A sudden sound of crashing waves jolted Duncan awake from his dreams. He opened his eyes wide, and the faint images he had seen in his half-asleep state faded away. He could only remember seeing fish swimming in the air, and those fish looked particularly delicious—what did they even look like?
Fish... can they swim in the air?
Duncan blinked, feeling a strange mix of reality and dream that left him momentarily confused. He looked at the three fishing rods fixed to the rod holder and saw no sign of any fish biting. Meanwhile, the sea in the distance began to swell, with waves crashing against the hull of the Lost Home.
Suddenly, the waves grew larger. With each passing moment, stronger waves surged toward him, causing the massive ship to sway in the wind and water, the sound of the crashing waves filling his ears.
Duncan glanced up at the sky and saw that the weather was still nice, just a bit windier than before, but it didn’t seem like a storm was coming.
"This might not be the best weather for fishing..." he muttered to himself, considering whether he should reel in the rods. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the rods bending sharply!
The strong fishing line, designed for deep-sea fishing, tightened instantly. The sturdy rod seemed to have hooked something big, bending like a bow with a screeching sound. The rod holder creaked under the strain, sending a clear signal to Duncan:
A fish is here! A big one!
He quickly dismissed the idea of taking a break and felt excitement burning in his chest. He rushed to the rod that was "biting," grabbing it to prevent it from falling off the holder while adjusting the tension on the line.
"I told you! I can't be empty-handed!"
Duncan excitedly talked to himself, starting a tough battle with the massive creature on the other end of the line. The thing was clearly not going down without a fight, pulling hard against the rod. Even with Duncan's strength and the support of the rod holder, it felt like a struggle that could tip over at any moment.
The waves around the Lost Home grew larger, but for Duncan, this little rocking was nothing to worry about. He was just getting frustrated with the stubborn "prey" and worried that this chance to improve his meal would slip away.
The line was at its breaking point; the big fish was about to escape.
After what felt like an eternity of struggle, Duncan finally decided to go all out. A cluster of green flames suddenly spread from his hand gripping the rod.
The green fire blazed like water, quickly flowing along the rod and line. The spirit flame burned brightly, creating a "fire line" that plunged into the sea. In the next moment, a phantom outline of green flames emerged from the depths around the Lost Home, revealing a massive shadow in the water.
The shadow looked like a swelling mass, almost covering hundreds of meters of sea around the ship. Its edges extended into numerous dark, writhing forms, like countless arms stirring the water, controlling the invisible waves.
Duncan heard strange noises from the sea while maintaining his grip on the "prey." He leaned out curiously to look.
He saw nothing unusual, just the waves rolling, not much different from before. He also felt the resistance on the rod had weakened a bit.
The creature's strength was fading, and this realization brought a bright smile to his face. He began to pull the line tighter, slowly dragging his catch out of the water...
...
Alice was startled by the roaring and howling sounds coming from outside the cabin. The intense shaking beneath her feet caused everything inside to rattle, and she quickly grabbed a nearby railing to avoid falling, her face showing confusion. "What happened?"
The Lost Home was shaking, as if a massive storm was raging outside. Deep within the old ghost ship, a low, oppressive sound echoed, like it was roaring against the terror of the deep sea, battling a giant beast trying to swallow it whole.
Everything in the cabin clattered noisily. At first, Alice thought it was just the ship rocking, but soon she realized that many of the sounds were from objects making noise in place—they were communicating in a language only the Lost Home could understand.
She only knew that something might be wrong outside.
Determined to see what was happening on deck, she stumbled out of the cabin, holding onto the walls to avoid falling as she made her way.
After nearly tripping over flying ropes and rolling barrels, she finally reached the end of the stairs. She pushed open the wooden door that swung wildly in the wind and saw towering waves rising on the endless sea.
The sky was pitch black, ominous clouds looming heavily, almost touching the sea. Towering waves rolled beneath the dark clouds, rising and falling around the Lost Home like a wall!
Alice had never seen anything like this. She didn’t know if it was normal for the sea, but she knew she needed to find the captain.
She scanned the deck and quickly spotted Captain Duncan standing at the edge.
...
The surrounding waves were a bit annoying, but for Duncan, who was on the verge of success, they were just minor "distractions." With the feedback from the fishing line and the green fire, he could clearly feel his prey had stopped resisting, and the massive creature was slowly being pulled out of the water.
"Come on up!"
He shouted happily, giving the rod one last strong pull.
A large fish leaped out of the sea—really big, almost half his size.
In that brief moment, Duncan locked eyes with the fish hanging in the air.
"...it's pretty ugly."
That was his first thought.
It was indeed an extremely ugly fish, its black body covered in rough, bumpy growths, with strange grayish-white patterns spreading chaotically along its fins. Its head had many bony spikes, and a pair of hollow, pale eyes stared at Duncan from beneath those spikes.
Duncan felt uncomfortable, as if the fish was looking at him with ill intent.
But the next moment, the fish suddenly twitched. Its eyes, which had been staring at him, inexplicably exploded, and blood gushed out.
The fish fell heavily onto the deck, writhing as if it had been electrocuted, and after a few seconds, it lay still, blood seeping from its mouth and exploded eyes, dripping onto the deck.
Duncan watched in surprise as this hideously ugly fish quickly lost its life at his feet. He vaguely remembered reading that most deep-sea fish were indeed very ugly, and due to the pressure they lived under, they could burst their blood vessels and die quickly when pulled out of the water—was this how fish were in this world too?
While he was lost in thought, a sudden crackling sound came from nearby.
Curious, Duncan turned to see several smaller "monster fish" falling onto the deck right after the big one.
They looked similar to the half-person-sized fish but were only about half a meter long. Like the big fish, they were already bleeding heavily as soon as Duncan noticed them, quickly nearing death.
Duncan was momentarily stunned, and after a while, he reacted, "Is this like the story of the gourd kids saving their grandpa? Sending a whole bunch at once?"
...
Alice clung tightly to the railing, nervously watching the brutal battle unfolding not far away, enough to drive an ordinary person mad.
She saw Captain Duncan standing at the edge of the deck, engulfed in green flames, like a giant on fire facing the sea. Three hooks extended from the deck beneath him, one of which was burning with terrifying flames.
Suddenly, a massive shadow appeared in the endless sea, and almost as thick as the main mast of the Lost Home, a tentacle emerged from the water. Its surface opened up with countless malicious eyes, and countless sharp teeth rubbed against each other, as if ready to tear the ship apart at any moment.
Alice almost gasped. She wanted to warn the captain to dodge and rush to help, but before she could act, the tentacle came crashing down toward him.
She saw Captain Duncan look up, and under the blazing flames, a joyful expression of harvest was on his face—he was staring at the countless eyes on the tentacle, and those eyes were staring back at him.
In the next second, all the eyes on the tentacle suddenly exploded, hundreds of sharp teeth letting out a piercing, painful scream. Then, the tentacle broke off as if a massive body hidden beneath the surface had actively severed its connection, abandoning the severely injured end on the deck.
The tentacle crashed down, and the filthy, thick blood and flesh that spilled from the severed end splattered all over, landing at the captain's feet.
(End of Chapter)