Even so, this situation spoke for itself. Whatever lurked in this water was far more than just strange creatures.
Captain Zhang said, "This water is just rainwater from before, isn't it? Even if something in it swam around, it shouldn't have grown into something this strange."
Lao Gao joked, "What if it's man-made? Like the mutated beasts in the dense forest—created on purpose."
The moment Lao Gao spoke, almost everyone turned to look at him.
Really, in broad daylight, could he not say such creepy things?
Captain Wang broke the heavy silence, changing the topic. "This thing should be dead, right? So what do we do now? Leave it here, toss it back into the water, or… eat it?"
Eat it? No way. Nobody could stomach that.
Shen Zhiyan wrinkled his nose. "Dig a hole and bury it. What if it's poisonous? What if someone dies eating it?"
Captain Wang said, "This fish doesn't look poisonous."
"Pufferfish don't look poisonous either, but they're deadly," Captain Zhang retorted, finally loosening up a bit. "Forget throwing it back. Dig a hole and bury it."
Yet just as a team member moved to dig a hole, the fish suddenly thrashed their tails all at once. With surprising agility, they scrambled upright, scuttling toward every direction on those grotesque limbs sprouting from their bodies.
The chaos made everyone jump back with startled cries.
Lan Jin stared at those twisted limbs, goosebumps racing up her arms. She lost control for a moment, lightning arcing through the air. In the next second, every fish jerked stiffly in place and collapsed to the ground for real this time.
"They're resilient," someone muttered.
That comment reminded everyone of Zhou Zhizhi's earlier words: Merfolk are extremely hardy.
Huang Jinghe looked like he wanted to cry. "No way! This isn't a mermaid! A mermaid wouldn't look like this. It's like this thing just evolved arms, while mermaids are already fully evolved. And since when do mermaids come in the grass carp variety?"
His last comment had everyone laughing.
The fish was long and sleek, but nowhere near the beauty of ornamental fish. If one had to compare it to something, it was basically a grass carp. Mermaids could come in exotic, even unidentifiable forms—but a grass carp? Never.
Ling Jiang tried to comfort him. "Relax. This isn't a mermaid. A mermaid wouldn't live in this kind of water anyway. It couldn't travel this far. Don't overthink it."
Lan Jin joined in. "Yeah, definitely not a mermaid. If those arms bother you, chop them off."
Her words sparked an idea in Captain Zhang. "Xi Yu, you're the only researcher left. If I kill it, can you study it?"
Xi Yu gawked. "Wait, you want to kill the fish?"
Captain Zhang chuckled. "I'll do the killing. You just study it afterward."
Xi Yu rubbed his temples and sighed. "Fine."
Not that he didn't want to object, but objections wouldn't help. The moment Captain Zhang mentioned killing the fish, the others had already gathered around to examine how best to do it.
The fish were massive. Lan Jin had only stunned them earlier, and when the team grabbed one, it flailed in pain, its huge tail lashing wildly.
One unfortunate teammate was sent flying into the air, saved only when a plant-ability user snagged him midair with vines. Otherwise, who knew how high he would've been flung.
Yeah, no more guessing. With that strength, these things really could overturn boats.
Lan Jin said, "Ling Jiang, when I shock it again, freeze its tail to the ground so it can't thrash."
She sent another surge of lightning cracking down on the fish. Their bodies bent into stiff arcs before toppling over on their sides.
Lao Gao sighed in relief and hurried over to check. "Its head is fried. Should be dead now."
"Should be. Whatever. Freeze the tail," Captain Zhang ordered.
Ling Jiang complied, freezing the nearest fish's tail. The rest were frozen to the ground entirely, just in case one twitched mid-slaughter and sent someone flying again.
This team had specialists in every field, so of course they had chefs on board. Out of their three boats, three chefs remained, one of them the head chef, surnamed Shan.
"Lao Shan, you do it," Captain Zhang said.
The chef nodded without hesitation. His two assistants went back to the boat and returned with Chef Shan's knife.
He tested the blade, satisfied, then glanced at Captain Zhang. "Belly cut or back cut?"
There was a method to this. Normally, you cut the belly first, gut the fish, wash it, and cook it. Back cuts were for splitting the fish down its spine, head to tail, usually for winter curing.
Captain Zhang froze for a moment at the question, then rolled his eyes. "Why do I feel like we're about to fry it next? Forget it. Back cut. All the way to the frozen tail. We need to see what's inside."
Before Chef Shan started, Ling Jiang froze the fish's head and arms solid, leaving only its back exposed. "If it's not dead and wakes up from the pain, that'd be bad."
The chef's blade was sharp. With a clean slice along the spine from head to tail, he split the fish's skin, then plunged the knife deeper, cutting into its back.