The more the crew members screamed in panic, the fiercer the impacts from below became.
Zhong Xiwang’s heart leaped into her throat, her trembling arms gripping the railing tightly.
This was her first time participating in the work, yet she never expected to encounter an unknown creature that even the seasoned sailors had never seen before.
Due to the movements of the creature below, the seawater began to ripple with waves.
The heavy small boat quickly lost its stability.
With a sudden scream, a crew member tilted and fell overboard, their flailing hands grabbing onto the person beside them, and both plunged into the water.
The small boat lost its balance and completely capsized.
On the other side, Parker on the fishing boat saw this and hurried over.
Several people bobbed their heads above the water, desperately waving their arms as they swam toward the fishing boat.
At the same time, another crew member screamed as they were dragged underwater.
Seeing this, Zhong Xiwang looked at the fishing boat, still some distance away from everyone, and swam with all her might toward the closer shore.
The others hadn’t realized it yet, but in her panic, Zhong Xiwang became aware.
The unknown creature seemed highly sensitive to sound—wherever the sound was, it lingered there.
Listening to the continuous screams behind her, Zhong Xiwang kept her mouth open to breathe, not uttering a sound as she moved her limbs.
Watching the crew members disappear one by one from the water’s surface, Parker on the boat shouted urgently, “Hurry! Come over here!”
Noticing Zhong Xiwang swimming in the opposite direction, he even yelled anxiously, cursing, “Damn it! Stupid Xi, come this way!”
Zhong Xiwang ignored his calls.
The crew members were all over there, screaming in fear one after another. That monster was surely lurking near them. She had no intention of joining them in such obvious danger.
The more people gathered, the more conspicuous the target would be. Over there, she had only a ten percent chance of being rescued, but swimming toward the shore gave her a fifty percent chance.
Thinking this, she moved her arms and legs even faster.
Seeing Zhong Xiwang stubbornly persist, Parker stopped paying attention to her. After tossing down ropes and lifebuoys, he felt waves of panic as the monster still hadn’t fully revealed itself.
Turning back into the cabin, he pulled out a rifle, his eyes scanning the water for any sign of movement.
The ‘bang, bang’ gunshots made Zhong Xiwang’s heart pound violently once again.
She never looked back until her hands and feet finally touched the soft sandy ground. She quickly rolled over, lying on the ground and gasping for air.
With weak and trembling hands, she removed the protective gear from her head, pulled down the tight collar of her suit, and after freeing herself, turned her head to observe the situation over there.
The crew members disappeared one by one.
In the turbulent water, only Jess and Paul’s heads remained, bobbing up and down with the waves.
Captain Pike raised his rifle, firing repeatedly into the water around them to deter the unseen creature from approaching.
Around them, the color of the seawater had changed. The already murky water was now stained with large amounts of blood, and several triangular dorsal fins circled the fishing boat.
As Zhong Xiwang focused on the situation over there, behind her in the silent forest, the slender eerie figure ‘watched’ her striking red hair and slowly drew closer.
Unaware of the danger, Zhong Xiwang suddenly shivered. She propped up her sore and weak body, took off her diving suit, and pulled out the pistol tucked at the small of her back.
Holding this object seemed to bring her a sense of security.
Watching Jess and Paul finally grab the rope and begin climbing toward the fishing boat under Parker’s covering fire, Zhong Xiwang also breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, it should be her turn to be picked up.
Parker over there also saw Zhong Xiwang standing up and was about to tell her to wait where she was, but his open mouth produced no sound. His eyes stared in terror at something behind her.
Sensing something wrong, Zhong Xiwang slowly turned her head.
She saw a Tall Slender Monster standing behind her, its appearance unknown since when. This monster had no facial features, its grayish-white head was bald, and the proportions of its body and limbs were utterly bizarre, with two arms so long they dragged directly on the ground.
It bent slightly, hunching over as it gazed eerily down at the dazzling little figure before it.
A low, terrifying roar seemed to emanate from its abdomen, causing Zhong Xiwang’s pupils to tremble violently.
The grotesque form combined with this dreadful sound made Zhong Xiwang feel as if she had seen a ghost.
The terror of being nearly face-to-face finally unleashed the scream she had suppressed for so long, uncontrollably escaping her throat.
“Ah!”
Zhong Xiwang’s face instantly turned deathly pale from fright. Her hands and feet, already exhausted from swimming desperately to shore, had not yet regained their strength. Now, seeing such a bizarre creature so close to her, her entire body went limp.
And because of her sharp scream, the underwater creatures originally surrounding the fishing boat swiftly swam toward her.
Seeing the rapidly moving black figures from the boat, Parker immediately shouted anxiously, “Xi! Run! Run!”
But Zhong Xiwang could no longer hear Captain Pike’s voice; her ears were filled with a constant ringing.
Watching the Slender Monster bend down and lean toward her, Zhong Xiwang raised her pistol.
Just as the monster before her was about to touch her, a massive black figure suddenly burst out of the water, slamming into the Slender Monster in front of her and sending it stumbling backward.
Hearing the commotion, Zhong Xiwang opened her eyes to see the wide, segmented body resembling a centipede beside her. On both sides, multiple pairs of blade-like appendages swayed as it fought with the Slender Monster.
The sight made Zhong Xiwang’s scalp tingle, and she inadvertently pulled the trigger.
Bang
It was unclear where she hit, but the Centipede Monster tearing at the Slender Monster released it and turned its head to look at Zhong Xiwang.
On its Heart-shaped Head, the Six Glowing Single Eyes stared sinisterly at this overconfident bipedal human.
Anger caused the Two Barb-like Hook Claws at the Tip of the Pointed Mouth to tremble.
Startled, Zhong Xiwang fired several more shots in rapid succession.
Not daring to look at the scene before her any longer, she quickly scrambled to her feet and ran toward the approaching fishing boat.
To be honest, she did not want to enter the seawater.
Compared to the unreal feeling of the seawater, she preferred to keep her feet on solid ground—at least it felt more familiar to her.
But Parker and the others were also calling out to her.
Instinctively, Zhong Xiwang turned and ran toward the direction of the voices.
Seeing this, both monsters shifted their attention and pursued the fleeing prey.
Several Tentacles suddenly extended from the back of the Slender Monster, entangling the Centipede Monster while reaching out to grab Zhong Xiwang.
Feeling a tight grip around her waist, Zhong Xiwang only had time to let out a startled cry before being swiftly carried by the Slender Monster into the forest behind.
The Centipede Monster, after emitting a series of angry roars, slithered after them in close pursuit.
Not only could it swim swiftly in water, but its speed on land was also astonishingly fast.
Watching their disappearing figures, the people on the boat exchanged bewildered glances, all panicking and at a loss.