Chapter 16: News of the Rising Tide
Chapter 16: News of the Rising Tide
At that position, the Tyrant Squid's body was leaping through midair — and with no defenses up, it had absolutely no way to dodge the Terror Crab's massive claw attack.
Its tiny eyes filled with a kind of bewilderment. Where on earth had something that enormous come from?
Squelch.
The giant black claw clamped down on the Tyrant Squid's body. Though its flesh was soft, it couldn't withstand a blow like that.
Instantly, one side of its body was sheared open by a massive wound.
Its body fell limply into the sea.
Chen Sui smiled with a cunning grin, watching the Tyrant Squid plummet. "Did you really think I couldn't tell what you were planning?"
Swapping pets in this game took one second, so the moment the Fishfolk Wavecrest had charged out, Chen Sui had already begun recalling him. By the time the Tyrant Squid turned and lunged toward him, just enough time had passed to summon the Shallows Terror Crab.
The Shallows Terror Crab's massive body followed gravity down into the ocean, sending up a tremendous splash, and gave chase to the wounded Tyrant Squid.
The Tyrant Squid thrashed all eight of its tentacles and turned to flee, but its injuries were too severe — the Terror Crab caught up and severed its body clean in two with another snap of its claw.
[Sea beast killed: Tyrant Squid]
[Obtained: Tyrant Squid Egg (Blue)] ×1
[Obtained: Tyrant Squid corpse]
Hearing the pleasant System chime ring out, Chen Sui couldn't help but laugh aloud.
One shot, one soul — and an egg dropped right away.
This was a Superior egg, guaranteed at least green quality, with a maximum of blue.
"I'm not counting on blue — as long as it has a talent, I'll be happy."
Without a second thought, Chen Sui cracked the egg open.
[Tyrant Squid]
Quality: Superior
Talent: Aquatic Acceleration (Movement speed in water increased by 20%)
Rank: Wavecrest Rank, Tier 4
A dominant apex predator of the mid-deep ocean with virtually no natural enemies. The strength of its tentacles is enough to twist iron bars into pretzels.
"Well… a bit better than completely unremarkable. Having a talent is at least something."
Chen Sui clicked his tongue — it felt like a shame to discard it, but not exciting enough to keep for himself.
"Whatever, I'll put it in the fish tank."
He then went ahead and cracked open the rest of the sea beast eggs he'd collected. In the end, nothing else was worth getting excited about.
Chen Sui wasn't too discouraged — after all, this was only one batch. Getting good sea beasts definitely required cracking a huge number of eggs.
"Keep grinding. Let's see if I can catch more today."
Before long, a full day had passed.
But Chen Sui's progress wasn't quite what he'd hoped for.
Aside from a handful of Common Quality sea beasts, he hadn't managed to get another Superior one at all.
He had run into two more later on — one Tyrant Squid and one Greater Queen-of-the-West Spinefish — but one got away, and the other didn't drop an egg.
In the end, the only worthwhile loot Chen Sui had to show for the day was the Tyrant Squid he'd hatched and the Tyrant Squid corpse.
He returned the fishing boat to the stone-faced old man at the rental dock and headed straight for the sea beast recycling shop. "That Tyrant Squid should meet the recycling uncle's requirements."
He glanced at the group chat while he walked.
It was lively in there.
Seven-Star-Longka · Lu Chengzhi: "@Everyone — heads up, I've received word that tonight there will be a rare rising tide. It may bring up some rare sea beasts. Everyone stock up on Pet Healing Potions and Capture Nets, then gather at the village entrance. Tonight is a great opportunity to power up fast."
Quhua-Sanchi: "A rising tide? Haven't there been rising tides before?"
Seven-Star-Longka · Lu Chengzhi: "This is different. Little Fishing Island is under the protection of a Sky Whale, so those rare and dangerous sea beasts normally can't come ashore. But no protection is perfect — sometimes a few rare sea beasts slip through. With good luck, overtaking the number one spot on the leaderboard in one go isn't out of the question."
Quhua-Fangzhu: "Has the leaderboard still not been updated? After what happened yesterday, the intelligence organization Tiangang should have swapped the top spot to the big shot."
Wang Kai: "That's a good thing — Brother Chen probably wants to keep a low profile."
That Tiangang intelligence organization Quhua-Fangzhu mentioned — Chen Sui had heard of it before. It had quite a reputation: a player-run organization in the virtual game, said to have extensive connections and networks, specializing in ranking the most powerful players. Very authoritative.
Seven-Star-Longka · Seven-Star-Longka: "Holy crap… I'm almost out of money."
Quhua-Hongtongtong: "Same here. The big shot just gave us crabs yesterday, and I've been grinding sea beasts all day today."
Why Won't My Dumb Bull Stand Firm: "Anyone willing to lend me some Fish Coins? I'll pay real money! The Fish Coins on the trading market got swept clean in an instant."
Seven-Star-Longka · Lu Chengzhi: "I've still got some Fish Coins, but not many — three hundred left. I'll list them for four yuan each for the brothers. Don't buy too many, leave some for others."
With that, a ding rang out in the group chat, and 300 Fish Coins appeared.
Quhua-Hongtongtong: "Boss is generous."
36E Driving God: "Boss is generous."
"A rising tide…"
Seeing that message, Chen Sui paused for a moment.
He'd wondered before why more sea beasts didn't wash up during high tide — now he had his answer.
He searched around and found that the rising tide hadn't appeared in any official announcements, nor was there any word of it on the player forums. But Lu Chengzhi had stated it so confidently — it was probably not a rumor.
"Didn't expect the benefits of creating the group to show up this fast. Must be insider information."
Chen Sui couldn't help but smile. If he hadn't created the group, he would have missed out on tonight entirely.
And on top of that, he could make a profit.
He thought it over, then listed 8,000 Fish Coins in the group chat, also priced at four yuan each.
The moment he posted it, the group exploded.
Quhua-Fangzhu: "Holy — 8,000?! Boss, are you single-handedly cornering all the Fish Coins in this group?"
Seven-Star-Longka · Seven-Star-Longka: "I was just thinking about how many to buy so I'd leave some for the others — there's no 'leaving some' here. We might not even be able to buy them all."
Seven-Star-Longka · Lu Chengzhi: "Brother Chen, you could've said something earlier! I was just trying to water the plants a little — you went and made it rain."
Why Won't My Dumb Bull Stand Firm: "Big shot, do you need a hanger-on? I'm available."
Wang Kai: "Suddenly feeling a lot calmer. Boss is generous."
Quhua-Sanchi: "Boss is generous."
Quhua-Hongtongtong: "Boss is generous."
36E Driving God: "Boss is generous."
"…"
Chen Sui harvested a wave of flattery and fawning. Listing on the trading market with transaction fees would average out to about three yuan each — selling in the group was practically printing money.
He closed the group chat for now.
Chen Sui stepped into the sea beast recycling shop.
"Hand over the money! I know you've got it on you!"
Two vaguely familiar-looking players had cornered Hai Linlin — who was wearing an apron — against the wall inside the sea beast recycling shop, threatening her viciously.
Had Chen Sui paid more attention, he would have recognized them as the two rookie players who had ambushed Hai Linlin in the alley to rob her yesterday afternoon. They had just come back from respawn and tracked her down again.
But Chen Sui didn't remember them.
"Wavecrest."
Wavecrest materialized behind them, swung his spear, and cut the two down in an instant.
After the two players dissolved into white smoke and vanished, Chen Sui looked left and right, walked forward, and called out: "Linlin."
Hai Linlin rushed over and threw herself into Chen Sui's arms.
In that moment, Chen Sui felt his whole body and mind relax. Honestly, it felt like having a little sister.
"Where's the uncle? Why are people picking on you again? Is he not here?"
Chen Sui asked, feeling a little displeased. That recycling uncle wasn't very reliable — how could he leave Linlin here alone?
Just then, some commotion came from outside. The recycling uncle, Hu Chao, came rushing in with a knife in hand, panting and flustered. His eyes went straight to Hai Linlin. "Kid, are you alright? I already took care of the other troublemakers — you…"
He stopped mid-sentence, his gaze darting sideways to Chen Sui standing nearby.
Hu Chao blinked. "You're here?"