The Fish I Catch Can Level Up

Chapter 219: Battling a Great White

A Chinese white dolphin guarding its pod seemed to catch a familiar scent. A wave of unease washed over it, and it immediately signaled its pod to leave the area.

The pod of dolphins stopped their hunt and immediately swam in Chu Mingcheng's direction.

He was in the middle of wrestling with the last bigeye tuna. The fight was a bit tricky on his own, and he was in the water, pulling on the fishing line, trying to wear the tuna down.

Just another five or six minutes, and the injured tuna's speed and resistance would slow, giving him a chance to grab another speargun and swim over to deliver the final blow.

But just then, the pod of dolphins charged past.

Chu Mingcheng was startled, thinking they were after his fish, but the pod simply whistled by, leaving him utterly baffled.

A mother dolphin bringing up the rear with her calf spotted him. She stopped in front of him, letting out a series of chirps, and even nudged him with her snout.

After a few nudges, knowing she couldn't delay any longer, she reluctantly gave up on Chu Mingcheng and swam on with her calf to catch up with the pod.

Chu Mingcheng had no idea what she was trying to do, but he felt a primal sense of unease.

He abandoned his plan to wear the fish down any further. He grabbed his other speargun, ready to find an opportunity to finish off the tuna and get out of there.The moment he moved, Chu Mingcheng's body froze, his pupils contracting violently.

In an instant, he took out his dive knife, cut the fishing line, grabbed his speargun, and with an explosive burst of speed, swam for the Sky High.

He didn't surface to swim back, but dove deeper, swimming through the deep water toward the Sky High.

However, Chu Mingcheng was swimming backward, so he could see exactly why the dolphins had fled.

A great white shark, at least five meters long, was charging toward the badly wounded bigeye tuna, clamping its jaws onto the fish's body.

The tuna's torpedo-like body, once bitten, was instantly torn apart, a huge chunk of flesh ripped away.

"Damn it, my fish!" Chu Mingcheng cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do except swim faster.

No wonder that pod of dolphins had fled in such a panic—a great white had appeared.

Faced with this ferocious ocean predator, even dolphins were just another item on the menu.

The notion that dolphins weren't afraid of sharks and could even kill them was best taken with a grain of salt.

In reality, dolphins were no match for these giant sharks and would often become their prey.

It was just that dolphins usually traveled in large pods, so average-sized sharks wouldn't dare provoke them and might even be mobbed by the group.

In the animal kingdom, size was generally the deciding factor. If a pod of dolphins of the same size outnumbered a shark, they naturally wouldn't be afraid.

But this was a great white over five meters long, and the dolphin pod only had seven members, including calves. Fleeing was their first and only option.

Even if they could win the fight, they would likely lose several members of their pod.

Chu Mingcheng was lucky this time. The tuna had served as bait, attracting the great white's attention. Otherwise, he might have found himself in a real-life thriller, battling a great white shark.

As for whether he would end up as shark food, he figured he probably wouldn't.

Great whites were fast, but that was in a straight line.

He was much more agile in tight spaces, and he had a speargun, a diving pole, and a dive knife. Even a five-meter great white wouldn't have an easy time with him.

But no sane person would be foolish enough to take on something like that head-on. One slip-up, and he'd be gone.

Fortunately, the tuna was large enough. A five-meter great white might look massive, but it only ate about 2% of its body weight, so it couldn't finish the whole fish.

Unfortunately, he was still quite a distance from the Sky High, and the boatman was helping Chen Yang and hadn't come over yet, so he couldn't get out of danger quickly.

After putting about a kilometer between himself and the shark, Chu Mingcheng surfaced to check on Zhang Wei and Han Baola.

He'd hoped to get on their boat, but they were even farther away than the Sky High. He could shout himself hoarse and they wouldn't hear him, so he gave up on the idea.

Taking a breath, Chu Mingcheng dove back into the water and continued swimming toward the Sky High.

He didn't know if the great white had left or was still lingering in the area.

On the surface, he was an easy target. Even if the shark was full, who knew if it wouldn't attack him for no reason.

Only in the water could he keep an eye on his surroundings.

After swimming for another ten minutes, he was getting closer and closer to the Sky High. Just as Chu Mingcheng thought he was probably safe, a massive creature suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

The seawater was exceptionally clear, and he could just make out movement about thirty meters away.

But the great white's enormous size, even as a blurry shadow, was instantly recognizable.

"Thump, thump!"

Ordinarily, all he could hear was the sound of water, but with the appearance of the great white, Chu Mingcheng's heart suddenly began to pound, and his whole body tensed.

He immediately raised his speargun, aiming it at the great white swimming rapidly toward him.

He wasn't a slow swimmer, and a well-fed great white shouldn't be swimming this fast. Why was this one chasing him?

But as the great white drew closer, Chu Mingcheng understood.

This wasn't the first great white he'd seen. It was slightly smaller, probably between three and four meters long.

If there were two or more great whites in the area, then one tuna clearly wasn't enough to share.

Great whites over five meters were a rare sight in other waters. Due to food scarcity, they were mostly solitary hunters.

But what kind of environment was the South China Sea? Food was abundant here—supporting a few great whites was easy.

Chu Mingcheng was cursing his luck. This great white was heading straight for him, clearly targeting him.

The great white got closer and closer, but as it neared him, its speed actually slowed.

Chu Mingcheng's heart was pounding, and the rush of adrenaline made his whole body feel hot.

Faced with the massive, sharp-toothed great white, it was impossible not to be afraid, but he also dared to face this ferocious ocean predator.

He aimed his speargun with his right hand and held his diving pole in his left.

Humans were not on the great white's menu, so this one was very cautious.

It began to circle Chu Mingcheng, clearly wary of him as well.

He kept adjusting his position, always facing the shark, never exposing his back.

After two circles, the great white seemed to lose patience. It opened its mouth and made a tentative lunge for the speargun in Chu Mingcheng's hand.

Chu Mingcheng kicked his feet and immediately pulled back, dodging the test attack. At the same time, he struck the shark's body with the diving pole in his left hand.

The blow from the diving pole was almost negligible to the great white, but the electric current from it gave the shark a jolt. In pain, it immediately sped away from Chu Mingcheng.

This made the great white even more wary of him. It had been swimming about two meters away—now it pulled back to five.

But the great white didn't seem to be giving up. The jolt had been painful, but not enough to scare it off.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng was also getting a headache. He'd hoped the great white would know to back off.

This was why he hadn't fired his speargun. It was his most powerful weapon, but he wasn't confident he could kill the great white.

His wooden speargun, because he'd cut the line, was temporarily unusable.

Chen Yang's was a carbon fiber speargun, not powerful enough. Unless he hit the shark's eye and damaged its brain, he wouldn't be able to kill this great white.

Without a high chance of killing the great white, he naturally wouldn't provoke it.

And great whites were a Class II protected species. Even if he killed it, he couldn't sell it. Chu Mingcheng certainly wouldn't take that risk.

Unfortunately, the great white didn't seem to be letting him go. After being startled by the diving pole, it circled twice, seemed to forget the pain, and charged again.

Chu Mingcheng had already kicked off his cumbersome fins, ready for a fight.

At short range, the great white couldn't build up speed, and he nimbly dodged it again.

Without fins, Chu Mingcheng was even more agile. He used the speargun to bait the great white into biting, dodged just as it was about to clamp down, and then struck it again with the diving pole in his left hand.

But this great white was even more stubborn than he'd thought. He struck it three more times with the diving pole, but it still wouldn't leave, which made Chu Mingcheng gradually lose his patience.

After several test attacks, he knew the great white couldn't touch him.

With his "Effortless Swim" ability, he was as agile in the water as on land. The all-around enhancement of his physical fitness had also sharpened his reflexes, making his reactions incredibly fast.

He was staying in one place, so the great white wouldn't build up its maximum speed as it would when chasing prey. As a result, he repeatedly outmaneuvered it, and it could do nothing about it.

The stubborn great white turned and charged again.

This time, Chu Mingcheng didn't humor it. He immediately aimed the speargun at its eye and pulled the trigger.

The moment the spear hit the great white, he released the line and quickly kicked his legs to pull away.

The spear didn't hit the great white's eye, but the area right next to it.

Because of the resistance of the shark's skin, it didn't penetrate very deeply. The great white, in pain, instinctively thrashed its head, and the spear fell out after just a few shakes.

Then the great white quickly beat its tail and swam into the distance, looking like it was truly scared this time.

Chu Mingcheng watched the departing great white and breathed a sigh of relief. The trouble was finally gone.

But he didn't let his guard down. He stayed where he was, retrieved the spear, reloaded the speargun, and then...

"You've got to be kidding me!" Chu Mingcheng cursed inwardly. He'd thought the great white had run off, but the stubborn creature was charging back at incredible speed.

Unlike before, when it had gradually slowed down, this time it came straight for him with its mouth wide open, as if it wanted to tear him to pieces.

Great whites could chase sea lions and other animals, which showed that their straight-line speed was definitely not slow.

When Chu Mingcheng saw it returning, he immediately kicked off the bottom, shooting up four or five meters as the great white whistled past beneath him.

Since the great white wouldn't let him go, he had no reason to hold back.

Chu Mingcheng's blood was up. He immediately kicked his legs and, with his speargun raised, chased after it.

His straight-line speed was no match for the great white, but he could keep up.

And the great white, having missed its attack, was now turning to come back.

Chu Mingcheng took this opportunity to position himself four or five meters above it, aimed the speargun at its head, and immediately pulled the trigger. The spear shot out with a "bang" and embedded itself in the top of its head, though not very deeply.