Fishmen

"Feng Ling!!!"

Zhou Diao lunged forward, reaching out to grab her, but grasped only empty air.

Dark red blood surged across the river's surface, then quickly vanished with the waves. By the time the Patrol Boat regained its balance, they could no longer tell where Feng Ling was.

The three team members kept watch in every direction and stopped firing, worried that a stray bullet might hit Feng Ling underwater.

Zhou Diao frantically scanned the Patrol Boat back and forth. Other than the rolling waves, he could see nothing!

Furious, he grabbed Huangfu Miaomiao beside him and roared, "What were you doing?! The Xenomorph came, and you didn't warn us at all?!"

Huangfu Miaomiao had been scared senseless. Only now did she react and begin crying. "I didn't know... the Player was underwater, I couldn't see..."

Zhou Diao shoved her hard, pulled out his phone, and made a call. "We were attacked west of Qingjiang Bridge No. 1. The enemy is lurking underwater. We need reinforcements!"

"There's movement on the water!" Qin Liang suddenly shouted.

"Don't shoot!" Xiao Li cried in panic. "It's Feng Ling!"

A familiar figure surfaced amid the pitch-black waves. Before they could make out whether it was Feng Ling, a sharp black spike pierced straight through it!

Zhou Diao's heart nearly leaped into his throat. He thought Feng Ling was certainly dead, but after the splashing water subsided, he realized that only a set of clothes had been pierced.

Where was Feng Ling?

Zhou Diao's heart pounded wildly. He wished he could jump into the river right now and fight those bastards!

But would jumping in do any good?

Knowing how to swim and fighting underwater were entirely different things. His Beast Claw was covered in thick fur, which would only become a burden underwater.

Besides...

Zhou Diao's face tightened as he stared at the black water—

Besides, Feng Ling might already be dead.

Since he could not save her, he should not make a meaningless sacrifice. The urgent priority was to return to shore, evacuate nearby boats and pedestrians, and seize the initiative.

—As an Inspector, protecting the safety of civilians was always the foremost objective of any operation.

"Head for shore." Zhou Diao issued the command. "Wait for reinforcements. Once we regroup, we'll clear out the Xenomorphs along the riverbank!"

Huangfu Miaomiao cried her heart out aboard the boat.

Zhou Diao looked at her coldly. "What are you crying for? The one who died wasn't your fellow countryman."

Huangfu Miaomiao sniffled. "...I don't know."

Feng Ling had not treated her well at all. She was always ordering her around, distrusting her, and enjoying startling her out of nowhere.

But Feng Ling had died, and Huangfu Miaomiao did not know why, but her heart hurt terribly...

In the icy river water, Feng Ling could feel her body slowly sinking.

The churning silt and blood pouring from her body obscured the Xenomorphs' vision, buying her a sliver of survival.

Her body was desperately repairing itself.

But the river water pressed relentlessly against her lungs from every direction, and suffocation closed in like death itself.

Feng Ling recalled the posts on the Player Forum and became absolutely certain that these Xenomorphs had come for her.

To suppress the Hive's regenerative abilities, they had deliberately chosen to attack her on the water. Even if her bodily functions recovered, she would drown again and again.

Right now, she should have swum to the surface as fast as possible and gulped down air.

But Feng Ling watched the Xenomorphs swimming restlessly around her and felt that perhaps she could wait a little longer, just a little longer...

One...

Two...

Three...

Feng Ling counted silently.

The dark riverbed was as bright as day to her. Aside from the muddy silt occasionally obstructing her vision, she could see clearly most of the time.

The ones attacking her were three Monsters that closely resembled Fishmen.

Their faces retained human features, but gills grew where their cheeks joined their necks. Where their arms should have been were two sharp, elongated spikes—

Those were what had pierced through her body earlier.

More precisely, they were not spikes, but thorn-like pectoral fins.

The pectoral fins could spread like sails to paddle through water, or fold together into sharp spikes for attacking.

Additionally, their powerful fish tails could also injure her.

After Feng Ling clearly saw their physical structure, she felt much calmer.

She continued waiting.

At the same time, she was curious: in these deep waters, was she, facing three Monsters alone, more afraid—or were they, facing a Hidden Boss whose location they did not know, more afraid?

The Xenomorphs were taut with anxiety. Having lost their target, they swam around like headless flies. After searching once, they decided to expand their search area, unwilling to let the Hidden Boss that was practically in their mouths escape.

Feng Ling patiently waited for one of them to approach.

Her body had become completely transparent and drew no attention from the Xenomorph. Just as they were about to brush past each other, the Bone Blade hidden in the water suddenly lashed out!

The Bone Blade sliced through the Fishman's neck!

She pounced. In the instant it lost its ability to move, she grabbed the Fishman's head with both hands, planted her feet on its spine, kicked off, and burst out of the water!

Fresh air filled her lungs. She had no time to savor it. The next second, she plunged headfirst into the bloody water flowing from the Fishman's corpse and saw two Fishmen rushing toward her at high speed!

Feng Ling's speed underwater was nowhere near comparable to that of the Fishmen.

Four long spikes struck at her. She had no way to dodge, nor did she intend to. The hardened Bone Blade blocked the attack head-on! Then, following the current, it tilted and pushed outward to both sides—the spikes immediately missed.

The Fishmen violently whipped their tails, trying to adjust their direction and stab again!

Feng Ling's four Fangs and Claws shot out at the perfect moment! They bit down on the Fishmen's shoulders!

Crack—

The Fangs and Claws bit the long spikes off at their roots. Like dragonflies with their wings torn off, the Fishmen could only struggle desperately with their thin, elongated bodies!

Feng Ling continued gripping their wounds tightly with her Fangs and Claws, watching coldly as their gills opened and closed violently and their tails thrashed madly.

The already murky river water grew even muddier. They rolled about in agony, trying to throw Feng Ling off, swimming in complete chaos and losing all balance.

Feng Ling still refused to let go.

Unless the oxygen in her lungs ran out, how could she bear to release prey that had already fallen into her hands?

She still had two Bone Blades.

She extended a scythe-like Bone Blade and cut off one Fishman's gills. She watched mud pour into its mouth, its face twisting into a hideous grimace.

Then she cut off its pelvic fins.

Next came its tail fin.

Gradually, it could no longer swim.

She began scraping off its scales, layer by layer, until white fish flesh was exposed.

The river water was completely dyed red. Everywhere she looked was a sea of dark crimson!

The other Fishman was nearly scared out of its mind by Feng Ling!

It opened its mouth wide as if trying to shout something, but its voice mixed into the water, and Feng Ling could not hear anything clearly.

Still, she cooperatively released her Fangs and Claws.

Because she was worried this Xenomorph was shouting "log out." That would be far too boring.

The moment the Fangs and Claws loosened, the Fishman fled like mad.

Feng Ling looked at the other Fishman in her grasp.

It was barely alive, battered and broken. Her two Fangs and Claws were clamped onto its shoulders as its body swayed weakly in the river's undercurrent.

Feng Ling thought for a moment, then, as though magnanimously sparing it, gently released her Fangs and Claws and let the Fishman go.

I'll post one chapter around noon and another around 8 p.m. Does that work for you all? Should I update two chapters together in the future?