The boat moved downstream for about twenty miles or so before the Captain ordered for the oars to stop, allowing the ship to stay where it was.
Princess Xenia then introduced the judge who would preside over their competition.
He was a well-known fishing guru, who could quickly determine the quality of each fish by size, species, and other factors.
"This is Mr. Dredd," Princess Xenia introduced the middle-aged man, who seemed very amiable. "And he will be the judge for our competition. Do not worry about fairness, for Judge Dredd is known to be an objective expert.
"I can at least attest to that. He is the judge for the annual fishing competition in the three kingdoms."
Judge Dredd, who had tied his long hair into a low ponytail, grinned and gave Alex and Chuck a nod of greeting.
Unlike everyone else on the ship, Judge Dredd was not wearing a shirt or any other garment to cover his upper half. His toplessness revealed a muscled body that would put bodybuilders to shame.
However, his muscles were not the most striking thing about him.
The first thing that Alex noticed was the intimidating shark tattoo on the older man’s chest.
Chuck, on the other hand, was itching to ask Judge Dredd how to become as ripped as him.
"So, are there any rules in this competition?" Alex asked because this was the most important thing in his mind.
"The rules are very lax," Judge Dredd replied. "You can use any bait and any ability at your disposal. However, I will only score the fish that you catch using the fishing poles that I have personally prepared.
"These fishing poles have not been tampered in any way. This is to ensure that the two of you will have a fair and healthy competition. At least, that is what I’d like to say... but nothing is really fair in this world."
Judge Dredd knew that Princess Xenia had prepared some special bait that could attract fishes so rare that even professional fishermen did not see them often.
These fishes were not monsters but real fish that many people sought to catch and eat.
He was already feeling sorry for the two teenage boys, who might be good looking, but didn’t have much experience in fishing.
This was in stark contrast to Princess Xenia, who was a Weapon Master.
Anything she held in her hand could be considered as a weapon, even a fishing pole.
This meant that she would understand not just how to use it properly but also how to employ various tricks and techniques to use it even more effectively and creatively.
Of course, she had already practiced fishing for a few days in anticipation of this event. She had only invited her fiance to join her on this fishing trip after getting the results that she wanted.
If she won fair and square, then that’s fine.
If she didn’t...Well, it just meant that the fishes would get to enjoy a human-sized bait, which they could chew until nothing was left.
After giving Alex and Chuck the fishing poles, Judge Dredd crossed his arms and waited for the kids to start fishing.
"You can use this as bait." Princess Xenia smiled brightly as she handed the two a bag of corn kernels. "Chuck, I already told you that we were going fishing, so you should have prepared your own bait. It’s not my fault that you came unprepared."
"Xenia, I think you’re misunderstanding something." Chuck flipped his hair with his right hand. "I didn’t bring any bait because I planned to give you an advantage. Now, you won’t have a reason to complain if you lose."
"Arrogant as ever." Princess Xenia sneered. "Good luck to you then, Mr. Master Baiter."
With that, the princess moved to the right side of the ship, where she planned to fish.
Alex and Chuck were on the left side, so that they wouldn’t have to compete with Princess Xenia and Mary for the same fishing spots.
Chuck warily eyed the bag of corn kernels in his hands before looking at Alex worriedly.
The confidence he had shown the princess earlier was gone, replaced by a "Alex, can we really win?" expression.
"Don’t worry, Mr. Master Baiter." Alex chuckled. "We will win."
Alex now understood where the princess’ confidence was coming from.
He watched as the young lady skillfully attached a rainbow prawn to her fishing hook. Rainbow prawns were considered top-tier fishing baits if you wanted to catch those very rare and elusive fishes that were very picky with what they ate.
The rainbow prawn was a delicacy, and it was very eye-catching under the water.
No fish could resist it, and even monsters would want to take a bite of it if they happened to see it first.
But Alex didn’t need to use such baits in order to win.
After all, he had a secret weapon!
"Dim Dim, let’s show this bratty princess who the real winners of this competition are!" Alex declared.
"Kukuku!" Dim Dim smiled evilly before summoning a bamboo steamer, which contained dumplings that they intended to use as bait.
So what if Princess Xenia had rainbow prawns?
And what fish could possibly ignore the food that came from a God?
Unlike regular dumplings, the Dim Sum God’s dumplings didn’t break apart easily unless it was eaten.
It didn’t matter if the dumplings were tossed into the water.
They would retain their shape while their flavor would spread into the water, attracting all the fishes lucky or unlucky enough to be nearby!
"Kukuku!" Alex chuckled evilly as he attached a pan-fried pork dumpling to his fishing hook.
Dim Dim also continued to laugh evilly as it offered Chuck some dumplings to be used as fishing baits as well.
Mr. Dredd felt himself salivating after seeing the baits that the teenage boys were attaching to their hooks.
He hadn’t eaten anything as of yet because he was planning to cook the fishes that the princess would catch in this competition.
’Just what kind of bait is that?’ Mr. Dredd wondered. ’Why does it look so good?’
The middle-aged man then cleared his throat before raising his hand.
"This competition will last for two hours," Mr. Dredd announced. "You can start fishing now!"
After he gave the signal, the teenagers threw their fishing lines over the water.
Princess Xenia gave Alex and Chuck a look of pity because there was no way that she would lose in this fishing competition.
However, just as soon as the fishing hooks landed into the water, a commotion happened on the left side of the ship, where Alex, and Chuck were fishing.
The water churned as countless fishes flocked to their side of the boat, fighting desperately to bite on the baits that the two boys had cast.
Alex, who felt a strong tug on his fishing line, didn’t hesitate to start reeling.
A moment later, a silver fish that was nearly a meter long, landed on the deck and started to flop and trash about, as if it wanted to return to the water as soon as possible.
Seeing the fish, Mr. Dredd’s eyes shook because it was none other than a Silverwind Trout!
It was a very rare fish. In fact, it was considered the third rarest fish in the Arowana River! He had been hoping that he would have the fortune of feasting on a Silverwind Trout after the competition ended.
Chuck, who had zero experience in fishing, felt something tug on his fishing line, so he also pulled it back with all the strength he could muster.
However, he was unable to pull the fish out of the water no matter how hard he tried.
"Alex, help!" Chuck pleaded because the fish that he was trying to capture was fighting back so strongly it might actually succeed in pulling him underwater.
Without much ado, Alex grabbed Chuck’s fishing rod, pulling as hard as he could.
But, to his surprise, he was also unable to bring in whatever had bitten on Chuck’s fishing hook!
"Mr. Dredd, please help us!" Alex asked. "This fish is huge. I don’t think we can pull it with just the two of us."
Without hesitation, Mr. Dredd grabbed hold of the fishing hook with both hands.
His muscles, which had weathered many storms while he fished on rivers and seas, had never failed him in the past.
With the experience and the strength of an elite fisherman, Mr. Dredd pulled back and the fish that had fought so valiantly against being captured suddenly found itself out of water, through the air, and on the deck of the ship.
Time seemed to slow down as Alex and Chuck watched the massive golden fish fly towards them in a graceful arc before landing on the ship with a sloppy sound.
It was easily twice as long as the fish that Alex had hooked earlier!
"Golden Scaled Salmon!" Mr. Dredd’s eyes were almost bulging out of his sockets. The rarest fish in the Arowana River had appeared right before him.
He looked at the fish, then the two teen boys, then the fish, then the two teen boys again.
They had somehow managed to catch two of the three rarest fishes within a minute after casting their lures!
’T-This kid called himself a Master Baiter a while ago,’ Mr. Dredd thought. ’I thought that he was just kidding, but I guess he can back up his title!’
Meanwhile, Princess Xenia and her handmaiden, Mary, could only look in disbelief at the two massive fish that were flopping on the deck of their boat.
Just the two of them were enough to feed their entire retinue, and they were fishes so rare that even the princess had only seen them in picture books!