The fish that appeared before him had a massive head, and its slightly open mouth was filled with sharp teeth.
Its body was covered in round scales, entirely blue-black, with faint traces of mud and wounds on its surface, making it look dirty.
What was most striking about this fish were its fins: pectoral fins, pelvic fins, and a unique tail fin.
In addition to the central lobe, the tail fin also had two shorter fins extending from the top, the upper and lower lobes.
Both the pectoral fins, pelvic fins, and the upper and lower lobes of the tail fin were different from present-day fish. The base of the fins, where they connected to the body, was thick muscle covered in scales, resembling limbs.
It was as if a thick thigh was extending out, with the fin at the end of the thigh.
Judging by its appearance, it resembled a Coelacanth from the Sarcopterygii class.
Sarcopterygii, born hundreds of millions of years ago, with some research suggesting that humans evolved from a branch of Sarcopterygii, the Finned Fish, into amphibians.
The other type, the Coelacanth, was also known as the Coelacanth.
Coelacanths have a history of 360 million years on Earth. They were thought to have gone extinct 100 million years ago but have been discovered successively since 1938.
Xia Qiu hadn't expected to encounter a Coelacanth, let alone such a massive one.
The largest Coelacanth on Earth is only 1.5 meters, but this one reached thirty meters.
How great was the difference between them? This Coelacanth weighed over 150 tons, possibly even 200 tons.
He himself was eighteen meters long and estimated to weigh around 50 tons.
A nearly fourfold difference in weight, a colossal size that dwarfed his own.
Such a fish shouldn't be in these waters at all.
But Xia Qiu thought of the capture agent; perhaps this Coelacanth was attracted by it.
And at this moment, it locked onto him and launched an attack.
A hint of panic surged in Xia Qiu's heart. It was impossible not to be nervous facing a fish so much larger than himself.
He saw it turn and flee.
He didn't know its strength, but with such a size difference, it couldn't be underestimated.
Moreover, he was injured, with wounds on his skull, lower jaw bone, and all around his body.
More importantly, the heat flow within him was growing stronger.
This time, the heat flow was almost equivalent to the combined strength of the Marines and Pirates from before.
His body would definitely be affected by then.
Time to go.
Xia Qiu turned directly and swam towards the distant sea.
But his turn allowed the sea fish to close the distance, leaving less than ten meters between them.
Accelerate.
Xia Qiu twisted his body with all his might, flapping his fins, and swam away at high speed.
So fast.
After swimming for a while, Xia Qiu found the other fish closely pursuing him.
Despite its massive size, its speed was no less than his own.
Xia Qiu wasn't worried at all; as long as he reached shallow waters, it wouldn't be able to catch him.
But just then, the heat flow spread throughout his body, followed by a wave of pain.
Hiss.
This pain was the process of his body strengthening. His muscles, bones, the hardness of his scales, and his fins were all changing.
And it intensified with high-speed movement. Although bearable, his body's speed was affected.
It's getting closer.
Xia Qiu felt the water flow behind him growing stronger; the other fish was rapidly approaching.
I can't escape.
Xia Qiu felt he wouldn't make it to the shallow waters before being caught.
What to do?
Xia Qiu's expression turned grim. Colonel Lido hadn't posed such a great threat to him, yet now he was being chased by a fish.
I have no choice but to fight.
If you want to kill me, then I'll kill you.
But it was too large and not slow; he couldn't confront it head-on. He needed to think carefully about his combat strategy.
Xia Qiu's eyes turned cold. He continued to swim forward, slightly reducing his speed.
The Coelacanth rapidly closed in. When it was two meters away from Xia Qiu, it opened its massive maw and lunged forward.
Its huge mouth was almost the size of Xia Qiu's head, biting at him from behind, capable of killing him in one bite.
But just then, Xia Qiu's body suddenly accelerated, turning to the right.
Snap.
The Coelacanth missed its bite, continuing to lunge forward for a distance.
Xia Qiu dodged its attack, spun in a small circle, and charged towards the Coelacanth's side.
The Coelacanth, having missed, locked onto Xia Qiu and attempted to turn around.
However, it had already lunged forward a distance due to inertia, making it a bit slow. Its large, spindle-shaped body had a high length-to-height ratio, making it slow to turn.
Xia Qiu, on the other hand, swam with smaller movements, sticking close to the Coelacanth's body. Just as it turned its head, Xia Qiu was already beside it, opening its mouth to bite.
This was the same tactic Xia Qiu had used twice when fighting the Marines. Facing a massive sea fish, attacking its flank had always been effective.
Although turning just now had been a bit dangerous, there was no other way to deal with this kind of fish.
Xia Qiu bit into the fish's body, its teeth closing.
Riiip.
Teeth and scales collided, emitting a harsh sound, like iron spikes hitting an iron plate.
So hard.
Xia Qiu felt like it had bitten into a metal plate; the opponent's scales were incredibly tough.
Snap.
But Xia Qiu's biting force was even greater. After a moment of stalemate, Xia Qiu's teeth sank in.
However, as its teeth pierced the fish's body, it felt immense resistance.
Furthermore, limited by the opponent's size and its own upper and lower jaw bones, it could only bite off a small portion.
Too little damage.
Xia Qiu finally understood how Colonel Lido must have felt when attacking him.
Despite his full effort, he could only break the surface, unable to inflict a fatal wound.
Xia Qiu's attack caused the Coelacanth a twinge of pain. Its eyes turned fierce, and it spun around, attempting to attack Xia Qiu.
But the instant it turned its head, Xia Qiu suddenly dove down along its body.
Click.
The Coelacanth missed its bite again, while Xia Qiu positioned itself beneath the Coelacanth and bit towards its abdomen.
Snap.
Xia Qiu's teeth pierced the scales and continued to sink in.
The Coelacanth's abdomen was also covered in scales, offering astonishing defense.
However, the abdomen was smaller than the flanks. On its sides, Xia Qiu couldn't get its whole body into its mouth and could only bite with the outermost row of teeth.
But on the Coelacanth's abdomen, Xia Qiu could bite down with its entire mouth, engaging multiple rows of teeth.
Slash.
A chunk of the Coelacanth's abdomen was bitten off directly, the wound larger and deeper than before.
The Coelacanth thrashed its body, twisting its form and turning its head to charge at Xia Qiu below.
But Xia Qiu swam to the other side, moving upwards and circling around.
Whoosh.
Sharp teeth grazed Xia Qiu's tail fin, leaving a wound. It had narrowly avoided being bitten.
Its body ached slightly. The heat flow within its body was reaching its peak, weakening Xia Qiu's control.
Xia Qiu dodged the Coelacanth's lunge, circled around, and moved to its flank, biting down again, tearing off another piece of flesh.
The Coelacanth continuously twisted its body, trying to attack Xia Qiu.
But Xia Qiu always managed to dodge its attacks by a hair's breadth.
As Xia Qiu tore at it, the Coelacanth's injuries worsened, blood spreading through the water.
Swish.
The Coelacanth charged at Xia Qiu again. Xia Qiu evaded once more. Injured, the Coelacanth's agility had greatly decreased, making Xia Qiu's evasions easy.
But after missing its attack, the Coelacanth didn't stop; it swam directly away?
Trying to escape?
No way I'm letting you.
Xia Qiu paused slightly, then its expression changed. It propelled itself forward in pursuit. With the Coelacanth injured, Xia Qiu was faster.
Xia Qiu rapidly closed the distance, but just then, the Coelacanth suddenly twisted its body, turned its head, and opened its massive maw, lunging at Xia Qiu.
It was a trap.
It wasn't trying to escape; it wanted to create distance, avoid Xia Qiu's entanglement, and then attack while Xia Qiu was in pursuit.
And Xia Qiu, having charged straight in, could no longer dodge its attack range.
Facing the gaping maw, Xia Qiu regretted its carelessness.
I can't dodge it, what should I do?
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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