Evolution from Carp to Divine Dragon - Chapter 191

Chapter 191: Dragon Shadow!

TL: Etude

She had just finished her college entrance exams and, upon returning to Dragon Island, began helping her father with the local starfish fishing.

The number of starfish was simply overwhelming.

Even though they had caught many yesterday, it seemed impossible to catch them all.

This abundance severely affected their family’s aquaculture business, leading to significant losses.

“Lin’er, what’s going on with these starfish? How can they reproduce so much?” The middle-aged man couldn’t help but voice his question as he continued casting the net.

“Dad, starfish undergo a complex developmental process. When they’re born, they are larvae similar to plankton, making them easy prey for other fish.

But this year, perhaps due to overfishing or some other reason, the number of fish has decreased, along with their natural predators. Combined with the increase in the La Niña phenomenon, which boosts plankton numbers, the larvae have a better survival environment. That’s why there’s such a severe outbreak this year.”

The girl, called Lin’er, explained while continuing to cast the net.

“In short, for some reason, they’ve proliferated. We should catch as many as we can. I don’t believe they can grow that fast!”

Her father, the middle-aged man, listened, feeling puzzled.

He pulled up the net again, only to find it empty.

This was completely different from the previous days when they could easily catch many starfish with just a cast.

“Lin’er, did you catch anything over there?”

“Nothing here either.”

“That’s strange.”

Zhang Lin’er’s eyes filled with disbelief. They hadn’t caught any starfish at all.

This was a stark contrast to yesterday.

“Could they have been all caught?”

The middle-aged man was doubtful. It seemed unlikely since the starfish were abundant this morning. They couldn’t have vanished suddenly.

“I’ll go take a look!”

After some thought, he donned his diving suit, took a deep breath, and dove into the sea.

“Dad, come up quickly!”

Lin’er called out, concerned as she watched her father. He was good at free diving and usually didn’t encounter problems, but she still felt uneasy today.

Splash!

As soon as her father dove into the water, a splash was heard from a nearby area.

What was that?

Zhang Lin’er paused, turning to look, and saw a dark figure in the water moving rapidly towards them.

Splash!

The creature suddenly burst out of the water!

A fish!

A massive fish!

The underside of this fish was distinctly golden. Growing up by the sea, Zhang Lin’er recognized it at a glance—it was a yellow croaker!

However, the largest yellow croaker in the world only reached about one meter.

This yellow croaker was seven to eight meters long!?

Especially as it leaped from the water, its open mouth revealed two rows of incredibly sharp teeth!

As if it intended to charge the fishing boat and swallow her whole!

This terrifying scene left her momentarily paralyzed.

Splash!

But just at that moment, an even more terrifying gigantic shadow appeared behind the massive yellow croaker.

The oversized yellow croaker was instantly seized by this creature’s mouth and dragged underwater.

The splashing water fell on the fishing boat, making it seem like it was raining!

“What… what is that…”

Zhang Lin’er stood motionless on the fishing boat, stunned.

The exaggeratedly enormous yellow croaker appeared to have been pulled underwater by a completely black, monstrous creature.

Her heart pounded rapidly.

However, she soon calmed herself and peered into the sea.

But now, the sea appeared calm again, with no sign of any creatures.

“Dad!”

“Dad!!!”

She quickly realized her father was still underwater.

He had been down there too long for a free dive.

Oh no!

Could it be…

Thinking of the terrifying creature that had just appeared, her face turned pale.

At that moment, a massive black shadow surfaced before her eyes.

The shadow was enormous, seeming to be a creature over twenty meters long in the water.

She and the fishing boat appeared so insignificant in comparison.

What… is this!?

Zhang Lin’er’s eyes widened.

Then, a huge claw emerged from the water.

It was a black claw, covered with large black scales.

The claw was holding a person in a diving suit.

“Dad!”

Her body trembled slightly at the sight.

The gigantic claw placed the unconscious middle-aged man onto the fishing boat and then slowly disappeared.

“Cough, cough!”

The middle-aged man coughed a few times, spat out some seawater, and slowly regained consciousness.

“Dad, are you alright!?”

Zhang Lin’er, no longer able to hold back, quickly called out.

“My head hurts… I think I got hit by a big fish.”

The middle-aged man held his head, struggling to sit up.

“How… how did I get up here?”

He was bewildered upon regaining full consciousness.

When he dove underwater, he found that all the starfish had vanished!

As he tried to surface, a ridiculously large fish rushed at him. Unable to dodge, he was knocked unconscious.

Upon waking, he found himself back on the fishing boat.

Thinking about what had just happened, he still felt a bit scared.

“It seemed like… a dragon.”

Zhang Lin’er took a deep breath, recalling the situation. Her heart was filled with shock.

That enormous, slender figure was simply outrageous!

Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would have thought dragons, though totems of the Dragon Nation, were mythical beings that couldn’t exist in reality.

But what she had just witnessed completely shattered her worldview!

“A dragon? Lin’er, don’t joke with your father. How could there be a dragon?”

The middle-aged man stood up, looked at the sea, and couldn’t help but speak.

Though he was sometimes superstitious, the idea of a dragon in the sea seemed absurd just to hear.

“It was about twenty meters long, with four sharp claws and covered in large black scales.”

Zhang Lin’er, reflecting on what she had seen, muttered to herself.