Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King

Chapter 822 - 557: Feigning Weakness, All Is Fair in War

"Ah?"

Upon hearing Yu Wensheng assert that Zhang Yang might be in danger, Sun Yi couldn’t help but gasp softly.

Realizing she was slightly out of line, the young girl instinctively wanted to cover her mouth but was held back by her professional discipline.

"You seem a bit excited?" Yu Wensheng glanced sideways at Sun Yi.

Sun Yi quickly shook her head: "It’s not excitement. It’s mainly because your judgment is so far off from my perspective.

Before you explained the details, I thought Zhang Yang had a slight advantage! But now, it seems a bit precarious!"

"There’s no need to be overly nervous. From what I know about Zhang Yang, even if he loses this round, he’ll quickly make adjustments in the following matches.

This angler reacts extremely swiftly, so he won’t muddle through all five matches without realizing what’s happening!"

To be fair, Yu Wensheng’s assessment of Zhang Yang is very accurate, as Zhang Yang in reality indeed fits this description.

However, in the upcoming performance, Zhang Yang did not follow Yu Wensheng’s prediction to maintain his usual outstanding performance with quick responses.

Cunning old fox Zhang Yang, after calculating various risks and considering his hand in cards, decided to play a strategy of "luring the enemy to catch them."

What’s the meaning of that?

It’s simple: Zhang Yang obviously noticed the advantages in Huang Zheng’s fishing tactics, but he forced himself to ignore his advantage calculations, sticking to the previous tactics to create a facade of struggling and slightly inferior performance.

Through a few consecutive on-site 1v1 pks, Zhang Yang discovered that Huang Zheng is a typical competitive player. He may not look energetic ordinarily, but once serious in a match, his overall power doesn’t fall far short of Zhang Yang’s.

For example, in the first match, Zhang Yang intentionally outmaneuvered Huang Zheng by suppressing the rhythm, thus winning by a two-fish margin.

You might think winning would be simple enough, but actually, Zhang Yang’s victory wasn’t as straightforward as spectators might perceive it.

Initially, Zhang Yang had predicted that once his small strategy was implemented, he would have been ahead by five or six fish when striking the double-tail kill move. However, he was only ahead by two fish.

What caused the difference between five or six fish and two fish? It was Huang Zheng’s nearly perfect live performance, fighting tooth and nail to close the gap.

Such a vigorous competitor, in peak condition, has already polished his basic fishing skills perfectly, matching up with Zhang Yang in sheer strength.

Against such a tricky opponent, what can Zhang Yang rely on to secure victory?

Technical overpowering is unlikely, hardware advantages like bait are out, as it’s a public bait contest. The only direction left is to ’trick’ Huang Zheng from a tactical perspective, providing the best chance to secure a win.

And Zhang Yang’s idea of ’tricking’ is what?

Ultimately, it’s the tried-and-true skill of controlling the match’s rhythm like boiling a frog in warm water.

Zhang Yang was fully aware of the efficacy of Huang Zheng’s jogging lead and short-line fishing tactics in bridging technical gaps, yet he deliberately played the fool, sticking to his steady strategy, going all out against Huang Zheng. This created an illusion of stubborn pride.

Even while strategically disadvantaged, Zhang Yang and the opponent would be evenly matched, prompting Huang Zheng, characterized by his competitive stubbornness, to avoid detours and continue pursuing no alternative tactical routes, given the ongoing back-and-forth match scores.

This way, Zhang Yang essentially ensures score stabilization, keeping the results under control during the first few matches.

For instance, Zhang Yang preliminarily planned to relinquish two rounds after securing the first, allowing Huang Zheng to lead two to one, then aiming to equalize to 2:2 in the fourth round. This way, Huang Zheng would likely be lulled by the scores.

By the decisive match, Zhang Yang intended to employ a heavy lead bobber and jogging lead short-line fishing techniques, giving Huang Zheng no time for adjustments or thought, trapping him using cognitive inertia.

This brings us to a potential query: Zhang Yang currently leads one-zero; having detected Huang Zheng’s tactical shifts this early, why not immediately adapt and secure two more wins to finish the match?

The longer it drags, the more unexpected disturbances can arise, which seems redundant like a needless move.

To outsiders, this may seem suspicious, but remember a crucial point: who is Huang Zheng?

He’s Deng Gang’s adept disciple, with an old monster-level master offering strategies from behind the scenes. Zhang Yang appears to battle Huang Zheng one-on-one, yet Huang Zheng benefits from Deng Gang’s tactical counsel!

If a detail of Zhang Yang’s strategy is sniffed out, who knows what else might emerge later?

On one side, it’s relatively controllable with a high success rate; the other is entirely uncertain, with uncontrollable risks. What would you choose?

After calculating all factors, Zhang Yang decided to continue executing his strategy of lulling the opponent blissfully.

Thus, carrying this strategic mindset, Zhang Yang proceeded with executing the remaining third and fourth matches as he did in the second match.

In the second and third matches of the series, Zhang Yang intentionally held back, allowing Huang Zheng to win consecutively, temporarily reaching a score of 2:1, with Huang Zheng taking the lead for a while.

Come the critical fourth match, Zhang Yang prepared for both outcomes, bearing the risk of possible overturning while persistently executing his strategy.