The Longtail Shark, which was busy wreaking havoc on the ship’s hull, suddenly sensed an unusual current moving beneath the sea.
However, the disturbance caused by Sules was too slight, so the shark didn’t stop its biting.
It lazily flicked its massive tail dangling in the water toward this “little fly.”
A tail weighing several tons crashed down, unleashing a nearly overwhelming force.
Sules felt darkness cloud her vision and instantly realized she was in trouble.
Her abilities were indeed formidable, but against such a large-scale, devastating attack, going head-to-head was proving exhausting.
So Sules accelerated the whirlpool beneath her feet, propelling herself as if flying beyond the tail’s reach.
But the tail’s attack range was simply too vast, and being right in the middle, she couldn’t break free.
“Damn it!” she gritted her teeth and directly took control of the seawater above her, turning it into a spinning water vortex.
Unlike the whirlpool pushing her forward from below, this vortex’s sharp edges spun outward—much sharper.
No longer like a turbine, it resembled… a Water Drill!
Sules lifted her head and charged straight into the thick, dark fish tail above her.
She was attempting to fight fire with fire, using offense to break through her current predicament.
It worked.
Soft water, when wielded skillfully, could become a deadly weapon.
The Water Drill above her head tore through the shark’s flesh, propelling Sules forward.
The Longtail Shark howled in pain and immediately ceased its assault on the ship.
It flipped and dove into the depths, intent on finding the culprit who had wounded it.
Sules’s previous move sparked an idea.
Maintaining the Water Drill above her, she plunged downward, aiming straight for the fish’s belly—its most vulnerable spot.
She was confident she could pierce through.
Underwater, the Longtail Shark was certainly agile, but Sules was smaller and now had the advantage of seawater’s assistance.
Before the shark could fully turn around, she drove her Water Drill through its belly, drilling a hole.
The hole wasn’t large for the shark since Sules couldn’t control a full cubic meter of water spinning at high speed.
Also, uncertain if the shark’s stomach contained acid or something harmful, she dared not dig deeper, only penetrating halfway in.
The hole was about the size of a human head at most.
But no matter how small the wound, it was still in the belly.
Sules struck true and immediately pulled away.
The next moment, blood gushed from the wound, staining the ocean surface.
Furious, the shark tried to swat Sules with its tail.
But its enormous size, which usually gave it an advantage, became a hindrance.
At such close range, it couldn’t catch the swift-moving Sules.
Adhering to the principle of “small, repeated attacks,” Sules dodged the shark’s blows while continuing to create wounds.
The shark writhed in agony, pain radiating all over its body, thrashing wildly in the water, desperate to shake Sules off.
But it was futile. Sules clung tightly and refused to let go.
No matter how massive the beast, it couldn’t withstand such relentless attrition.
Soon, the shark’s counterattacks weakened until it lost all vitality and sank to the seabed.
As it settled on the bottom, a huge cloud of dust rose, and countless bubbles burst upward.
With the fall of the last shark, Sules’s mission was finally complete.
“Ding, congratulations Host on successfully completing the task. Please proceed to the System panel to claim your reward.”
It was hard to check underwater, so Sules quickly climbed back to the ship in an inconspicuous spot, then rushed to the bridge and used her Captain Talent to dry off the water clinging to her.
The deck was deserted—everyone hid inside their cabins, and with no clear view inside, no one knew Sules had been in the water.
Sules wiped her hair as she opened the System panel to check.
Task: Successfully defend the ship without anyone onboard being injured (Mandatory)
Status: Completed
Reward: Please collect your reward from inside the belly of the Longtail Shark.
Sules: ???
Absurd. She had just climbed out, and now the System told her the reward was inside the fish’s belly?
She shot an annoyed glance at her now dry clothes, then found a spot and jumped back into the sea.
But unlike the first time, this time she didn’t hide—she deliberately surfaced where the main ship could see her.
Earlier, since the ship had stopped rocking for a while, the Second Mate was ordered to come up on deck to check the situation.
As soon as he appeared, he saw Sules in the water and hurriedly asked, “Captain! Why did you go down there?”
Sules had already thought of an explanation: “I thought the Longtail Shark seemed to have disappeared, so I went down to check.”
Normally, this should have been a sailor’s job, but since Sules volunteered, the Second Mate didn’t stop her.
After all, no one wanted to die, and no one was that emotionally attached—less trouble was better.
Those watching from the main ship probably guessed Sules’s intent.
Old Jack sighed, “Still too young. Why not send a sailor for something like this? If anything happened while the Captain is involved, the whole ship could be in trouble.”
The Physician nodded and asked, “By the way, did you see where that Longtail Shark went? I just saw it suddenly stop and dive into the sea, then never came back up.”
Old Jack shook his head, “I’m just a mechanic, don’t understand these things. We should ask a fisherman later—maybe they’ll know what happened to that shark.”
***
Underwater, Sules had successfully reached the Longtail Shark’s side.
Though recently dead, many small fish swarmed around it, feasting on its body.
Sules thought of the saying—whale falls give life to many creatures.
Nature could be cruel like that.
She wasn’t one to get sentimental.
After a brief pause, she decisively controlled the seawater to form a water knife, slicing open the fish’s belly and crawling inside.
The interior was pitch dark, but luckily, Sules had worn a diving helmet designed for underwater exploration before diving.
This helmet had a fish lamp tied on top—a light created from the luminous organs of lanternfish, capable of glowing for two months after the fish’s death.
It was a common light source on Mercury.
“Where exactly is this reward?”
Sules whispered cautiously as she explored inside the belly.
The System answered seriously, “Please explore on your own.”
Sules smirked.
She hadn’t expected much help from the System’s vague answers and continued searching.
Honestly, feeling around through flesh and bones wasn’t very pleasant, but soon she touched something round.
It was a good thing.
Soon, she found a round object.
Sules lowered her head and illuminated it with the fish lamp.
It was a pale pink pearl, somewhat gelatinous.
She squeezed it—it was surprisingly elastic.
“Is this the treasure? How do I use it?”
The System replied, “Yes. Please explore its uses on your own.”
Now that she knew this was the treasure she sought, Sules felt at ease.
She quickly pocketed the Bishui Pearl and swam upward.
Surfacing, the Second Mate and others anxiously searched for her.
As Sules emerged, Chief Mate Taylor immediately asked nervously, “How is it? Is the shark still around? What happened down there?”
Sules shook her head, “The shark is gone. I don’t know how it disappeared.”
The Second Mate urged, “Captain, get out of the water quickly. Since the Longtail Shark is gone, let’s leave immediately.”
Sules agreed and started swimming toward the ship.
Just as everyone relaxed, thinking the ordeal was over, Old Jack’s expression suddenly changed as he observed through binoculars from afar.
“Danger! Sules is in trouble!”
He clearly saw a whirlpool gradually expanding near her and moving toward her.
Sea whirlpools were deadly; being pulled in left almost no chance of escape.
The whirlpool beside Sules wasn’t large but strong enough to swallow a person whole.
Due to the angle, Sules hadn’t noticed the whirlpool approaching until she felt a growing suction from her left rear.
She turned her head and was shocked to find a sea whirlpool right beside her.
Truly, “when it rains, it pours”—Sules felt she had incredibly bad luck today.
Biting her teeth, she immediately increased her swimming speed, hoping to escape the dangerous vortex before it could suck her in.
But as one of the most perilous natural phenomena at sea, whirlpools weren’t so easily evaded.
Sules struggled more and more, and her face grew pale as she looked back.
Despite all her effort, the distance between her and the whirlpool wasn’t increasing—it was shrinking.
Onboard, the crew immediately realized what was happening.
Experienced sailors all understood the danger when they saw Sules caught in a whirlpool.
And precisely because they were experienced, they knew how terrifying a sea whirlpool was.
Once caught, escape was nearly impossible.
Taylor paced anxiously, “What now? If the Captain dies, who will sail this ship?”
But he soon relaxed, “Ah, whatever. If it comes to that, I’ll just rest on the main ship.”
Compared to him, the Second Mate was more responsible.
He instructed, “Captain, the main dangers from a whirlpool are suffocation and the cutting force of the water flow. You have the Bishui Pearl, so suffocation isn’t an issue. If you can go with the water’s flow, maybe the whirlpool will safely transport you somewhere else. That’s your only chance. Keep fighting!”
Though he said that, the Second Mate knew how difficult it would be.
Some whirlpools could transport people, but most would tear them apart with violent currents. In other words, Sules’s chances were slim.
Suddenly, a breathless voice came from behind him: “Move, move, give me some space, quick!”
The crew turned to see Chef Kadi running quickly, holding a coil of rope from the back of the ship.
He reached the rail, forcefully threw the rope as far as possible toward Sules, and shouted, “Captain, grab this rope! We’ll pull you up!”
It was indeed a good idea.
Although the whirlpool’s suction was powerful, there were many hands on the ship.
Together, several strong men might just be able to haul her to safety.
This faint hope lit up everyone’s eyes.
The crew shouted encouragement, hoping Sules could reach the rope.
Sules struggled toward the rope, trying to grab it.
But the five meters felt like an impassable chasm.
Soon, the cheers on the ship fell silent.
Everyone saw that no matter how hard Sules tried, she wasn’t getting closer—in fact, she was drifting further away.
It seemed there was no saving her this time.
Sules realized it too and sighed. To everyone’s surprise, she voluntarily dove beneath the waves.
No one noticed that from earlier until now, her expression had been pale but calm—there was no panic.
Sules wasn’t worried at all about her situation.
She had already thought of a solution.