Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

The oil lamps in the control room flickered.

The blue patterns flickered in and out of focus.

Hack cursed.

"This awful weather."

Vera gripped the metal handle tightly.

"Do water creatures like rainy days?"

Balk said in a deep voice, "The little green dragon is good at controlling water, and rainy days will make it more troublesome."

Why didn't you say so before?

Huck glared at him.

"I told you, so you're not coming?"

Balk countered with a question.

Hack grinned, but didn't actually laugh.

The rain is getting heavier.

The Ironscale began to shake slightly.

Beneath the hull, the undercurrents seemed to become turbulent.

Siren can sense changes in water pressure through the metal handle.

That was not an ordinary surge.

It's more like something is stirring up the entire river in the distance.

A little bit.

Test them.

Observe them.

Wait for them to reveal a weakness.

Balk placed his hand on the master control handle.

His breath filled the iron platform.

The metal scales on the outer side of the Ironscale ship opened slightly and then quickly closed.

It stood up like an iron beast with its scales raised.

"Cheer up, everyone."

Balk's voice was deep.

"From now on, any abnormalities must be reported."

The atmosphere in the control room was extremely tense.

Xilun lowered his eyes, his palm pressed against the cold grip.

The icy aura of Yin remained quietly hidden within the body.

The internal shockwave of the Great Thunderclap resonated deep within his bones.

The Iron Armor made his skin look like it was covered with an invisible layer of armor.

The trajectory of Natan's heavy gun technique flashed through his mind again and again.

He wasn't in a hurry.

This hunt has only just begun.

Another clap of thunder sounded.

Outside the porthole, deep in the rain, a bluish shadow suddenly flashed across the water's surface.

very long.

Very fine.

The scales flashed for a moment in the electric light, like a crack in a piece of green jade.

Vera looked up abruptly.

"Port side!"

Balk's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Don't move!"

The water surface to the left of the Ironscale suddenly collapsed.

A vortex appeared silently.

The vortex wasn't large, but it spun extremely fast, like an open eye.

The ship then tilted to the left.

Hack roared and instinctively reached for his hunting fork.

Balk shouted sternly, "It's not time yet!"

Xilun's fingers tightened slightly.

He looked at the vortex.

Waterbending.

This is not like simply manipulating water flow.

It's more like that alien species that can sense every subtle change in the water and then use that force to make the entire river a part of its body.

If this ability can be acquired through hunting—

A faint glimmer of light finally appeared deep in Xilun's eyes.

sound.

It seems very impressive.

……

The vortex is still expanding.

It was originally only the size of a round table.

After a few breaths, it was already like a pitch-black well, spinning wildly along the port side of the Ironscale.

Rainwater falls in, but not a single drop splashes.

It felt like being swallowed whole by something unseen.

The ship tilted even more violently.

The oil lamps in the control room flickered one after another, their blue patterns stretched and dimmed, as if the entire skeleton of the ship was groaning softly.

Hack's arm muscles bulged as he gripped the fork handle tightly, veins popping out on his forehead.

"If we wait any longer, the ship will capsize!"

Balk did not look at him.

His eyes remained fixed on the compass.

The pointer on the bronze compass no longer trembled, but was held taut and straight towards the port side, as if gripped by an invisible hand.

"It's trying to lure us into action."

Balk's voice was low and deep, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat.

"The first strike cannot be wasted."

Vera's face was a little pale.

She held the metal handle with one hand and the edge of the iron platform with the other, her knuckles turning white.

She was a river hunter and had seen many aquatic creatures.

I've never seen anything like this before.

Before it even appears, the current alone is enough to throw an extraordinary vessel from an ocean pier off balance.

This is a trouble that cannot be described as ordinary second-tier extreme realm.

This river is breathing for it.

Mason coughed.

His gaunt chest heaved violently, and his ashen face looked even more like a corpse under the blue light.

He whispered, "The water pressure on the right side has changed too."

Balk turned his head sharply.

The next moment, a dull thud came from below the starboard side of the Ironscale.

Boom!

The entire ship felt as if it had been bumped from the bottom of the water by a giant beast.

Xilun placed his palm on the water cannon control handle and could clearly feel the force coming from the bottom of the ship and then vibrating into his palm along the iron platform.

It wasn't a brute-force collision.

It is water.

First, an undercurrent supports the bottom of the boat, then another undercurrent pushes it from the side, and finally the whirlpool pulls it downwards.

Three forces erupted at the same time.

The Ironscale ship seemed to be held down by three hands: one supporting, one pushing, and one dragging.

The massive hull emitted a teeth-grinding groan.

Hack finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"I can't worry about that anymore!"

He suddenly channeled his breath into the fork handle.

Three black harpoons suddenly shot out from the right side of the ship, piercing the water with thick chains attached.

A sharp whistling sound pierced the air through the rain.

The iron fork plunged into the water, creating three huge white waves.

It can be empty underwater.

It didn't hit anything.

Balk's face darkened.

"idiot!"

Just as Hack was about to retort, the water suddenly swelled up.

All three chains taut at the same time.

It wasn't that the hunting spear pierced the prey.

Instead, something was tangling the chains.

A low, grinding sound came from underwater.

It was as if giant scales were slowly swimming along the iron chain.

Hack's pupils contracted, and he strained with both hands, trying to retract the hunting fork.

late.

The port vortex suddenly collapsed.

A sudden surge of water erupted on the starboard side.

The three hunting fork chains were suddenly dragged outward by a terrifying force.

The Ironscale veered to the side, causing everyone in the control room to slip at the same time.

Vera slammed into the iron platform and let out a muffled groan.

Mason collapsed to his knees, coughing up a mouthful of dark red blood.

Xilun held onto the handle of the water pump with one hand, his feet seemingly rooted to the floor, his body completely still.

He looked out the porthole.

The rain curtain was torn into a mess by the wind.

Deep in the water, a slender blue shadow circled the Ironscale quickly.

It doesn't look like a fish.

It's more like a dragon that hasn't yet grown up.

Its body is only as thick as an adult's thigh, yet it is incredibly long. Its back is covered with fine blue scales, and it has two short horns on its head. When it swishes its tail, the river water follows it as if it were a living creature.

Little Green Dragon!

The thing did not attack immediately.

It's playing tricks on us.

Or rather, in dismantling the ship.

Balk finally raised his hand and pressed down hard on the black brass button in the center of the control panel.

"The chain is broken!"

Crack!

The three hunting chain bolts broke off simultaneously from the side of the boat.

The Ironscale lost its towing, and the ship suddenly righted itself, creating a large white wave on the water.

Hack staggered half a step, his face ashen as if he had just been slapped.

Those three hunting forks were abandoned before they could even be used.

Balk gave him a cold look.

"If you move again, I'll throw you down first."

Hack's lips twitched, but he ultimately didn't dare to reply.

He could sense that Balk was suppressing his anger.

You can also sense that the ship is far less safe than it appears.

The Ironscale was indeed sturdy.

But they weren't facing a wild beast that only charged forward.

That underwater alien creature was like an extremely patient hunter.

It knew the ship's weaknesses.

I also know that people make mistakes.

Balk took a deep breath.

"Vera, prepare the beast-binding net."

"Mason, on my command, suppress the right flank."

"Simon, don't use the water cannon at full power. Use half power to disperse the vortex first."

He paused, then said, "Hark, shut up, wait until I let you move."

Hack's noodles jerked, and he let out a heavy groan.

Xilun replied in a low voice, "I know."

He slowly infused a wisp of cold air into the air.

The gears and runes inside the iron platform were operating simultaneously.

Below the bow of the Ironscale, the large water-pressurizing cannon muzzle slowly rotated, pointing towards the edge of the whirlpool on the port side.

Balk stared at the compass.

"put."

Xilun pressed down with his palm.

boom!

A powerful jet of air was ejected from the side of the ship by the water cannon.

The air flowed into the water, like an invisible giant club smashing into the vortex, shattering the edge of the vortex.

The collapsed water surface paused briefly.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Ironscale broke free from the entanglement.

But the next instant, a sharp, long whistle rang out from the depths of the rain.

The sound still penetrated my brain through the earplugs.

It felt like an ice needle piercing the eardrum and then traveling down the nerve to the back of the head.

Vera groaned, her face instantly turning pale.

Mason was already weak, and his body swayed, almost collapsing.

Hark's eyes turned bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth, cursing, "Beast!"

Xilun's eyelids droop slightly.

The reverberation chamber vibrated slightly, shattering the aftershocks of that shrill whistle.

His attention actually became more focused.

The little green dragon's roar is not just a sound attack.

After that sound, the water flow changed noticeably faster.

It vibrates the water with sound.

Raindrops, waves, undercurrents, and water accumulating in the crevices of the boat's hull all become the mediums through which it transmits its power.

Balk's expression also changed.

"It's getting closer."

The voice just fell.

A wall of water suddenly rose from the water in front of the Ironscale.

It's not a joke.

It is a real water wall.

The dark gray river water was lifted from the surface by a force, reaching the height of a two-story building, and lay across the bow of the boat like a city wall about to collapse.

Everyone on the ship held their breath at that moment.

Balk roared, "Water cannon, full power!"

Without hesitation, Xilun infused his breath into the air.

The bow ballast cannon roared loudly.

A thick white streak crashed into the wall of water.

At the same time, Mason placed his sickly hand on the right control stick, and a ring of gray-white ripples spread out from the bottom of the Ironscale.

A dent was punched into the center of the water wall.

But it didn't shatter.

On the contrary, the water wall rolled inwards on both sides, resembling two giant clasped hands, enveloping the Ironscale from the left and right.

Vera gave a low shout.

The beast-binding net was finally launched.

Dozens of fine silver threads gushed out from the bow of the ship, forming a giant net in the rain, with runes flashing between the meshes, and were firmly embedded in both sides of the water wall.

Boom!

The wall of water crashed into the silver net.

The entire Ironscale ship suddenly shuddered.

A loud metallic scraping sound came from beneath the control room floor.

The scales on the outside of the hull opened and closed layer by layer, dispersing the impact.

The water wall was torn apart.

Countless drops of river water crashed down, instantly turning the deck into a turbulent mess.

Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a scream came from the stern of the ship.

Those weren't people from the control room.

He was a deckhand.

Balk's face was grim.

There were more than just the five of them on the Ironscale.

There were also a dozen or so ordinary sailors and first-class guards responsible for maintaining the equipment.

"It's on board?"

Vera's voice was tense.

"No."

Xilun looked out the porthole.

The rain was so heavy that only blurry figures could be seen.

A sailor was dragged toward the ship's side by a rope wrapped around his neck.

He grabbed wildly with both hands, his fingernails scratching blood off the deck.

Two guards rushed forward and brandished their swords.

The blade slashed into the water rope, but it was like cutting into supple leather, only splashing a few sprays of water.

The next moment, a blue claw emerged from the river surface outside the ship's side.

The claw was only half-finished.

Covered in scales, slender, and sharp.

It gently hooked.

The sailor was dragged out of the ship.

The screams abruptly stopped.

Huck's Adam's apple bobbed.

Even the most reckless person could sense that something was wrong.

This little green dragon's goal wasn't simply to ram and sink the ship.

It is weakening them.

Drag them away one by one.

Turn the Ironscale into an isolated island floating on the water.

Suddenly, Balk shouted, "All deck personnel, retreat to the lower decks!"

A jumble of responses quickly came from the microphone.

Just then, a low, mournful whistle came from the rain in the distance.

woo-

The voice was rough.

It carries the scent of sea breeze and rust.

Balk suddenly looked up.

Vera was also stunned.

Hark frowned: "There are boats in this godforsaken place?"

Xilun walked to the porthole.

Deep in the rain, a dark shadow was pressing in from downstream.

It was a converted steamship.

The ship was slightly smaller than the Ironscale, but even more menacing.

Dilapidated iron plates hung on both sides, a huge animal skull was welded to the bow, black smoke billowed from the smokestack, and a soaking wet black flag hung on the mast.

In the center of the black flag is a grinning, bearded skull.

Wang Huzi!

One of the most troublesome pirate leaders in the Greywater River and coastal areas.

Mason whispered, "Why are they here?"

For the first time, Balk's face turned extremely ugly.

It wasn't an accident.

But the worst premonition came true.

He had heard that Wang Huzi had also set his sights on this little green dragon.

But he thought he had gotten there first.

Unexpectedly, the other side kept following behind, waiting for the Ironscale to force the little Azure Dragon out first.

"Cannon muzzle!"

Balk grabbed the megaphone and roared, "Pirate ship at the right rear! Everyone on high alert!"

The whistle sounded again.

This time it's even closer.

The rain curtain was torn apart by the firelight.

boom!

A cannonball was fired from the bow of the pirate ship and slammed diagonally toward the stern of the Ironscale.

The outer scales of the Ironscale automatically closed.

The shells struck the scales, exploding into a burst of fire and black smoke.

The ship shook violently.

The people in the control room were almost knocked over by the shock.

Hark roared, "Are they insane? The water beasts are still down there!"

Vera said coldly, "They want us to die along with the water beasts."

Balk gritted his teeth.

The situation changed in an instant.

They are no longer hunters.

At least he's no longer the only hunter.

The little green dragon circled underwater, the king beard approached in the rain, and the iron scale ship was sandwiched in the middle, becoming the most conspicuous target.

Xilun watched all of this quietly.

Heavy rain, water beasts, pirates, Balk.

The chaos came sooner than he had anticipated.

It is also more suitable for killing.

As for his own safety, Celen doesn't boast that in the ocean, it's hard to find someone with Celen's almost superhuman swimming skills and adaptability.

It is almost unique.

He has the ability to extricate himself unscathed, so he can naturally observe the situation calmly!

Suddenly, someone stood at the bow of the pirate ship.

The man was tall, wearing an oilcloth coat, and had a long, curly beard that almost reached his chest.

He raised the megaphone, and his voice pierced through the rain.

"Balk!"

"Give up that little blue-scaled cub!"

"I'm in a good mood today, I'll just take the boat, not my life!"

Hack started cursing.

Balk remained silent for a moment.

Then he picked up the sound tube, his voice icy cold.

"Wang Huzi, if you dare come within three hundred paces of the Ironscale, I'll sink you first."

Loud laughter came from afar.

"Then let's give it a try!"

The next moment, the cannons on both sides of the pirate ship lit up with fire.

At the same time, the blue shadow underwater suddenly accelerated.

It bypassed the Ironscale and headed straight for the pirate ship.