169: Chapter 169 Lin Xi: What is a professional hunter?

The time in the bottom right corner of the screen had already jumped past 11:00 PM.

But Jiang Yuan had still not returned at this time, her whereabouts unknown.

Regarding this.

Lin Xi, who knew that Jiang Yuan had been busy rushing the progress of Resident Evil despite having just released dave the diver a few days ago, wasn't puzzled; however, her heart inevitably yearned to see that slender and beautiful figure.

Since she couldn't see Jiang Yuan, she decided to simply throw all her energy into the game.

Lin Xi, who usually ended her stream around six or seven, had surprisingly stayed live until now without stopping.

While she kept the tens of thousands of viewers in the stream entertained, they were also a bit worried about this suddenly proactive Lin Xi, fearing that she might announce a hiatus or a long vacation as soon as she finished today's stream.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no sign of that happening.

Because at this moment, Lin Xi was still enthusiastically playing dave the diver; despite playing it for five consecutive days, her interest had not waned in the slightest.

As for deep sea mystery?

Although Lin Xi had already built the cyclops, she ultimately couldn't withstand the immense fear brought to her by the vast, boundless deep sea.

Having finally endured until dave the diver was released, she immediately set that game aside for the time being and started streaming this one, determined to play the game her best friend Jiang Yuan had personally made as soon as possible.

Admittedly, before 'running away,' Lin Xi had mentioned she would find time later to finish streaming deep sea mystery.

But obviously, unless they were fools, no one in the stream believed her; after all, her resistance to and fear of the deep sea were so obvious that anyone could see it to an exaggerated degree.

During these five days of playing dave the diver.

Spearing fish by day, serving plates by night, and finding time in between to run errands for the Sea People Village.

Though busy, and still requiring her to go underwater, thanks to deep sea mystery, Lin Xi was having an exceptionally happy and stress-free time.

If there was anything to say about this game, she loved everything; the only thing she found annoying was the segment in the Sea People Village where she was forced to find some ancient stone tablets, only for the tablet to be hidden deep within a dilapidated library in the archives, which turned out to be a puzzle mechanism once she got inside.

A pile of stone blocks was scattered on the ground, and a mural was painted on the wall; she had to arrange the blocks into the exact same pattern as the mural to unlock it.

Lin Xi went in to try it last night and spent ages without getting it right, even running out of oxygen; in the end, she could only pick up a worthless photo of a Pomfret and surface, so angry that she ranted at the screen for quite a while before reaching a conclusion:

"I hate puzzles! I'd rather go spear sharks!"

But obviously, sharks weren't easy to spear either.

Two days ago, she encountered a Whitetip Reef Shark in the shallow area; it had a long snout, sharp teeth, and a triangular dorsal fin, and it would circle around before attacking.

Her first shot didn't hit a vital spot, and the shark turned to charge at her; she hastily dodged to the side but hit the reef behind her, losing a chunk of oxygen while her harpoon was on cooldown. In the end, she had to rely on slick maneuvering to get to the shark's side and fire two more shots to take it down.

From then on, unless she needed specific types, Lin Xi generally circled around large and fierce fish, only bullying the ones that were easy targets.

But tonight was different.

Tonight, she was determined to catch a big guy: the Great Barracuda from the mid-depths.

This thing wasn't particularly rare in the game, but it was fierce, fast, and not to be trifled with.

While looking up guides this afternoon, Lin Xi discovered that the Great Barracuda could be made into a top-tier dish, "Great Barracuda Canape," which could sell for over four hundred dollars at max level, making it a very important source of income for the mid-to-late game.

Crucially, this dish was very stable in the late game, as one dive could yield over thirty pieces of Great Barracuda meat, so she set her mind on taking a crack at this guy tonight!

To get a three-star Great Barracuda, harpoons and firearms were useless; one had to use a Net Gun to catch it alive, or use a Tranquilizer Gun to put it to sleep and then haul it up with a drone.

The Net Gun was useless against large, aggressive fish as they would break through it, so the only option was the Tranquilizer Gun.

She had specifically gone back to the boat earlier to re-equip.

She swapped the harpoon for a Modified Hush Dart—an upgraded version of the Tranquilizer Gun with limited ammo but built-in silencing and sedative effects—and the drone was ready with a full charge.

After checking all her equipment and confirming there were no issues, Lin Xi listened closely again; hearing that Jiang Yuan still hadn't returned, she spoke loudly and confidently to the bullet chat:

"Let me tell you, tonight's goal is to catch a three-star Great Barracuda alive! I don't want a dead one; only a three-star will do!"

Bullet chat:

"666, look at how cocky you've become!"

"Xi-bao, you're still not ending the stream? I'm scared!"

"Are you really going to retire from the internet after today?"

"What would she do after retiring? Are you going to pay her a monthly salary of hundreds of thousands or millions?"

"You don't know jack. The streamer just needs to cling tightly to Yuan Shen's long, fair, and slender legs. This bit of pocket change is nothing!"

"Hehe, rich lady, hungry, want food..."

Ignoring the crazed bullet chat, Lin Xi controlled Dave to swim deeper into the mid-depths.

When she dove to nearly a hundred meters, the coral reefs began to thin out, and several clumps of tall seagrass grew on the sandy seabed; this was a place where Great Barracudas frequently appeared.

She slowed down and dimmed her flashlight a bit to avoid startling the schools of fish.

Then, she spotted her target for this trip.

A Great Barracuda, nearly as long as a person, was hovering above the seagrass; its silver-gray body glistened in the deep blue water, and its snout was long and pointed, slightly open to reveal a row of fine, sharp teeth.

It hadn't noticed Dave yet, slowly waving its caudal fin like a silver shuttle floating in the sea.

Lin Xi held her breath and controlled Dave to approach from a flanking position.

The Tranquilizer Gun's range was farther than the Net Gun's, but if the aim wasn't precise, the shot would be diverted by the current.

She stayed at the edge of the Great Barracuda's aggro range and aimed the muzzle for a full four or five seconds.

"That's about right!"

She whispered and pulled the trigger.

The Modified Hush Dart traced a thin trail of bubbles and hit the Great Barracuda squarely in the side.

The fish jerked violently, its tail fin thrashing hard, before it began to spin in place, dazed.

Lin Xi didn't dare delay and immediately switched to the drone; the drone's flight speed wasn't fast, but fortunately, the Great Barracuda was already unconscious and didn't resist.

She controlled the drone to fly directly above the fish, released the cable, hooked it, and then pulled it upward.

"Slowly, slowly, slowly... please don't wake up, please don't wake up..."

The drone dragged the Great Barracuda toward the surface while Lin Xi controlled Dave to follow behind, staring at the drone's battery while keeping an eye on the Great Barracuda's stun countdown; the bullet chat grew tense along with her.

When the drone finally dragged the fish out of the water, there was a loud splash, and a large spray of water rose from the surface.

Three-star Great Barracuda, obtained!

Lin Xi slumped against the back of her chair and let out a long sigh, then picked up the glass of fresh juice on the table and took a large gulp, her beautiful face lit up with a smug smile as she said:

"You guys said I was getting cocky, do you see now? This is what you call skill! All you Little Haters better take notes!"

Bullet chat:

"Holy crap, she actually caught a three-star?"

"Haters, speak up!!!"

"Scurrying all over the sea while being chased by sharks the day before yesterday, and a professional hunter today. Xi-bao is truly amazing."

Lin Xi chuckled at the bullet chat and happily shared her insights:

"The rating mechanism in this game works like this: anything killed with a harpoon or firearm is basically two stars. To get a three-star, you either catch it alive with a Net Gun or use a Tranquilizer Gun plus a drone.

If you want to make more money at the sushi restaurant, just use the Tranquilizer Gun when you encounter valuable fish. Don't be stingy with that little bit of ammo!"