Infinite Hunter

Over the next few days, more people came to apply for the job. Two-thirds of them left when they saw the boss was Asian. In the end, Cheng Yijiu chose only one local fisherman in his early thirties, David Johnson. He was black, a rare sight in the area.

The black people at that time were not lazy. On the contrary, Cheng Yijiu felt that they seemed to be more diligent than the white people, and not stupid either... So Cheng Yijiu was very satisfied with him, "I think I will go out to sea in a few days. Don't you have any work recently? What are you going out to sea for? I think it will be fishing, catching a big shark."

The next large shark attack occurred two days later. Cheng Yijiu had hired David to sort out the secondhand fishing boat. He hinted that he wouldn't be staying long and would likely give the boat to David when he left—as long as he worked diligently. David's lifelong dream was to own a boat of his own, so he naturally went to work with great enthusiasm.

That day, Cheng Yijiu was still sitting on the beach, enjoying the early summer breeze and the sand. There were many people there on their early vacation, some of them floating on air mattresses. Cheng Yijiu had been observing with a small telescope, looking at the dotted heads on the sea. "When will the shark attack happen?"

It wasn't that he didn't want to save people, but if he shouted like that on the beach, the only outcome for him, as he wasn't white, was that he would be sent to jail by the sheriff here—even if Sheriff Martin had no ill will towards him and didn't discriminate against him. "Speaking of which, this sheriff is from New York..." Cheng Yijiu was also thinking about this.

The telescope swept across the horizon in his hand. Suddenly, Cheng Yijiu noticed something unusual in the lens. He quickly turned the lens back - but unfortunately, he only saw what looked like a shark fin flipping on the water. He couldn't see what followed, but the people in the water screamed and began to flee to the shore.

Cheng Yijiu stood up from his chair, his binoculars fixed on that spot. He finally saw it, a portion of the shark's dorsal fin emerging from the water before disappearing back into the sea. Pushed onto the beach by the current was a shattered air mattress with a huge crescent-shaped gap. And of course, there was also the mother on the beach, calling out her child's name—her son hadn't returned.

The shark had killed the little boy, and his body couldn't even be recovered—at least not yet. Cheng Yijiu returned to the hotel—he had checked out and was planning to stay on the boat. This fishing boat, called the Moon, could accommodate more than ten people, and Cheng Yijiu had his own captain's cabin—much like he'd used to on the inland river. Operating a boat on the ocean was indeed completely different from operating one on the inland river.

If Cheng Yijiu hadn't had strong internal organs, he would have been terribly seasick—fishing boats aren't built for passenger comfort. Cheng Yijiu wasn't allowed to attend the town meeting because he was an outsider, and at the meeting, the mother of the deceased boy offered a $3,000 reward.

The next day, all the fishing boats left the harbor to catch the shark—they didn't even know what kind of shark it was; most of the fishermen said it was a tiger shark. Cheng Yijiu also asked John to drive the Moon out to sea, and he prepared fishing bait on the boat.

When the boat reached the open sea, John stopped it, letting the current carry it along. He then took out a mixture of chopped fish and blood, and poured it into the sea spoonful by spoonful. Cheng Yijiu sat on the other side, fastened his seatbelt, and began fishing. "There were quite a few sharks, but they were all small creatures, about two meters long." John, an experienced fisherman, had seen the sharks fighting for food.

"A shark this big can't eat two people, John. You also saw the child's air mattress. The marks on it are very large, almost one meter wide - or maybe even larger... This is not something an ordinary tiger shark can do, let alone these sharks. A shark this big can only be a great white shark." Cheng Yijiu said a little lazily.

The weather at sea was very comfortable. If it weren't for the stench of blood and flesh, Cheng Yijiu would have fallen asleep under the sea breeze. He gave up fishing because these small sharks were not his target and he didn't want to hunt them meaninglessly.

There were many fishing boats nearby, and the $3,000 bounty was enough to get many people out to sea. And they did catch a tiger shark over three meters long—this was what Cheng Yijiu saw at the dock after returning. He also saw the marine biologist—because he was out of tune with everyone else, measuring the width of the shark's mouth with a tape measure.

Chapter 5: The First Attack

Cheng Yijiu didn't intervene, because after measuring his mouth, the guy directly grabbed Sheriff Martin... Cheng Yijiu shrugged his shoulders, threw the cable to Johnson, and asked him to tie it. "Let's go to the pub later, I'll buy you a drink." Cheng Yijiu said.

What would the sheriff do? Cheng Yijiu vaguely remembered the plot, but the mayor of this town would never allow the beach to be closed. This kind of town relies entirely on the income from tourism, and the fishing industry can't support so many people. The income from the Independence Day holiday can allow the town residents to live a relatively good life for the whole year.

Indeed, there was no response for the next two or three days. After Cheng Yijiu treated Qiangsheng to a few drinks, their relationship improved a bit—especially when Cheng Yijiu reiterated that the boat would be given to Qiangsheng when he left. This moved the strong black man to tears of gratitude, and he worked even harder—he carefully overhauled the entire boat, not only for Cheng Yijiu, but also for himself.

The ferry brought in a flood of tourists, even more this year than in previous years—a shark attack had already spread in the news. Americans, eager to see the action, also flocked in droves, and the town was suddenly overflowing with people, with nearly every resident beaming with joy. "If I weren't still able to live on the boat... these days would be incredibly expensive," Cheng Yijiu instructed Johnson to drive his rickety car to the supermarket to buy a large quantity of groceries and store them in the boat's cold storage.

The oil was filled up, and the maintenance was completed with Johnson's efforts. It must be said that the Uncle Black at this time was completely different from the Uncle Black that Cheng Yijiu knew in his later life. He was a hardworking and intelligent man. However, Cheng Yijiu hadn't gone out to sea for a while, and the sharks hadn't appeared nearby for a while. If you calculated the time, it was time for them to come back to look for food.

"What kind of shark likes to eat humans? There are obviously fatter seals and dolphins..." But it's hard to say for sure. Last time, Cheng Yijiu hunted a strange cave bear.

With so many people, troublemakers naturally showed up. The town wasn't taking the shark attack lightly, so they called in the Coast Guard, and, surprisingly, they arrested at least six of them in a single day. These guys were practically wielding fake shark dorsal fins, diving underwater and causing panic for fun—and now they need to go to the police station to get some fresh air.

Even if we are optimistic, the fine will be severe.

The shark was indeed coming, because someone on the shore was actually screaming. Cheng Yi hadn't seen it for a long time, but later there was news that the shark swam around and then left. Although it didn't attack anyone, it caused one person to fall into the water and drown - he fell into the water in a panic and then suffered a cramp and drowned. Well, after this incident, more people came, and everyone wanted to see a man-eating shark - because some people had seen it up close, about 20 or 30 meters away, and the dorsal fin was quite clear.

In this case, the beach cannot be closed. But later, Cheng Yijiu heard that Quint went out to sea with the marine biologist and Sheriff Martin to hunt the shark.

"Let's go too." Cheng Yijiu said, "Oh, Captain. There are at least three more boats - Old Bill and his boat have gone out to sea to hunt the shark." Johnson said, but his men did not slow down at all and started to start the boats to prepare to go out to sea.

They had indeed prepared the bait, the shark bait, which was stored in a cold storage. They'd take it out when they went out to sea, trusting the sun and the sea breeze to thaw it quickly. But then it would be half-rotten. It was a truly awful stench, so Cheng Yijiu was definitely reluctant to do it, so they let Qiangsheng do it. "This time, we're not just going to kill this shark, we're also going to make some money—for example, if we could catch tuna."

If they caught a tuna weighing over 300 kilograms, they would at least recoup half a tank of gas money on this trip. Cheng Yijiu was quite relaxed on the trip. As an experienced fisherman, Johnson worked with him to study the shark's movements. Cheng Yijiu had circled several attack sites, and the last sighting confirmed the shark's route into the bay, which gave him a clear idea of ​​its possible range.

There were several boats, so it all depended on who had the best luck. Cheng Yijiu, wearing a sun hat, opened the awning behind the boat and began sea fishing. Johnson slowed the boat to a minimum and began to sprinkle bait from behind, deliberately choosing to go downwind to avoid suffocating Cheng Yijiu. All afternoon and into the evening, no other sharks appeared, save for a few average-sized sharks, between one and a half and two meters long.

Cheng Yijiu had caught several different kinds of fish, from pike to sea bass. After cleaning the deck, Johnson also took out his fishing rod—and luckily, he landed a tuna. "Two hundred and fifty kilograms? Wow! Quickly kill it, clean it, and freeze it." Johnson was very efficient at this, quickly bleeding and cutting the fish, then sending it to the cold storage.

At night, Cheng Yijiu turned on the spotlight and used a small fishing rod to catch a lot of squid and other cuttlefish. Cheng Yijiu simply sliced ​​the cuttlefish and ate them with mustard and soy sauce—it must be said that fresh cuttlefish and squid tasted amazing. No sharks appeared, and around nine o'clock that evening, the boat's searchlight spotted a fishing boat in the distance. The boat approached, and under the searchlight, Johnson recognized it as Old Bill's boat.

"Why isn't anyone here?" he asked. Cheng Yijiu, looking at the tilted boat, said, "Turn to the other side. I think they're probably in danger." A large hole could be seen at the waterline. The boat hadn't sunk yet, probably because the cabin was leaking slowly. However, it would definitely sink by tomorrow morning. "Do you want me to go in and check out the situation?" Johnson asked, but Cheng Yijiu declined.

"No need! If anyone is still here, they should be out by now. Since they're not out, there's no one alive. What a strange behavior." Cheng Yijiu muttered, motioning to leave. The next morning, the Coast Guard radioed in, saying they had lost the signals of three fishing boats and hoped nearby boats could search for them. Cheng Yijiu immediately had Johnson answer the Coast Guard and tell them at what longitude and latitude they had found Old Bill's boat last night, and that there was no one on board.

The Coast Guard will send a helicopter to search, but it's unlikely to yield any results. Kent's boat wasn't among the three, meaning they were still at sea—and Cheng Yijiu also heard Sheriff Martin's call for safety.

Chapter 6 Changes

No one had noticed the giant shark yet, but it had already attacked at least one boat—another surprise. Cheng Yijiu continued to have Johnson drift at minimal speed. After a day and a night, they were already quite close to the open sea. They encountered quite a few sharks, including a tiger shark that was over three meters long, approaching four meters. However, Cheng Yijiu knew the real target, so he didn't attack the tiger shark.

He wasn't quite sure how to proceed. Reeling in a shark this size was difficult, and human effort was definitely not enough; a winch would be necessary. If he used a gun, he wouldn't be able to hit the shark unless he could get it close to the side of the boat and float. Cheng Yijiu knew all too well that bullets would shatter quickly upon entering the water. So, he could only watch as the tiger shark swam away for a while before disappearing.

He'd bought buoys and a gun for his boat—Cheng Yijiu was quite fond of the film, and he remembered the shark-hunting equipment in it. But he didn't have a shark cage—he wouldn't go in the water and fight a shark. Besides, he didn't have any poison. Killing a great white shark, at least five meters long, with a harpoon in a shark cage? It was basically a dream.

The fishing boat remained at sea for almost another day. Taking advantage of the boat's size and the cold storage, Cheng Yijiu managed to pack a decent meal for himself and Johnson—even enough beer and ice cream. He also tried his customary method of preparing the squid and cuttlefish he'd caught that night. Fresh cuttlefish was indeed delicious—luckily, this was a tourist town, and even the supermarket still had dusty soy sauce.

At noon on the third day, the ship spotted another half-sunken vessel. "That's Quint's boat!" Johnson exclaimed. Cheng Yijiu was also very surprised. He remembered that it was Sheriff Martin who had finally killed the giant shark. But now there was no one on board—the boat was sinking. Cheng Yijiu asked Johnson to bring the boat closer. He observed carefully for a long time, but he didn't find any survivors until the boat completely sank.

"Is this...dead?" Cheng Yijiu couldn't believe it. Sheriff Martin had been the protagonist of at least three movies? And he was dead just like that? The stern was damaged, and one side of the boat might be broken, but neither Cheng Yijiu nor Johnson saw any blood. They did see a broken lifebuoy or something. This time, even Johnson didn't say he wanted to go in the water to investigate—he was scared too.

"Don't worry, Johnson, our ship is big enough. Kent's ship is too small." Cheng Yijiu said.

Johnson reported the situation to the Coast Guard via radio and continued to spread the bait. It looked like the shark was probably nearby. "I wonder if it'll be tempted by the bait even if it's full," Cheng Yijiu muttered. "But if it's a fish, it should be tempted—after all, they have low IQs. Even a goldfish can eat itself to death."

Cheng Yijiu stood at the stern, watching, and then he saw the enormous shark's head emerge from the water. Johnson saw it too, and even Cheng Yijiu could hear the sound of him swallowing. "A very large shark, huh? Great white sharks that big haven't been seen since the Pliocene," Cheng Yijiu muttered, though he doubted Johnson understood his technical terminology. The shark swam over, passing right under the boat.

From the boat, the shark below could be clearly seen through the still-clear water. "Seven meters long and weighing over three tons," Cheng Yijiu said. "This is a very difficult prey to catch." Johnson looked at Cheng Yijiu speechless. "Don't worry, I told you, our boat is big enough." Indeed, as Cheng Yijiu had said, the boat was large enough. Furthermore, if the shark wanted to bite the boat, it would be no big deal for a fishing boat of this size.

The problem was how to catch this shark. Cheng Yijiu decided to use Kent's method—even though he had already failed, having been buried in the shark's jaws. "You steer the boat, follow this shark. I'll see if I can attach something to it." Cheng Yijiu raised his air rifle and fired a hook connected to a buoy. As long as he could successfully secure the hook to the shark...

Standing at the side of the boat, Cheng Yijiu began to suspend a large amount of minced fish and beef in a net bag above the water. Then, holding his gun, he checked the connection of the rope and waited. The dorsal fin of the great white shark emerged from the water not far away and swam towards them.

The shark showed its huge head at the side of the ship and opened its mouth to bite the net bag. Cheng Yijiu was standing on the control valve of the crane. He controlled the crane hoist to start and lift the large net bag up - this not only prevented the net bag from being bitten off by the shark, but also made the shark appear closer to the surface of the water.

At this point, Cheng Yijiu was probably only a few meters away from the shark—he didn't dare to leave the net hanging close to him, as the shark might slam its head against the side of the boat and potentially carry him off. Only when he had no other options would he risk using his pistol at close range.

Can the power of the Winchester Magnum rifle bullet knock down this shark with one shot? Cheng Yijiu is still confident. The question is whether he can hit the vital part, that is, the brain, in time... Anyway, he has now shot the shark's back with one shot, and the barbed hook has hooked the skin on the shark's back.

The giant shark suddenly turned and took the first buoy. "Was it any use?" Johnson shouted. "I think I'll have to send a few more! I think this guy can at least dive with three buoys!" Cheng Yijiu also shouted. One advantage of the buoy is that it can clearly determine the shark's movement path and location. "I hope the barb doesn't fall off," Cheng Yijiu muttered.

It's a shame that commercial whaling is no longer practiced in the United States, and Cheng Yijiu won't be able to buy a whaling cannon anytime soon—otherwise, why would he need to be afraid of such a small shark? Killer whales larger than this shark can be easily killed by humans, so a mere great white shark is nothing.

The shark wasn't too far from the boat. Even with squinting, Cheng Yijiu could see the buoy's trajectory as it broke through the waves. The shark had been swimming within a distance of at most 200 meters and at most 20 meters. Cheng Yijiu pressed the switch again and lowered the large net bag—of course, he had added a lot of material before doing so.

Blood and shredded flesh flowed out of the mesh of the net, spreading across the seawater. Immediately, a buoy in the distance changed direction and charged menacingly towards the fishing boat...

Chapter 7 Lost

The shark passed directly under the boat, and the buoy collided with the side before being swept under. The next moment, the buoy reappeared on the other side, circling from the stern toward the suspended net. Cheng Yijiu held his air rifle at the ready. The massive shark leaped from the water again, this time latching onto the net and swinging it so hard it shook the boat.

Cheng Yijiu nearly lost his balance, but he still fired his hook. This time, the hook caught the shark's side and took away the second bucket. The net was shredded, and the contents spilled into the sea. Cheng Yijiu cranked the handle to swing the crane in. The shark's detached tooth was still stuck in the nylon net. "Wow, this is quite big," Cheng Yijiu sighed, touching the tooth, which was about the length of his finger.

The tooth still reeked of blood. Six or seven centimeters long, it was razor-sharp on both sides. Cheng Yijiu casually tossed the tooth onto the deck and gazed at the two buoys in the distance. His buoy was larger, but the shark still managed to swim effortlessly with it. "Sir, this is too much," Johnson said. "Yeah, I even think our boat is a little small...it's actually quite big enough."

This time the shark took the buoy away, and Cheng Yijiu went to the cockpit and looked at the direction displayed on the sonar and radio, "Follow it, I installed a radio and sound beacon on the buoy." Cheng Yijiu took out his pistol and loaded a bullet - the 0.308-inch Winchester Magnum rifle bullet was extremely powerful. Even though Cheng Yijiu had a grip that fit the curve of his palm and a specially designed muzzle brake, the recoil could still make his palm numb and his arm rise up.

With this power, Cheng Yijiu was convinced that unless this thing was a robotic shark, no carbon-based creature could withstand this shot. "Catch it up, then keep dragging the buoy to force it to expend its energy. Finally, when it surfaces, shoot it directly in the head! Bang!" Cheng Yijiu gestured. "Done!" Johnson also smiled. "I hope so. Then, boss, we'll move forward at full speed."

"This guy swims really fast!" Cheng Yijiu muttered, "Johnson, have you ever seen a shark like this?"

"No, sir. I have never seen anything like it."

"Yes, it is indeed a monster. There shouldn't be such a big shark in this place - I remember that there are no sea lions, sea lions and other animals in Amity, and dolphins are not common either. What is the great white shark doing here? If it were the Caribbean Sea, it would be fine... In my opinion, this guy should go to Florida." Cheng Yijiu said this casually. He stood at the bow of the ship and looked ahead. He could actually see the buoy with a telescope.

Nothing else happened during the day. The shark swam very fast but had no particular direction. Looking at the route map, it was just circling, forcing Cheng Yijiu to follow suit. "This stamina is incredible!" How could a normal shark swim at such high speed? It was a needless waste of precious calories.

The fishing boat dropped anchor that night, forcing the shark hunt to a halt. Johnson had already radioed the Coast Guard and Amity officials about the situation with Sheriff Martin, the Kent fisherman, and the marine biologist—it was a shame, but they might still be able to find some wreckage. Cheng Yijiu was speechless about the protagonist's demise, even though killing the shark first might have led to his failure.

"Well, my current skills aren't suitable for fishing at sea—I can only rely on my luck." A night passed, and Cheng Yijiu activated the sonar and radio receiver again. The shark was still quite far away. After walking along the direction for more than two hours, the sun began to get hot. The shark changed direction, seemingly swimming towards the bay. "Is it going to feed?" Cheng Yijiu asked Qiangsheng.

"I don't know, sir." Johnson said he didn't know the shark's situation. "I think its stomach is full of meat, so it won't be hungry so quickly - even if it swam at high speed all day yesterday." Cheng Yijiu said, "Sheriff Martin, Kent, and that college student marine biologist... at least 200 pounds of meat for the three of them, right?"

Regardless, the shark swam back toward the bay, and Cheng Yijiu told Johnson to report it immediately—even if the mission might fail, he didn't want to see a tragedy happen. "Playing in the sea at this hour? It seems like they deserve to be eaten." Even so, Cheng Yijiu still didn't want to see this happen. With the buoys, it was easier to determine the direction. Perhaps the Coast Guard would use speedboats and helicopters to deal with the shark.

Apart from anything else, the sharks would definitely not be able to withstand the explosives thrown into the water. "The movement has slowed down?" Cheng Yijiu noticed this on the radio. "Speed ​​up! Full speed ahead!"

The fishing boat broke through the surface of the sea and rushed to its destination at the fastest speed. At this time, the buoy signal had basically stopped. "I have a bad feeling." Cheng Yijiu muttered, and soon he saw a buoy. "Sure enough, the signal has separated! Damn it!" Cheng Yijiu used a long pole to hook the bucket. Sure enough, the hook finally fell off, and fortunately, the other bucket started to move again. "Finally, we didn't lose it."

The truth was, a little later, the other buoy also broke free and floated onto the beach—the shark had escaped… Cheng Yijiu regretted it. He should have taken a risk. If he had gotten closer and fired the first or second time, he might have been able to kill the shark. After all, it was just a great white shark, nearly eight meters long…

"I have to start all over again. I can only start all over again." Cheng Yijiu was a little discouraged. The sharks did not attack the tourist spots in the bay. So for a moment, he didn't know where the sharks had gone.

He had to re-bait to lure the shark. As for whether it would work, no one knew. Hunting specific sharks was no easy task. The good news was that there might only be one great white shark nearby, making it much easier than in South Africa or Australia. Cheng Yijiu decided to try again. This time, he didn't think he needed to hook a buoy. If possible, he could just hook a radio beacon. He decided to just fire his pistol.

Chapter 8 Punishment

The fishing boat continued to spread bait as it headed out to sea. Since there had been no shark attacks in the bay, the shark had likely moved out again. "Beast!" Cheng Yijiu cursed, but he was helpless. On land, he'd at least have tracks and scrapes of hair to track wild animals, and he could even roughly determine their likely whereabouts based on their habits and the terrain.

And chasing a man-eating shark in the ocean? This was completely beyond Cheng Yijiu's ability.

The boat sailed along like this, and throughout the day and night, they saw many small sharks chasing the bloody bait, but they never saw the huge shark again. A night passed, and Johnson listened to the local radio program. "No new attacks, sir," the black man's honest face revealed a relieved smile. "That's very good. No one was hurt by that shark." Cheng Yijiu also nodded, but he did not respond to Johnson's words.

"Perhaps we've lost the chance to kill it forever..." Cheng Yijiu said. He had a feeling the shark might not reappear for a while. Another day at sea. "Go back, Johnson! This boat will be yours when you get back." Cheng Yijiu sighed deeply. The boat circled and headed for the harbor. Back in town, Cheng Yijiu completed the paperwork to transfer the boat to Johnson.

Speaking of which, this black guy insisted on giving him money, "I'm sorry, sir, this is all I have." He rubbed his hands a little embarrassedly, "I have saved for several years to buy a boat, but this is all I have." Cheng Yijiu looked at this black man who was completely different from most black people only 20 or 30 years later, and smiled, "That's enough, Johnson. Well, I wish you good luck. Goodbye." After that, Cheng Yijiu took his bag and walked along the road.

"What kind of punishment will I get next? Last time I turned into a tiger, this time I'll be a shark? Who knows," Cheng Yijiu pondered as he walked. Somehow, he stepped onto the Greyhound bus door—and the next moment, he was in the lobby. The computer screen indicated his mission failure, and the subsequent punishment was simply the word "punishment," leaving the details unanswered.

Cheng Yijiu sneered at the screen and didn't make any preparations. He simply washed himself and changed into a new hunting suit. Then he took a deep breath and pushed open the door. "The sooner I die, the sooner I'll be reborn," he muttered as he walked out.

The next moment, a warm feeling enveloped him...

Cheng Yijiu's thoughts were slowed down once again, and not only that, but they were even more disjointed than during the last punishment. This pace made it nearly impossible for him to think, his human ability to think quickly suppressed. Fortunately, he had similar experiences before, and gradually, he was able to think more slowly. Although still a little disjointed, he had finally recovered his IQ to around 80.

Only at this time could Cheng Yijiu carefully sense his own "body".

In the deep blue, almost black ocean, the surface suddenly shattered by a massive dorsal fin. It swam for hundreds of meters before gradually shrinking, finally disappearing below the surface, leaving only a swirling vortex. More than ten meters underwater, a massive shark swam. Its upper body, its entire back, was almost iron-gray with a bluish hue, while its belly was a near-off-white, creating a perfect camouflage.

The enormous shark swam lazily, the water flowing through its nostrils, bringing the scent of distant lands to the shark. It was the scent of blood, and the shark's mind began to stir. He wasn't particularly hungry, but a fuller stomach wouldn't hurt. The water here was still quite warm, and the shark could see the sunlight reflecting off it. He swam towards the shallower, warmer waters.

Things are not going well in Amity Town lately. A shark attacked a female tourist and a child. The problem is that the holiday season is almost here, and if the shark attacks aren't resolved, the town's finances will be dire. Cheng Yijiu can now see the coastline in the distance. He's not far from the shore, but if he gets any closer, the water is too shallow and he's worried he'll run aground. If the shark runs aground, it's all over...

He also smelled the ocean's chaotic odors, coming from the coast—these odors were undoubtedly disgusting. The giant shark twisted its body, and he could still smell the scent of a whale. Cheng Yijiu felt it was safer to attack the whale—based on his previous experience, as long as he survived for a certain period of time, he would be fine. Therefore, Cheng Yijiu had no intention of entering the bay to cause trouble—unless there was a special punishment required.

And Cheng Yijiu could only do this. His thinking was intermittent, and it was difficult to overcome the shark's instinct. A considerable part of his thinking had to be used to deal with the consequences of the shark's instinct. For example, if he entered the bay and attacked humans, what should he do?

This was a pod of humpback whales, about a dozen in total. Cheng Yijiu gradually approached the whales from deep water. His giant shark's instincts allowed him to constantly use his sense of smell and lateral line to sense the whales' movements, gradually approaching them from below with as little noise as possible. Now, Cheng Yijiu was directly below the pod, at a depth of approximately 1,200 meters. He began to rise, swimming vertically upwards and gradually gaining speed.

His attack method was to move upward, biting the whale's tail or belly, or even directly at the connection between its pectoral fins. The shark used its powerful tail to continuously accelerate. During this process, Cheng Yijiu selected his target—a young, immature whale, only about ten meters long. Before colliding with the frantically fleeing whale, Cheng Yijiu opened his mouth wide and rolled up his white, hard shell to protect his eyes.

The bite landed squarely on the whale's belly, instantly ripping off a large chunk of flesh. The poor young humpback was nearly split in two, staining the water red. The pod of whales escaped, leaving behind a young whale. Cheng Yijiu swallowed the meat in his mouth and then hovered around the whale's carcass, circling it and occasionally biting and shaking it, ripping off a large chunk of flesh and devouring it. Some smaller sharks also approached, but the larger ones quickly slipped away, leaving only those about a meter long to stealthily nibble at the whale's flesh.

Cheng Yijiu devoured almost half the whale, which took him two or three days—perhaps two or three days? Sharks don't seem to be very sensitive to time. The whale had already begun to sink due to decay. Cheng Yijiu gave up on eating it and began to patrol the sea again. This time, he smelled a ribbon-like odor of blood...

Chapter 9 Changes

Swimming along the scent of blood, Cheng Yijiu quickly detected the presence of sharks ahead—more than one, as evidenced by the scent emanating from the water and the lateral line. His hearing also told him there was a boat ahead, and he could even tell its size from the sound of its bow splitting the waves, perhaps over ten meters long. Cheng Yijiu didn't even consider approaching; it was clearly the other party throwing bait to lure fish—sharks.

He was simply following the direction from a distance. He wasn't hungry at the moment, and if he didn't do anything drastic, the warm-blooded shark could go a week without food. If he could suppress his hunger, he could go for two weeks without any interruption. "Speeding up..." Cheng Yijiu heard something unusual in the hum of the engine and propeller. The only possible reason for this sudden increase in volume was the engine running at full speed and accelerating.

The sound of the breaking waves also told him that the boat was rapidly moving away. Cheng Yijiu followed calmly, but he basically formed a twisting circle with the boat, swimming in a staggered direction. The vertical distance between them was gradually shortening, but the horizontal distance was gradually increasing. After about two hours, the boat slowed down again.

The engine was shut off, and now the boat was drifting on the surface, relying on the current. The smell of blood surfaced again, probably because the bait had been spread again. Cheng Yijiu slowly approached—he was about three or four nautical miles away from where the other party had stopped—when he smelled the blood. This time, there were not many of his "kind" here, and based on electrical induction, there was probably only one. Cheng Yijiu began to turn, determined not to get involved in this situation.

Although his thinking had slowed considerably, Cheng Yijiu was still able to think. This meant he was no ordinary shark; he was even smarter than a killer whale. It was almost time to resume hunting. Finding schools of whales in the ocean was no easy task—there were far fewer whales in the ocean these days. Cheng Yijiu's current situation meant he had likely become a "herder," following the movements of large schools of whales.

It's safe to say that the punishment wouldn't include any missions—not last time. This time, however, his shark instincts and unconsciousness interfered—he lost consciousness for a moment, as if he'd fallen asleep, only to wake up and find himself close to the boat he'd been trying to avoid. Cheng Yijiu had no idea how much time had passed, but he could hear the roar of the boat's engines and the crash of waves.

Cheng Yijiu carefully swam toward the location from a depth of over 20 meters. He quickly grasped the cause of the problem—a great white shark struggling with the boat, dragging it backwards. Soon the noise faded, the shark having likely broken free, and the sound of water entering the boat was heard. Cheng Yijiu circled at a depth of over 20 meters, and soon he heard a crashing and tearing sound.

The seawater was once again filled with the smell of blood. "I'm a little out of control." Cheng Yijiu felt that he was losing control and began to surface quickly...

Kent was dead, caught in the shark's jaws and dragged overboard. Sergeant Martin grabbed his rifle and, harpoon in hand, began climbing the highest point of the mast's lookout. The shark returned, this time carrying off Sergeant Martin's harpoon. The boat sank, and as Sergeant Martin neared the surface, he crouched on the mast, aiming his rifle—he still had a chance, if he could hit the high-pressure gas tank lodged in the shark's mouth.

A shark's dorsal fin appeared in the distance. The great white shark, responsible for so many deaths, was rapidly approaching its final target. Sergeant Martin began firing... but his first shot missed. He aimed and prepared for a second shot—and then he saw the nearly eight-meter-long shark suddenly thrust out of the water.

The shark was caught in a massive mouth that resembled a great white shark, but the maw was far more exaggerated. Almost half of the shark's body was engulfed in it, and it was thrust five or six meters out of the water. And that was only a portion of the shark's upper body. Then, both sides slammed heavily into the sea, and the great white shark was dragged underwater and disappeared.

Cheng Yijiu bit down fiercely on a large piece of shark meat. Great white shark wasn't a suitable meal for him—the fat content was too low. However, the shark's internal organs, especially the liver, tasted quite good. His sense of taste was the same as last time; it had long since become alienated. The remains of the great white shark sank into the sea, the shark bitten in two, its chest and abdomen devoured. Struggling in the water, Sheriff Martin didn't realize he had urinated.

He just looked at the dorsal fin that appeared on the water surface, which was taller than a human. He didn't even dare to imagine how big the owner of the dorsal fin was, but a mechanical voice in his head told him the answer - based on what he had just seen... "Sixty feet, I don't know how many tons." Martin was waiting for death to come, but the owner of the dorsal fin was moving away, and the direction of movement was not towards him.

With the sound of splashing water, marine biologist Matt Huber floated up. His face was pale when he came up, and then quickly turned red. He lowered his voice and said, "Did you see it? Did you see it? That monster!" He was very, very excited, even more excited than when he escaped death. "I saw it, you're not dead, Matt." There was a sense of unreality in Martin's words. He felt that everything that happened today was unreal.

"That shark! Martin! The shark that killed the great white! Oh, hell! What is that? It's a Megalodon! It can only be that shark. Great white sharks in the Pliocene were big, but not this big." Matt's voice was loud, but he quickly lowered it, probably because he was afraid of the Megalodon's return. "I have a paper to write. The Megalodon is not extinct! I saw it!"

Martin looked helplessly at the frantic marine biologist. "Let's talk about it after we get back alive. I hope that megalodon you mentioned won't eat us before we reach the shore." What will happen to Amity Town now? Martin no longer wants to think about it. What happened today was too intense. The only thing he wants now is to get ashore quickly and go to a safe place to have a good drink and sleep. Then he can think about other problems later.

"At least the man-eating shark is gone..." Martin muttered. He and Matt started swimming towards the shore.

Chapter 10: Is it a joke in academia?

The two swam to shore alive, and by the time they returned to town it was already noon the next day. Sheriff Martin declared the man-eating shark dead, but he didn't mention seeing a larger shark—even he knew there was no point in causing panic; it would only spell the end of the town. Matt, however, was delighted; he finally had a chance to start working on his thesis.

This guy was already imagining himself rocking the marine biology and paleontology worlds. He even wrote a title on a piece of paper: "The biggest discovery since the 1938 Lacerta!"