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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Arrival
The Merchant Ship sailed towards the horizon, the water rippling as fish followed in its wake.
Whoosh.
A seagull dove down, plunging into the water to catch a fish before soaring back up.
"I'm hungry."
Xiaqiu felt an intense hunger in his belly. It had been two hours since leaving the Harbor, and they had only covered about twelve or thirteen nautical miles.
At this speed, the Sailboat was moving at around six to seven knots, much slower than his own swimming pace.
His digestion was quick; even though he had eaten before departing, he had already processed that meal.
"I need to eat."
Xiaqiu glanced at the surrounding fish, which swam alongside him and the Merchant Ship.
In the ocean, some fish would follow vessels and large creatures like sharks or whales.
The main reason for this behavior was to take advantage of the larger animals' size for cover while scavenging leftover scraps from their hunts.
Many of these fish were solitary or stragglers from schools.
They would often swim at a distance for a while before scattering.
The seagulls, drawn by the presence of fish, often circled above the vessels, waiting for the right moment to swoop down and catch their prey.
Xiaqiu had no interest in hunting them; they were too small, hardly enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
Instead, Xiaqiu dove downwards.
It was deep.
The waters here were quite profound, at least several hundred meters deep, and all that could be seen was an expanse of dark abyss.
Xiaqiu needed to follow the Sea Vessel, so it didn’t dive too deep.
“There.”
Xiaqiu's gaze locked onto a distant sight—a school of fish swimming freely, their bodies shimmering silver and elongated.
They gathered together, sometimes darting to the left, then to the right, occasionally swirling with the currents to form a circle of silvery chaos.
Xiaqiu charged forward, opening its mouth wide and snapping at them.
Splash!
The fish scattered in all directions, but still, seven or eight were caught in Xiaqiu's jaws. It crushed them before swallowing them whole.
Too few.
These fish hardly counted as a meal.
Xiaqiu did not pursue the fleeing fish, estimating that the energy expended in chasing them would exceed the energy they provided.
Xiaqiu searched for prey, noticing many schools of fish, but most were not worth capturing.
He glanced around the Surface of the Sea before continuing to dive deeper, where the surrounding light began to dim.
Reaching a depth of one hundred meters, Xiaqiu swam forward, constantly aware of the Sea Vessel above him.
Equipped with a lateral line system and mechanical sensing abilities, he could detect vibrations caused by fish or animals up to six hundred meters away in the water.
The Sea Vessel was large, creating significant vibrations as it moved. At this distance, he could even sense it from two hundred meters away, so Xiaqiu had no worries about the Merchant Ship leaving his perception range.
Both his lateral line system and mechanical sensing abilities developed after feeding; they were evolved traits.
Many of his unique evolutionary traits stemmed from the prey he hunted.
Thus, these two abilities were largely acquired from sharks. Throughout his growth, he had consumed dozens of sharks, which led to his corresponding evolution.
Of course, he gained more than just these traits from sharks. For instance, his teeth had transformed; originally all sharp teeth, after several losses, they had turned into molars.
His sense of smell had also greatly improved and was one of his fastest-growing abilities.
Sharks possess a powerful sense of smell, capable of detecting blood at a concentration of one part per million. In ten thousand tons of seawater, even a single gram of amino acid could be sensed by a shark.
Xiaqiu's olfactory capabilities were strong as well, allowing him to easily detect injured creatures.
As he swam forward, the fish that had scattered in his wake began to regroup once more.
After swimming for a while, Xiaqiu suddenly noticed a massive fish not far above him.
"Hmm?"
Xiaqiu slowly ascended, locking onto the target.
The fish was about fifteen meters long, with a slender, torpedo-shaped body covered in black scales. Its head was slightly flattened, but its mouth was enormous, filled with dense teeth.
Perfect.
Having locked onto the target, Xiaqiu charged forward immediately.
The sea fish sensed Xiaqiu's approach. Although it was only three meters longer than Xiaqiu, the weight difference between a fifteen-meter fish and an eighteen-meter fish could exceed ten tons.
Its elongated body weighed slightly more than Xiaqiu did at fifteen meters, roughly around twenty-five tons.
Now, Xiaqiu weighed about fifty tons, making the size difference significant.
Xiaqiu's presence brought immense pressure to the sea fish, which almost instantly chose to flee.
Run?
Can you really escape?
Xiaqiu twisted his body, his massive fins propelling him forward. With additional pelvic fins and anal fins compared to many other fish, his speed was naturally much greater.
Xiaqiu quickly reached the fish's rear and opened his mouth wide to bite down.
Whoosh.
But in the next moment, the fish turned sharply to the left, and Xiaqiu missed its bite.
So agile.
Xiaqiu quickly closed the distance, now right behind it, and dove down fiercely.
The fish swam left again, but as it turned, Xiaqiu had already anticipated its move and swiftly turned its head to bite down.
Crunch.
Xiaqiu's teeth sank into the midsection of the fish, tearing away a large chunk of its body.
The fish thrashed a few times before going still.
Xiaqiu immediately pounced on it, gnawing eagerly and swallowing the flesh and blood.
This time, Xiaqiu planned to eat more, consuming nearly three tons of food to ensure it wouldn't feel hungry for at least two hours.
After finishing its meal, Xiaqiu swam back toward the sea, catching up with the Vessel.
As it departed, other fish rushed in, surrounding the fallen sea creature.
...
"The fish has returned."
Marcel leaned over the side of the ship, shouting towards the distance.
"Really? It seems he has fallen in love with our ship," a voice echoed from afar.
Marcel turned his head, staring at the fish swimming below. He was curious about what this fish was doing following the ship.
He had been on a ship before and had seen dolphins, whales, and sharks accompany the Sea Vessel while Sailing.
But most would only follow for a short distance before leaving.
Yet this fish had been following for three hours; what was it trying to do?
Marcel was very curious, observing the fish with great interest.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the Mast, "Pirate Ship! A Pirate Ship is coming this way!"
Pirates?
With that voice, everyone felt a bit anxious, but they did not panic. Each of them had encountered pirates before.
As long as they surrendered their wealth, most pirates would not choose to kill. As for kidnapping, it generally wouldn’t happen unless there were valuable targets on board or if they belonged to a large Merchant Association.
So they prepared in an orderly manner; some went to notify the captain, others raised the sails, and some got ready to steer away.
Meanwhile, Jozef picked up a telescope and looked into the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Do you see it? What Pirate Crew is it?"
The captain emerged from the cabin, shouting loudly.
Jozef's face was grim as he said, "It's the Dominique Pirate Crew."
Upon hearing Jozef's words, everyone's expression darkened, especially Marcel, whose face showed anger and hatred.
The Dominique Pirate Crew was the one that had killed Marcel's father.
Ferocious and greedy.
Encountering them was certainly not a good omen.
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