Chapter 351 - 323: Fighting the Dragon
Submerged in the sea, the Mosasaurus sensed something was wrong. It heard the ripples spreading across the surface, and a beast’s sixth sense screamed—Danger!
It twisted its body toward the source of the sound and perceived a figure sprinting across the surface of the sea.
It instinctively prepared to dive deeper to evade it, but then, judging from the rippling shadow cast from the surface... it didn’t seem very large?
In fact, it was much smaller than the massive, iron-hulled ships it had rammed in the past.
Confidence born from its immense size and the arrogance of an apex predator instantly suppressed that sliver of unease.
A cruel light flashed in the Mosasaurus’s pair of cold, giant eyes.
It immediately abandoned its plan to dive and evade, instead adjusting its posture to gather its strength.
Its powerful tail swung violently, propelling its mountain-like body upward to meet the threat!
On the surface of the sea, the deep-blue, burly figure was already suffused with an overwhelming aura. It took a step and leaped high into the air. It pulled its right fist back, muscles tensing like steel cables. Then, like an arrow loosed from a bow, it shot forward. In that instant, it seemed to become one with the ocean itself.
This one punch—
came crashing down!
"DONG!!!"
It was like two mountains colliding.
A shockwave visibly erupted, creating a ring of white vapor and water.
The Mosasaurus’s upward charge was brought to a dead stop!
The blow knocked its head askew, forcing its massive jaws shut.
The first punch found its mark. Mogu exerted his strength in midair, flipping over. His arms, like those of a great ape reaching for the moon, clamped down hard on the thick, rough folds of skin behind the Mosasaurus’s head!
His fingers, like steel rebar, dug deep into flesh and blood, securing a solid grip!
"ROAR!!!" Enraged, the Mosasaurus thrashed its head wildly.
Its massive body rolled and writhed violently in the water, trying to fling Mogu from its back, crush him, or drag him into the deep.
But Mogu’s arms seemed welded to its hide.
No matter how the Mosasaurus thrashed, even when it dragged him underwater, his powerful frame remained firmly planted on its head.
Mogu’s face was expressionless, his eyelids lowered. He raised his right fist high and brought it crashing down.
BANG!
The first punch landed on the hard bone behind the Mosasaurus’s eye socket.
With a dull thud, the scales caved in, showing faint cracks.
The Mosasaurus shrieked, its struggles growing more frantic. Its tail slapped the water, sending a colossal spray into the air.
BANG!!
The second punch landed in the exact same spot.
The cracks instantly widened. Dark red, almost black blood seeped from the gaps between its scales, as well as from its nostrils and ear canals.
BANG!!!
The third punch nearly shattered the thick bone, caving in the skull.
From start to finish, Mogu’s gaze remained as cold and sharp as a blade, devoid of any emotion.
His fists rained down like a storm, denting the Mosasaurus’s armored scales, cracking its skull, and sending sprays of blood and seawater flying!
He was no longer aiming for weak spots, simply smashing wherever his fists could land.
The dense thuds sounded like rain drumming on a canopy.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Everyone on the ship stared at the spreading patch of red on the sea and the Mosasaurus, its movements growing sluggish.
They were all filled with a complex mix of emotions: awe, envy, and aspiration.
Zhang Chongshan felt his heart pounding in his chest. He stared blankly at Mogu’s silhouette, an indescribable feeling welling up inside him.
In the sky, Qin Ziwen’s eyes lit up. He was seeing the true potential of the Extraordinary.
’This is what being truly Extraordinary means,’ he thought. ’To be able to hunt even a Prehistoric Giant Beast like the Mosasaurus.’
Mogu slowly unclenched his fist. He raised his head and looked to the sky.
Qin Ziwen gave a slight nod.
With permission granted, Mogu raised his heavy fist once more and brought it crashing down.
The Mosasaurus let out one final, mournful cry.
Its massive body instantly went limp. All struggle ceased as it slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.
At the same time, specks of light began to coalesce on the surface of the Mosasaurus’s body.
One, two, three.
A total of three Cards.
Mogu swept them up with a large hand and collected the three Cards.
A notification from the Home sounded in Qin Ziwen’s ear.
[Hunting Celestial List Level 2 Task Completed: Hunt Adult Mosasaurus x1]
[Reward Acquired: Function Card: Level 1 Node x1, 10 Points]
Mogu leaped up, his feet landing on the surface of the sea. Grasping the Mosasaurus’s head with both hands, he began to drag the massive corpse toward the Lost Home.
"Someone give me a hand."
Someone from the ship quickly jumped into the sea with chains and, with Mogu’s help, hooked them onto the Mosasaurus’s corpse.
The Lost Home, towing the Mosasaurus corpse, returned to the Home through the Node on the sea.
Meanwhile, another ship had run aground in the shallows, and a shipwright was heading over with tools to repair it.
"This is tricky. The damaged section is mostly underwater. It’ll be hard to do a complete repair from the inside unless we can get the ship back to the dock," a boatman who worked at the Ghost Ship Dock said with a frown.
He wasn’t a professional shipwright himself, just a worker who had recently joined the Ghost Ship Dock. A difficult technical job like underwater work was a bit beyond him.
"We need to hurry. The tide will be rising soon. If it’s not fixed by then, it might be too late."
When word got back, Tao Fu put down his work and was about to head out himself when someone next to him said, "Potter, I remember the Lord brought in a new batch of Fishman shipwrights, right? Those Fishmen can breathe underwater, so maybe..."
Tao Fu thought about it and agreed it was a viable idea.
So he hurried to find Lorne, but their attempt at conversation was a complete failure. It was like they were speaking two different languages; they couldn’t understand each other at all.
Mogu and Pura had been summoned via Recruitment Cards, so they had been implanted with the human language.
Lorne, on the other hand, had been recruited manually later on. He could communicate with the Lord of the Homeland, but not with anyone else.
In the end, they had to find Pura and ask him to act as an interpreter to solve the communication problem.
Pura said, "Tao, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way."
Tao Fu watched Pura thoughtfully. An idea occurred to him: in the near future, many more Fishman artisans would likely be joining the dock.
Communication between the two groups would be a major issue. He’d heard Mr. Jia mention that they should find time to learn the Fishman language.
’But it’s not that simple,’ he thought. ’It’s easy to see that communication will be a huge problem going forward. Having an interpreter would make things so much easier.’
Tao Fu said, "Pura, the Lord wants us to learn the Fishman language. I might need to trouble you with that in the future."
Pura chuckled. "Tao, we’re friends. You don’t have to be so formal."
Meanwhile, after learning what Tao Fu needed, Lorne returned to the Fishman Cave. He gathered ten Fishman artisans and had them grab their tools and follow him.
Before long, the boatmen waiting by the shallows saw a group of bizarre-looking Artisan Race Fishmen approaching.
"So these are the Fishmen?"
"They don’t look much like that other one we saw."
"They do look a bit like Pura the Boatman, though. It’s like someone made a dozen copies of him."
When the group of Artisan Race Fishmen arrived, they acted as if they were home, jumping into the sea one by one. SPLASH! SPLASH!
In no time at all, a patch was applied to the damaged hull. The ship was now seaworthy, at least for the time being.
Of course, it would still need a thorough inspection and more permanent repairs back at the dock.
The crew returned to the ship’s hold, where they now had to start bailing out the seawater.
Elsewhere, the Ghost Ship, the Lost Home, towed the Mosasaurus back through the Node and returned to the dock for an inspection.
The Mosasaurus’s carcass was cut open and its heart removed.
The scalding blood filled a basin. Du Yu closed his eyes and began to bathe in the Dragon Blood.
In a daze, Du Yu seemed to hear the furious roar of the Mosasaurus echoing in his ears.
’Fresh Dragon Blood is completely different from the frozen kind.’ Lying in the tub, Du Yu could feel his physical strength gradually increasing. ’As I thought, fresh Dragon Blood is far more effective.’
"Dragon Hunter..." Du Yu murmured. ’Yes, this is my path.’
The Dragon Blood Warrior ability was a passive enhancement to his constitution, one that could be improved by bathing in Dragon Blood.
Hunt Dragon-like Creatures, bathe in their blood—this was his path to becoming Extraordinary.
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