The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Chapter 117 What a fine young man, why does he have to have a mouth?

Swordfish are extremely sensitive to low-frequency vibrations, ship shadows, and ship hull disturbances.

Even with the ultimate level of quietness, a 15-20 meter radius around the boat will still form a warning zone, causing swordfish to stay away.

The platform, which can be up to 30 meters long, allows throwers to stand outside the warning zone and creates a vertical angle for smoother power delivery and more accurate aiming.

At this distance, there is almost no possibility of an experienced pitcher missing the target, but danger will follow as soon as the harpoon or spear is thrown.

Swordfish retaliation is just one of the most obvious examples; many factors, such as pulling and tangling of ropes during fish handling, can bring extreme danger.

The lookout gave the signal, and Rinaldi immediately began preparations for the attack.

His first action was not to raise the harpoon, but to check and straighten the rope tied to the harpoon's tail.

One end of the rope is tied to the harpoon, and the other end is wrapped around a post on the side of the boat. After the swordfish is speared, you can follow this rope to find its location. Then you just need to patiently control the fish and wait for it to exhaust its energy before slowly pulling it up.

It can be said that this rope was crucial throughout the entire hunting process.

However, if the rope is not stacked neatly, it may whip people like a whip when it is pulled straight quickly. Tears and lacerations are the least of your worries; if it pulls the thrower standing on the runway into the sea, that would be disastrous... Such situations have happened before.

The tall wooden boat approached cautiously at an extremely slow speed, and all eyes on the boat were focused on the thin young man standing at the very front.

On the water's surface, a dark ripple became increasingly clear—it was a swordfish swimming slowly close to the surface, and judging from its speed and condition, it did not perceive any danger.

Leo received instructions to continue slowing down his paddling.

His assigned position was not good; he couldn't see the swordfish in the sea at all and could only "translate" the general process through the actions and expressions of the other crew members.

Rinaldi raised the harpoon—the swordfish was now within attack range.

He leaned forward, exerted force with both hands, and the harpoon shot out with a "whoosh." Immediately afterward, he heard the sound of waves crashing and a heavy "thud." Gatti quickly ran over and pulled the rope connecting the harpoon—the attack had hit!

Rinaldi retreated from the extension platform to a safe position and, together with his brother Gatti, controlled the swordfish. But the swordfish dragged the rope and ran away.

Peglerini also went over to pull the rope, while Leo received instructions to increase his paddling speed—this swordfish is a bit tricky?

The translation stopped abruptly here... although I had to guess for the second half.

Because the lookout was making a series of frantic movements on the mast, Leo couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

However, the crew frowned, and Leo guessed that the swordfish might escape.

At this moment, the taut rope suddenly bent, and a section of it floated on the water. Pegrelini and Rinaldi simultaneously loosened the rope and ran away from the bow of the boat in two different directions, leaving only the smallest Gatti behind.

Leo was getting increasingly anxious because he couldn't see how the swordfish was doing.

Translation machines have been completely discontinued...

But at that moment, after several hours of silence, human voices finally emerged on the wooden boat, and they were quite loud.

"Watch out, the swordfish is swimming back."

The Kumanso family can guess the direction the swordfish is fleeing just by looking at the state of the rope in its hand, and at the same time, they can sense its emotions and analyze its next move.

When the rope is taut like a steel bar, the speed of the outward slide is fast, indicating a downward descent; the speed of the outward slide is medium or slow, indicating a forward surge.

Whether it's diving or rushing forward, you can't pull it hard; you have to slowly release and retract to exhaust its energy.

However, in some situations, you may need to release your grip depending on the circumstances and see the rope suddenly "thrown" out in an arc.

If it's a slight tremor followed by an immediate tension, it means the swordfish is simply turning rapidly.

If the ball suddenly flattens out after an arc, it means it has encountered a dangerous creature—it has turned back!

Of course, you can't just smash a swordfish to death with a single blow.

"After the swordfish turns its head, the state of the rope represents its emotions."

The fact that it was hanging limply on the water's surface indicates that it was either confused or had stopped and was trying to escape.

If the rope is swinging violently from side to side on the water's surface, it means you've encountered something very dangerous—this swordfish is angry and is swimming back quickly.

If the rope swings violently from side to side on the water's surface while also bouncing, it means you've encountered a short-tempered creature—it's highly likely to retaliate!

The Peglerini father and son immediately loosened the rope after sensing the swordfish turn around.

Whether this swordfish has a normal temper or an extremely bad temper, it means that a crisis has already occurred.

Swordfish are underwater, they are on the surface.

The enemy is in the shadows, while we are in the light. We have no way of knowing when or from which direction the crisis will come.

We can only prepare for defense.

One of them went to the left side of the boat, and the other to the right side, to inform the helmsman to adjust the direction of the fishing boat according to the current situation, while at the same time keeping an eye out for swordfish that might appear at any time.

Starting the motor at this point would be a foolish move, as the spinning propeller could break or entangle the fishing line.

"It's male," Peglerini said to the person next to him.

Swordfish are fierce and aggressive.

Female swordfish may struggle to escape after being attacked.

However, if a male swordfish is attacked, it is highly likely to retaliate.

However, the destructive power of male swordfish is manageable because they are only one-third or half the size of female swordfish.

Among the swordfish caught in Messina, over 95% of those weighing more than 100 kilograms are female, and the maximum weight of a female swordfish can reach 650 kilograms.

However, there is one situation in which the male fish is more destructive than the female—that is when its mate is in danger.

Although the Silverfin encountered a smaller male fish this time, we cannot let our guard down.

We still need to avoid the situation where it hits the hull.

Many harpoons and spears appeared on the deck, and at this point, everyone was in wartime mode as a thrower.

Everyone must keep a close eye on the sea surface. Once a swordfish is spotted, it should be attacked as soon as possible before it dives or attacks the boat. The goal is to scare it away or force it to retreat.

At this moment, the entire fishing boat was in a state of extreme tension.

A dozen pairs of eyes covered the 360-degree sea surface around the fishing boat, and it was a multi-layered radiation scan.

Everyone waited like frightened birds for the swordfish's revenge.

Someone shouted "Here!"

More than half of the crew on the wooden ship rushed to the vicinity, including Peglerini and Captain Rinaldi.

More than forty meters away, a gray object was visible on the sea surface, resembling a sickle stuck diagonally in the water—it was the dorsal fin of a swordfish.

A long, thin harpoon was attached to the side of the dorsal fin, and the rope at the end of the harpoon stretched out a colorful ribbon on the sea surface, marking the swordfish's trail for the crew.

But these marks are not very significant.

Because the swordfish is charging at 50 km/h, it will only take 4 or 5 seconds to reach the battlefield.

Messina's ships mostly used weapons that were about 3 meters long, with the optimal attack range being 6 to 9 meters. Beyond that, the accuracy and penetration would be greatly reduced.

The men, spears or harpoons in hand, waited anxiously for the swordfish to come within 10 units of their attack range—a mere blink of an eye!

But in the blink of an eye, a spear flew out with a whoosh and accurately struck the swordfish that was charging at high speed.

That distance was definitely more than 10 meters!

After being hit, the swordfish only sank slightly underwater before continuing forward at an even faster speed. Everyone could now clearly see its gleaming sword-like snout!

Swordfish have a top speed of 100 km/h, and this swordfish was clearly in a frenzy, increasing its attack speed!

While everyone was still readjusting to the swordfish's new speed to aim, another spear flew out and hit the swordfish once again!

Before they could figure out who did it, a third spear came flying in and hit its mark again.

Peglerini had never seen such a fast attack speed in his life... Did they not need to aim?

He glanced back briefly and saw Leo launch the fourth and fifth waves of attacks on the swordfish with precision and swiftness.

In that instant, Pegeralini seemed to see Artemis, the goddess of the hunt renowned for her marksmanship; he also seemed to see Achilles, the most powerful warrior in the Greek army during the Trojan War; and he even caught a glimpse of Heracles, known for his immense strength and power...

But this guy who showed him the power of the gods was spouting noisy words that brought people back to the misery of the human world.

Leo, while throwing his harpoon and shaking his head from side to side, anxiously asked those around him, "What do we do?"

"I got hit, what should I do now?"

"Is it going to hit us again?"

Peglerinni abruptly pulled away from his divine state, snatched the harpoon from Leo's hand, and roared, "You've already skewered it into a sea urchin! What else can we do with it! Don't throw it away! It's already scared away, why are you still throwing it away?!"

What a fine young man, why does he have to have a mouth?

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