Alistair brought a lot of fishing rods and hooks, but to think they could catch fish in the Calm Belt with those things was to underestimate the intelligence of the Calm Belt fish.
The Calm Belt wasn't as resource-scarce as others imagined.
In fact, besides the lack of wind, the resources on the islands in the Calm Belt, because they hadn't been plundered and exploited by humans, were actually more abundant than those outside the Calm Belt.
The fish resources here were stronger than those outside. Only a stronger ecosystem could support the food intake of giant sea kings.
Of course, there was a very clear food chain, from small fish to large fish, to large carnivorous fish, to sea beasts, to sea kings, to giant sea kings.
And besides the microorganisms and algae in the sea, the most abundant were probably the common fish.
These fish could even be hooked with just pure curiosity. When the shiny fishing hooks reflected the sunlight, they were easily mistaken for small fish.
Almost no bait was needed, and fish with poor eyesight but a greedy appetite would bite.
So, Alistair didn't prepare any bait for them. Instead, he let them use their own fishing skills.
In the real world, there was a group of people who loved to use lure fishing. Lure fishing was the English transliteration of "artificial bait," so they used special materials to make fish-like shapes, casting the rod and reeling in the line to imitate live small fish, and then catch large carnivorous fish.
The technique was the same as theirs.
This was also their only chance to survive after the shipwreck.
Because the fish resources were so abundant, someone caught something soon after receiving the fishing rods. The pirates cheered and jumped for joy. They didn't usually have this kind of entertainment. They were the lowest rung on the ship. It was impossible to dedicate a room on the ship to store fishing rods for them.
So, only a few people were qualified to use and play with the fishing rods.
Unless you were exceptionally good at fishing, or you were a cadre, you wouldn't even be able to touch them. They were strategic resources on the ship.
This was also why many crew members became gamblers. The ship lacked basic entertainment facilities.
As soon as someone started catching fish, more and more fish started to come their way. It was as if the fish schools had found a new food source. For fish, especially carnivorous fish, there was an almost instinctive desire to bite at something they hadn't seen before.
And there were a lot of large carnivorous fish in the Calm Belt. In this ecosystem, if you didn't eat quickly, you might not have a chance to eat the next minute.
They were greedy and blind, so they were naturally very likely to bite.
And these carnivorous fish, once caught, were actually quite dangerous. This was similar to swordfish. Their long, sharp beaks, driven by powerful tails, often shot at fishermen like cannonballs. Swordfish were much more dangerous to fish than sharks.
And in the world of One Piece, there were countless fish larger than swordfish, all more dangerous than swordfish in terms of strength, teeth, and appearance.
But they were pirates who had reached the Grand Line. Dealing with this level of fish was a piece of cake. As soon as a fish was caught, someone would grab a wooden stick, raise it above their head, and hit the fish on the head. They hit it hard. The fish immediately fainted. Pirates who were already salivating used hooks to hang the fish on the mast. They slowly used the hooks to cut open the fish's belly, take out the innards, and distribute them to the pirates who hadn't caught anything.
Now, they had bait.
The entire ship was orderly. There was not even the kind of conflict they had before. This was how the entire pirate crew should be.
Perhaps, this was the original appearance of the Devil's Luck?
"Why did you give them fishing gear?" Marguerite asked, standing beside Alistair. She wasn't asking for the reason, but the root question.
Why give them fishing gear, give them entertainment, let them relax, even make them so happy, almost like a festival, and it even turned into a fishing competition?
Why?
"I've been on this ship for so many years, I've never seen them like this. William stood beside Alistair. Compared to him, who was five meters tall, Alistair was like a blade of grass next to a mountain. William's voice was also very loud. Even when he spoke normally, it was like an ordinary person shouting.
His words made Marguerite look at him strangely. Marguerite wasn't as tall as Alistair. Alistair was almost 1.9 meters tall, half a head shorter than the Empress. She was only 1.7 meters tall, just above Alistair's chest, even shorter than William.
But their combat power was completely reversed.
She pondered. Could it be that these fishing rods had injected something different into them?
"Marguerite, do you know what makes people happy?"
Alistair asked with a smile.
"Wealth? Women? Gambling? Or something else?"
"These things have a common name: stimulation."
"They lack stimulation at sea. They've been bored to death in the Calm Belt for so long. Now, even though they've been captured by us, their environment hasn't fundamentally changed. They lack stimulation, whether it's fighting or fishing, it can make them happy."
"This is something I just observed."
Alistair held up two fingers, slowly guiding Marguerite into his logical thinking.
"And what are the benefits of doing this?"
"First, they will subconsciously form a conditioned reflex. When they think of me, they will think of this stimulation. It will reduce their hostility towards me. Second, it will ease the atmosphere between us, making them less tense. Otherwise, something terrible might happen on the ship."
Alistair had heard about what humans would do in confined spaces because of psychological pressure. In this barbaric world where only force prevailed, such atrocities would probably be even more violent and cruel, and they wouldn't slow down.
Alistair had to help them.
They hadn't noticed it, but now, everyone on the ship was in high spirits.
Including William, who had seen everything.
He asked gratefully, "Sir, is there anything else I can do?"
He had been coldly observing Alistair's every move, but he only now truly acknowledged Alistair's actions and wanted to do something for him.
Human hearts are flesh and blood. As the captain who had failed in his duty, William could easily have killed Alistair, but he was deeply subservient to Alistair's command.
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