Carlo's movement as he stood up caused the ship to sway violently. The massive freighter churned up white foam across the calm sea, yet it could not mask his presence.
"Aok!"
Inside the hold, Blue and Echo chirped in alarm; they had been busy catching a few rats in the galley to stave off their hunger.
Clang...
A ladle hit the deck. Blue glanced toward the sound, then chirped softly to call for Delta.
"Aok?"
"Aok!"
A response came from the deck. It wasn't particularly agitated, nor was it calm. An unknown situation, then?
Hum—
The next moment, the ship tilted slightly. Carlo poked his head out, peering toward the source of the impact.
The sea remained a deep, tranquil blue, mysterious and still. However, a blue shadow had appeared beneath the waves. No... that wasn't right. The ship had been pushing the blue shadow along. The vessel had begun to decelerate immediately after the impact, but Carlo hadn't noticed at the time.
What was that?
Creeeeak—
Carlo planted one foot on the deck, forcing the steel to emit an indescribably harsh, agonizing groan.
He used this leverage to raise his body, looking down from a higher angle.
The blue shadow was even larger than he had imagined. Combined with the faint red tint spreading through the water, his initial judgment was that it was a biological organism.
A whale?
Carlo took a deep breath, leaned over the gunwale, and lowered his body into the water. Simultaneously, the ship began to list severely, risking a capsize.
Carlo opened his eyes underwater. The world beneath the surface was clearer than he expected, but only near the surface. Any deeper, and it descended into an unfathomable, pitch-black abyss.
Water mixed with warm blood flowed against Carlo's cheeks. He locked his gaze on the bow and discovered a nearly 24-meter-long whale wedged across the front of the ship!
The sight truly startled him. Based on his limited knowledge, could this be a Blue Whale?
Its body was perfectly wedged into the "U"-shaped indentation of the bow's ram. Was this facility originally meant for icebreaking? Or perhaps something else? Carlo didn't know, but he was certain it wasn't designed to catch whales.
Concerned about the ship's list, Carlo stood up quickly and returned to the center of the hold. The entire vessel seemed to spring back, righting itself in an instant!
The violent motion caused Blue and Echo to tumble in the hold. After a few imperceptible wobbles, silence returned.
The whale was half as long as Carlo. It couldn't have been killed by the freighter, could it?
"Whale fall" was a beautiful term, but when a blue whale dies, it often floats on the surface first because gases generated by microorganisms decomposing inside the body cause it to rise.
However, from what Carlo had just seen, the whale hadn't reached the floating stage yet. Combined with the warm blood, it was highly likely that the whale had died only moments ago.
With no time to dwell on it, he knew this couldn't continue. After a moment of thought, Carlo retracted the foot he had planted on the deck.
He then utilized his massive length, stretching his entire body across the deck. He spread his two relatively small arms wide to grip the deck, left his hind legs inside the hold, and poked his head out over the bow.
He looked like a giant cross... was it actually kind of cute?
Delta jumped into the hold. Realizing something was wrong, she blocked Blue and the others, taking cover with them in the crew passageway.
Metal screeching…
As Carlo exerted a bit of force, the deck at the bow shrieked under the unbearable pressure. The entire bow was forced downward while the stern rose, lifting half of the propeller out of the water and whipping up a spray.
The ship was certainly working hard.
The whale carcass broke free. Carlo plunged his head back into the water, and before it could fully sink, he locked his jaws onto its thick skin. Seeming to feel that it wasn't a secure enough grip, he adjusted his position underwater, clamping down where the tail met the main body.
Splash—
With a sudden burst of power from his legs, Carlo reared up from the water, dragging the blue whale up with him!
Thud!
The stern crashed back into the water, sending waves several meters high. Carlo retreated two steps, pulling the whale into the hold with him.
The sound of the heavy object hitting the floor, mixed with the sound of displaced water, caused the ship's waterline to drop further, though it remained within an acceptable range.
If you're wondering how Carlo could so easily lift a creature weighing over 150 tons, it's because he is an ARK Giganotosaurus.
The ship's speed increased slightly. Carlo examined the giant carcass before him and finally noticed something unusual.
The blue whale had several deep wounds that hadn't been caused by Carlo's retrieval. Comparing them to his own size, they were alarmingly significant.
The warm blood he had felt earlier was pouring from these very wounds. The question was: what kind of creature could leave marks like these?
The ocean... massive wounds... a predator...
As if a memory had been triggered, Carlo jerked his head up and began to scan the horizon.
There was nothing.
The shimmering sea and the blue sky created a nearly static painting, save for the occasional seagull that reminded one of the passage of time.
After his search yielded nothing, Carlo sat back down in the hold. Now, with the blue whale for company, the cargo bay that had previously felt somewhat spacious now seemed crowded.
Flesh tearing…
Carlo hadn't eaten fish before, though a blue whale probably didn't count as just a "fish," did it? After a moment's hesitation, he bit into the whale's abdomen, tearing through the skin.
Perhaps many people don't grasp the scale of a blue whale. To put it simply, a blue whale's heart is large enough to crush a small car, and its primary arteries are wide enough for a human to crawl through.
Swallowing…
The taste wasn't good, at least, not to Carlo, but it was the perfect food for the moment, and there might even be leftovers after he was full.
If he managed to finish it, that is.
"Aok?"
Three figures poked their heads into the hold, peering toward Carlo, which made him pause.
Could Velociraptors... eat this? Would there be a problem?
Carlo wasn't worried about himself, but he was concerned for the raptors. Yet, he recalled how Carnotaurus One would go nine meals without a bite in three days, and in his desperation, wouldn't even pass up a Dryosaurus. Letting the raptors have a meal... surely that wouldn't hurt?
Rip...
Carlo broke through the whale's blubber, tore off a hunk of meat about the size of all three raptors combined, and tossed it to them.
Thump...
The meat landed. The three raptors, led by Blue, began to feast on a meal they could never have dreamed of in their previous life.
The slightly warped ship continued its voyage, sailing toward the distant shore beyond the horizon. Beneath the surface behind the freighter, the water stirred. A massive head broke the surface to take a breath.
It cast one final look at the direction the ship was heading, then submerged into the abyss below.
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