, what's going on?"

[Unknown. It is recommended that the host move the animal to aquatic areas, as food poisoning is suspected.]

"good."

Yang Qi used his mind to first store the scroll into his system space, and then placed it in another lake upstream of the reservoir.

After about three or four minutes, the frequency of gill cover opening and closing increased significantly.

Immediately afterwards, it violently flicked its tail to flip itself over, opened its mouth and spat out a large amount of semi-digested fish pieces, residue and mucus.

A large patch of hazy, gray mist spread out in the water.

After vomiting, it immediately swam dozens of meters to the side, far away from the vomit.

Seeing this, Yang Qi frowned and stared at it.

"...Why would someone avoid what they vomited up? Could it really be food poisoning?"

But a fish is still a fish; it can't speak to answer its own questions.

Yang Qi shook his head, and as soon as the swimming posture of the Sky-Swallowing Crocodile Gar returned to normal, he withdrew his consciousness from the underwater world.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed through the sky.

Thunder rumbled softly.

In an instant, a gale followed.

The trees bent over, the water churned, and the heavy rain pounded down in just a few seconds.

Yang Qi jogged back under the eaves and leaned against the door frame, gazing at the reservoir.

He had originally planned to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the problems with the giant gar served as a wake-up call for him.

It's definitely not a problem with the ocean, so it must be a problem with the fish or the reservoir.

"System, can you be of any use? Can you check what's wrong with the fish in the reservoir?"

Silence followed, and there was no movement for a long time.

"Damn it," Yang Qi cursed under his breath, "I have to rely on myself for everything, what use are you?"

Immediately, Yang Qi ran to the shore, used his mind to probe and control a grass carp weighing about three pounds.

Swim up.

Then he grabbed the fish and went back under the eaves.

Just then, the system spoke:

"Host, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"No, I'm not in the mood to guess now. It's good news."

"The good news is, the cause has been found; it's a problem with the fish."

"And the bad news?"

"All the fish are ruined, irreversibly."

Except for the gar, which was rescued in time, all the fish, including the eggs, will die off in large numbers within 3 days.

"Recent water tests have revealed that the reservoir and the connected Water World Lake contain large amounts of unidentified toxins."

The fish are polluted, and the water is also polluted; fish cannot be released in the short term.

Hearing these words, Yang Qi felt a tightness in his chest.

Squatting there, fingers clutching his chest, he said nervously:

Is this poison harmful to people?

"Host, rest assured. The person who poisoned it didn't intend to cause any deaths. This substance only has a chronic damaging effect on the organs of fish. Furthermore, there are no obvious symptoms in the early stages of poisoning."

"Regarding the problems with the alligator gar, it is inferred that they ingested a large amount of contaminated fish, causing the toxin concentration to reach the critical threshold prematurely. Ordinary fish are also poisoned, but the onset of symptoms is slower. The alligator gar's size and metabolic rate caused it to experience symptoms much earlier."

Yang Qi's eyes turned red as he stared at the bluefish in his hand for a long time.

Emoji: 😠😡🤬☠️......

Immediately afterwards, he threw the bluefish far away.

He looked up, sighed, and asked, "Can we find anything containing the poison, or even a sample?"

"The toxic sample has been stored in the system space. The host can identify the suspect by comparing the sample with monitoring records."

"Very good. Very good." Yang Qi took a deep breath.

"The system... had misunderstood you earlier."

"Tch, people's prejudices are like a mountain. The reservoir problem has been analyzed. Finding the culprit is up to you. Based on the sample characteristics, compare each frame of surveillance footage to find the person who released it."

"I understand, you've really offended me." Yang Qi wiped the rain off his face.

I heard the sound of a door opening behind me.

Chen Zilu peeked halfway out of the house and saw Yang Qi standing under the eaves, soaked to the bone, and paused for a second.

What are you doing?!

I took two steps to him, threw the towel over his head, and rubbed his head vigorously with both hands through the towel.

"Don't you know to come inside when it's raining? Have you lost your mind?"

Yang Qi's head shook twice as she rubbed his head through the towel.

I closed my eyes and opened them again, trying my best to suppress all my emotions and act as if nothing had just happened.

He reached out, grabbed the towel, and dried his hair, then looked up and smiled at her.

"It's alright, I'll take a shower and change my clothes, then I'll take you down the mountain to go home."

"And you?"

Chen Zilu frowned as she looked at him.

"I'll be guarding the reservoir alone tonight. There's been a lot going on these past few days; I need to sort things out."

Seeing Chen Zilu's dissatisfaction, Yang Qi put his finger to her lips.

"I've done everything you said, please listen to me just this once, okay?"

Chen Zilu looked into his eyes.

She bit her lip, took the towel from his hand, folded it neatly, and nodded.

"Okay. I'll go get ready."