The western lands were not vast in area, and the population was sparse, especially in these sea areas where even commercial vessels rarely ventured. Small islands dotted the surroundings.
Seeing the dark and desolate appearance of the island before him, Parker felt a slight chill in his heart due to his long experience at sea.
He intended to move to another more open and familiar location, but the crates of plump sea urchins brought back by the crew replaced his faint unease with countless banknotes.
With each haul returning fully loaded, the crew relaxed once again, especially when they spotted the head-sized lobsters hiding among the seaweed. Their spirits soared.
These creatures were even more valuable than individual sea urchins, but they did not have the license to catch lobsters.
However, why couldn’t they “accidentally” catch a few large lobsters during their fishing trip?
The crew members emerged from the water one by one, excitedly holding the lobsters they had caught, their cheers echoing across the silent sea.
The water here was much deeper than the previous location, and its clarity was also diminished.
As a result, none of them noticed that a massive, pitch-black creature was rapidly approaching, drawn by their voices.
Zhong Xiwang watched enviously as the crew members held the large lobsters, secretly wondering why she wasn’t so lucky.
After joking and laughing with everyone on the surface for a while, Karen dove back into the water to continue searching for sea urchins.
Just as he skillfully hooked sea urchins into his net, he failed to notice that the damselfish that had been gathering around him had disappeared, as if sensing some danger and hiding away.
Karen’s vision was limited by his goggles, allowing him to see only the clusters of sea urchins in front of him.
When he had filled his net and tried to ascend, he found it too heavy to pull.
Karen lowered his head to carefully check what it had snagged on.
Instead, he discovered a massive body pressing down on the back of his net. Its broad form was covered in thick, pitch-black scales, with several pairs of sharp limbs gently gliding through the water.
Karen’s heart skipped a beat. He turned around.
It felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen in an instant. A huge, bizarre creature hovered silently above him, its body coiling like a centipede.
On the heart-shaped armor of its head, six eyes glowed with an eerie, faint green light.
The moment Karen looked up, the massive head lunged toward him. Two hook-like weapons near its mouth pierced through Karen’s neck, and a few strands of blood quickly dissipated into the deep seawater.
The monster swam away with Karen’s body in its jaws. Due to its rapid movement, the resistance of the water soon caused the fragile human neck to snap, leaving the head dangling by a thread of flesh and swaying with the currents.
As Karen’s neck broke, more blood gushed out, quickly detected by the keen senses of aquatic creatures. Only after the monster had left did they arrive belatedly, sniffing the lingering scent of blood in the water.
The others did not realize Karen had disappeared, only noticing the sudden appearance of many great white sharks around them.
These creatures were the most sensitive to the smell of blood.
Although she knew they didn’t eat humans, Zhong Xiwang still felt uneasy looking at these creatures longer than herself.
Especially the two rows of serrated, sharp teeth they exposed, as if they could easily pierce flesh and snap her bones.
Zhong Xiwang cautiously swung her legs upward.
The great white sharks merely sniffed curiously around them before swimming away disinterestedly, continuing their aimless patrol of something.
Only after surfacing did they realize everyone else had come up too, all wondering why these strangely behaving great white sharks had suddenly approached.
Suddenly, Paul on the small boat anxiously asked, “Where’s Karen? Didn’t he come up with you?”
Hearing this, everyone immediately looked around.
Indeed, Karen was nowhere to be seen.
Some brave team members dove back into the water to check, only finding the bag of sea urchins Karen had left behind, with no trace of him.
Realizing something was wrong, Paul told everyone to come up first while he called Karen’s name across the water.
Everyone scrambled onto the small boat. Chuck, lagging behind, called for help to pull him up. Just as his hand grabbed the edge, he seemed to be dragged by something, letting out a pained scream before vanishing from everyone’s sight in the blink of an eye, disappearing beneath the water’s surface.
Everyone’s faces instantly turned pale.
Because in that split second, they seemed to see a long, dark figure flickering beneath the water.
Zhong Xiwang hurriedly climbed aboard, nervously asking Jess, “What was that just now…?”
Jess’s expression was grim, his eyes fixed rigidly on the water as he muttered blankly, “I don’t know either…”
Poor Chuck—after being dragged under, the water’s surface barely rippled before he was gone without a trace.
In the azure sea, not even a hint of blood could be distinguished.
Either he was dragged into the unfathomable depths, or that unknown creature had swiftly carried him away.
It wasn’t until they saw the triangular dorsal fin of a shark again that everyone suddenly realized—where had the missing Karen gone?
The unknown terror sent chills down everyone’s spines.
Someone panicked and shouted, “Start the boat! Let’s go, hurry!”
“But… Chuck…”
“Who dares to save him? No one, Paul! Get us out of here!” a team member screamed in terror.
Paul hesitated briefly, about to start the boat, when his body suddenly froze as he looked into the water.
A dark, segmented body flashed before his eyes, then vanished just as quickly.
It had returned so soon!
Seeing him motionless, a confused team member urgently urged, “What are you doing, Paul? Start the boat now!”
No sooner had he spoken than the entire boat lurched violently, as if something had rammed it hard from below.
The unstable boat sent everyone into panicked screams, which only seemed to provoke the unknown creature beneath to strike more frequently.
The small boat they were on was originally meant for transporting sea urchins. Now, besides half a load of sea urchins, there were five or six crew members aboard, leaving almost no space.
The boat rocked precariously, like a fragile leaf.