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Leo and Ran Yakumo didn't come over to the lake immediately. Instead, they first dutifully escorted the loudly complaining, lonely "old lady," Yukari Yakumo, directly to Yuyuko's side at the tavern tent to reunite the pair.
Only after securing the Sage's happiness did they finally walk through the mud and arrive at the edge of the Mine Cave Lake, just in absolute time to see the intense, splashing scene of the two sides locked in a brutal tug-of-war.
At this exact moment, Chen's physical stamina had already been significantly, dangerously drained by the massive Legendary Fish. The glowing Iridium fishing rod absolutely wouldn't break, but its rigid, metallic nature meant it also couldn't bend gracefully to absorb the shock and save physical effort like the flexible carbon fiber rod Leo had used back on Earth.
Chen's boots were sliding in the mud; she had been relying purely on her raw, feline brute force to desperately hold on to the taut line.
The massive Legendary Fish fighting underwater also saw Leo arrive on the shore. This was its absolute first time laying its giant, bulging eyes on the designated Master of this world.
Leo rarely ever came all the way up to the deep Mine Cave Lake to fish; he found that freshwater river fish generally had far too many tiny, annoying bones and were a massive hassle to eat. When it rained, he much preferred to comfortably squat under an umbrella by the wide river directly below Pelican Town, lazily fishing for fat, meaty Catfish all day long.
"Pah! As the grand, supposed Master of Stardew Valley, your personal fishing level isn't even half as high as this little cat girl's! Aren't you deeply, fundamentally ashamed of yourself?!"
Just seconds after arriving on the scene, Leo was aggressively, verbally scolded head-on by the giant fish breaching the surface, leaving him completely bewildered and speechless.
What's wrong with having a low fishing level?! Does a measly Level 6 fishing skill actively eat your rice or steal your money?! In the original video game, I could effortlessly reel your pixelated ass in with one hand while drinking coffee, not even needing to eat expensive Seafoam Pudding for buffs! Now that you're in reality, you're aggressively putting on arrogant airs?!
"Go, Kitty!" Leo roared back, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Reel it in, and we'll eat rich, braised big Carp for dinner tonight!"
The massive Legendary Fish honestly looked exactly like an overgrown, mutated, mossy Carp. Leo enthusiastically waved to Nitori Kawashiro, signaling the Kappa to start moving the prepared iron cooking utensils, charcoal grills, and heavy seasonings to a flat, open area on the shore.
It's just a Legendary Fish. In the original game, you're a unique, un-sellable trophy item I proudly kept in a fish tank because I couldn't bear to sell you. But in this harsh reality, I absolutely have to physically taste what your premium meat is like, no matter what!
Refusing a polite toast only to be forced to drink a bitter one; refusing premium bait only to end up eating spicy seasoning on a grill!
"Braised your big, empty head!" The Legendary Fish roared back, thrashing violently and splashing water everywhere. "This magnificent Fish King specifically comes pre-packaged with a legendary, divine recipe! Throw away your cheap iron pot for me right now!"
Seeing the heavy, black cast-iron pot being dragged over by the Kappa, if it weren't entirely because it was a fish physically lacking hands or legs, the Legendary Fish would have absolutely marched ashore to violently slap Leo across the face twice.
It was the majestic, one-of-a-kind Legendary Fish King; how could its premium flesh possibly be crudely cooked the exact same, disrespectful way as those silly, mud-eating common Carps?! Braised in cheap soy sauce?! That's far too insulting and disrespectful to its high-quality, melt-in-your-mouth fish meat!
"A legendary recipe?"
The surrounding circle of Great Youkai, who had been loudly cheering for Chen, were instantly stunned into silence for a moment. Their originally amused, relaxed expressions started to visibly, hungrily change.
They absolutely didn't care about the historical or magical significance of the recipes, but they were quite intensely, ravenously interested in the actual, physical dishes that could be made and eaten from it.
"Uh... what are you all doing?" The Legendary Fish nervously backed up slightly in the water, feeling the sudden, intense shift in the atmosphere. "The ancient, unspoken rules of the jianghu clearly state: it's strictly a one-on-one duel when fishing! Absolutely no one is legally allowed to magically interfere!"
Being stared at so intensely and hungrily by so many terrifying Great Youkai all at once, the Legendary Fish actually felt a chill and instinctively weakened its brutal pull on Chen's line a bit. These people were a bit too scary and predatory for a fish's comfort.
Suddenly, Chen's small, straining body began to flash brilliantly like a malfunctioning, multi-colored LED light. A cascading series of complex, overlapping magical glows lit up the rainy shoreline.
Under absolutely everyone's shocked gaze, the serene, beautiful abbot of Myouren Temple—one of Gensokyo's absolute top old-timers and magical heavyweights, Byakuren Hijiri—calmly clasped her hands together in prayer. She began muttering rapid, complex Buddhist incantations non-stop, overtly casting a barrage of high-tier, physical body-enhancing magic directly onto the struggling cat.
"That makes perfect logical sense," Toyosatomimi no Miko chuckled, stepping forward and clapping her hands together sharply. "We technically won't directly intervene and touch the fish or the rod, but we can absolutely, legally buff the little kitten's stats to the moon!"
Miko, the golden-haired representative of Taoism in Gensokyo, usually absolutely didn't get along with the Buddhist Byakuren. But for the sake of the mouth-watering, legendary recipe explicitly mentioned by the arrogant fish, temporary religious cooperation wasn't impossible. Several glowing, golden Taoist body-enhancing talismans flew through the air and stuck firmly to Chen's yellow raincoat, surging with power.
Since someone shameless had successfully started the loophole, the other Great Youkai absolutely didn't hold back their own cheats either.
Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya simultaneously clapped their hands, directly triggering a localized divine descent upon Chen's body. During the past grueling week, when Leo had been desperately worshipping their wooden statues for farm fertilization, Chen had also playfully pawed at the statues a couple of times. This minimal, accidental interaction technically, legally met the strict contractual conditions for divine blessing.
Although the kitten's heart absolutely wasn't sincere and her theological faith was practically nonexistent, if the two greedy deities themselves didn't mind bending the rules for a meal, what was there for anyone else to say?!
[Sage Mode] officially activated!
Massive, glowing spiritual illusions of a giant white snake and a toad appeared hovering fiercely over Chen's small shoulders, increasing her raw physical strength and grip to terrifying, god-like levels. The Legendary Fish instantly felt the impossible tension on the line; it gradually couldn't hold on against the combined might of Gensokyo's pantheon and began to be helplessly, violently dragged toward the muddy shore by the glowing fishing line.
"Lady Yukari, please lend me your absolute power!"
Leveraging the deep, ancient, magical relationship between a loyal Shikigami and her master, Ran Yakumo closed her eyes and began to aggressively borrow raw, boundary-manipulating power directly from Yukari Yakumo. She then seamlessly transmitted it straight into Chen's small body through her own direct, magical connection with her 'computer'.
A Shikigami's Shikigami is amazing, right? That's the literal, built-in system mechanic of their magic; if the fish doesn't like the exploit, it shouldn't play the game!
Far away in the tavern tent, Yukari Yakumo—who was currently happily feeding grilled squid to Yuyuko—suddenly went completely limp, her eyes rolling back as her mana was violently drained. She collapsed heavily onto Yuyuko's lap with a groan.
"The Kitty feels... terrifyingly, incredibly strong right now, meow!!"
With so many overlapping, glowing buffs stacked on her small body that she looked like a walking, end-game MMORPG dungeon status bar, Chen confidently stepped back step by step, her boots digging deep trenches in the mud. Then, with a fierce, triumphant roar, she gave one final, devastatingly powerful pull on the Iridium rod.
SPLASH!
The massive, heavy Legendary Fish was violently yanked completely out of the deep lake, drawing a sparkling, majestic arc of water in the rainy air before crashing heavily and wetly directly into Ishin Shion, who was just innocently passing by holding a plate of fries.
"Yahoo! Eat fish! Eat fish!"
The Fairy Swarm completely ignored the impact. They quickly put their glowing, explosive flower clusters safely back into the wooden storage boxes and cheered wildly as they ran toward the massive, flapping Legendary Fish.
These innocent-looking flower clusters actually contained Yuuka's condensed, terrifying magic; each single cluster was mathematically equivalent in destructive power to one of Marisa's full-power Master Sparks. The fairies usually only used these dangerous things when causing extreme, landscape-altering mischief.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?! Stop pulling my scales! You little brats didn't reel me in! Don't touch me with your dirty hands!"
The Legendary Fish angrily flopped, got up from the groaning Shion, and magically floated a few feet in the air. It used its massive, spiked tail to gently but firmly push the swarming, drooling Little Fairies aside, and drifted over to hover directly by Chen's side in defeat.
Suddenly, its massive, scaly body began to glow with a blinding, warm green light, enveloping the Legendary Fish entirely.
The entire physical world of Stardew Valley started to violently tremble and vibrate. As the absolute, system-designated Legendary Fish officially representing the entire season of Spring, it was the literal, physical embodiment of the valley's natural laws and exactly one-quarter of the legendary, ultimate Stardew treasure. Now that it had been legitimately (mostly) defeated, it was time to officially reveal its true purpose.
"Look! Out on the sea!"
The incredibly sharp-eyed Aya Shameimaru was the absolute first to spot the massive, geographical anomaly. She pointed her camera at a small, green dot rapidly rising from the depths on the distant, southern sea surface and flew straight up into the rain clouds for a better look.
The other Great Youkai immediately followed closely behind her, floating high in the air to silently watch the massive, new island slowly, majestically emerging from the churning sea, displacing millions of tons of seawater.
Leo was also effortlessly carried high up into the air by Ran Yakumo, but his ordinary human eyesight was simply still too poor; through the rain and the sheer distance, he couldn't see anything clearly except a vague, green blur on the horizon.
"Aya, could you quickly fly over and take a high-res photo for me to see?" Leo shouted over the wind.
Hearing the World Lord's request, Aya absolutely didn't hesitate. Whoosh! She disappeared on the spot with a sonic boom, and a mere few seconds later, she returned, her hair blown back, with a stack of freshly printed, glossy photos in hand. This tiny distance wasn't even enough for the fastest Tengu to properly warm up her wings; it was far too easy.
"It looks a bit like the layout of Ginger Island from the 1.5 update, but not exactly identical," Leo muttered, squinting as he rapidly flipped through the wet photos in his hand.
Aya had expertly captured the new island's general environment and topography from various high and low angles. It was an overall vibrant, incredibly green island packed with lush, overgrown grass and dense, tropical forests. In the exact dead center of the island was a massive, perfectly tilled agricultural field completely filled with hundreds of fully grown, high-tier crops planted in neat rows: glowing Gold-star strawberries, exotic red Dragon Fruit, and spiky yellow pineapples, all perfectly ripe and ready to be picked at any time.
"This new landmass is specifically called the Spring Island," the Legendary Fish swam smoothly through the air to Leo's side to formally explain. "The internal, magical season on this specific island is permanently, irreversibly set to Spring, allowing the infinite, year-round planting and harvesting of any Spring-specific crops without fear of wilting. It is exactly one-quarter of the true, complete Ginger Island. After you eventually catch the other three seasonal Fish Kings and successfully collect the remaining three islands, you can freely choose to magnetically merge them all together into the massive Ginger Island, or simply keep them separate like this as four distinct, specialized seasonal islands."
The glowing fish finished its grand speech. Its formal, system-assigned task as the Spring Fish King was now completely fulfilled; now it was just the passive, magical Spring Spirit.
"You... uh, is that actually physically okay for you?"
Leo finally turned his head away from the photos to look at the fish, then violently shuddered all over, his face draining of color.
The massive Legendary Fish hovering next to him now horrifyingly only had its giant, scaly head and its spiked tail left intact; the thick, premium meat on its entire central body had been completely, flawlessly stripped clean, as if rapidly, violently gnawed to the bone by a starving cat, leaving only a perfect, clean row of white fish bones connecting the head to the tail.
"Oh, this little flesh wound?" The Legendary Fish casually shook its skeletal body to show it was perfectly fine, the bones rattling slightly. "It's totally fine. As a culinary reward for the little cat girl defeating me, I willingly left all my incredibly tasty, premium fish meat on the plate for her to eat. The flesh will magically grow back in a while, and... well, never mind. If I actually say the specific details of how it grows back out loud, you might lose your appetite for dinner very soon."
The skeletal Legendary Fish bobbed in the air, wanting to proudly over-explain its terrifying, immortal biology, but wisely thinking better of it after seeing Leo turn slightly green.