Reborn In The 90's: Saving My Siblings With A Fishing System

Han Ruochen had no idea that Qiao Tingyan had come looking for her sister and that he was even planning to drag her along with him. And even if she did, Han Ruochen couldn’t have done anything about it.

”Sister Ruochen! The compass is spinning!” Tong Zhaodi shouted. Her voice was filled with panic as the five-metre wave lifted the stern. ”The things down there are making the compass go haywire.”

”Then throw the compass away; there is no point in using it.” Han Ruochen bellowed over the gale. They had entered the Devil’s Teeth Channel long ago, and only after entering this space did Han Ruochen realise that the plan that she had come up with, while it sounded really nice on paper, was really terrifying in reality. She looked at the murky, green water and jagged limestone cliffs that rose on either side like ribs of leviathan, blotting the dark sky and gritted her teeth.

She was too foolish. She underestimated the dangers and came here without a proper plan; the only good thing was that her boat had somehow managed to stay floating on the water, and they had avoided all the bombs and mines that were lurking under the water. She immediately activated the sea scanning system, and the second it was turned on, it exploded into a high-density three-dimensional tactical grid that projected directly in front of her.

[Environment Alert: Extreme Hazard Zone.]

[Target Array: 140+ active explosive ordnance units. Magnetic, Acoustic and Contact Sensors detected.]

The HUD lit up, and a second later, Han Ruochen could see the crimson light scattering all over the screen like spiders popping up one after another. Soon the entire screen was covered with crimson dots hovering beneath the waves that pointed out the mines. They were connected by the rusted, tensioned steel cables that were buried deep into the silt of the ocean. A single shockwave from the engine vibration or the metallic hull was enough to trigger a chain reaction that could vaporise the boat along with the two of them.

[Threat Assessment: Direct Path is blocked.]

[Detonation Risk: 99.99%]

”Hold on!” Han Ruochen screamed as another wave sent them back. She rushed to grab the boat’s throttle, but instead of slowing down, she accelerated. This was a literal dance with death.

Using the sea scanning system, Han Ruochen calculated the exact wave frequencies and pressure displacement of her boat. The system started to highlight the ghost currents and narrow channels of water where the natural surge of the tide suppressed the acoustic triggers of the old mines.

SWOOSH!

Han Ruochen yanked the tiller to the right, and the boat leaned at a terrifying forty-five-degree angle. Its keel almost scraped past a massive, barnacle-encrusted Type 75 contact mine by less than three inches. The spikes of the iron sphere gleamed dully in the dark water right next to their boat.

”Right! Hard Right! We need to turn now!” Tong Zhoadi screamed as she covered her eyes with her hands; it was as if she knew that she was going to die and did not want to watch it happen.

”I know.” Han Ruochen gritted her teeth. Swear mixed with freezing ocean sprays on her face could not hide the terrorised expression. Just now, they were really lucky. If they had missed the spot by even an inch then they would be dead!

[warning: Acoustic Mine Cluster is closing in.]

[Frequency Lock Imminent.]

”Zhaodi, kill the secondary engine.” Han Ruochen’s eyes widened, and she immediately cut off the main electrical circuit, dropping the boat into total darkness. Now they were being guided purely by the glowing green HUD in front of her. She shifted the boat into neutral mode, allowing the momentum of the massive swell to carry the boat over a submerged cluster of the magnetic mines. The boat drifted in dead silence, hovering enough inches above the high explosives to flatten an entire city.

The silence was deafening, and only the sound of the winds and the terrible, hollow clack-clack of the iron chains grinding against the seabed beneath them could be heard. Han Ruochen’s nerves were jarred. Her knuckles were white as she clutched the steering wheel of the boat.

[Hazard Cleared: Sector 1. You are now advancing to the core trench.]

[Host, please be careful.]

Han Ruochen heaved a sigh of relief before slamming the throttle forward. The engine roared, spitting out blue smoke, and the boat surged into the narrowest gap of the channel that she had marked on the map earlier with the help of the sea scanning system.

**

”What did you say?” Zhai Muchen was stumped when he heard the words of Old Master Xu. The chess piece in his hand dropped onto the board with a clatter, and he stared at the man as if he wanted to eat him alive. ”What do you mean by that the place you sent her is riddled with mines and bombs?”

When Old Master Xu handed him the map and asked him to hand those documents to Han Ruochen, he thought that the man was only handing him a small task. After all, he had repeatedly told Old Master Xu that Han Ruochen was a novice and she had just started fishing. So what in the world did he mean by telling him that he had actually sent Han Ruochen to a channel that was filled with old war mines?

”I thought you already knew.” Old Master Xu frowned as he placed his own chess piece on the board. He raised his head and looked at Zhai Muchen with a hint of confusion in his old, beady eyes. ”How can I just accept a disciple without knowing how skilled the person is? You are forgetting that when I was young, I went through such channels and straits with closed eyes.”

”That’s different!” Zhai Muchen stood up with a jolt. Now he was suddenly feeling regretful. If he had known that Old Master Xu would come up with such a shocking test, then he would have rather ignored this old man and gone to look for someone else. It wasn’t as if he were the only one who could take care of Han Ruochen in the future.

”Zhai Muchen, what kind of expression is that?” When Old Master Xu saw Zhai Muchen staring at him with a blaming look in his eyes, he could not help but frown hard. ”What kind of look are you giving me? Do you think that I will accept just about anyone under my wings? Unless the person has the talent to follow me, why would I let them become my disciple? You know it as well; all my disciples are well-known persons in the navy. You suddenly asked me to take in a common fisherwoman as my disciple; of course, I would test her worth.”

Zhai Muchen glared at the man with a furious expression as if he wanted to devour him whole. Damn it, he worked so hard to arrange things for Han Ruochen. He thought that as long as Old Master Xu took Han Ruochen as his disciple, Han Ruochen wouldn’t have to worry about anything. With the connections that this old master had, he would be able to pave a path for Han Ruochen in the future. But who would have thought that Old Master Xu would actually ask Han Ruochen to head to the Devil’s Teeth?

Did he even have the slightest idea that the place was considered a graveyard? When was the last time someone came out of that place alive? It was years ago, and the fishermen who returned from Devil’s Teeth—he lost almost all of his limbs. What would happen to Han Ruochen if she really went to that place?

”Damn it!” Zhai Muchen couldn’t lose his temper with Old Master Xu because it was his mistake. He should have asked him about the mission in a much more detailed manner. He was the one who made the mistake and thought that Old Master Xu would show Han Ruochen some leniency since she was young and was acquainted with him. Who would have thought that the man would give her a mission so dangerous that he could not even compare it to the missions that were carried out by all of Old Master Xu’s disciples?

He turned around on his feet and rushed out of the mansion. If Han Ruochen had not left, then he needed to stop her, or else who knows what might happen.

”Muchen! Muchen!” Old Master Xu was stunned when he saw Zhai Muchen running out of his mansion. He looked at the person and blinked his eyes in subtle shock. ”What happened to this boy? Since when did he start caring about a woman?”

When Old Master Xu heard Zhai Muchen asking him to arrange a mission for a small fisherwoman, he thought that the woman was pestering him, which was why he arranged such a difficult task for the woman. But it seemed like he misunderstood Zhai Muchen’s meaning!