It was the sizzling sound of slime slowly crawling through the cabin, completely drowned out by the seawater slapping against the hull. The people inside thought everything was already perfectly safe, and had quieted down, remaining seated together aboard the speedboat.
From midair, the drone caught a glimpse of blood-red beneath a cabin seat. It was a Man-Faced Conch as large as an adult's head, moving considerably faster than the little ones. Before long, it had crawled beside Qi Gu's leg... Its position was extremely discreet. Generally speaking, as long as nobody suddenly lowered their head to look between their legs, they would never discover it.
This ancestor of the Man-Faced Conches had hidden beneath the seat early on. It had briefly lost its targets when everyone concealed their presence earlier, then located them again after they left the dangerous waters and removed their talismans.
This conch had some ability to size people up. It could tell that Miao Yue, Lin Hanzhi, and the fisherman Mu Xingchen were all physically strong. Pubu Gesang, meanwhile, was short, and his feet did not touch the floor when he sat in his seat. It could not fly, either... Thus, Qi Gu became its primary target.
[Aaaaaah, there's still a big one underneath the seats!]
[Holy shit, what a huge head. My scalp is tingling.]
[Gugu, look down!]
[I'm kind of too scared to keep watching.]
While the viewers watched in suspense, the Man-Faced Conch finally finished preparing. Its body tilted, its operculum opened, and its writhing soft flesh reached toward Qi Gu's ankle.
Just before it made contact, the Bone Blade at Qi Gu's cuff trembled and hummed, as though about to fly out the next instant. But Lin Hanzhi reacted much faster than the automatic Bone Blade. Before anyone could respond, he