Evolution from Carp to Divine Dragon - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Releasing the Scavenger Fish

TL: Etude

“What invasive species? Don’t listen to these people’s nonsense!”

At this moment, Lin Hao clearly heard the conversation between the two men and became curious.

It seemed like someone was about to release something into the pond!?

He swam to another area and soon saw two men with flashlights carrying a large bag of fish to the pond’s edge and dumping them all in.

“The ancients said that heaven has the virtue of cherishing life.”

“Releasing these fish is an act of merit. Please bless me…”

The middle-aged man releasing the fish clasped his hands together and began to pray.

“Ah San, every witness is blessed. Why don’t you pray quickly?”

“We’re releasing these fish into the Hualong Pond; the Dragon King will bless us.”

He glared at the young man standing beside him.

“Boss Peng, although these scavenger fish are cheap, they shouldn’t be released randomly…”

The young man, referred to as Ah San, couldn’t help but speak up.

Although he didn’t know why his boss suddenly wanted to buy fish for blessings, he vaguely remembered that this type of cheap fish was considered an invasive species and shouldn’t be released indiscriminately.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life! No matter what the creature is, it has life!”

“Releasing them is an act of merit!”

“You don’t understand this; no wonder you’ll be working for others all your life…”

Boss Peng started a long-winded lecture.

“Scavenger fish!?”

Lin Hao hadn’t seen them clearly before, but now that the fish were fully in the water, his night vision made their shapes clear.

They were streamlined with black patterns all over and had tiny eyes.

As someone knowledgeable about aquatic life, he recognized the so-called scavenger fish immediately.

These fish, scientifically known as Hypostomus plecostomus, are invasive species.

In the past, unscrupulous sellers exaggeratedly advertised them as bottom feeders that only ate leftover food and waste.

Many people who bought and kept them soon found out that wasn’t the case.

These fish would indeed eat leftovers but only when there was no other food. If they encountered injured fish, they would attach themselves to the wounds and gnaw on them.

Moreover, these creatures produced a lot of waste, further polluting the water.

So, many people, upon discovering this, would just dump them into rivers.

But these fish had strong survival abilities, tough skin, no natural predators, and they reproduced quickly, thus squeezing out other native species and disrupting the original ecological balance!

“This guy should be struck by lightning.”

Lin Hao couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

Releasing such invasive species just to save money—what a scumbag.

“If this continues, the entire Hualong Pond will be overrun by scavenger fish in no time.”

The thought made Lin Hao’s skin crawl.

“Let’s release this batch for now. I’ll buy more to release in a few days.”

Boss Peng said as he and his employee left.

“More releases?”

“Damn you!”

Lin Hao couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

“These scavenger fish have no natural predators here. Who the hell would eat them…”

“Wait, can I eat them?”

Lin Hao quickly realized.

He had just evolved serrated teeth and was looking for something to test them on.

Now, these scavenger fish were right here!

Worth a try!

Without further thought, Lin Hao swam quickly towards the area.

He found a relatively small scavenger fish and lunged at it, opening his mouth wide.

Crunch!

With a crisp sound, his serrated teeth pierced its tough back.

It was really tough!

The scavenger fish had very little flesh, and its hard exterior made it predator-resistant.

It was hard to eat and tasted terrible!

The scavenger fish struggled, but Lin Hao’s bite force was decent. Since this fish was small, he continued to bite down hard and tore off half of its body.

Crunch, crunch!

The sound of his chewing was like gnawing on bones.

“This is like chewing on bones.”

Lin Hao was a bit speechless.

However, he didn’t stop and continued biting down.

Swallowed juvenile scavenger fish, gained 10 evolution points.

“Ten evolution points!”

After devouring the entire fish, the system notification finally appeared.

Ten evolution points were pretty good!

“But my teeth feel a bit sore.”

Lin Hao was a bit helpless. Compared to other fish, the scavenger fish were not only tough to chew but also tasted awful.

“If a juvenile gives ten points, an adult should give even more, right?”

He continued searching with his eyes.

Soon, he found another small scavenger fish.

Without hesitation, he swam over and bit down!

Although the serrated teeth from the system’s treasure chest weren’t very sharp, his bite force was decent.

By forcefully chewing, he managed to crush and swallow the scavenger fish.

Swallowed juvenile scavenger fish, gained 10 evolution points.

…

The night quickly passed, and he had devoured five juvenile scavenger fish, gaining fifty evolution points in total.

Adding the black-shelled shrimp he had previously eaten, his accumulated evolution points reached 161.

“Today, I should be able to level up again.”

Early in the morning, Lin Hao was energetic, swimming around the pond.

“Did you hear? Something happened last night!”

“Something washed up on the East Coast. It looked like a dragon.”

“No way? I’ve heard stories about dragons washing ashore before, but could it be true?”

“Who knows? Let’s pray to the Dragon King first. Recently, strange things are happening more frequently, and any videos posted about this on Douyin are being deleted!”

…

On the long bridge leading to the Dragon King Temple in the center of the pond, people walked by, their conversations occasionally audible.

“A dragon washed ashore?”

Listening to their words, Lin Hao was surprised.

“Impossible.”

He found it hard to believe.

He had heard stories about a dragon incident in the 90s, but he had always thought of them as just that—stories, never imagining such things could happen in the real world.

However, considering the bizarre events since his death, it seemed this world had many hidden secrets.

“A dragon… If I could evolve into a dragon, that would be something.”

Lin Hao couldn’t help but marvel at the thought.

“Huh!? Someone’s throwing bread crumbs!?”

He noticed something and quickly swam over.

While grabbing the bread crumbs, Lin Hao found it odd.

Why did the koi seem less eager to compete for food today?