Fighting Salt-Eating Sharks (Part 1)

"Alright! Get your tools ready, we're going down..." Uncle Kate's voice was as booming as ever.

"We're all ready!" the Hunting Squad members answered in unison.

Uncle Kate said, "Then let's go down."

Afterward, Uncle Kate and the Hunting Squad members tied the ropes to specially secured stone pillars. Holding one end of the Tenglan in one hand and a Harpoon in the other, they descended straight down the sheer Rock wall.

The Hunting Squad soon reached the base of the island. Below the island was a shallow beach only one meter deep, with no rocky ground to stand on.

The seabed extending outward from the shallow beach formed a breathtaking curve. Starting from the one-meter-deep shallows beneath the island, the water only deepened by ten meters over a distance of ten kilometers. In other words, the sea ten kilometers away was eleven meters deep.

Yet beyond those ten kilometers, it abruptly became a cliff that plunged straight down into a seabed tens of thousands of meters deep, surrounded by Large Sea Kings of all sizes.

Fortunately, the Sea Salt was spread across the seabed within that ten-kilometer radius. Otherwise, things would have been troublesome.

The Sea Salt here was formed when the Divine Tree desalinated seawater and discharged it outside. Once it accumulated, it formed chunks of rock salt scattered across the seabed.

All the Hunting Squad members needed to do now was dive down and mine it. But it was not completely safe...

Dark green seaweed clung to the salt blocks, rocks, and grains of sand on the seafloor, making the waters around Ring Tree Island look dark green. It was somewhat unnerving to look at, but the Hunting Squad members were clearly used to it. After gripping their tools tightly, they dove into the water in pairs, one after another, their expressions alert.

They swam toward waters six meters deep. The deeper the seabed, the more salt had accumulated there, making it easier to mine.

But it was also often more dangerous!

Brother Rhine and the island's youths watched the dark green waters below with tense expressions, as though some terrifying monster were hiding beneath the surface.

Luo Han also stared nervously below. Although most of the Hunting Squad members mining Sea Salt underwater were the families of these children...

After all these years, everyone on the island had cared for him like family. Luo Han had long since come to see them as family too.

The Hunting Squad members worked in pairs. One was responsible for mining the Sea Salt, while the other kept watch and guarded them. Once the Tenglan was full of salt blocks, Luo Han and the others standing on the island would pull it up. Then they switched, with one mining and the other standing guard.

Time slowly passed amid the tense atmosphere.

The Hunting Squad members had all rotated at least once. Only Uncle Kate remained floating at the very front, his eyes fixed intently beneath the surface.

As though his gaze could pierce through to the seafloor!

Have they come? And there are quite a few of them! Uncle Kate narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming even more steady.

"Hey! You bastards! The little fish are here. Don't let those little beasts get near the ones mining!" Uncle Kate's wild voice rang out!

At this, the squad members' expressions turned solemn as they prepared for battle.

Up on the island, Luo Han and the others did not know what had happened. But when they saw the Hunting Squad members below begin to stand guard, they focused even more intently on the distant waters.

Luo Han and the others were not only there to pull up the filled salt blocks—they also served as danger lookouts.

"Not good! The Salt-Eating Sharks are here! Uncles, be careful!" someone suddenly shouted beside them.

Salt-Eating Sharks were sharks that loved to consume large amounts of salt, which was why the island residents called them that!

Whenever the Hunting Squad mined Sea Salt, they would be attacked by Salt-Eating Sharks. Sometimes there were many, sometimes few.

Judging by this, there aren't too many this time. The Hunting Squad should be able to handle them.

Luo Han thought silently.

In the distance, an arrow-shaped wave sped toward the Hunting Squad across the sea.

"Pull the ropes! Warn the Hunting Squad members!" Brother Rhine knew the Hunting Squad had probably already spotted the Salt-Eating Sharks, but he still immediately gave the loud order to remind everyone to pull the ropes.

Luo Han quickly pulled on a rope as well. One end of it was tied to a Hunting Squad member.

Pulling the rope could warn the Hunting Squad members that danger was approaching.

Following the ropes with their eyes, they saw a large school of Salt-Eating Sharks already at the front of the Hunting Squad, rapidly swimming toward them.

Salt-Eating Sharks were about the same size as great white sharks on Earth, three to four meters long. They did not look very big, but they were far more ferocious and cruel than great whites. Their bodies were dark green, making them even harder to spot in these dark green waters. Only Luo Han and the others standing on the island could clearly see them when the shark school moved.

After being warned by Luo Han, Cole, and the others, the Hunting Squad members still mining underwater surfaced one after another.

They drew close in pairs and quickly formed an arrowhead aimed at the school of Salt-Eating Sharks.

Clearly, the Hunting Squad members had discovered the incoming sharks long ago.

Facing the school of Salt-Eating Sharks, the squad members gripped their Harpoons tightly and slowly retreated. Uncle Kate floated at the rear point of the formation, directing everything.

"Everyone! Stay in pairs and cover each other!" Uncle Kate watched the calm sea, reminding everyone with a focused gaze.

"They're here! Thirty on my right—attack directly!"

"Thirty on the left too. One of them is six meters long. Close in and attack carefully!"

Uncle Kate directed them with a grave expression.

The Hunting Squad members on the right drew their arms back, gripping their four-meter Harpoons tightly. Blood vessels as thick as fingers bulged rapidly along their arms, like springs compressed to the limit. The instant the Salt-Eating Sharks approached, they thrust forward.

In an instant, streams of invisible force shot toward the school of Salt-Eating Sharks.

Bang!!!

The violent collision caused explosions of compressed air to ring out in succession, bursting between the Salt-Eating Sharks and the Hunting Squad members. The sharks seemed to have struck an invisible iron wall and scattered backward.

The scattered Salt-Eating Sharks bore only shallow bloody marks. Clearly, that condensed attack had not inflicted any fatal damage.

Bang... hiss...

The sharks on the left were driven back as well. The six-meter Salt-Eating Shark was even swept in half by Uncle Kate's Harpoon. Bright red blood instantly spread through the water.

The school of Salt-Eating Sharks swiftly swam toward the deep sea, as though they were frightened.

Cheers erupted from the island!

Little Fatty Cole and the others excitedly raised their hands and waved them around, as though they had driven off the Salt-Eating Sharks themselves.

Only Luo Han and Brother Rhine did not cheer! The Salt-Eating Sharks had not scattered and fled. Instead, they were all rapidly swimming in the same direction. Clearly, something in that direction was restraining them, preventing them from fleeing in fear. It was probably the king of the Salt-Eating Sharks!

On the Hunting Squad's side, they watched the school of Salt-Eating Sharks lingering a thousand meters away for a long time...

Suddenly, Uncle Kate's pupils contracted! So big! At least ten meters long. And my Observation Haki didn't detect that beast just now! What incredible ability to conceal its presence! He worried inwardly.

This is troublesome!

"That's enough for today! Head back immediately!" Uncle Kate ordered the squad members.