Chapter 323: Dragon Fight 1 |
The Mosasaur that had submerged into the sea sensed something was wrong. It heard the ripples of sound waves coming from the sea surface, and its ferocious beast's sixth sense screamed—danger!
It twisted its body to look in the direction of the sound, sensing a figure charging wildly across the sea's surface.
Instinctively, it prepared to dive deeper to avoid it, but then, judging from the wave shadows reflecting from the surface, it seemed... not that big?
In fact, it was much smaller than those iron-hulled big ships it had rammed before.
Confidence born from sheer size and the arrogance of a top predator instantly overwhelmed that sliver of unease.
A cruel glint flashed in the Mosasaur's pair of cold, giant eyes.
It immediately abandoned the plan to dive deep for avoidance. Instead, it adjusted its posture, gathering strength.
Its thick, powerful tail swung violently, propelling its hill-like body forward to meet the threat!
On the sea surface, that deep blue, burly figure, already wrapped in an earth-shattering momentum, took one final step, leapt high into the air, pulled its right fist back—muscles taut like steel wires, like an arrow released from the bowstring. For that instant, it seemed to merge with the entire ocean.
Came crashing down!
"BOOM!!!"
It was like two mountains colliding.
A shockwave visibly exploded, forming a ring of white air and water.
The Mosasaur's upward charge was brutally interrupted!
Its head was knocked askew by this punch, its massive jaws snapping shut.
Having landed the first blow, Mogu's enormous figure exerted force mid-air, flipping over. His arms, like a giant ape embracing the moon, locked tightly onto the thick, rough skin folds behind the Mosasaur's head!
His five fingers, like steel rebar, dug deep into flesh and blood, gripping firmly!
"ROAR!!!" The Mosasaur raged, violently shaking its head.
Its massive body thrashed and twisted fiercely in the seawater, trying to throw off, crush, and drag the creature on its back into the abyss.
But Mogu's arms seemed welded into its flesh.
No matter how the Mosasaur rolled, even dragging him underwater, his burly frame remained steadily seated atop the Mosasaur's head.
Mogu's expression was impassive, his eyelids lowered. His right fist rose high and smashed down heavily.
*Thud!*
The first punch landed on the hard bone behind the Mosasaur's eye socket.
With a dull sound, scales dented, cracking with fine lines.
The Mosasaur roared, struggling even more violently, its tail slapping seawater skyward.
*THUD!!*
The second punch landed on the same spot.
The cracks instantly widened. Dark red, nearly black blood seeped from between the scale gaps, its nostrils, and ear holes.
*THUD!!!*
The third punch, the fist's edge nearly punched through the hard bone, the skull caving in.
Mogu's gaze, from beginning to end, remained cold as a blade's edge, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
Fists fell like a torrential downpour, pounding the Mosasaur's scales concave, its skull fracturing, plasma and seawater splattering everywhere!
He no longer deliberately sought weak points, but simply struck wherever was convenient.
The dense sound of pounding was like raindrops on cloth.
*Thud! Thud! Crunch! Crunch!*
Everyone on the ship watched the spreading crimson stain on the sea surface and the Mosasaur's movements gradually slowing to a feeble pace.
Complex emotions filled them all—awe, envy, longing.
Zhang Chongshan felt his heart beating fast in his chest. He stared blankly at Mogu's figure, experiencing an indescribable feeling.
In the sky, Qin Ziwen's eyes shone brightly. He saw the potential of the superhuman.
*This* was the true superhuman he envisioned in his heart. Even a prehistoric giant like the Mosasaur could be hunted.
Mogu slowly unclenched his fist. He raised his head, looking toward the sky.
Qin Ziwen gave a slight nod.
Receiving permission, Mogu raised his heavy fist once more and smashed down.
The Mosasaur let out one final, mournful cry.
Its massive body instantly went limp, ceasing all struggle, and slowly sank into the seabed.
Simultaneously, large clusters of light points condensed on the Mosasaur's body surface.
One, two, three.
Three cards in total.
Mogu's large hand reached out, collecting the three cards.
A prompt from the Home sounded in Qin Ziwen's ear.
[Completed Hunting Ladder Level 2 Task · Hunt Adult Mosasaur *1]
[Reward Obtained: Function Card · Level 1 Node *1, 10 points]
Mogu flipped over, landing with his feet on the sea surface. With both hands, he lifted the Mosasaur's head and dragged it toward the Homesickness.
"Someone come help."
Someone quickly jumped off the ship into the sea, dragging chains. With Mogu's assistance, they hooked the Mosasaur's corpse.
The Homesickness, towing the Mosasaur's corpse, returned to the Home through the node channel on the sea.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the ship that had surfaced onto the shallows was now beached. Shipwrights arrived with tools to make repairs.
"This is quite troublesome. The broken side is mainly underwater. Repairing from the inside will be difficult to do thoroughly. Unless we can get the ship back into the shipyard," a shipworker from the ghost shipyard frowned.
He wasn't a professional shipwright either, just a worker who had recently joined the ghost shipyard. Underwater work was a high-difficulty technical task he found challenging.
"We need to hurry. The tide will rise soon. If it's not repaired by then, it'll probably be too late."
The message was relayed back. Tao Fu put down his work and was about to handle it personally when someone beside him spoke up: "Foreman Tao, didn't the Guild Leader just bring in a new batch of fish-man shipwrights? Those fish-men can breathe underwater naturally. How about...?"
Tao Qian thought for a moment and found it feasible.
So he hurriedly found Luoen. But after a round of communication, the man and the fish-man were like a chicken talking to a duck, realizing they couldn't understand each other.
Mogu and Pula were summoned via Recruitment Cards, so they were implanted with human language.
Luoen was recruited later through manual means. He could communicate with the Home Master, but not with others.
In the end, they found Pula and asked him to act as translator, finally solving the communication problem.
Pula said, "Tao, if there are no issues, I'll take my leave first."
Tao Qian looked at Pula, thoughtful. He remembered something. In the coming period, quite a few fish-man artisans might join the shipyard.
Communication between the two sides would be a major issue. Although he heard Mr. Jia say they should find time to learn the fish-man language.
But it wasn't that simple. One could imagine communication would definitely be a big problem going forward. Having a translator would certainly make things much more convenient.
Tao Fu said, "Pula, the Master asked us to learn the fish-man language. We might trouble you later."
Pula chuckled, "Tao, we are friends. No need to be so formal."
On the other side, after learning of Tao Fu's request, Luoen returned to the Fish-man Burrow, gathered ten fish-man artisans, and had them take their tools and follow.
Not long after, the shipworkers waiting by the shallows saw a group of strangely-looking Artisan Clan fish-men approaching.
"Are these the fish-men?"
"They don't look much like the one from earlier."
"They do resemble Shipworker Pula a bit. Feels like someone copied Shipworker Pula a dozen times."
Once this group of Artisan Clan fish-men arrived nearby, it was like they were returning home. One by one, they went *plop, plop* into the sea.
In no time, a layer of patches was applied to the damaged hull bottom, making it temporarily seaworthy.
Of course, a detailed inspection and proper repair would still be needed once back in the shipyard.
The crew members on the ship returned inside the cabin. Their next task was to scoop out the seawater that had flooded the cabin.
Meanwhile, the Ghost Ship Homesickness, towing the Mosasaur, returned from the node to the shipyard for inspection.
The Mosasaur's corpse was dissected, and its heart extracted.
Scalding blood was collected in a basin. Du Yu closed his eyes, bathing in the dragon blood.
In a daze, Du Yu's ears seemed to hear the Mosasaur's furious roar.
Fresh dragon blood was indeed different from frozen dragon blood. Lying in the bathtub, Du Yu could feel his physical strength gradually increasing. Indeed, fresh dragon blood was more effective.
"Dragon Hunter..." Du Yu murmured. So this was his path.
The Dragon Blood Warrior ability was a passively enhancing physique that could be improved by bathing in dragon blood.
Hunting dragon-like creatures, bathing in their blood—this was his superhuman path.