LSDWTWHA chapter 4

Chapter 4

Su Su, with his mind filled with thoughts of his next meal, was suddenly distracted by the humans that appeared in the sea, failing to notice that a transparent fishing net was quietly descending from above.

This fishing net was made of special materials, completely invisible in the water, yet the material was extremely strong and sturdy, making it impossible for him to break free no matter how hard he bit or pulled.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already lifted out of the water, his entire body dangling in the air.

Su Su curiously looked down. The other end of the fishing net was connected to a boat, and many humans were standing on the boat. The fishing net slid along the track and opened a gap.

“Wow, what a big one! If the Admiral can’t catch a yellowfin tuna this time, he’ll be in for a loss.”

“That’s cheating! Using a mechanical net is way easier than using a spear.”

“What cheating? It was agreed that we would use tools. Who asked him to choose a fish spear?”

The countless voices filled Su Su’s ears, making it hard for him to tell where the noise was coming from.

He stared down with his big round eyes and saw the large group of humans below. Many cute humans were gathered here, but looking around, it seemed that none of them were as adorable as the one who had just entered the water.

“By the way, am I the only one who thinks this thing looks like a shark?”

“I think it looks like one too.”

“Don’t think it looks like one; it is a shark.”

“Uh, it’s staring at us. It won’t want to eat us, will it?”

“Hey, hey, hey, Admiral Qi is on the boat too, and he brought a big fish! Hurry, let’s go take a look.”

The crowd’s enthusiasm for the shark was far less than for Qi Hanyi. Upon hearing this, they rushed toward Qi Hanyi.

Su Su also wriggled his body, wanting to turn around to join the excitement, but unexpectedly, the net above him moved. Su Su was freed from his restraints, and he slid down a pipeline like a water slide and fell into a pool that was several meters wide.

The pool was pitifully small, yet it was crammed with various fish. Once Su Su landed in it, he could hardly turn around.

Yet Su Su did not feel that way. Excitedly, he rolled around in the pool, happily slapping the water with his tail.

All thoughts of the cute humans were completely cast aside; in his eyes, only the mound of fish surrounding him mattered.

Food! A pool full of food!

Su Su happily began his buffet-style meal.

The fish in the pool seemed endless, and there were no other sharks around to fight him for food.

Starving Su Su was a brutal eater. He was not picky and devoured anything that could fit in his mouth.

Qi Hanyi climbed onto the deck with the prey he had just caught.

The crowd swarmed around, no one paying attention to the chaos in the pool. They gazed in awe at the disemboweled yellowfin tuna, for the first time truly grasping the prowess of the young Admiral who was around their age.

They surrounded the young Admiral as if they were welcoming a triumphant hero.

Someone exclaimed, “Is this what SSS-level combat power is? Fighting a yellowfin tuna head-on in the water and slicing it in one blow?”

Someone flattered, “An Admiral is still an Admiral. I didn’t expect that even without mech, he could rip apart the insect tribe like this.”

Someone joked, “Is this really something humans can do? Admiral, you’re not a newly developed humanoid weapon, are you?”

Qi Hanyi paid no attention to them, silently handing the prey to the servant in charge and then removing his oxygen tank, changing out of his diving suit and putting on his shirt, buttoning it neatly to the top. Everything was done in order, as if he had just completed a perfectly ordinary daily task.

The servant took the tuna, which was already dead and could no longer be returned to the pool for storage, as it needed special processing. He passed the pool storing the prey and subconsciously glanced inside, and was shocked to nearly fall over.

“Oh no, who brought the shark up!”

Hearing the exclamation, Qi Hanyi glanced at the shark devouring fish in the pool and turned to the yacht’s owner, Mo Lin, asking, “Are you raising fish?”

“What?” Mo Lin initially didn’t understand what Qi Hanyi meant, but when he looked at the pool, he quickly understood.

The pool that had held their catch was now blood-red, with about one-tenth of the prey missing and several precious fish species they had caught now dead and torn apart. A two-meter-long silver-white shark was struggling to swallow a huge piece of fish meat, while the other remaining fish were frantically thrashing around, seemingly trying to evade the frenzied shark.

This loss wasn’t worth Mo Lin’s concern, but there was a big fish he had caught himself, intended as a gift for his older brother, and now it had been reduced to half its tail by the shark. The shark’s feeding habits were rather outrageous.

Mo Lin, both amused and annoyed, pointed at the shark and turned back to the others on the boat, asking, “Who brought this shark up here? Look at it—it’s eating like this and no one’s stopping it?”

Everyone finally shifted their attention back from Qi Hanyi to the shark that had sneaked onto the boat.

They exchanged glances, with a few in the know looking toward a young man named Zhang Lu. He was a childhood friend of Mo Lin and familiar to the others, though not particularly reputable.

It was he who had insisted on competing with the Admiral but was too cowardly to go swimming himself, so he dropped the fishing net. When the fish were caught, he was seen boasting, but when he realized the Admiral had caught a yellowfin tuna, he fell silent.

Now, seeing his caught shark devouring Mo Lin’s fish, he seemed reluctant to own up to it and discreetly signaled to the fisherman who had accompanied them.

The fisherman caught on to the hint and immediately said, “That shark must have collided with the fishing net that was previously cast. The net sensed the prey and brought it up directly. Coincidentally, the Admiral came aboard with his catch, and everyone was busy looking at the excitement, so we didn’t have time to deal with it.”

After hearing the fisherman’s explanation, Mo Lin waved his hand and shot a glance at his childhood friend, implicitly agreeing with the idea that the shark just happened to swim into the net and signaling to let it go. This outing was organized by him, and everyone present were noble offspring of the Empire; there was no need to create unpleasantness over a bit of prey, which would only make him seem petty.

However, Mo Lin was not the type to suffer in silence. If he couldn’t get angry with others, then he could handle a shark himself.

Mo Lin cast a cold glance at the shark gorging itself, ominously saying, “Since you’ve eaten my hard-earned catch, then you can only be a gift for my dear brother.”

Finally full, Su Su raised his head in confusion. He didn’t see anything wrong with taking Mo Lin’s catch; sharks eat by stealing after all, and they snatch their companions’ prey while occasionally going after human spoils.

“This is a good idea. Although shark meat isn’t delicious, shark fins are very nutritious. The texture and taste are both smooth and fresh,” Zhang Lu immediately chimed in.

Su Su was shocked. Humans also eat sharks? This wasn’t mentioned in the textbooks!

Qi Hanyi frowned and coldly warned, “Those who hunt sharks privately will be punished by ten lashes.”

“Hahaha, Admiral Qi, you’re quite humorous. It’s just a shark. It’s not like anyone knows. Everyone on board are friends; who would report it?” Zhang Lu joked as he raised his spear and aimed at the shark in the pool.

Seeing Zhang Lu lifting the spear and aiming at him, Su Su grew anxious. Unfortunately, the pool was too small, and there were extremely limited ways to dodge.

At this critical moment, Qi Hanyi pressed down on Zhang Lu’s spear with one hand, and with the other, he pressed down on Zhang Lu’s wrist. Before Zhang Lu could react, the spear was already taken from his hands.

With the crisis averted, Su Su looked gratefully at his savior. Hmm, this must be the human he just encountered underwater; indeed, the most adorable among the crowd.

Qi Hanyi’s words were somewhat blunt, and Zhang Lu’s face flushed with embarrassment. He had known Mo Lin since childhood, and his family’s background was not shabby either. No matter how impressive Qi Hanyi was, they were of the same generation, and he wasn’t his superior, so why did he have the right to lecture him in that tone?

Zhang Lu felt a bit indignant but was too afraid to argue directly with Qi Hanyi, so he pulled out Mo Lin’s name: “Catching one isn’t a big deal. Moreover, what status does Mo Er Shao have? Who would dare to judge him over just a shark?”

Inside, Mo Lin was cursing Zhang Lu for being a fool. From what he knew about Qi Hanyi, this person rarely showed concern for anything outside of work; the fact that he suddenly said this truly seemed to protect the Empire’s laws? He didn’t think so.

Mo Lin suddenly remembered a rumor that claimed Qi Hanyi, when he was younger, encountered a shipwreck and, unfortunately, fell into the water, only to be rescued by a shark. At that time, everyone treated it as something to laugh about, with few believing it. After all, sharks eat meat; if they weren’t eaten as food, how could they save people?

But seeing Qi Hanyi’s attitude now, Mo Lin felt that the rumor might not be entirely baseless after all.

He was here to befriend Qi Hanyi, not to make enemies. Noticing Qi Hanyi’s gaze grew colder by the moment, he quickly stepped in to smooth things over, “Misunderstanding! Who said I wanted to kill it? I just thought this shark looked beautiful and wanted to take it home as a pet for my brother. That shouldn’t be illegal, right? Hanyi, you also know that my brother sometimes likes to collect these things; he still has five or six crocodiles in his backyard pond.”

Raise me? Su Su’s eyes brightened. An unexpected path unfolded before him.

Yes! If he were to be raised by humans, wouldn’t he be able to leave the sea and enter a world where he could see cute humans feeding him every day, no longer needing to go hungry?

“The shark belongs to the sea, born free, and should not be raised by humans.” This time, Qi Hanyi voiced his opposition.

Who says so!!!

Su Su huffed in resentment and raised his head, but unfortunately, sharks do not have vocal cords, and he couldn’t voice his rebuttal.

Qi Hanyi did not let Mo Lin lose face, proactively offering the freshly caught prey in his hands, “This happened due to my oversight, so this one will be my compensation. If it’s not enough…”

“Enough, enough.” Mo Lin noticed that Qi Hanyi was determined to protect that shark and didn’t want to pursue the matter further, forcing a smile, “This is a top-quality yellowfin tuna, worth much more than the one I caught; besides, you personally caught this fish, and if my father receives it, he would certainly be happier than if he were to receive a gift from me, his own son.”

“Well, as for that shark, I’ll just release it.” Qi Hanyi seemed completely unaware of how to be polite. Seeing Mo Lin nodding, he took it as agreement and immediately stepped into the fish pool, dragging the little shark’s tail, lifting it out of the water.

Hey! Don’t decide other people’s fate here without asking! Did anyone consult the shark’s opinions?

Su Su struggled desperately.

[Who says a shark can’t be raised? I can! I especially can! I don’t belong to the sea; I belong to humans! Take me away!]

The textbooks mentioned human pets, who do nothing at home all day except be cute, receiving infinite food, a safe and comfortable living environment, along with the companionship and affection of many humans.

Su Su envied those who could work as pets when he first learned about it. Now, with the opportunity right in front of him, coupled with the recent experience of enjoying a pool full of fresh fish, he certainly didn’t want to miss it.

The little shark, like a spoiled child, wriggled desperately. Bubbles gurgled out. Yet, he couldn’t convey his thoughts to the humans.

Qi Hanyi’s one hand was stronger than Su Su’s entire fish body. Poor Su Su was ruthlessly dragged out of the fish pool by his tail and tossed into the big sea.

With a “splash,” a little shark’s dream of being raised by humans shattered into bubbles.

Su Su: Hmph! Human, you are no longer my little cutie!

(Note: The scene where the shark is accidentally caught on the fishing boat and enjoys a buffet is inspired by a hilarious short video on YouTube; you can check it out for a good laugh.)