This put them in a difficult spot.
A crew member had fallen into the water, yet no matter how hard they searched, there was no sign of them. There weren't even any creatures attacking from below. Could they really just leave like this?
Lan Jin said, "Where's the horn? Why don't we lure it over and take care of it right here and now?"
"But what if we can't handle it? Are we just sending our people to their deaths?"
They had started with 67 people. After barely leaving the mountain, they had already lost one more. With only 66 left, Captain Zhang couldn't risk their lives recklessly.
He felt sorry for Zhang Ye, but he absolutely couldn't sacrifice so many lives for one person. "We'll try searching underwater with our equipment again. If we don't find him, we'll leave. And don't use that horn again."
If they found any survivors, it would be pure luck. Even without the horn, the sound of the ship's engines was loud enough. Anyone who could hear them would hear them. Anyone who couldn't wouldn't hear them even with a horn.
From that point on, the horn was strictly banned.
After Captain Zhang had his team sweep the waters with machines one more time and found nothing, he gave the order to move out again.
But just as they thought they could slip away quietly, whatever lurked below had no intention of letting them leave. When the ship's foghorns sounded in turn, it wasn't just their boat that got attacked. All three ships were slammed by something from beneath, rocking violently.
Everyone had been standing on the deck this time, so when the ships lurched, more than one person was thrown into the water.
However, there were more people still on deck than in the lake. Most of them were ability users, and they quickly used their powers to save each other, at the very least keeping themselves safe.
But the ones who had fallen into the lake…
At that moment, Lan Jin, on the verge of being thrown overboard herself, released a jolt of lightning straight into the water, striking the creature beneath them.
The mutated beast in the lake spasmed as the current shot through its body. Within seconds, it floated up to the surface. Lan Jin herself was just about to topple into the water when Zhou Zhi grabbed her from the rail and yanked her back onto the deck.
When everyone took a closer look at the creature in the water, they were stunned.
It looked an awful lot like an ocean sunfish.
Of course, a sunfish wouldn't live in a lake, and there weren't even sunfish in this region. Still, the resemblance was uncanny. And its size… this fish was at least five or six meters long. With a body like that, slamming into a ship hard enough to rattle it was entirely reasonable.
Lan Jin frowned. "That's not a sunfish, right? But it looks so similar."
"No, its head's way too small. A sunfish's head is bigger than that. But what exactly is it…?"
Everyone turned to Xi Yu for answers.
Xi Yu looked troubled. "Could be some new species. I don't know everything, you know."
"Fine." Lao Gao asked, "Why's it ramming us? Noise bothering it? How many are there? The other two boats got hit too. Could they be the same creatures?"
Captain Zhang shook his head immediately. "No. Its head's too small to swallow a person whole. But look at what happened: after the others fell in from the other two boats, none of them resurfaced. That means either there's something wrong with the water, or there's something under the ships we haven't seen yet."
Ling Jiang's voice was cold. "Turn on the horn. I'll freeze the whole area solid. Let's see if they escape this time. Just a damn fish, right?"
"Now that's bold," Lan Jin praised. "Turn the horn on. Who cares what it is? It won't let us go, so let's make sure it's not going anywhere either."
Ling Jiang positioned herself by the railing, ready to unleash her power. Captain Zhang took his place by the horn. After a silent exchange of glances, he switched it on.
All the crew gathered on deck, gripping the rails and waiting for whatever lurked below.
Sure enough, with the blaring horn echoing across the lake, the shadow moved. It swam fast, just below the surface, sometimes breaking through with a ripple of its back muscles. They couldn't see it clearly, but the shadow darting so quickly through the water was impossible to ignore.
The moment it drew close, Ling Jiang struck. Ice spread instantly, trapping the creature in a block of solid frost.
But the frozen beast's momentum carried it forward, and it slammed into the side of the ship, denting the hull.
Ling Jiang's ice spread in a ring, freezing not only the creature but everything that followed it.
This should have been a victory.
But the ice was so thick that they couldn't see the creatures clearly inside.
Ling Jiang frowned. "I can tell it's not that big, definitely smaller than that fish we saw. So why's it so strong? Strong enough to dent the ship."
Lao Gao snorted. "Ever think that's because of the ice? They rammed us before and didn't leave dents."
Ling Jiang was speechless, choosing not to respond.
The heat of summer meant the ice wouldn't last long. Lan Jin said, "If we want to see clearly, Lao Gao could melt it a bit. But if it melts too fast, and we haven't killed it yet, we'll have a problem. Let's just drag it with us. We'll head out of this area first. If there are more of these things, we'll take care of them all together."
They tied the ice block to the boat, dragging it as they moved. This place felt dangerous no matter how they looked at it. Leaving early was the best choice.
Captain Zhang nodded, gave the order, and the three ships set off.
Sure enough, once the creature was frozen, they could finally sail without further incident.
But their numbers…
When Captain Zhang finished counting, he had a headache.
Lan Jin asked, "What is it? How many left?"
"Fifty-three."
That meant that aside from Zhang Ye, thirteen more people had fallen into the water. Among them, four were ordinary humans and nine were ability users.
Captain Zhang rubbed his temples, sounding defeated. "At this rate, by the time we reach the Capital city base, I'll be bringing back only you guys."
"Not gonna happen."
After a moment of thought, Captain Zhang said, "Since this ship's damaged, we'll clean it up, abandon it, and gather everyone onto the other two ships."
"Huh?"
Everyone was surprised. "Why?"
"We're too spread out. Supplies are important, but lives are more important. No matter what happens, we need to guarantee our safety. So let's stay together."
If he weren't worried about one boat breaking down on the way, he'd have put everyone on a single vessel already.2`