Chapitre 88: Fish to the Face

"Miss Lia. Don't even think about it!" Discourages Jim, trying to convince her to not spear the Black Marlin hurling down underneath their boat.

Yes they are well equipped and unlike the usual ropes tied to a spear which are around 3-5 meters long, the one on her hand is tied to a rope stretching nearly 20 meters and it is a bit thicker as well.

So to toss such a spear, a lot of strength is required because the weight of the rope is to be considered once throwing.

Noticing that the Black Marlin is slightly above the common fullgrown's size, her confidence to fish this one out started descending.

So she decides to take a different approach instead of giving up and fleeing the scene.

Not wasting another second, she took the end of the rope and tied it firmly on to the front end of the boat, on that thick lumber that connects the two sides of the boat together.

After tying the rope to the thick Lumber, she grabbed the spear she had to drop a few seconds earlier due to the tying and she started targeting the Black Marlin, raising the spear above her head.

Still spotting her decisions as stupid, Jim tries to reason. "Miss Lia, that fish is massive! It will drag the boat!"

Not respecting his can't do attitude, Lia unleashes a loud whisper. "I didn't bring you here to shit your pants over a fish, Jim."

Finding it hard to respect this teenager at the moment, Jim still finds a way around for the sake of gold. "That's true but…"

Having him where she wants to in terms of a debate, now is the time to get him back under command. "No buts, you are either in or out!"

It would be cowardouss to let everyone fight the fish while himself sitting it out, so he has no choice but to answer. "I'm in."

Still remaining with a strong whisper, her tone dimmed. "Then be quiet!"

The Black Marlin rose towards the surface further as it saw the sun reflecting light on the spear.

For a fish, anything shining is massively attractive. Which is why the fish lost interest for a short bit while Lia's spear was down.

But now, the Black Marlin is swimming upwards in full speed. If a fish breaking over 800kg was to hit the side of the boat, it would be fatal.

Spotting the fish force water up as it swam across the sea, Jim states the obvious. "Miss Lia, that fish is coming in too fast. If we don't move the boat, we will all drown!"

Never willing to back down from a catch, Lia now shouts instead of whispering. "Nonsense Jim! It's just a fish and you're supposed to be smarter than him!"

"That fish is showing no signs of slowing down!" Barked one of the two men and the second one followed with the same complaint.

"Brace yourselves! Hit the deck!" Yelled Jim as he met the woodwork of the boat face first. Fair to say he did it wrong but it was enough to avoid the massive Black Marlin.

Still standing her ground although the rest of the men gave in, Lia is still facing the Black Marlin with absolute stubbornness, whispering. "Give me your best shot, meat sack!"

Her confidence burned into a crisp as the Black Marlin leaped out of the water and with it's 2 foot long sword like nose it struck Lia right on the face.

The blow became so devastating, bone breaking even. She was sent 20 feet in the air and then sunk down in the water another six feet.

After such a devastating blow, she actually started swimming back up to the surface, perhaps not well but in one piece.

"What the hell is going on!" She shouted while touching her face where apparently no blood has any intends of breaking.

In such a case, the Black Marlin would have completely penetrated the face and drag down the body to finish it off.

But all the damage it managed to do to Lia is leave a sensation of pain on her face with no blood or broken bones.

Bearing the pain she started swimming towards her boat, but when once reaching the spot she saw Jim with a spear in his hand.

With a desperate attempt, he hurles it towards Lia, all his might involved and saw it penetrate through meat and skin.

But not through Lia even though it seemed like that for a second.

What he speared was the Black Marlin chasing after Lia which most definitely had intends to strike her again. Indeed it is angry.

But it's speed forced a nodge down as the spear penetrated above it's head somewhere near the spine.

After receiving such a blow, it turned around trying to swim away from the pain.

Looking at the two other men, Jim demands. "Quick. Get her out of the water. This fish has a lot of fight in it until we tire it out and pull it on our deck!"

The two men rush to grab Lia and as if she was a bag of wheat they easily lifted her out of the water.

The situation is fierce, the Black Marlin even fiercer so they have no blink of an eye to waste.

Their speed proved useful, they pulled her out just at the right time. Because the Black Marlin dragged the entire 20 meter rope and the boat along with it.

Jim was right about this beast's force!

Lia has never felt this weak and embarrassed before in her life. Aware of her own uncertainty about handling a fish as large as that, she still stood her ground. Ultimately leading to her flying out of the boat.

The risk calculations proved heavily wrong, Jim was right about everything.

The Boat is being dragged through the waters by the massive Black Marlin at 5 times the speed that it took all the four people to achieve before.

In need to hear one of her crazy ideas right about now, Jim mutters. "What do we do now Miss Lia? That beast shows no sign of stopping!"

Lia still remained shocked, in a moment she didn't know what to say or think.

She feels like she froze and finally came back to reality after Jim repeated his question several times and yelled too.

Staggered beyond prepare, trying to ignore the sensation of pain on her face. Lia pitches with a shout, "We will paddle backwards until we tire this fish out. If we try to drag it out of the water now, it will break our arms."

Successful in the first few seconds, paddling although we can't say the boat is moving backwards. Jim pointed out, feeling his arms becoming already sore. "That beast shows no sign of giving in!"

Within all that pain, Lia still guides the crew with Grand advice. "Keep paddling, don't consume your strength all at once. Start at a slower pace and increase it a little bit after every tenth paddle!"