Chapter Thirteen: The Colossal Warship

South Sea Region of Huaxia.

A colossal ship, five hundred meters long and over a hundred meters wide, surged through the ocean like a monstrous beast, ruthlessly ramming a fishing boat barely several dozen meters long and splitting it clean in two.

After a thunderous crash, five fishermen, scrambling to escape and climbing onto an inflatable raft, pointed at the giant ship and cursed furiously. They knew they could not afford to offend such a vessel, but they could not hold back their anger either—the fishing boat was their livelihood.

The great ship could easily have avoided the fishing boat, yet had abruptly veered off course, deliberately smashing the smaller craft. It was outright bullying.

Fishing these days was already a perilous occupation. A single ten-meter-long shark could mean death for these fishermen, and now they even had to suffer at the hands of their fellow man.

What they did not expect was that their cursing was heard by those aboard the massive ship.

A gunshot rang out.

A bullet punctured the fishermen's inflatable raft, which began to deflate rapidly. The five men had no choice but to abandon the raft and plunge into the water.

Crew members standing on the deck of the giant ship pointed at the floundering fishermen and laughed uproariously.

The shooter was a young man with close-cropped hair and a leather jacket. Watching the fishermen fall into the sea, he dragged a two-meter-long live shark onto the deck, slashed several deep wounds into its body with a knife, and tossed it into the ocean.

The scent of blood spread swiftly through the water.

Seeing the bleeding shark thrash about, the five fishermen panicked and swam desperately for safety. But compared to the speed of the fish, humans were pitifully slow.

Soon, a multitude of sharks appeared, darting toward them with terrifying swiftness.

"Haishan, I curse you to sink tonight! May no one aboard escape a dreadful fate—ah!"

The fisherman cursing the giant ship let out a scream of terror as a shark bit off half his body in a single gulp.

The remaining four suffered the same grisly fate.

Nearby fishing boats, witnessing the horrific scene, abandoned their nets and sped away in haste.

The pack of sharks, all star-beasts but of only Nebula rank, posed no real threat to the giant ship. After devouring the fishermen, they trailed behind the vessel for a while before losing interest and drifting away.

The sea surface returned to eerie calm.

Yang Xiao watched the distant fishing boats disappear, feeling a lingering sense of dissatisfaction. Shaking his head, he settled into a lounge chair.

This colossal vessel, called the Haishan, was the Yang family's own fishing ship, specially outfitted to hunt star-beasts in the coastal waters. The man currently overseeing its operation was none other than Yang Haishan's second son, Yang Xiao.

On the deck of the massive ship was an expansive swimming pool. Two stunningly beautiful women, their figures alluring, climbed out of the pool and approached Yang Xiao with bright smiles.

The nearby crew members tactfully dispersed.

"Second Young Master, the wind is too strong out here on the deck. Why don't we return to the cabin?" One of the women pouted coquettishly as she reached Yang Xiao's side.

Yang Xiao ran his hands over the two women, grinning lasciviously. "Very well! Let's go relax in the cabin right away."

With that, he stood up, draped an arm around each woman, and headed toward the cabin entrance.

A middle-aged man approached and spoke in a measured tone, "Second Young Master, your elder brother called this morning to remind us to be careful. Should we consider returning to port now? The old master's one hundred and twentieth birthday is the day after tomorrow."

Yang Xiao curled his lip in disdain. "Big Brother is just jealous that I'm enjoying myself at sea. Wielding authority on the strength of a title! Tell me, who in these coastal waters could possibly be our match? You're a planet-level expert yourself, aren't you?"

"Well..." The middle-aged man frowned.

Yang Xiao paid him no heed and left him with no recourse—Yang Xiao was the true master of this ship.

Watching Yang Xiao lead the two women into the cabin, the middle-aged man could only shake his head.

Suddenly, an alarm blared.

The middle-aged man hurried to the ship's rail, raised his binoculars, and scanned the sea.

In the distance, a massive wave surged, and a dorsal fin—rising more than ten meters above the water—shot toward the ship like a speeding arrow.

With his years of experience, the man judged it to be a giant shark nearly two hundred meters long—a star-beast of late planetary rank.

Hearing the alarm, Yang Xiao, who had just entered the cabin with the two women, immediately let go of them and returned to the deck.

Amid the wailing siren, the crew bustled with activity.

Several massive ballistae mounted on the ship swiveled into position, targeting the rapidly approaching giant shark.

Though the shark was enormous, those huge steel-tipped bolts could do great damage. Each bolt measured half a meter in diameter and more than ten meters long, the tips specially crafted and laden with potent toxins.

Beyond the ballistae, the ship bristled with missiles and torpedoes, offering even greater firepower.

If these weapons failed, the ship could electrify the surrounding waters. Any shark venturing within a hundred meters would be jolted senseless by the current, unable to come near.

The nuclear generator aboard could supply endless power, ensuring the current never faltered.

It was this arsenal that allowed such hunting ships to roam the coastal seas with impunity, unafraid of the star-beasts that lurked there.

Of course, if they ventured into the open ocean and came across a giant octopus the size of several football fields or a whale stretching a kilometer long, even this massive ship would only have one option—flee.

As the shark closed to within several kilometers, all twelve ballistae fired, launching a dozen giant metal bolts toward the beast.

Even from a great distance, the thuds of impact could be heard as the bolts struck the shark.

But without exception, the bolts bounced harmlessly off its tough hide.

Next, the ship unleashed a barrage of missiles and torpedoes, which exploded on impact with the shark.

With a thunderous roar, the shark burst from the water, its body covered in wounds, and crashed back into the sea, sending up a mountain of spray.

The waters in its wake quickly turned red with blood.

Knowing it was no match for the ship, the shark turned and swam away.

"How disappointing," Yang Xiao sneered, learning the shark had retreated.

The middle-aged man, on the other hand, breathed a long sigh of relief.

Had the shark been willing to risk its life and rammed the vessel, it could have inflicted serious damage.

Night fell.

After a long day, Yang Ye finally paused, lighting a bonfire by the shore. He cut a gigantic sea cucumber into pieces, skewered them with wire, sprinkled them with seasoning, and roasted them over the flames.

Long Xiaoqing loved grilled meat, so Yang Ye had prepared a generous supply of seasonings.

After the meal, Yang Ye lay back on a boulder, hands behind his head, listening to the crash of the waves and gazing silently at the bright stars above.

Long Xiaoqing, her stomach round and full, rested for a while before saying, "Husband, Xiaoqing is setting out now!"

"Come back early. If you can't find it, just let it go," Yang Ye reminded her.

"I know!" she called back, then shot up into the sky with a whoosh.

Her departure was, of course, to scout out the Haishan.

Yang Ye had received word that the Haishan was cruising the nearby waters of the South Sea.

There were now at least a hundred such large hunting vessels prowling the South Sea. For Long Xiaoqing to find the Haishan in a single night would not be easy.