Injured

On the seafloor, Xia Qiu opened his huge mouth and swallowed a pomfret whole. Looking around, he saw that all the fish had fled without a trace, yet his stomach was still hungry.

After half a month of growth, Xia Qiu was now nearly two meters long and weighed around one hundred kilograms. His appearance had changed drastically.

First was his body shape. It was spindle-shaped, extremely robust, and covered in silvery-white scales.

Then there was his head, enormous and somewhat like a catfish's, though not flattened. The top of his head was rounded, with a slight bulge in the center that formed a vertical ridge.

His mouth was also split wide enough to open at an unbelievable angle.

The teeth in his mouth had been replaced twice more. They were longer, thicker, and sharper now, and he had four rows of teeth.

Then came his barbels. Xia Qiu had grown a pair beside his mouth, each about thirty centimeters long.

The barbels were highly useful. He could use them to measure distances and determine whether he could fit through a particular space.

They could also sense ocean currents and relay sensations when they touched objects, making them extremely useful for hunting at night.

Besides that, Xia Qiu's dorsal fins had changed. They had begun to thicken, and hard spines had grown from them.

The first dorsal fin was a vertical triangle, with hard spines growing from its front edge and covering the fin.

The second dorsal fin was longer and rectangular, but it had grown four or five hard spines that protruded from and connected back to the fin. This made the dorsal fin rise and fall like waves, with a distinct point at its highest position.

With hard spines growing from his dorsal fins, his vertical balance had improved. He was steadier in the water and had gained some defensive and offensive capability.

At the same time, Xia Qiu's appetite had become astonishing. He ate around three to four kilograms in a single meal, and could consume as much as six kilograms at most. He had to eat several times a day, consuming more than half his body weight daily.

Fish that fed only on small fish, planktonic crustaceans, marine worms, and seaweed could no longer satisfy Xia Qiu.

He had no choice but to expand his hunting grounds, heading farther away to hunt larger sea fish.

Whoosh.

Xia Qiu swam into the distance. The water grew deeper, and the light in the depths of the ocean became increasingly dim.

The fish around him were growing larger as well. There were quite a few that measured fifty or sixty centimeters long.

Was that a bass?

Xia Qiu locked onto a fish in the distance. It was around sixty centimeters long, laterally flattened, with a high back, a somewhat pointed head, and a large mouth.

Its body was covered in tiny ctenoid scales, and its gill covers were serrated. It was fierce by nature and fed on fish and shrimp.

Bass could grow to around one meter long and weigh over ten kilograms.

The one before him was sixty centimeters long and weighed roughly four kilograms.

That's the one.

Xia Qiu immediately shot forward, charging toward the bass in the distance.

Splash.

The bass spotted Xia Qiu. His massive body radiated an oppressive aura, and even though the bass was naturally fierce, it still chose to flee.

Whoosh.

The bass swung its body and swam away.

But before it could get far, Xia Qiu's enormous body had already caught up. Once he closed in, he accelerated again and bit toward its tail.

Crunch.

His enormous head swallowed nearly half of its body. His four rows of sharp teeth closed, and a chunk of the other fish's body immediately vanished.

Splatter.

A cloud of blood exploded from the bass's rear half. It was dead beyond doubt.

Xia Qiu continued tearing at it, swallowing every part of its body except its head.

I should find some more food.

Xia Qiu planned to eat more and reach his maximum intake, which would make the digestion time longer.

But at that moment, a school of fish surged toward him, flashing with silver light.

These fish were not especially long, only thirty to forty centimeters each. Their bodies were slender, their heads relatively large, and their mouths wide, their scales gleaming silver.

There were many of them.

There were around thirty or forty, the largest school of fish Xia Qiu had seen. He slowly lowered himself and waited quietly, planning to attack once they arrived.

The fish swam over. As they drew close, some began snatching up the scattered flesh and blood from the bass.

Several fish dipped down to gnaw on the bones below.

But even more fish rushed toward Xia Qiu.

"Hmm?"

Xia Qiu froze slightly and swayed his body, intending to retreat.

But in the blink of an eye, Xia Qiu was surrounded. The next moment, the fish opened their large mouths and bit toward him.

Their mouths were filled with sharp teeth.

This is bad.

Though these fish were small, their teeth were sharp, and there were many of them. They could attack fish far larger than themselves.

No wonder they could live in this area.

Facing the fish, Xia Qiu retreated rapidly, but some still managed to bite him.

Click.

A faint sound rang out. Their teeth could not penetrate Xia Qiu's scales at all. Moreover, Xia Qiu's body was fairly round, so their open mouths could not engulf enough of him to bite down. They could only try to stab their teeth into his body, but protected by his smooth, hard scales, they could not harm him.

No threat at all.

Xia Qiu stopped retreating, opened his mouth, and bit one of the fish.

Crunch.

The fish was bitten apart and swallowed into his stomach.

Xia Qiu swallowed two or three fish in succession, yet the others did not flee. Instead, they continued attacking.

It's useless.

You can't break through my defenses.

Just as Xia Qiu was thinking that, he suddenly felt pain.

Ah!

Pain shot through his barbels, the area near his tail fin and dorsal fin, his pectoral fins, and his belly.

Those areas either lacked scale protection or were relatively vulnerable.

Damn it.

Xia Qiu was somewhat enraged, but he knew he could not remain entangled with them. He twisted his body and shook the fish off.

Yet some fish remained on him, especially around his belly.

So Xia Qiu lowered himself and rubbed forward across the sand, crushing them beneath his body.

Bang.

Xia Qiu swung his tail, striking two fish and sending them flying before he shot into the distance.

The smaller fish chased after him, but they could not match Xia Qiu's speed at all. The distance between them steadily widened.

Before long, Xia Qiu returned to the sunken ship.

I'm injured.

A section of one barbel had been bitten off. His belly and pectoral fins had been bitten, as had the point where his tail fin connected to his body.

Damn it.

Getting injured on the seafloor meant he had no idea how long it would take to heal. The ocean was also full of microorganisms, making infection likely.

But just then, the food in Xia Qiu's stomach began to digest, transforming into surging currents of heat that spread through his body.

As the heat flowed, an itchy, tingling sensation came from the injured areas of his barbels, belly, and elsewhere.

They're healing.

My wounds are healing.

In less than an hour, the food in his stomach was fully consumed, and Xia Qiu's barbels had already returned to normal.

His recovery ability was powerful. As long as he had enough food, even bodily injuries could be repaired.

However, healing injuries consumed additional energy, so he would grow hungry faster.

Having discovered this, Xia Qiu was completely relieved.

Yesterday, I received the contract-signing message on the site and have filled out and sent the contract. From now on, updates will remain at two chapters a day.

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