Trap

In the deep ocean, a school of shimmering silver fish followed the current, numbering well over a thousand.

These fish had spindle-shaped bodies, silver-white all over, with bony spikes covering the rear halves of their backs and bellies near their tail fins.

They had mouths. Seawater entered through them, then flowed out through their gills.

Tuna.

A fish with an extremely high reproductive capacity. A fifty-kilogram female could lay five million eggs a year.

Their spawning season was especially long, and they grew quickly.

Tuna had broad diets and could be found across many seas, making them one of the most widespread varieties of marine fish.

They were also among the few fish in this world that lived in the ocean yet were rarely aggressive and did not have mouths full of sharp teeth.

The moment he saw them,

Xia Qiu charged out, swimming against the current toward them.

Splash.

Xia Qiu's arrival scattered the tuna in every direction, but there were simply too many of them. More than a dozen tuna were still swallowed into his belly.

After eating those fish, Xia Qiu began pursuing the tuna around him.

With every bite, he swallowed several tuna.

But tuna were too fast.

Their gill muscles had degenerated. To breathe, they had to keep swimming so fresh water could flow over their gill covers and supply oxygen.

As a result, they swam every moment of their lives. Their average speed was thirty to forty kilometers per hour, while their top speed could even reach one hundred and sixty kilometers per hour.

While swimming at high speed, a tuna's body temperature rose above that of the surrounding water.

They also ate enormous amounts. A single meal accounted for roughly eighteen percent of their body weight.

The tuna sped away into the distance. Xia Qiu pursued one relatively large school, and after eating it, he sluggishly withdrew.

More than a hundred tuna were already enough.

Xia Qiu had recently discovered the migration route of tuna schools. He had caught more than a dozen schools and eaten over a thousand tuna.

Although the amount of food was nowhere near enough to fill his stomach, it was already sufficient for his evolution.

Crack, crack, crack.

Spikes began growing one by one from Xia Qiu's back and belly. They were shaped like equilateral triangles, extremely hard, and somewhat similar to the spikes near the rear of certain tuna's backs and bellies.

The first time Xia Qiu ate tuna, he felt subtle changes in his body. After attacking several more tuna schools, he discovered that he had grown spikes.

These spikes were highly useful and gave him additional means of attack.

Xia Qiu's current attacks mainly consisted of his teeth, the ram horn on his head, the hard spines of his fins, and tail strikes.

It was still not enough. His body and belly were both weak points.

If he grew spikes, his belly would gain more offensive power.

Imagine Xia Qiu swimming rapidly as he attacked other gigantic fish. His spikes would scrape across their bodies, leaving wounds along their sides.

If he encountered someone like Berio again, circling around his body to attack his belly, then he could attack with his belly as well.

So in the time that followed, Xia Qiu continuously preyed on tuna.

At that point, Xia Qiu discovered that after eating certain marine fish, he could grow the corresponding organs and traits from them.

This was a rather good method.

That way, he could selectively prey on certain marine fish.

But there were still too few, and they were too small.

Xia Qiu was very dissatisfied with the size of his current spikes, so he planned to continue hunting and wait for the next school of tuna.

Xia Qiu slowly swam into the distance and began hunting other marine fish.

By now, Xia Qiu had reached eighteen meters in length and weighed nearly fifty tons.

At that size, he was already a colossal creature.

His appearance was not much different from when he had been fifteen meters long.

The ram horn on his head had become even larger, and his body was tougher as well.

Xia Qiu was extremely cautious, venturing deeper into the ocean bit by bit, only far enough to ensure he could catch sufficient food.

As a result, there were basically no natural predators within the range he could reach.

Even the occasional marine fish over twenty meters long were no match for Xia Qiu.

After feeding on humans, Xia Qiu's body had become extraordinarily powerful. Against creatures of the same size, he possessed utterly overwhelming combat strength.

But it still was not enough. His strength was still too weak.

He needed to become stronger.

As Xia Qiu thought this, he suddenly caught a strange scent in the seawater.

What was this?

The moment Xia Qiu smelled it, he felt incomparably hungry, and his desire to feed grew incredibly intense.

What was it?

Xia Qiu looked into the distance. The scent was coming from that direction.

This smell...

The hunger in Xia Qiu's belly kept growing, taking control of his urges.

Go take a look.

With that thought, Xia Qiu swung his body and swam toward its source.

"Colonel Lido, that marine fish is very intelligent. I wonder whether it can be lured here."

On the Marine warship, Kurume stared into the depths of the sea. Countless fish swarmed around them, battering the waters surrounding the ship. Even the bottom of the vessel echoed with slapping impacts.

"This Capture Agent releases a dense bloody smell, as well as a unique Inducer. It can attract large marine fish that have keen senses and feed on flesh and blood. It was made specifically for large marine fish. Whether marine fish or sea beasts, even Sea Kings will be drawn here."

Beside Kurume, a burly man in Marine uniform said, "As long as it is nearby, we can lure it over. Then I will kill it."

"With Colonel Lido taking action, that marine fish is nothing to fear."

Kurume hurriedly said.

The burly man was Colonel Lido. He smiled and said softly, "Kurume, I will give you all the credit for killing it this time."

"If we succeed, it will be Colonel Lido's credit. This subordinate would not dare claim it."

Kurume quickly replied.

Lido waved a hand. "I will put the credit under your name. That marine fish has already been classified as a threatening sea beast. If you kill it, you will have enough merit to be promoted to Commander."

Although Xia Qiu was still a marine fish rather than a sea beast, he possessed immense growth potential and posed a powerful threat.

In just a month and a half, he had grown from seven meters to fifteen meters.

He had also killed Lieutenant Colonel Berio and endangered a small village.

Therefore, after Lido received the report, he submitted the alert to his superiors, embellishing it heavily. The villagers, concerned for their own safety, also gave their accounts.

As a result, the Marine East China Sea Division designated the marine fish as a kill target and classified it as a sea beast.

As long as they killed it and resolved the problem, it would count as a major military achievement.

Kurume was still a Lieutenant Commander, but he had already accumulated considerable merit.

Half a month ago, he had defeated the Porcupine Pirates and killed their captain, Muir. That counted as a major achievement.

But such merit was not enough to promote him to Commander.

However, if he killed a sea beast as well, it would basically be enough.

Hearing this, Kurume looked somewhat excited and quickly said, "Colonel Lido, my strength is still lacking. I fear I may not be qualified to..."

"Strength is not important."

Colonel Lido interrupted Kurume, glanced at him, and said with a smile, "What matters most is that you can get things done, that you can get things done for me."

"I will certainly perform my duties faithfully, remain loyal to you, and obey your orders."

Kurume immediately said upon hearing this.

"Very good."

Colonel Lido nodded, highly satisfied with Kurume's words. What he wanted was Kurume's loyalty.

The reason Lido was willing to help Kurume, had not taken any of the credit for Kurume's defeat of the Porcupine Pirates, and even intended to give him the credit for killing the marine fish was because Kurume was highly capable.

Berio was dead, yet there had not been a single problem with the collection of Security Fees at the branch base.

On the contrary, several villages had praised Kurume, and even the sailors under his command spoke highly of him.

Not only that, after defeating the Porcupine Pirates, he had towed their pirate ship back, repaired it, and sold it off for a large sum of money.

The treasure plundered by the pirate crew had also been brought back to the base, and Lido himself had gotten a large share of it.

He was a qualified subordinate. His responsibilities already called for the rank of Commander, and with Berio dead, the 154th Branch also needed a Commander.

As for whether his rise in rank would threaten him?

His strength was poor. Lido had fought him before, and Kurume could not withstand even a single move from him. At most, he was Lieutenant Commander level.

The reason he had been able to kill Muir, who had a five-million bounty, was likely because the Porcupine Pirates had committed especially heinous acts, while their actual strength was not particularly high. Kurume had also relied on the power of a warship.

With Kurume's strength, he was simply incapable of handling the dangers faced by the 154th Branch base.

Faced with such an absolute gap in strength, Lido did not care about Kurume's promotion.

Thinking this, Lido looked toward the surface of the water and waited for that marine fish to arrive.