Jiang Ye’s first reaction was to turn and run. The best strategy was to flee, to avoid provoking a large monster whose background was unknown.
But it was too late. The sonar screen showed that the giant underwater creature was heading straight for the ship, and would collide in a few seconds!
If he couldn’t run, he would fight. Jiang Ye decisively clicked the screen and cast his net!
The fishing net shot out instantly,扑向 the dark blue water.
A moment of silence followed, and the entire fishing boat vibrated, clearly having snagged something quite powerful.
Jiang Ye’s forehead was covered in sweat from nervousness. He expected a chaotic struggle, believing that any species growing into a behemoth in the deep sea would be no pushover and would not stay quietly in the net.
However, after a few seconds, there was no second vibration. According to the sonar display, the sea beast at the bottom was indeed caught in the net, but it wasn’t struggling. Instead, it remained still within the net.
This eerie calm made it even more frightening. In an instant, at least twenty negative possibilities flashed through his mind.
Jiang Ye made a decisive move: reel in the net!
He reasoned that the sea beast might never have been caught in a fishing net before. Suddenly being covered by the net might have stunned it, leaving it unsure how to react. He had to pull it out of the water before it could react. Fierce creatures in the water would have their combat power drastically reduced once removed from the water. No matter how formidable it was, once it was in the hold, it would be at his mercy!
The crane let out a sharp screech, a warning of overload. The fishing net was slowly reeled upwards.
A large, dark ball of fishing net emerged from the sea, water gushing from thousands of its mesh eyes. The thing inside the net was astonishingly large, spherical, and at least eight meters in diameter! Jiang Ye looked out from the window of the captain’s cabin, his scalp tingling. Many snake-like black things in the fishing net were wriggling rhythmically. Could it be a nest of sea snakes they had caught?
The fishing net was finally brought onto the deck, and the next step was to move it into the hold.
Black tentacles suddenly emerged from the fishing net, first one, then a large cluster like a swarm of snakes. With a piercing sound, the sturdy fishing net was torn apart!
The sea monster was out!
In an instant, Jiang Ye had a terrifying thought: its lack of struggle underwater wasn’t due to being stunned at all, but because it was waiting to be hauled onto the deck!
He clicked to cast the net again, intending to push the creature back into the sea. But it was too late. It had completely emerged and spread its body across the wide deck:
A black octopus, two stories high, its bloated head as large as a small car, was covered in honeycomb-like pores, expelling water vapor as if sneezing. Over twenty snake-like tentacles, each as thick as a person’s thigh, spread out wantonly on the deck, resembling a seductive black flower, almost encompassing half the fishing boat! Its skin was so black it gleamed, covered in wet seawater, as if made of oil.
Every hair on Jiang Ye’s body stood on end. He quickly closed the doors and windows of the captain’s cabin, then lifted the storage box by the wall, pulling out the Kalashnikov assault rifle he had brought.
There was a small hole in the window for ventilation, but it was just enough to extend the barrel through.
Jiang Ye aimed at its head and fired!
Amidst the brilliant muzzle flash, bullets were fired in a rapid succession, all hitting the octopus’s head and entering the honeycomb-like pores.
Jiang Ye threw the empty magazine onto the floor and quickly inserted a new one.
A scene that chilled him to the bone appeared. The pores on the octopus’s head expelled another burst of water vapor, and dozens of bullets were sprayed out, falling onto the deck like beans. These bullets couldn’t harm it at all!
The octopus suddenly straightened up, exposing its belly, which was a brilliant bright yellow, as if gilded. Immediately, a thick golden fluid was sprayed out, shooting out like a high-pressure water cannon for more than ten meters, splashing all over the captain’s cabin glass. All the windows vibrated in unison, making a sound like crashing waves!
There were metal wipers below the glass. Two seconds after the golden liquid sprayed onto them, all the wipers broke, then dissolved with a sizzling sound, emitting a puff of white smoke.
The golden fluid sprayed by the octopus was a strong acid!
Jiang Ye fired another magazine, this time aiming not at the head, but at the tentacles. The seemingly smooth tentacles were surprisingly tough; bullets bounced off them, and not a single one injured it!
Immediately after, the tentacles reached out, with over a dozen tentacles slamming onto the glass simultaneously. The base of the tentacles was covered with circular suction cups, each the size of a small teacup, densely covering the entire window. Jiang Ye could no longer see anything outside. All he saw were thousands of circles, making him dizzy.
He didn’t know what the octopus intended to do, but it might very well be lethal. The more critical the situation, the calmer Jiang Ye became. He rushed to the screen and, within ten seconds, completed the fishing boat’s turn. Then, he pushed the engine to full throttle, retreating towards the shore at full speed!
Jiang Ye had no way to deal with this octopus. Perhaps he could find a solution back on shore. If he stayed here, this creature could trap him to death.
The octopus was extremely agitated, smashing the window glass with its tentacles. Its strength was astonishing. Each smash was a startling thud, and the glass kept vibrating. However, its quality was quite robust, and it didn’t break.
Finding that it couldn’t break the glass, the octopus changed its strategy. It used its tentacle tips to carefully stroke the window, finally finding the small ventilation hole at the bottom. Then, a tentacle extended in.
The thickness of the tentacle tip was comparable to a person’s thigh. It actually squeezed through the small hole, moving like a liquid, slithering forward and dangling onto the floor, crawling ahead.
A large fire axe hung on the wall. Jiang Ye took it directly. The axe was made entirely of metal, weighing at least twenty pounds, and its blade was terrifyingly large. Jiang Ye raised the axe overhead and swung it down with all his might.
The axe bounced back, not as if it had struck an octopus tentacle, but as if it had struck thick rubber. The oily black tentacle only showed a shallow mark, oozing black blood like petroleum. Jiang Ye roared and swung twice more, his hands going numb, but he finally severed a section!
The severed tentacle retracted, and then the suction cups on the window detached.
The octopus on the deck coiled itself into a ball and slowly advanced. It had a monarch-like dignity, its massive head coming right up to the window, pressing tightly against the glass.
Two scarlet eyes, through the glass, stared at Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye, holding the axe, met its gaze. Its eyes had vertical pupils like a cat’s, and its eyes were surrounded by honeycomb-like pores. With each breath, it left a large area of moisture on the glass, making it exceptionally terrifying.
The two creatures stared at each other through the window for a full minute. The octopus suddenly turned, jumped off the deck, and plunged into the sea, creating a large splash.
All that remained on the deck was viscous golden-yellow fluid, bubbling like carbonated soda, each bubble the size of a ping pong ball.
Jiang Ye let go, gasping for air. The axe clanged onto the floor, its blade already chipped.
The fishing boat docked at the pier.
Jiang Ye cautiously pushed open the door. The door panel had been corroded by the acid, leaving only a thin layer.
He carefully walked on the areas not covered by acid, disembarked, retrieved a pot, and then came back aboard.
In the bathroom, he turned on the shower to fill the pot with water, then poured it onto the deck. The moment the acid came into contact with the water, it hissed, as if water had been poured into a hot oil pan.
He had to wash off all the acid on the boat, otherwise, it would be too dangerous.
He worked for over two hours, cleaning more than half of the deck.
As he was carrying another pot of water to the deck, Jiang Ye suddenly froze.
At the edge of the deck, where the giant octopus had initially been squatting, there was a pile of orange-yellow material.
It was viscous and oily, enough to fill an entire pot. It looked like the yolks of over a hundred eggs piled together.
Jiang Ye poured the water from his pot onto it, but the pile of egg yolks did not disperse. It stubbornly clung to its spot.
His intuition told him that this pile was likely the giant octopus’s feces.
This was because a fishy, foul smell was emanating from the pile of egg yolks, making him feel nauseous.
However, some animal feces were quite valuable. He wondered if this lump was expensive.
Jiang Ye disembarked, returned to the base, got a shovel and a sack, and then boarded the ship again.
He inserted the shovel into the pile of egg yolks, feeling as if he were digging into glue.
He shoveled all the egg yolks into the sack, carried it, and threw it into the trading bay.
After a brief scan, the information appeared:
[Item: Black King Octopus Fertilized Eggs]
[Item Description: The Black King Octopus is a famous sea monster, a variant of the giant octopus, possibly mutated by nuclear wastewater radiation. When mature, it can weigh up to 2480 kilograms and have up to 40 tentacles. It can spray acid and has an enormous appetite. There are records of Black King Octopuses devouring whales, sharks, colossal squids, and giant abyssal worms, making them a scourge of the sea. Some scientists claim that Black King Octopuses may possess intelligence superior to humans and often gather in groups, suggesting possible social behavior. Their fertilized eggs are egg-yolk-like, with a 1% hatching rate. When processed, they are valuable health supplements.]
[Quantity: 60 intact fertilized eggs, 12 damaged fertilized eggs]
[Estimated Value: 601,200 yuan]