"Boom!"
The water exploded.
Thick, massive tentacles covered in densely packed, savage suckers and colored a dark blue reminiscent of the deep sea surged from beneath the surface like a series of deformed pythons, climbing up the ship's hull.
The tremendous force carried by the tentacles made even the reinforced and remodeled hull of the Wave-Chasing Sea Fang creak under the strain.
If someone had been watching from a little farther away, they would have seen this:
Under the shroud of the starry night, the ship rocked and swayed. Following the tentacles clinging to its hull downward into the depths, they would have seen a vast, distorted monster bathing in an eerie blue glow, its enormous outline flickering in and out of view.
Buzz—
A sharp streak of sword light flashed through the air.
The [Emberfall] Straight Sword was drawn in an instant.
Faced with the monster's attack, Xia Nan showed no panic.
Thanks to the influence of various entertainment works from his previous life, as well as his estimates of the fantastical world he now inhabited, he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of encountering such colossal monsters as early as his first voyage out to sea.
As his feet moved, he was already preparing to leap into the water and fight it.
At that moment, however, his exceptionally keen Perception allowed him to notice several crucial details.
Although the tentacles were clearly much darker in color, the glowing blue nautilus shell beneath the sea, conspicuous in the night and illuminating the monster's enormous body in a hazy outline, was exactly the same as the Shell Octopus he had captured during the day.
He unconsciously recalled the sharp, ear-piercing shrieks the Shell Octopus had made while struggling.
A strange expression appeared on Xia Nan's face.
"So... that Baby