Xia Chuan frowned and immediately looked towards the sea in the direction of their gaze. He saw a triangular gray-white shark fin suddenly appear on the sea surface dozens of meters away from Shen Lan, swimming towards Shen Lan at an extremely fast speed, without making a splash, seeming silent...
Shark!
Seeing this gray-white fin, and the reaction of the leader and others, Xia Chuan suddenly understood why they were so afraid of the ocean - it was definitely not just because of awe for the vast and boundless unknown world. Given the temperament of these men, while they may have awe, some of them must have thought about venturing into the sea to explore, after all, who knows how many resources are in such a vast ocean.
And they must have put that idea into practice.
As for the consequences of that practice... it was clear from their current reaction. They had obviously encountered ferocious predators like sharks and had terrifying experiences that left a deep shadow in their hearts, to the point where they were so terrified just from seeing a fin that they couldn't speak.
Xia Chuan naturally understood this feeling very well, because even in modern times, normal people would also be extremely frightened if they suddenly saw such a fin appear next to them at sea.
However, this time, seeing the gray-white fin representing extreme danger, Xia Chuan was not worried about Shen Lan's safety. In comparison, it was the shark that needed to worry... Of course, that shark naturally wouldn't realize it was rushing towards a dead end.
That gray-white fin arrived in front of Shen Lan in the blink of an eye.
Although Shen Lan's eyesight was poor, his other senses were extremely keen. In the area where he was, there was a faint scent of blood that hadn't completely dissipated, not knowing what it was left by. Such a smell would attract sharks, which was not surprising to him.
So almost at the same time the gray fin arrived, he flipped over and sank into the water with one movement.
His movements were so fast and fierce that the leader and others on shore couldn't see clearly at all. They only thought he had been grabbed and pulled down by a shark under the water.
Their faces instantly showed worry, each of them growing concerned. The leader hesitated for less than two seconds before muttering something very unclear, seeming to instruct the others, then urgently ran two steps to rush into the sea, as if the person who had been fearfully hesitating in front of the ocean earlier was not him at all, with all his fears thrown behind.
This action reminded Xia Chuan of a tribal leader he had encountered on a sea island while carrying out a mission. Strong and fierce when hostile, enthusiastic and pure when friendly. As long as he stood in front of his tribesmen, he was fearless of anything, able to protect them from anything, able to block anything.
Although the leader here couldn't communicate with him at all, and they had never had a normal conversation from beginning to end, Xia Chuan could still feel the same kind of sentiment.
While inwardly sighing with emotion, he did not forget to stretch out his hand in time to stop the leader from rushing forward, while pointing to where Shen Lan had disappeared and shaking his head, then making a reassuring gesture. Shen Lan returning to the sea was like a tiger returning to the mountains, how could he be at a disadvantage in his own territory?
Although the leader roughly understood his meaning, he still didn't believe it. He wanted to break free from Xia Chuan's restraint, but found that this seemingly thin and scholarly man actually had more strength than him, and also used some skillful techniques, making it impossible for him to break free no matter what.
Just as the two were in a stalemate on the shore, Shen Lan had already led that shark to sink dozens of meters deep into the sea.
That six or seven meter long gray-white shark had its patience exhausted by him. Finally, it swished its tail and shot towards Shen Lan's legs like an arrow at extreme speed, fiercely opening its huge mouth full of sharp teeth-
Just as it was about to close its teeth and tear off Shen Lan's entire leg in that instant, Shen Lan, who had originally been treading water under the sea, suddenly circled around at an extremely fast speed, somehow stirring up a large mass of fine bubbles, his entire body surrounded by that huge mass of bubbles, his figure indiscernible.
The shark bit into empty space, but did not give up. With a flick of its tail, it turned around again, directly facing the mass of bubbles behind it.
Just as it was baring its sharp teeth, looking ferocious, about to charge into that mass of bubbles, intending to tear Shen Lan to pieces and swallow him, that mass of bubbles was dispersed by the shaking seawater. The tall figure originally wrapped inside had already disappeared, replaced by a huge creature - a Mosasaurus.
The Mosasaurus' twenty-meter-long body formed a huge shadow in the sea. Whether in terms of body size or level of ferocity, the shark was no match for it. This top oceanic predator that should have lived in the Middle to Late Cretaceous period had obviously exceeded the shark's cognition and overturned its worldview.
The Mosasaurus unhesitatingly opened its mouth towards the shark, its awl-like sharp teeth white and terrifying, twice as many as the shark's, and its huge mouth more than a size larger than the shark's. Swallowing it whole would not be a problem.
Shark: "..."
In this instant, the predator that had been rampant in this sea area and had even devoured two people from the tribe felt a shadow in its heart equal to the surface area of the Mosasaurus in front of it.
It felt like a hooligan running into a bandit leader.
It froze for less than a second before swiftly turning its head, its tail shaking so fast it almost flew up, comparable to an arrow leaving the bowstring, shooting straight out.
However, it was still a bit slower than the Mosasaurus.
Before it could swim out very far, it was caught in the Mosasaurus' mouth. Then with a fierce swing, the entire shark was tossed out of the water, drawing an arc in the air before falling back into the water, landing in the mouth of the Mosasaurus that had swum some distance away. The Mosasaurus swung it again without a second word...
On shore, the leader even forgot to break free from restraint. Like the others behind him, he was looking up with mouth agape, watching that gray-white shark suddenly fly out of the water, fall back in, fly out again, fall back in... After a few times, it flew directly from the center of the sea to the shore, finally landing with a "plop" on the shore, not near, not far, right in front of the feet of the few people on shore.
That six or seven meter long shark's tail twitched slightly, then it rolled its eyes and became completely still.
Xia Chuan raised an eyebrow and glanced at the shark, neatly releasing his hold on the leader, tilting his chin and saying lightly: "See that?"
Leader: "..."
Although he couldn't understand what Xia Chuan was saying, he did indeed see... Even though Shen Lan had not shown himself the whole time, there was no one else besides him. Could it be that the shark had bounced all the way from the middle of the sea to appear in front of them on its own?!
However, this bizarre scene was just the beginning. Before long, all kinds of fish came flying out of the sea, varying in size and shape. Fortunately, most of them looked quite ordinary, without any that appeared poisonous at first glance.
In an instant, it was as if a seafood rain was falling on the shore. The leader and his followers had hunted all their lives and caught countless fish, but they had never seen such a brutal method.
In the blink of an eye, the fish had piled up in front of them, among which there were many with teeth as sharp as steel needles, the kind that would indiscriminately eat human flesh.
The crowd: "..."
Xia Chuan felt that they seemed to be running out of breath again.
Just as this group of simple-minded men were so shocked that they couldn't utter a word for a long time, their eyeballs almost popping out, a huge splash suddenly surged on the sea surface not far from the shore. Shen Lan, who had been out of sight for a long time, finally reappeared in the midst of that splash.
He wiped the water droplets from his face, obviously having had a great time frolicking. At such a distance, the people and objects on the shore had blurred into color blocks in his eyes. However, even so, he could still identify the one belonging to Xia Chuan among the color blocks. He waved his hand towards that direction, half showing off and half seeking credit, and then planned to dive into the water with a swift movement and swim directly to the shore.
But before he could lower his head, he heard the cry of seabirds suddenly coming from a place a little further away on his left and rear. Among them, there were other vague sounds, which sounded like... extremely slurred and weak cries for help.
I'm Windwalker, your friendly neighborhood translator who loves nothing more than getting lost in a good book. When I'm not translating, you might find me hiking through nature or curled up with my cat. I hope my translations bring as much joy to you as they do to me!
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