"What a strange thing. I couldn't see anything before, but the moment I left, a crisis appeared—and one that was almost certainly fatal?"
Ian, who had originally planned to head home, halted in his tracks. Naturally, he could not overlook the red-and-black mist that had appeared around the Ironclad Shark, because it was undoubtedly connected to his actions.
An Ironclad Shark at the peak of the First Energy Level theoretically had no natural enemies anywhere around the South Sea. Even the two Surging Tide Giant Eels, Second Energy Level totem spirits, would not have nothing better to do than leave the large Nature Psionics field at Odell Reef just to catch and eat a small shark.
Anything capable of threatening an adult Ironclad Shark was absolutely no ordinary danger.
"Could it be a mutation caused by the Labyrinth?"
Ian's thoughts spun, but his body was already moving. He silently followed behind the Ironclad Shark, tracing its route. "Doesn't seem like it—if it were a Labyrinth mutation, its range of influence couldn't possibly be so small. It would have encountered danger while it was hunting with me earlier."
"Come to think of it, if I hadn't shown up, this Ironclad Shark should still be looking for food. It wouldn't have filled its belly because of me."
"It would have needed to hunt, wander, and search everywhere for targets, so it would have avoided danger instead."
At that thought, the youth began to understand. "The reason this shark is encountering danger is because it's full now... so it lacks the drive to move around much and is wandering through familiar waters..."
"There must be something unusual in the surrounding sea."
By now, Ian had made up his mind to follow this Ironclad Shark and see what was happening.
It was not merely