The Spirit Shark, carrying Hela, scrambled through the Ocean, breaking through schools of fish.
Hela lay on top of it, her eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, checking every corner.
Even though the Spirit Shark was moving at a speed almost matching the high-speed train Hela had previously ridden, Hela's eyes could still clearly see everything around her.
It's as if the world has slowed down.
It was a truly magical feeling. Even after patrolling for over an hour, Hela continued to tirelessly survey the surroundings.
Moreover, he would immediately report any unusual occurrences to Spirit Shark, which impressed Spirit Shark.
After patrolling for an unknown number of hours, the two stopped to rest on a reef.
"You seem really serious. Keep it up and don't let me down."
The Spirit Shark casually grabbed a tilapia swimming by, bit off its head, and handed it to Hela.
"Have something to eat."
"Uh, thank you." Hela took the fish with its head bitten off and looked at the Spirit Shark with some surprise.
"The guardians' duty is to protect these fish, right?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
The Spirit Shark answered while crunching away at the crab.
"Then... why were you so heartless... to eat these fish?"
Spirit Shark smiled and turned to look at Hela. "If you're not going to eat these things, tell me what you're going to eat."
Only when you're well-fed will you have the strength to protect it.
Hela still didn't quite understand. "Then what's the point of us protecting them? I just saw a lot of big fish preying on small fish, and you didn't even try to stop them."
I don't think the Guardian really said anything about protecting anything.
After a moment of silence, the Spirit Shark reached out and flicked Hela's head.
"If big fish don't eat small fish, then tell me, how are big fish supposed to survive? Are they supposed to kill all the big fish just to protect the small fish?"
What we must protect are those things that shouldn't die, and stop those senseless hunts.
"There will always be some creatures in this world that need to die; it's unavoidable."
Hela lowered her head, remained silent, and quietly ate the fish in her hand.
They should have died... They shouldn't have died...
"Alright, stop thinking about it. Hurry up and finish patrolling the rest of the area with me. Then I'll take you to meet your future senior."
Spirit Shark patted the crumbs off his hands, then picked up Hela and tossed her into the air.
With a leap, he transformed into Sea Shark Dragon in mid-air, caught Hela, and sped forward.
Along the way, Hela also encountered many Sea Herring like Tang Tang, some of them humanoid and some fish-like.
But what they have in common is that they all possess wisdom.
Moreover, we occasionally encountered several extremely strange-looking fish, like monsters.
Suddenly, a strange glint flashed in the Spirit Shark's eyes, and it abruptly stopped, swimming to the seabed.
"What's wrong?" Hela got off her back.
"Something's a bit off, maybe something's acting up, but it's nothing, I'll be right back."
Having said that, she vanished from Hela's sight with astonishing speed, stirring up waves.
Hela stayed put and didn't intend to wander off.
But I always had a strange intuition, a feeling that something interesting was slowly approaching me.
Meanwhile, a pair of scarlet eyes stared intently at the white figure from among the coral reefs.
A giant eel, resembling a dragon, was slaughtering the creatures around it like a madman in the midst of a school of fish.
A massive Sea Shark Dragon stood guard in front of several trembling Sea Herring, its gaze fixed on the huge, wounded eel.
This is your final warning!
"If you continue your indiscriminate killings, I will execute you on the spot!"
"Roar--!"
The only response he received was the roaring figure charging towards him.
"That stinking worm!"
"You guys quickly find a place to hide. I'll guard the back. Just keep running!"
The Sea Herring that had been protecting him scattered in all directions.
The Sea Shark Dragon roared and opened its blood-red maw to charge forward.
The Sea Shark Dragon is much larger than this eel, but it is slightly less agile.
The eel bit into the side of the Sea Shark Dragon, its slender body swaying constantly, and blood seeping from the wound.
The Sea Shark Dragon let out a miserable cry, its massive body shaking violently as it tried to shake it off.
But this eel was like a stubborn plaster, biting down relentlessly, as if it wouldn't give up until it had bitten off a piece of flesh.
The two colossal beasts began their most primal battle in the sea stained crimson with blood.
Just then, a gigantic mouth, large enough to swallow half an eel whole, suddenly emerged from the side, churning the seawater as it bit down.
Blood gushed out, the eel's severed tail continued to wriggle, and its head remained firmly clamped onto the Sea Dragon shark.
The Spirit Shark narrowed its eyes and spat out a section of its body from its mouth, transforming its enormous body into a human form.
A blade formed from seawater materialized in his hand, and with a single stroke, he cleaved the head that was being held tightly in two.
Even so, the fish's eyes remained fixed, looking incredibly eerie.
Spirit Shark's eyes narrowed.
The bitten Sea Dragon shark also transformed into human form, clutching its waist and panting heavily, still somewhat shaken.
And this was the same Sea Shark Dragon that had initially chased Hela in the museum.
Something's not right.
The Spirit Shark looked around and swam to the eel's carcass.
Above, several jagged, serrated cuts were shocking, but most of them were extremely smooth cuts, something no wild beast could have done.
"Did you inflict these wounds?" Spirit Shark asked.
The other person shook their head. "When I first saw it, it already had so many wounds on its body."
Spirit Shark's beautiful eyes furrowed slightly.
It's impossible for any other creature besides the Sea Shark Dragon to cause such a wound.
But how did this guy get his injuries?
"It was probably done by Sea Shark Dragon from another region; it was badly injured and happened to swim into our area."
The male Sea Shark Dragon, seeing the Spirit Shark deep in thought, said somewhat casually.
Spirit Shark thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he didn't delve into it further.
Just as she was about to go back to find Hela, another commotion broke out in the surrounding area.
One after another, ferocious Ocean Variant, all covered in wounds, attacked indiscriminately like madmen.
The two froze simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and both saw shock in each other's eyes.
If there's only one of these Variant, that could be explained.
After all, it's not uncommon for some Variant to occasionally go berserk and be severely injured.
But so many Variant going mad at the same time, accompanied by strange injuries, makes this situation anything but simple.
"Split up! We can't let them harm a Sea Herring!"
The Spirit Shark spat and transformed into Sea Shark Dragon, charging towards the three closest Variant.
"Hey! You three beasts, stop right there!"
Another Sea Shark Dragon will transform into a fish and swim in all directions.