Chapter 284

Chapter 284: The Sanity-Draining Shark

“This is some kind of cartilaginous fish, right…?”

“Mm, the species is uncertain; we’d have to see to know.”

“So…”

“Ahh… get out here…”

Trilobite bit down on the shark’s dorsal fin and pulled it forcefully toward the “cave.”

He was hungry.

The Chaos Energy he’d gotten from killing that Moschops had already been used up significantly in his earlier “body shaping” and “long legs” business.

Later, he gave a bit to Themis’s tree as a gift.

Now, he had about a hundred thousand points left.

Though that amount of Chaos Energy wasn’t exactly small, for some reason, Trilobite still felt hungry.

Moreover, the Status displayed by the System was…

[A little hungry].

The “a little hungry” in the System felt far more intense in reality—like the kind of hunger that made him consider ordering takeout.

Without hesitation, Trilobite began searching for food.

He’d been quite worried at first.

After all, coming to the tidal flats meant relying on the sea, and who knew if he’d find anything edible on the beach?

But the smell of blood and the little flying elephant octopus’s guidance thrilled him.

Moments earlier, he’d spotted a large tail and most of a body blocking the cave entrance and rushed over, chomping down on the dorsal fin!

“Hey—whoosh—!”

“What a huge one!”

“I’m so lucky!”

Trilobite felt relieved this creature was inexplicably “stuck” in the cave.

Otherwise, sharks underwater weren’t easy to handle.

And this one was massive!

“Hmm…”

“Right now, I’m a postosuchus—Length 5.3 meters, weight around 500 kg.”

“This guy’s about 5 meters long but definitely heavier!”

“What a tank!”

“What kind of shark is it?!”

“Hey—!”

Trilobite suddenly threw all his strength into it!

“Poof—!”

After a loud noise, the shark stuck in the cave was finally pulled out by Trilobite like uprooting a radish!

As soon as he saw its head, Trilobite gasped, “Yikes! This is one of those sanity-dropping creatures from the Paleozoic—a Megalodon Shark!”

The Megalodon Shark was a big shark in the Eugene Shark Order.

Folks only recall one thing about the Eugene Shark Order—it birthed the first freak of the cartilaginous fish world, the spiral-toothed shark!

Compared to its relative the spiral-toothed shark, the Megalodon Shark looked a bit more normal, but its mouth full of jutting teeth made it ugly and fierce.

Sure, these were some “nasty sharks,” with some species hitting 4 to 5 meters in Length, ruling the Carboniferous ocean.

But a few weren’t happy just being local bullies; they aimed to be top predators.

So, the “Giant Megalodon” emerged as a top predator!

They could reach 6 meters in Length, matching the Great White Shark in today’s oceans; some fossil evidence even hints that a few Giant Megalodons might have been 9 meters long!

That pressure topped Duncker’s fish.

If you ranked Paleozoic marine predators, the Megalodon would easily take first place; even ranking all marine predators ever, it might only trail giant plesiosaurs and orcas.

Of course, the one before Trilobite wasn’t that huge.

It was just five meters long.

“Probably not a Giant Megalodon, but a smaller species.”

But as Trilobite wondered what species it was…

“Splash—splash—!”

The massive Megalodon Shark suddenly thrashed its body.

Caught off guard…

“Ouch…”

Trilobite got flung away!

“Thud—!”

“Splash—!”

Seawater sprayed everywhere!

Trilobite stood up, shaking his head, and stared at the Megalodon Shark struggling through the shallow sea mud, tail swaying.

“I slipped up this time.”

“It went from a sure win to a fair fight.”

“Should’ve bitten it first with my saber teeth to ruin its ability to resist.”

“Whew—!”

Trilobite snorted hard, eyes locked on the Megalodon Shark, tracking every move.

The thing was bleeding; chunks of its dorsal and pectoral fins were bitten off.

His body had a few scattered wounds.

But these injuries had limited effects.

As he swam through the mudflats of the shallow sea, Trilobite suddenly thought of a question.

"Seemed like the weight of aquatic creatures was heavier than that of land creatures of the same volume, right…?"

"Darn!"

"This was not a fair fight!"

"Not only was my enemy strong, but the environment was against me too. It was a total mess!"

Although the postosuchus was called a "crocodile," it wasn’t even a true terrestrial crocodile; it could only be considered to share a common ancestor with crocodiles.

The difference between them might have been larger than that between marsupials and eutherian mammals.

They were almost purely terrestrial animals; even though they might have had decent swimming abilities, it was like how a polar bear, no matter how good it was in the water, couldn’t go underwater and compete with orcas.

Similarly, the postosuchus couldn’t possibly compare its swimming abilities with the Megalodon Shark, which specialized in hunting in water.

"But…"

Watching the Megalodon Shark sway its caudal fin, awkwardly pushing through the aquatic horsetails and displacing the messy roots of various vascular bundle plants; then glancing at a slightly raised "higher ground" covered with a large patch of aquatic plants, Trilobite formed a plan in his mind.

"Though in battles between beasts, weight was the first factor to consider, followed by other attributes."

"But… in many cases, weight and attributes weren’t always the deciding factors!"

"So…"

"Roar—grrrrr—!"

Trilobite let out a deep roar, challenging his opponent.

—-

"Whew…"

"I was safe for now."

Hiding in the cave, the male Ether Dragon, Cassius Tiberea, let out a long breath, releasing a bunch of bubbles.

Although he couldn’t confirm whether the newcomer was friend or foe, he relaxed his nerves for the moment.

After all, that creature was the enemy of his enemy.

"It would be best if they could perish together!"

The male Ether Dragon thought with some malice.

"Let me sneak a peek at the battle."

"Go!"

"Dragon Might!"

Then…

"Zzz—!"

A small etheric worm twisted its body and crawled out from its hiding spot.

She initially put up some resistance, but a few seconds later, she became completely submissive.

She silently slithered out of the Cave and swam toward where the two deities were fiercely battling.

“Fortunately…”

“The damage isn’t too severe.”

Though Tiberea was badly hurt and in poor shape, she still had the ability to seize the consciousness of a deity at the “etheric serpent” level using Dragon Might.

Mature Ether Dragons could use Dragon Might to take over the will and even the senses of other creatures, or even lower deities.

However, the range of this ability was limited; it became ineffective beyond the area covered by Dragon Might.

“The limitations are quite big.”

“But I can still watch the fight nearby.”

Soon, she saw the scene of the two huge deities fighting.

Not quite.

The battle hadn’t started yet.

They were just in the stage of taunting and facing off.

But the battle-hardened Tiberea saw the outcome right away.

“Hey…”

“What a dumb tactic.”

“Does the newcomer not know how to fight in this ‘Ether Sea’ at all…?”

“His build…”

“Is really strong, it’s my kind of guy.”

“But the problem is, this is the ‘Ether Sea’; his muscles, made for land, are useless here!”

“Also, though this is the border of ‘Endless Ether’ and ‘Chaos Swamp’, with lots of obstacles, Kutulaso, despite his stiff moves, still had the edge in speed and spells.”

“Unless he can be lured to shallower waters.”

Seeing this, the Emerald Shadow shook her head.

“But the Bared Tooth Tsar isn’t stupid; he won’t take such clear bait.”

“This guy is finished.”

“Hope he can hurt that one enough before he falls.”

But just then…

“Hmm!?”

Tiberea was stunned by how things turned!

—-

“Are you seeking death!?”

“How dare you fight me underwater!?”

Looking at the Colossal Giant God with a massive skull, long legs, and a slender body, the Bared Tooth Tsar, Kutulaso, was very surprised.

He had never seen a fellow so ignorant of what "death" meant.

Wasn’t it true?

If that one slowly retreated to where the Primal Mud piled thicker, Kutulaso would have no way to handle him.

But this fool was actually walking toward him!

“Gurgle…”

In the Ether Sea, huge bubbles churned—a challenge meant…

“Bring it!”

Kutulaso burned with rage.

“Courting death—!”

“Swoosh—!”

The Bared Tooth Tsar swung his tail fin and lunged.

“Agh!”

Seeing the charge, the Giant God panicked, whirled around, and fled.

But the etheric liquid dragged at his movements.

Escape seemed hopeless.

The fool appeared to realize it too.

He stopped running, planted himself on a slight rise in the Ether Sea, and turned his huge skull toward Kutulaso.

“Heh! Think I only charge head-on and can’t flank?!”

“Moron!”

Deities from the Endless Ether thrived on their Ether Sea mobility.

With it, they attacked any way they pleased—toying with sea-ignorant foes.

“True, that big head’s frightening.”

“But once I dart sideways for a blindside strike, your terrain ambush ploy will—”

“Buzz—!”

Suddenly, a colossal middle finger shot up!

Kutulaso’s jeers at the Giant God cut off mid-sneer.

Every thought emptied. Only raw fury remained as he hurtled toward that massive skull.