Currently, the spirit ship of Four Symbols Shipping was anchored in the final sea region of this journey, their destination—the Ten Thousand Crab Sea.
Gu Ningyun and the other four had already descended to a depth of three thousand meters.
More than three months had passed since they were struck by lightning and left bald.
They had been applying top-grade Hair Growth Salve continuously for those three months.
The hair follicles originally damaged by the lightning strikes had completely recovered under the gentle nourishment of the salve.
Their once-smooth scalps, which had only sprouted sparse stubble, finally showed evenly dense black dots.
Though they still appeared bald from a distance, a closer look revealed that their heads were looking a bit fuzzy.
With the hair follicles fully repaired, they only needed to persist with the salve for one more month to provide the follicles with nourishing spirit energy and medicinal power.
Their fuzzy hair would then grow rapidly within that month, returning to its previous waist-length state.
However, being in the seawater...
During the initial stages of exploring the ocean, having no hair to interfere was not necessarily a bad thing.
At the very least, they didn't have to worry about their long hair suddenly spreading out while swimming or fighting, blocking their vision or tangling with their magic tools.
After soaking in the sea for three months, Gu Ningyun and the others were already no different from children of the sea.
Having their hair grow back now would no longer affect them.
As with every previous exploration of a sea region, the five of them were relaxed, descending toward the seabed as gracefully and flexibly as sea spirits born and raised in the depths.
That was until a current suddenly swirled toward them.
An irresistible force wrapped around the five youngsters, pulling them off course and away from the Ten Thousand Crab Sea.
Jiang Yao sent a helpless divine sense transmission, "It’s been peaceful for less than three months. What kind of nonsense is it this time?"
"We have no way to resist. We can only go with this current for now and adapt as things change."
Gu Ningyun was also quite speechless; she had been planning to collect a few pairs of sea crabs for her space.
Before long, they saw the source of the current.
It had a wide, long dorsal fin that ran continuously from its head to its tail.
Its scales transitioned from deep green on its back to pale yellow on its belly.
This was actually a ten-meter-long, rank three early stage mahi-mahi!
The moment she saw the mahi-mahi's face, Gu Ningyun couldn't help but rub her eyes.
Wen Xuan poked her arm. "Ningyun, did I just see things? I think that mahi-mahi just glared at me."
Whether demon beasts or sea beasts, they generally only developed sapience upon reaching rank four.
Only at rank five could they refine the horizontal bone in their throats and speak.
"I thought I was mistaken, too. It glared at me just now as well."
Gu Ningyun was somewhat shocked. "Could this mahi-mahi have had some sort of fortuitous encounter to develop sapience at rank three?"
"I'm more curious about why it's glaring at us and why it brought us here."
Mu Chenze observed the mahi-mahi closely. He didn't sense any killing intent from it and couldn't discern its purpose.
With a flick of its tail, the mahi-mahi continued to pull them downward.
The speed of a rank three sea beast was very fast. Before long, they arrived at a vibrant, multicolored part of the seabed.
There were red, orange, and white corals, aquatic spirit flowers and herbs, shimmering scallops, and brilliantly colored butterflyfish...
The mahi-mahi used the current to place them on a smooth rock, its mouth gurgling as it blew out several bubbles.
Soon, a circle of small mahi-mahis, each about a meter long, surrounded the rock. There were both rank one and rank two individuals.
Gu Ningyun and the others instinctively stood back-to-back in a circle.
This big fish hadn't brought them here just to feed them to these smaller mahi-mahis, had it?
But the reaction of these fish didn't seem to suggest that.
Gu Ningyun took a careful look at the rank three mahi-mahi's face.
Seeing Gu Ningyun observing it, the rank three mahi-mahi rolled its eyes, flashing the whites of its eyes at her.
Gu Ningyun: "..." What was with this fish?
She was certain the fish had given her a massive eye-roll—a very human-like eye-roll.
She thought for a moment, preparing to try and communicate.
Before she could speak, the circle of small mahi-mahis parted to create a path.
A rank two mahi-mahi swam over, using a current to carry a three-meter-long, rank one peak tuna.
It placed the tuna on the rock where Gu Ningyun's group stood, opened its mouth, and made an eating motion.
After finishing, it nudged the tuna with its tail and turned back to the school.
The five of them exchanged looks and then glanced at the tuna.
Jiang Yao asked hesitantly via transmission, "Is it telling us to eat the fish?"
Seeing their hesitation, the rank three mahi-mahi widened its eyes and stared at them intensely.
The pressure of a high-rank sea beast washed over them.
The surrounding small mahi-mahis also tightened their circle, as if ready to pounce at any moment.
The five of them tried taking two steps forward. Seeing that the mahi-mahi didn't object, they slowly approached the tuna.
Wen Xuan inspected it carefully. "This rank one peak tuna appears to have just died from a burst of current to its head. It's very fresh. The meat isn't toxic and seems perfectly normal."
She looked up to check the rank three mahi-mahi's reaction and was met with another glare.
The rank three mahi-mahi blew two more bubbles.
Another rank one mahi-mahi swam over, pointed its tail at the tuna, and mimicked the act of eating with its mouth.
After doing so, it even slapped the rock a few times with its tail, looking quite impatient.
Fine, it was basically confirmed now—these mahi-mahis were urging them to eat the tuna.
Although they didn't know what the mahi-mahi was really after, they had to make the best of it.
Neither mahi-mahis nor tunas were toxic sea beasts, and Wen Xuan had confirmed the fish was fine.
Since they couldn't resist, the five of them could only obey for the time being.
Otherwise, if they angered this rank three mahi-mahi, being swallowed whole would not be ideal.
Gu Ningyun pulled out a set of knives and coordinated with her companions.
Jiang Yao manipulated a water-repelling pearl to isolate a five-cubic-meter space.
This small space contained only filtered air and no seawater.
Without the worry of the fish meat being contaminated by seawater, Mu Chenze began cleaning the tuna.
Soon, the three-meter-long tuna was processed into plates of raw marinated fish.
Gu Ningyun took a bite. The fragrance of the seasonings, the flavor of the tuna, and the pure spirit energy exploded together.
It was also the first time Wen Xuan and the others had eaten this. After the first bite, their eyes widened in shock.
Delicious! Truly delicious!
The rank three mahi-mahi had originally been watching them process the tuna with a cold gaze.
Later, seeing their smooth and natural movements, as if they had processed meat countless times before, its expression gradually changed.
It stared fixedly at their actions, its scales even bristling slightly.
And then, when it saw the five of them start eating—and eating with great enjoyment, at that—the rank three mahi-mahi's expression darkened to the extreme.
However, it did not step in to stop them.
After the five were full, they packed up the remaining fish meat.
Jiang Yao looked at the rank three mahi-mahi's face, completely bewildered.
"This fish is so strange. It was upset when we weren't eating, but now that we've eaten, it seems even more dissatisfied."
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