Chapter 69
Fish, as one of the earliest vertebrates, are also perhaps the most miraculous. Unless limited by inherent species traits, many fish can grow indefinitely as long as there is sufficient food and a good water quality environment, until they die.
This is clearly not the case for other vertebrates.
Not to mention saltwater fish, even freshwater fish like carp and catfish, if not destined for the dinner table, can easily be measured in units of rice. So, catching a wild fish that is a meter long, it’s not surprising that the focus is not on how the fish could grow so large, but rather on venerating the quality of the fishing rod.
After the apocalypse arrived, because there was no food to be found in the city, many former schools or artificial rivers in front of office buildings had their ponds dug up and drained.
To everyone’s surprise, the mud was full of things, most typically crayfish and eels. Even though initially only a dozen of the worst koi were put in, because they were neglected for so long, the scales of the koi had unexpectedly changed colors, each one had arms as thick as a person’s, and it was thoroughly enjoyable for many people.
Now, as long as there is something to eat, who can think of anything else?
Many people were digging crab and black fish nests on both sides of the river, searching for hibernating frogs and snakes, and the damage caused now cannot be seen.
But waiting until the summer flood…
Well, some people think they may not even live until then. Finding something to fill the stomach is the key, but with the planting season upon them, a large number of people were fleeing to the countryside. Even if some people would like to cultivate the crops to be self-sufficient, there were no safe and reliable places.
The first spring thunder arrived, marking the Awakening of Insects. Countless hibernating creatures began to crawl out.
Amidst the thunderstorm, cries of alarm suddenly rang out from people stubbornly searching for food along both banks of the river embankment—they were being bitten by snakes. Snakes that had just awakened from hibernation were at their most venomous and hungry…
Li Shaoyuan watched from afar, patting his chest in fear. Just now, after Annie heard the thunder, she forbade them from going up there.
He couldn’t understand—could they really starve with their abilities?
Sure enough, no matter how strong their abilities were, it didn’t matter.
If bitten by a venomous snake, in this day and age, you couldn’t even find a tablet of platycodon root or roxithromycin.
Where would you find antidote serum? Lightly bitten limbs would swell and necrotize, and severe cases might not survive.
But now the most serious problem was their disagreements—Li Shaoyuan’s home, Annie’s home, including the captain and the two former bodyguards brought from Saipan—were all from different places. They were scattered all over, and even the mainland wasn’t connected, let alone going through the same route.
However, no one wanted to separate. The crisis of the apocalypse didn’t end just because they reached the shore; on the contrary, it was just beginning. Places with more people were even more dangerous.
“How about we go to City B?”
The capital should not be chaotic, and several major military districts should be intact. Surviving relatives probably had the same idea.
Annie hesitated. At this moment, a desperate scream suddenly came from the riverbank. She leaned over and saw a person rolling in the water as if desperately trying to swim back to shore, blood splashing in the river, looking terrifying.
The faces of the people around them suddenly changed. Southern cities had many rivers, but they had never heard of any danger in these rivers, which were only three to four meters deep. At most, it was drowning or finding abandoned corpses.
“Is there a monster in this river?” Li Shaoyuan quickly asked the person beside him.
“I haven’t heard of it…”
In the past, maybe there were good people who were brave and courageous to save, but the current situation is unknown, who would dare to do it?God knows what’s in the river!
When the water splashed turbidly, the man had been screaming and struggling, but he was not dead, and Li Shao gradually felt strange.
Because they planned to swim across the river nearby, the nearest bridge had been broken by a plane falling from the sky when the end of the world came. It was quite far to go around, and there were many vehicles clogged on the bridge, which was not very safe.
Li Shao took a good aim, ran down the embankment quickly, and stretched out his hand to drag the person not far offshore.
He was so strong that he could lift people out of the river with one hand, and the people around him were in an uproar. Of course, the most shocking thing was to see the monster attacking people in the river. It turned out to be just a fish, the size of a palm, with a reddish-brown body, biting the unlucky guy’s thigh tightly. It may have broken a blood vessel, and all the pants on one leg were dyed red.
Li Shao just slammed the person onto the shore, held the fish’s head, and used force on the upper jaw and lower jaw. It loosened well, but the unlucky fish was also dead. The head was fragmented. Li Shao’s was pure brute force.
“Oh my god, these teeth!”
The fish was still biting a large piece of meat in its mouth, its teeth were sharp and sharp, and it was very fine.
The captain came over. He was not young at all. A few months of drifting at sea made him look old and abnormal. He squatted down and fiddled with the fish’s head a few times, and said to Annie with certainty.
“Piranha.”
“Wait, isn’t that a fish from the Amazon of South America? This is China!”
“You wouldn’t know, but some people used to keep these things as ornamental fish, quite expensive. Later… perhaps due to some mishap, they were abandoned or escaped into the pipelines, eventually ending up in the city rivers,” the captain shook his head.
“Anyway, there were quite a few people who kept these, and the Sheepshead fish individually isn’t aggressive, even in aquariums.”
“Damn it, are they ferocious only when in the wild?” Li Shaoyuan cursed vehemently.
“What kind of people are those with money? They even keep these things, probably smuggled in from South America, hence the high price!”
“The Sheepshead fish has peculiar habits. It only dares to attack much larger prey when in groups… but that’s also a disaster…”
The captain glanced at the murky river water, then noticed that the unlucky fellow still moaning and screaming didn’t have any other wounds on his body, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
“There’s only one; I reckon the Sheepshead fish was either very hungry or this person had a wound. Otherwise, single Sheepshead fish rarely actively attack people. Before the apocalypse, we seldom heard such news, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t places where they existed. Now… Sheepshead fish that aren’t starving are probably rare. We can only hope there aren’t more than three in any given area, otherwise, they would reproduce…”
“Damn it!” Annie also cursed.
She was no longer wearing high heels but sturdy boots seized from Saipan, along with Marine Corps clothing, breathable and strong. Their attire was eye-catching, causing many unkempt individuals to steer clear and eye them with hostility.
“In the future, let’s avoid getting close to river water!”
Annie added after a moment, “And if you see bamboo poles or sticks along the way, Li Shaoyuan, grab some more. After leaving the city, let the person at the front use the pole to probe the road… like blind people do, tapping the ground. Who knows if a dry branch is actually a snake? Stepping on it and getting bitten would be unjust!”
Indeed, after all the hardships of drifting back from the Pacific, dying from a snakebite would be worse than staying on Saipan like Nalin did.
Li Shaoyuan ignored the man lying on the ground wailing.
He had only rescued him to see what kind of monster it was, and indeed, he couldn’t bear to just watch.
But after rescuing him, he had no more capacity to do anything.
Leave food behind?
They didn’t have enough food themselves…
Taking him along?
Leaving aside whether the man could stand, the question of whether he had a family was also problematic…
The cruelty of the times was already glaringly apparent.
The Sheepshead fish was quickly torn apart by a group of people. Annie worried that the fish, having fed on river corpses, might carry diseases, so they disregarded it.
The other starving people didn’t care much; the fish, as big as a palm, even caused two people to fight fiercely, paying no attention to the unfortunate man lying on the ground.
In an instant, even the shattered fish head was snatched away by people.
Humans, who had manipulated and altered the regional species structure, were now facing these tragedies.
The Marshall Islands were no different.
This country in the middle of the Pacific Ridge, near the equator, might not be prominent on the map—it might just be a few tiny black dots the size of sesame seeds. However, once you arrived here, you would realize that its total territorial waters were much larger than South Korea’s! Whether habitable or not, counting all the islands, large and small, there were over 1,200.
Before the apocalypse, English was the official language here, and the currency used was the US dollar. Even the residents could join the American teams. The entire economic system and modern goods relied on imports from the United States, so the situation here was very bleak.
Without communication or usable ships, they were cut off from the world, and could only hunt and fish on the islands to barely sustain themselves. The most fatal aspect was that this country had no military; it relied on the US military, but how could the military now provide food to the people?
“Commander! We’ve received word that a US aircraft carrier has been found drifting at sea!”
“Hurry!”
The lieutenant colonel jumped up. He wasn’t originally the highest leader stationed here, but with everyone else dead, whether dying normally or abnormally, even if he went to Congress, he wouldn’t be able to explain clearly.
Hopefully, the Congress still existed!
An aircraft carrier!
Even if there were no food, there were blankets on board, as well as daily items like basins. Even a toothbrush would be good.
Even if they had to become local kings around these islands, no one wanted to live a primitive life!
When they saw the vast silhouette of the aircraft carrier from a distance, they didn’t need to give orders. These miserable American soldiers jumped into the sea one after another, swimming towards the aircraft carrier. The crowd, originally hesitant and afraid to approach, was also in an uproar, pushing boats and paddles in a frenzy to grab things.
Food wasn’t too scarce here, and there were plenty of fish.
Freshwater could also be found on the islands, although it wasn’t very clean.
What everyone needed were daily necessities—clothes, toothpaste, towels, even MSG seasoning—which were now cherished items that could be exchanged for a lot of food!
Maybe even medicine!
Such terrifying commotion naturally alarmed the entire region. Siren wailed as the Saipan dragged Xia Yi and dived down, causing chaos on the surface of the sea, with fish fleeing in all directions. Xia Yi just happened to be behind a swollen coral reef, suddenly glaring at a stupid little fish.
This little guy was only as long as a pinky finger, with an overall pale golden hue that slightly glowed. Its body was straight, adorned with a beautiful triangular dorsal fin and symmetrical fins on both sides.
The lines were attractive and exquisite, and what was most remarkable was how it remained perfectly still in the crevices of the coral, so close to Xia Yi that it was almost right in front of him. Its gills gently pulsated, and then its large eyes stared straight at Xia Yi.
Those eyes were excessively large, almost as red and plump as a fish’s cheeks. I mean, to put it this way, its entire head seemed to consist of those eyes… and they were a particularly beautiful shade of blue, with a clear gradient from deep to light—azure, deep blue, bluish-purple, and teal could all be found.
Xia Yi immediately became entranced; if those eyes were more animated, they would be even more beautiful than a mermaid’s.
A terrible and mournful wail echoed dimly.
Startled, Xia Yi watched regretfully as the rare and exquisitely beautiful little fish darted out. Tropical fish were vibrant, but after seeing so many, they all seemed nearly identical—palm-sized, adorned with bright stripes, their fins remarkably attractive.
Such little creatures were quite uncommon.
“This is…”
Before Xia Yi could finish his question, the siren interrupted impatiently:
“Shrimp gobies. They’re timid and stupid, can’t be kept… If you like them, they’re everywhere in the ocean, just hiding in crevices and coral reefs.”
The mermaid strained to maintain an indifferent expression.
Damn, what’s so attractive about this little fish that he’s staring so intently?
However, Xia Yi didn’t notice, silently contemplating the words “timid and stupid”—finger-sized fish with brains barely one seventh the size of their bodies, how much brain capacity could they have?
Even jellyfish haven’t developed brains yet, calling these small fish stupid is just discrimination!
Xia Yi’s thoughts were interrupted by an even louder wail.
Looking up in astonishment, his pupils suddenly contracted. Threads of bright red were already spreading through the seawater, but because this place was far from the surface, it hadn’t been affected yet. However, the massive figure still moved terrifyingly through the water.
Restricted to its size, it couldn’t swim fast, but its strength was unusually large, and there were already three or four wooden boats sinking downwards.
The wooden boat was in pieces, there were black shadows in the middle of some boards, when it slowly descended closer, Xia Yi sucked in a cold breath, it was mutilated limbs, the cuts were uneven, bloody and horrible.
It was eating people!
Maybe… but it’s not chasing food, probably just guarding its territory.
The siren looked at the sea surface, over ten meters high, boiling with activity. His eyes were keener than Xia Yi’s, and he could see many people’s legs thrashing in the water, likely striving to swim towards the island. Occasionally, boats were rudely overturned, causing damage.
Guarding territory?
But instinctively…
It’s mating, likely lying on a protruding coral reef near the surface of the sea, possibly stepped on by some human… and this creature hates humans; it’s humans who made it like this.
Xia Yi saw several slightly larger fish rushing over to bite and tear at the severed limbs and arms, feeling a bit reluctant, he turned his head away.
A finger fell during the scramble and happened to drop onto the coral reef.
Xia Yi swam away in horror, yet he saw a bright yellow starfish nearby slowly crawling over, and then it completely wrapped around the severed finger, its body still slowly undulating.
Is it eating?!
Right. Starfish, like corals, are actually animals, and carnivorous at that…
But don’t look at its size, it actually eats twice its body weight in a day.
The siren glanced at something that looked quite beautiful, a completely standard and cute pentagram, but because mermaids are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, they naturally disdain such creatures that feed on small shellfish, leftover fish food scraps, and corpses.
…
The smell of blood in the seawater was becoming increasingly intense.
Xia Yi couldn’t bear to look at such a scene and the siren quickly led him away. Along the way, they brushed past several excited sharks.
Xia Yi struggled to remain calm, hoping the waves would carry away that creature.
However, the creature’s deep, angry calls continued to resonate in his ears, more terrifying than the screams. With a powerful headbutt, the enormous head even sent a shark that had come to attack it flying.
After all the wooden boats on the surface of the sea had shattered, this monster exposed half of its body above the surface of the sea and emitted a terrifying roar.
