Free Web NovelChapter 443: Chapter 443: Patterns in the Deep
The boat cut through the water swiftly at a fast speed.
Every moment they wasted might be the last second they had to save a life.
The atmosphere was tense and no one spoke.
As they approached the last known location of team three, signs of struggle became visible.
It seems that a fight had broken out there.
There was debris from a broken boat and some discarded fishing nets.
"Everyone be careful." Lu Zhen warned and everyone went on alert.
They slowed down their movements searching for any survivors when Lu Tao suddenly pointed in a particular direction.
"That side, someone is there."
Without another word, Assistant Yao turned the boat in the direction Lu Tao pointed out and sped up.
They soon saw the remains of a damaged boat and clinging to the side was a man calling for help.
"...help..."
The boat moved fast and stopped beside the man, then they immediately pulled him into their boat.
"What happened?" Leng Pan asked as soon as the man was onboard.
"They came out of nowhere and overturned our boat. They were so fast we didn’t even have time to call for help."
The man said with a weak hoarse voice.
"What about the others?" Lu Zhen asked quickly.
"They.... they....they were dragged down."
Leng Pan felt her heart sink at that statement.
A whole team was dragged down into the water by those creatures.
Was there even a chance of survival?
Before they had time to for grief, the water around them moved violently.
Lu Tao looked down for a brief moment before speaking.
"They are here."
"Looks like we entered their territory." Assistant Yao said.
Unlike the other day where they only faced one predator, this time several huge creatures surfaced from the water.
They moved and surrounded the boat quickly.
"Looks like we are the prey they are hunting." Lu Hao spoke softly.
"Then let’s make them regret it." Lu Zhen said, his aura exuding the smell of blood.
He was really angry this time. Not because the creatures had killed people from their base, but because it had made his wife heartbroken.
He couldn’t even bear to make her frown, so no one was allowed to make her sad.
The injured survivor lay at the center of the boat, barely conscious. Assistant Yao kept him steady, his eyes darting between the water and the team.
Leng Pan looked at the injured member of her base and sighed.
She produced a bottle of green liquid and gave it to Assistant Yao.
"Give it to him and pour some on his wounds." This was spiritual spring water mixed with herbs to mask it.
She didn’t want anyone knowing about her space bangle or the spiritual spring inside.
So, she usually mixes the water with ground herbs to make it look like it was the herbs working.
Once the injured drank the water, he felt better and didn’t need someone to hold onto him constantly.
"Commander Leng, they didn’t attack randomly when they surfaced" the man rasped weakly after feeling a bit better.
"They separated us first..."
Leng Pan immediately understood.
These creatures were intelligent and knew that attacking the whole group was risky, so they separated them to weaken their strength.
"So, they are strategizing before attacking?" Leng Pan asked, looking at the creatures circling their boat yet not attacking.
"They created waves in the water around the boat to lower our visibility before attacking its sides. They forced us to separate." The injured man explained, this time more clearly as he gained some strength.
Just as they were talking, a huge splash of water rose from the side.
Luckily, the survivor had already warned them, so they didn’t fall for its trick.
"Let’s see what you have up your sleeve." Lu Zhen said solemnly.
As it turned out, the creature rose with the wave, hiding its presence in the water and tried to attack the boat.
If they weren’t prepared, they would have been caught off guard.
However, Lu Zhen pushed his hand out and a massive ball of flame collided with the wave.
The flame was extinguished but the force behind the attack sent the creature back into the water.
Because of the high heat of Lu Zhen’s flame, the water in the wave mostly evaporated making the creature visible. freewёbnoνel.com
It turned out that it wasn’t one creature, but five of them attacking together.
They were a little smaller than the one they had killed the previous night, however, they were faster.
"There are three... no, five of them in the group." Lu Hao said sharply, his eyes tracking the movement beneath the surface of the water.
"Wrong," Lu Tao corrected nervously. "There are seven. Two more are deeper into the water."
No one argued with him as the realization of what they were facing hit hard.
He was the one with X-ray vision, so they didn’t doubt him.
However, the realization that they weren’t facing a single apex predator this time but a whole pack still chilled them to the bone.
No wonder the fishing team didn’t stand a chance.
They were outnumbered and outmatched.
When the creatures attacked again, it was separately this time.
Two attacked at the same time from the two different sides of the boat.
The boat that had followed Leng Pan and Lu Zhen’s boat as part of the rescue team moved closer.
Ouyang Jin was leading the team with Blaze, Silk, Juan Ke, and another two members onboard.
Ouyang Jin moved his hand and an invisible barrier rose from the water upward, separating the creatures from Leng Pan’s boat.
Their attack bounced on the wind barrier and deflected.
Sending them flying a distance away and falling back into the water.
The creatures didn’t seem discouraged as they surfaced again, but Lu Hao didn’t give them the chance.
Lightning struck across the surface of the water, hitting both creatures simultaneously.
They convulsed violently before dropping back into the water.
