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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Forty-One: Giant Squid
Xiaqiu pursued the feedback received, chasing into the distance.
The figure ahead was descending continuously, dropping vertically, but not at a fast pace.
Xiaqiu swung her body with all her might, closing the distance between them.
Boom.
Xiaqiu's massive form carried a tremendous pressure; her enormous size instilled no desire for combat in the other.
The other party attempted to flee, but Xiaqiu also increased her speed, pursuing relentlessly.
The distance between them continued to shrink, and soon Xiaqiu found herself just behind the other.
It was the Giant Squid.
The target Xiaqiu had locked onto was a Giant Squid, a creature of the Squid Order, also known simply as Squid.
It had a conical, elongated body and possessed five pairs of Tentacles. Four pairs were relatively short, shorter than its body length, referred to as Short Arms.
There were also two particularly long Tentacles used for capturing prey, which could retract into a sac at their base, approximately three times the length of the other Tentacles.
This Giant Squid's body length was about ten meters; the first pair of Tentacles measured only six meters, while the lengths of the second to fourth Tentacles were around eight meters. The length of the Tentacles reached nearly twenty meters.
Adding the body length and Short Arms together resulted in a total length close to twenty meters, making it an undeniable behemoth.
Very large.
On Earth, adult Giant Squids typically range from ten to thirteen meters in length, with some reaching up to around twenty meters.
The Giant Squid, measuring an astonishing twenty meters in length, was truly remarkable.
It moved swiftly.
However, it could not match the speed of Xiaqiu, which pursued it relentlessly, closing in from behind.
Whoosh.
The Squid suddenly contracted its Tentacles and then burst forth, its form shooting out and appearing several meters away in an instant, continuously increasing the distance between the two creatures.
So fast.
Seeing the opponent's movement, Xiaqiu exerted all its strength but could not catch up.
They could utilize their tail's mantle and cartilage to expel water from their abdominal siphon, combined with the force released by the contraction of their Tentacles, achieving a speed of 15 meters per second, roughly fifty-four kilometers per hour.
In contrast, Xiaqiu's maximum speed was only about forty-five kilometers per hour, translating to 15 meters per second.
But it lacked endurance.
After just a few bursts of speed, the Squid's pace began to slow down, and then it dropped sharply.
Heh heh heh, can't run anymore, can you?
Xiaqiu continued its relentless chase, closing the distance once more. Instead of attacking from behind, it moved to the side and lunged at the Squid's body with a powerful bite.
Crunch.
Xiaqiu's massive jaws clamped down on the midsection of the Squid's body, its sharp teeth piercing through its flesh, yet it did not kill it.
It wrapped its tentacles around Xiaqiu's head.
Five pairs of tentacles tightly coiled around Xiaqiu's head, preventing him from opening his mouth while simultaneously pulling down, hoping to control his movements.
The Giant Squid preys on whales and sharks by first suffocating them before consuming them.
Sharks have gills, allowing them to breathe underwater, but their breathing method relies on constant movement to draw water into their mouths and out through their gills, absorbing dissolved oxygen in the process.
Once they stop moving, sharks will suffocate and die.
Thus, the Squid wraps around them to halt their movement and kill them.
When dealing with whales, the Squid entangles them to prevent them from surfacing, leading to their demise.
Of course, the success rate is low; when targeting sharks, it can only engage those smaller than itself. However, due to different living environments, encounters are rare.
Whales, primarily Sperm Whales, weigh at least forty to fifty tons or more.
Therefore, the Giant Squid is an important food source for Sperm Whales.
This particular Giant Squid attempted to use this method to kill Xiaqiu.
The Giant Squid's tentacles possess immense strength, not only from muscle contraction but also from the gripping power of its suction cups.
The Short Arms have two rows of suction cups, each about ten centimeters in diameter, while the tentacles' diameter ranges from twenty-five to thirty-five centimeters.
The tentacles feature four rows of suction cups; in some areas, there can even be six rows, though their diameter is smaller and their strength less formidable.
Its tentacles can grasp weights exceeding ten or twenty times its own body weight.
However, it could not be restrained by the Giant Squid.
First, there was its size. The Giant Squid measured thirty-four meters in length, larger than even the biggest Sperm Whale, weighing over two hundred tons.
In contrast, a twenty-meter Giant Squid weighed just over a ton, barely reaching one and a half tons.
Such weight was essentially a joke when dealing with the Giant Squid.
Its Tentacles could not block the gills of the Giant Squid. With its body caught in the jaws of the Giant Squid, the six-meter-long Short Arms could only touch the gills at their tips, unable to fully obstruct them. Moreover, just at the gill openings, the Giant Squid already had four layers.
Additionally, it could not bind the mouth of the Giant Squid either. With a slight exertion of force, the Tentacles slipped free, allowing it to open its mouth and bite down again.
This time, it targeted an area near the eyes of the Giant Squid and began to tear at it slowly. The teeth ground down on the flesh, turning it into pulp.
After being bitten twice, the Giant Squid was unable to withstand any longer and died instantly. However, the Tentacles still clung to the body of the Giant Squid due to their instinctive control by the Suction Cups, actively adhering to it.
But without the muscle contractions controlled by the Giant Squid, this grip was too weak. As the Giant Squid shook its head while biting down on it, those Tentacles gradually fell away.
Then, the Giant Squid began to gnaw on its body along with its Tentacles, swallowing everything whole without leaving a single piece behind.
The Giant Squid felt its belly fill up.
Its weight was not particularly heavy, but its size was substantial; just one alone was enough to give it a sense of fullness.
It wondered if this one would suffice.
The Squids and Octopuses it usually consumed were at most five or six meters long.
This one was about twenty meters long and was a Giant Squid; it was uncertain whether it would allow for growth of new Tentacles.
Xiaqiu felt a sense of anticipation as she moved toward the direction she had come from. After traveling a short distance, Heat Flow appeared.
It had arrived.
The Heat Flow was intensely hot, unlike anything she had experienced before, but it wasn't overwhelming. It transformed into fine streams of Heat Flow that spread throughout her body.
These streams of Heat Flow continuously emerged and were consumed.
She wondered if it would work.
Xiaqiu prayed silently, but the Heat Flow began to fade, and her body showed no signs of change.
Had she failed?
Was she unable to grow tentacles?
Had she been indulging in wishful thinking?
A sense of disappointment washed over her. Tentacles could attack, ensnare, defend, and restrain.
With tentacles, she wouldn't have to worry about enemies targeting her vulnerable spots.
But she couldn't grow them.
She belonged to the phylum Chordata, while Octopuses and Squids belonged to the phylum Mollusca. They were from entirely different classifications; how could they ever merge?
Yet in the next moment, Xiaqiu felt something was amiss.
Octopus Eight was indeed Octopus Fishman, possessing both octopus and human traits, a combination of Chordata and Mollusca.
He can, so why can't I?
At that moment, Xiaqiu suddenly felt a tingling sensation in the lower part of his abdomen, spreading beneath the gills and between the Pectoral Fins.
The area measured about eight to nine meters in length, with a width just along the edges of the abdomen, situated between the Pectoral Fin and the Pelvic Fin.
Accompanying the tingling sensation, the scales in this part of his abdomen began to shed, replaced gradually by a budding base.
However, this part of his body slightly protruded from the abdomen, and the Heat Flow vanished without a trace; even the base had not fully developed, making it far from extending Tentacles.
But the mere appearance was enough.
This meant he could grow Tentacles.
What was lacking was more Evolutionary Energy.
So next, he needed to continue hunting for them.
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