Immediately, the screen shook again, shifting from the lake to a boat. A young man with a hood covering most of his face, only his delicate chin visible, was running over, gesturing towards the streamer holding the camera.
Behind the young man was a huge searchlight that quickly swept across the area.
The camera shook again, and the young man was seen raising a harpoon and jumping swiftly. Then there was a huge boom, and the screen started shaking violently as if the boat was about to capsize.
There were screams, and many people were seen falling in a flash.
Chen Yao was stunned.
How much money would it take to create such a realistic and terrifying scene?
However, just as this thought flashed through his mind, the screen shook, and a huge, hideous, ugly monster fish appeared.
Although the entire appearance of the monster fish wasn’t captured, Chen Yao could vaguely sense how large it was.
The image and the monster fish looked so realistic, it was impossible to tell it was special effects.
Chen Yao was completely intrigued.
The video continued.
The monster fish opened its mouth wide, coming closer. The fish’s mouth grew larger in the frame until a pair of feet suddenly appeared in the upper right corner, followed by a person.
It was the young man with the hood.
He stepped onto the monster fish’s head against the light. The harpoon in his hand quickly stabbed into the monster fish’s head, making a sound like hard cardboard being punctured. This series of extremely smooth actions really gave the illusion of watching a sci-fi blockbuster.
The monster fish roared in pain and struggled, desperately attacking the boat. The screen showed the boat quickly being riddled with cracks, with water starting to seep in.
The scene was breathtaking.
Chen Yao stared at the screen, completely captivated by this video, or rather, the tense and exciting special effects plot.
The monster fish frantically thrashed its body, while the hooded young man continued to attack it. Then the screen showed many more people joining in to help attack the monster fish.
Raging water began to pour in.
Then, the hooded young man took out a yellow talisman from his pocket, muttering something under his breath. The talisman emitted a faint glow before he put it back into his pocket.
Chen Yao was completely dumbfounded.
How did this turn from a special effects blockbuster into a domestic metaphysical film?
Something was off.
This wasn’t a movie; it was a recording made by a viewer watching a livestream.
No matter how skilled the production team was, could they create such realistic content during a live stream without any visible special effects?
As Chen Yao grew more puzzled, the young man in the video continued to attack the monster fish. The monster fish struggled, showing no signs of being a prop, with its movements agile and not stiff.
The monster fish became even more frantic, and then the hooded young man did something that left Chen Yao bewildered.
He jumped into the lake.
The other passengers and crew were shouting for him not to jump, but it was too late. The water inside the boat was accumulating more and more, and the monster fish also turned over and plunged into the lake.
The water at the cracks of the boat stopped pouring in.
Only then did Chen Yao realize the young man’s intention in jumping, but this made him even more anxious.
Even though he knew the monster fish and the plot were all fake, the scene was too realistic, and the atmosphere was well crafted.
He couldn’t help but start worrying about the young man.
The monster fish obviously had the upper hand in the water.
The video seemed to have been edited, missing a lot of the plot. The scene quickly switched to the monster fish in the lake, chasing the young man, while a small boat nearby had people helping to distract the monster fish.
The two sides cooperated to evade the monster fish.
Contrary to expectations, the young man swam faster than the monster fish, almost like he was on a rocket.
He also took the opportunity, when the monster fish was distracted by the people on the small boat, to swim back and sneakily stab the monster fish multiple times.
This scene made Chen Yao feel an odd urge to laugh. Just then, the searchlight passed over, revealing the general appearance of the monster fish in the frame.
It was extremely ugly and bizarre.
He had thought the upcoming plot would involve the hooded young man heroically killing the monster fish with cooperation, or the monster fish eating everyone, leading to a tragic ending.
But the following twist in the plot was so astonishing that Chen Yao nearly choked on his water, coughing several times while still staring at the video.
Under the searchlight, the monster fish was already covered in wounds, roaring in anger, and a lump resembling a tumor suddenly grew on its forehead out of nowhere.
It looked extremely uncomfortable.
The tumor-like lump wriggled slightly, spewing out an oily substance that inexplicably reminded Chen Yao of gutter oil.
Dirty and very disgusting.
The oily substance was about to splatter on the people on the small boat when the hooded young man raised his hand slightly, and a shield made of water appeared out of thin air, blocking the oily substance.
This scene instantly made Chen Yao sit up straight.
How was this done?
This was a live stream recording made by a viewer, meaning that this water shield was present at the scene.
But the question was, how was it done?
There were no visible flaws or signs of fakery, and the flow of the water didn’t look like a light effect.
Chen Yao, despite the tickle in his throat from choking on water, stared intently at the screen, trying to find a bug.
But he found nothing.
The special effects were like they cost nothing. Soon, the oily substance contaminated the water shield, turning it into a solid and sinking into the water.
The scene sped up again, then returned to normal, with passengers throwing a duck into the lake to attract the monster fish. However, the terrified duck swam back towards the boat, leading the monster fish back in the boat’s direction.
In the critical moment, the hooded young man once again swam over at an incredible speed, then used the water to lift himself out, creating a highly dramatic scene.
This was even more shocking than the water shield.
Because, while the water shield could be explained with light effects, the waves created by the rotating lake couldn’t possibly be fake, right?
Then the young man battled the monster fish, finally inflicting severe wounds on it, with its innards and chunks of flesh floating on the lake’s surface.
The young man landed in the lake, but his clothes and hood remained dry, completely unaffected by the water. Blood and chunks of flesh formed a circle around him.
At this point, Chen Yao began to sense that something wasn’t quite right.
The video continued, showing the monster fish going berserk and preparing to attack the people on the boat. In the end, it was still the young man who, at the critical moment, used some ability to immobilize the monster fish.
Finally, with the help of the people on the small boat, they managed to puncture the tumor on the monster fish’s head.
The monster fish struggled violently, throwing the young man into the lake. He was eventually rescued by the people on the small boat.
In the video, you could faintly hear many people vomiting. After a few shaky moments, the streamer’s voice finally came through, ignoring the warnings from others and shouting at the monster fish from the railing.
Abruptly, the supposedly dead monster fish sprang up, and the screen went completely black.
Chen Yao screamed and almost threw his phone. The last scene of the monster fish lunging was so sudden.
He felt his hands and feet go cold, sweat breaking out on his forehead, and his heart pounding rapidly.
The video had ended.
Chen Yao went back to the trending topics page and started browsing other topics. Most of them featured the livestream video he had just watched, with comments praising the realistic special effects, saying there were no visible flaws.
However, there were also people who had watched the live stream responding below:【This is a live recording, which means these things actually happened at the time. It’s impossible to use special effects.】
And it wasn’t just one person saying this. More and more livestream viewers confirmed this point, leading to increasing discussions about whether the video was staged by a team for the sake of hype and traffic.
Or… is it real?
The trending topic stayed up for several hours, gaining more and more attention. An increasing number of people saw the video, and those who enjoyed stirring up trouble immediately flooded the official Weibo of the live-streaming site with comments: 【Excuse me, won’t your official live-streaming site handle this? Faking an incident of a monster fish eating people, aren’t you afraid many people will believe it’s real?】
【Is this streamer team desperate for fame? I think this behavior must be banned, or more people will have no bottom line in their quest for fame. What if someone actually commits a murder on a livestream?】
The situation escalated, with the official live-streaming site remaining silent, leading many to believe this was a malicious fake event.
However, many still believed it was real.
Because no live-streaming team could create such flawless special effects during a live stream, nor such terrifying scenes, like that fish that looked and moved like a real live fish.
Could a small team produce this?
Soon it was past eleven at night, and more people knew about the trending topic.
At the same time, some people started tweeting about strange incidents they had encountered, suspecting that the monster fish with the ability to solidify substances and the person who could control water might actually be real.
Meanwhile.
After dealing with the monster fish, the captain returned to the small boat and instructed the crew to return to the cruise ship.
But before they could start the boat, they saw lights in the distance and the silhouette of a ship with sirens blaring.
The people on the cruise ship finally seemed to relax, bursting into tears of joy and waving frantically in that direction.
Xu Dongyou sat on the boat, stunned for a while before recovering. Soon, the boat approached, and everyone from the cruise ship, including Xu Dongyou and his companions, boarded the ship.
Onboard were several armed police officers and a few people in plain clothes who looked different from ordinary people.
The passengers instinctively avoided these individuals until they saw the mysterious young man who had saved everyone walking toward them. A vague thought suddenly emerged, startling them.
Could these people be individuals with special abilities? Or cultivators?
No wonder they looked different from ordinary people.
The passengers instinctively quieted down, obediently following the police’s instructions to sit for a simple examination, while those with more severe injuries were taken to the cabin for emergency treatment.
Xu Dongyou didn’t recognize these people, but he saw Jiu Chao among them and was surprised he came. However, he felt guilty and lowered his head upon remembering something.
Jiu Chao, concerned about the cub’s well-being, quickly examined him and then sighed with relief.
Not wanting to show too much concern for the cub in front of the other officers, he said to Xu Dongyou, “You did very well.”
Xu Dongyou replied softly, “But two people…”
“Even the best can’t cover all bases, especially since this was your first time handling an abnormal incident alone, right? You’ve already done very well,” said one of the officers beside him. “Especially for someone new like you.”
Xu Dongyou felt slightly comforted, but thinking about the monster fish, he couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly was that monster fish?”
Aside from resentful spirits and ghosts, how could such a strange and terrifying creature exist in the world?
Jiu Chao answered directly, “I don’t know. However, since the end of ancient times until now, these things have not appeared frequently. However, if given the space to grow, they can cause very terrifying impacts. One common characteristic is that their blood is foul-smelling.”
Xu Dongyou nodded obediently, committing the new knowledge to memory.
Although the monster fish was dead, there were still follow-up tasks to be completed, such as collecting the monster fish’s body and blood, as well as retrieving the solidified objects in the water caused by the monster fish.
Everything had to be collected to avoid causing other unknown effects.
The flesh and internal organs were easy to handle, but the blood had already mixed with the lake water, requiring special methods to separate it. However, the number of such talismans was limited, and these were rushed out by the Anomaly Handling Bureau.
Moreover, the amount of blood was too vast to collect entirely.
This was why Jiu Chao had come along. Though he was most skilled in fire techniques, Jiu Chao was also the most proficient in the “Water Evasion” technique among the demons.
After all, being a fox and specializing in fire, he naturally feared water. Hence, he had arduously practiced water control abilities, never expecting that this skill would one day allow him to leave the city.
Jiu Chao was in an exceptionally good mood.
Of course, another reason was that Elder Chen was also worried about the cub, but couldn’t express it directly. Thus, he used Jiu Chao’s adeptness in water control as an excuse to visit the cub.
Time was of the essence; the longer the blood stayed in the lake, the more troublesome it would become. Jiu Chao and the other handlers immediately set to work.
Xu Dongyou wanted to help, but another handler asked, “Isn’t your spiritual energy already depleted?”
Xu Dongyou was stunned, “Huh?”
How did they know?
The handler naturally replied, “The footage of you saving people was streamed live by a broadcaster and has gone viral.”
He had watched the live stream to quickly understand the situation on-site and naturally saw the footage of Xu Dongyou almost drowning due to his depleted spiritual energy.
Xu Dongyou: “???”
So that’s why the person was standing on the ship’s edge holding a phone? He thought they were just recording for evidence, not live streaming!
So his use of abilities had already been seen by ordinary people. Would this violate the Bureau’s rules?
Xu Dongyou immediately became nervous. Jiu Chao quickly explained, “Don’t worry, the Bureau knew about this early on. Do you think the live content would have been broadcast smoothly without the Bureau’s permission?”
Xu Dongyou became even more confused.
Before he could ask in detail, a police officer suddenly ran over, looking tense, and said to the Bureau members, “We just conducted a headcount. Besides the two deceased passengers, eight passengers are missing. According to the crew, those people likely used the lifeboats on the cruise ship to leave early. We need to go rescue them immediately.”
Before Jiu Chao and the handlers could respond, a loud noise was heard from afar, like a huge creature bursting out of the water, followed by the harrowing screams of humans, which were abruptly cut off…
Then, a roar echoed from the distance.
The passengers in the cabin immediately panicked, filled with immense terror.
They would never forget that sound, even in death. It was exactly the same as the roar of the monster fish.
The passengers screamed in fear. One of them shouted at the police and Xu Dongyou with a heart-wrenching cry, “There’s another monster fish in the lake!”
![Fake Sweet Omega [BL]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/僞裝甜O.png "Fake Sweet Omega [BL]")
