Chapter 14

Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 14

An hour later, the surroundings were still dark, and only the soft sound of waves and chirping birds could be heard. It was 4 a.m., and the sun had yet to rise.

Within that hour, Karlos found three more crab traps scattered across different spots and caught dozens of live mud crabs and tiger prawns.

Just like the first trap, the other three had dead crabs that Karlos had to throw away since they were no longer sellable. He only took the ones that were still moving and active. He also cleaned the traps thoroughly using brackish water and added fresh bait to prepare them for the next day.

Because of the darkness and limited visibility, Karlos had to rely solely on the flashlight attached to his hat to light the area ahead.

He had a total of 15 traps. It would probably take at least four hours to locate all of them, as they were scattered in random spots. While the traps weren’t far from each other, they still required careful searching. Thankfully, they were all within the territory he recognized as his base.

He didn’t go to other parts of the mangroves, as those areas were already owned or claimed by other fishermen.

Karlos recalled the first time he tried to set traps in this place when he was still new to the area. He had nearly gotten into a quarrel with another fisherman who believed he was trespassing.

Fortunately, the problem was resolved quickly thanks to Joseph, Karlos’ brother-in-law, who had good connections in town and managed to ease the tension with a calm and mature approach.

Joseph and Maya’s father was actually well-known in their town and nearby communities for a heroic act many years ago. He had saved several people when a cruise ship sank during a tragic accident. He kept going back and forth with his boat to rescue passengers, eventually becoming famous and even appearing on TV. That act earned him widespread respect.

Since then, Karlos had experienced a relatively smoother time working as a fisherman, though there were still occasional troubles involving territory disputes or misunderstandings. Karlos usually avoided problems by staying low-profile and respectful.

"Huff."

He continued the same process, locating the floaters, collecting the live crabs while being careful with their pincers, and discarding the dead ones into the sea. Buyers preferred crabs that were still alive and moving, as this indicated freshness.

As he worked, the sun slowly began to rise, and the darkness gradually cleared. Karlos turned off his flashlight and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the natural light.

With better visibility, the early morning sun helped him spot the floating styrofoams marked with red paint, his trap markers. Some of them had drifted from their original positions, likely due to strong currents or waves, which explained why he had trouble finding them earlier in the dark.

By the time he finished checking the eleventh trap after hours of patient work, his styrofoam box was almost full of crabs, and the smaller container for tiger prawns was nearly packed as well. The prawns were at least eight inches long, quite large. Which meant it took them longer to escape from the traps due to their size.

Karlos was honestly impressed that his traps had managed to catch so many tiger prawns. Fishermen like him who set crab traps typically only caught two to three tiger prawns per day on average. Five prawns was already considered a lucky and profitable day.

After completing the eleventh trap, Karlos looked around and narrowed his eyes. The brightness of the morning sun allowed for farther visibility, but despite this, he couldn’t locate the remaining four traps in the area where he had set them.

Using his instincts and knowledge of the sun’s position, he estimated it was around 5:45 a.m., give or take a few minutes.

He maneuvered the boat to the expected location of the missing traps but found nothing. Hoping they might have drifted farther, he pushed forward to search beyond the usual area. Still, he saw no sign, not even a single floating styrofoam.

Karlos sighed in disappointment. As he suspected, the traps were probably stolen by other fishermen. Fortunately, only four were missing. Losing all of them would have been a massive financial setback. Each trap took time, money, and effort to build.

"Good thing I cut a bamboo yesterday. I'll use half of the sticks to make four traps," he muttered to himself.

Karlos believed that 15 traps were enough for his area, given the size of his territory. Making more traps could lead to overcrowding, overlapping placements, and possibly driving away the crabs due to too much disturbance. He believed crabs weren’t completely stupid, they could sense danger.

As for expanding his territory, Karlos had already decided against it. He didn’t want to bring trouble upon himself. His priority was his family, not profit.

If he crossed the wrong person at sea, there was a real chance he might never return. Revenge wasn’t unheard of in their region, and stories of missing fishermen were sadly common. At least a couple went missing each year, whether due to weather, accidents, or foul play. Karlos didn’t want to be one of them. More importantly, he didn’t want Maya to become a widow.

This was also the reason why he didn’t explore further in search of the missing traps. He didn’t want to provoke suspicion or stir any trouble.

After checking everything thoroughly and confirming he hadn’t overlooked anything, Karlos decided to leave the mangroves and head to the fish port.

So far, he had spent about four hours at sea since leaving before dawn. He opened the box and found the crabs still alive and moving, though a few were slowing down. Some were weak and might need to be sold at a lower price due to their condition, but Karlos took comfort in knowing that he didn’t cheat buyers. He never sold old or dead crabs or faked freshness. If a few crabs died in the box, that was simply part of the job.

What’s in the box?

A movie reference?

No.

Crabs.

As for the tiger prawns, some were still jumping with energy, while others had become sluggish and barely moved.

Regardless, Karlos decided to leave before the heat of the sun became too intense. Tomorrow, he’d return to the mangroves for another day’s catch. At least then, he could be confident that his catch would be 24 hours fresh.

The boat gradually moved forward, slowly creating distance between him and the mangroves behind.

This part of the trip was monotonous and quiet, except for the steady hum of the engine. Karlos kept his eyes forward, steering with practiced hands and adjusting the speed and direction of the boat with skill.

The waves were calmer now compared to earlier, so he decided to travel at around 12 horsepower to save time heading back.

"Hm?" Karlos squinted his eyes toward the horizon.

As the boat picked up speed in the open sea, he noticed a group of seagulls flying ahead.

He slowed down and looked in their direction, suspecting what might be going on. He knew the signs when seagulls gathered like that.

Just as he expected, his hunch proved correct. With a mix of excitement and certainty, he saw a dark moving patch on the surface of the water rippling with motion. The birds were diving in and catching fish one after another.

"A school of fish!" he exclaimed with a wide grin.

Karlos immediately turned the boat to the left toward the lively spot. As he approached, he recognized the species.

"A school of mullet!" he confirmed aloud.

Karlos quickly grabbed the cast net that was always kept ready on the boat for moments like this. He threw the net with practiced motion. It didn’t form a perfect circle nor expand as wide as he wanted, but it still reached the center of the dark spot, where the surface of the sea was bubbling with movement just beneath.