After Chang Haojie left with Zhou Jiuxiang, Li Keyi began assigning tasks to everyone. As the sole researcher present, she was the highest in intelligence and naturally became the commander. Although she was only directing ten people, it was enough.
"Fang Qinghao, when the squid is lured to the surface, you are responsible for tossing it up!" Li Keyi said to Fang Qinghao.
"Don't worry, leave this to me. I will definitely do this well!" Fang Qinghao said confidently.
Li Keyi then looked at Ke Yiming and said, "Ke Yiming, when the squid emerges from the water, you will be responsible for the first wave of attack. Try to cause burns, preferably burning off all the squid's tentacles. Are there any problems with this?"
Ke Yiming nodded, "The action is fine, I just don't understand, why burn off all the squid's tentacles?"
Li Keyi explained, "Squid feed mainly with their tentacles. If all the squid's tentacles are burned off, then even if the squid escapes, it won't be able to recover in a short period and cause us trouble. This is to guard against the situation after the squid escapes."
Li Keyi's primary objective was simple: even if the squid couldn't be killed, it should be crippled as much as possible. A crippled sea beast would be unable to recover from its injuries in a short time, thus buying the fleet ample time.
"Understood, continue!" Ke Yiming had no objections after understanding the reason.
Then, Li Keyi looked at Shen Feng and said, "Later, you find an opportunity in the sky. The second wave of attack will be yours. Attack the squid's head, understand?"
Shen Feng nodded, "Absolutely no problem. The squid has such a big head, I'm sure I can hit it. When the time comes, I'll unleash my three thousand wind blades, and I don't believe it won't kill the squid!"
Shen Feng was very confident because the squid was incredibly huge. Once it emerged from the water, the part exposed above the surface alone would be over five hundred meters long, and the squid's massive head was also very conspicuous. If such a large target couldn't be hit, then one would truly be blind.
Upon hearing this, Li Keyi realized something was amiss. She took out the Encyclopedia of Marine Life and pointed to the squid's structure, saying, "Do you know why squid are classified in the Cephalopoda class? That's because a squid's tentacles grow from its head. The swollen part above is the squid's mantle. The squid's head is between its eyes! That is, below!"
Shen Feng finally understood. He had mistaken the squid's mantle for its head. If Li Keyi hadn't explained, he would have foolishly charged at the swollen mantle during the attack. Who would have thought a squid grew upside down?
"Li Keyi, if you hadn't explained, I really wouldn't have known this little piece of knowledge. Fortunately, you're here, you're truly my wise..." Shen Feng scratched his head sheepishly, preparing to praise Li Keyi, but suddenly remembered that "wise helper" couldn't be used here.
Then Shen Feng quickly changed his words, "Truly my wise strategist, your task assignments are excellent!"
"I'm a great wise teacher, are you praising others so thoughtlessly?" Li Keyi was clearly dissatisfied with Shen Feng's praise, rolling her eyes, feeling too lazy to bother with Shen Feng.
Afterward, Li Keyi looked at the remaining people and said, "Your abilities are not suitable for sea combat, so play supporting roles!"
"Okay..." The others had no long-range attack methods. As for Yue Hengyi, the range of his ability was too large. Once he unleashed his gravity field, he might accidentally injure his teammates. Therefore, Yue Hengyi absolutely could not act at this time.
With the task assignments complete, everyone appeared on deck. On another cruiser not far away, Gong Changfa had also found five or six attack-type ability users. It seemed he also attached great importance to this battle; fame and glory awaited today!
"Zhu Kai, hold the camera and be ready to film my heroic stance, understand?" Gong Changfa said to Zhu Kai beside him, who held a camera, ready to shoot.
Gong Changfa knew that humans had never killed a sea beast before, and in any part of the world, people would remember the first person to accomplish something. The saying about the first person to eat a crab represents courage, while the second person to eat a crab is basically ignored. Just as Shen Feng was the first Tier 4 ability user, Gong Changfa now wanted to become the first ability user on Earth to kill a giant sea beast.
Gong Changfa had great confidence in his strength. He knew that as long as he could come into contact with the sea beast, he could cause destruction. Within a hundred meters, the sea beast's body would be completely destroyed.
Xun Yan was also taking deep breaths. He was also a Tier 5 ability user, at the same level as Ke Yiming, and also an ability user who wielded fire. He was determined not to perform worse than Ke Yiming.
Chang Haojie, with the bound Zhou Jiuxiang, arrived near the sea, about twenty meters above the sea surface. The two cruisers were nearby, and the main combat power was concentrated here. It was Chang Haojie's first time doing something so conspicuous, and there was no danger, plus he was an indispensable person. He couldn't help but feel proud.
"Mr. Zhou, do you want to go down yourself, or shall I send you down?" Chang Haojie said to Zhou Jiuxiang from atop the clouds.
Zhou Jiuxiang was tied up tightly, the ropes almost digging into his flesh. Except for his feet, he couldn't move at all. He said speechlessly, "Look at me now, am I someone who can go down by myself? Of course, you'll send me down!"
Chang Haojie nodded, then commanded, "In that case, Mr. Zhou, turn your back to me, stand at the edge of the cloud, and crouch down a bit, crouch down a bit."
Zhou Jiuxiang didn't understand what the young man was doing, so he could only comply. However, just as he crouched down, Chang Haojie kicked him – "Bang!" Zhou Jiuxiang was caught off guard and was directly kicked off the cloud.
"Plop!" Zhou Jiuxiang fell directly into the water, his body almost falling apart. Falling from such a height into the water, an ordinary person would have broken bones long ago. Fortunately, Zhou Jiuxiang was an ability user, and his physical fitness had been enhanced. Otherwise, he would have fainted upon hitting the water.
In Zhou Jiuxiang's understanding, being sent into the water would involve grabbing a rope from the cloud and being lowered bit by bit. But he never expected that he, a noble ability user, would be treated so roughly and kicked down. After falling into the water, the pain was immense.
"You brat, when I get back on the ship, I'm not done with you!" Zhou Jiuxiang shouted after surfacing.
Chang Haojie looked innocent and said, "Isn't this to speed things up a bit? You're not even satisfied with this, you're such a picky fellow."
As he spoke, Chang Haojie pulled the rope up a bit, preventing Zhou Jiuxiang's body from being submerged by the seawater.
Zhou Jiuxiang had no intention of causing trouble now. At this moment, it was best to complete the task and leave as soon as possible. If some tiger sharks became interested and swam over, it would be all over. After all, there were dozens of tiger sharks swimming around the sea.
Then, Zhou Jiuxiang began to release astaxanthin. As long as Zhou Jiuxiang had eaten a chemical component, he could synthesize it. Synthesis requires physical exertion, so Zhou Jiuxiang's use of his ability consumed his own energy, which was why he looked so weak. With such an ability, his complexion couldn't be good.
Zhou Jiuxiang thought to himself, "Actually, the squid might not come looking for me. The books say squid like astaxanthin, but not all squid necessarily have such a taste."
Zhou Jiuxiang released the astaxanthin from his pores. Although the astaxanthin was diluted by the seawater, it was the most tempting delicacy for the squid. The deep-sea squid smelled the astaxanthin in the water and immediately floated towards the surface. They didn't care about the ships anymore; they just wanted to eat something they liked.
Chang Haojie watched clearly from above. On the originally grayish-blue sea surface, a huge dark shadow suddenly appeared, and this dark shadow was becoming clearer and clearer.
Seeing this, Chang Haojie grabbed the rope and began to pull with all his might. Zhou Jiuxiang felt it most acutely. He saw a huge dark shadow appear beneath him. The moment this dark shadow appeared, the seawater around him turned black. Even though he knew it was due to light refraction, he was still very scared.
"Kid above, pull faster! The squid is coming!" Zhou Jiuxiang shouted urgently.
The situation was truly a matter of life and death. Zhou Jiuxiang wished he could climb up with his hands and feet, but he couldn't. He was tied up tightly. Ke Yiming had clearly bound him tightly for fear of him escaping, so Zhou Jiuxiang couldn't break free from the ropes. Therefore, he could only hope that Chang Haojie in the sky would hurry.
Chang Haojie pulled the rope while complaining, shouting down, "You're a grown man in your twenties, and you can't even handle a little scare? How dare you call yourself an ability user? I'm already pulling as hard as I can!"
"Stop the nonsense! You're not the one being dangled, so you're not in a hurry, but it's me who's about to be eaten!" Zhou Jiuxiang shouted desperately.
Zhou Jiuxiang was now hanging in the air, unable to go up or down. The dark shadow on the water was becoming clearer and clearer. If he were caught by the squid, he would only appear before everyone tomorrow, but at that time, Zhou Jiuxiang would appear as excrement.
Chang Haojie stopped talking. Although he was not in mortal danger, how could he not complete the task his brother-in-law had given him? This was a great opportunity to make a name for himself!
Therefore, Chang Haojie pulled the rope with all his might, preparing to lift Zhou Jiuxiang up.
However, at this moment, a cry of alarm came from below the cloud, and then Chang Haojie felt a strange force pulling him down.
Chang Haojie stumbled on the cloud, almost being pulled down. This force was too powerful. Chang Haojie felt like he was playing tug-of-war with a mountain; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move the other side even an inch.
"Splash..." The swollen mantle of the squid emerged from the water, followed by its head. Large eyes were on either side of its head, and many tentacles were attached below the head. One tentacle directly wrapped around the bound Zhou Jiuxiang. Zhou Jiuxiang was unable to move, and the suckers on the tentacle had already grabbed him and were pulling him down forcefully.
"Help! Hurry and save me!" Zhou Jiuxiang no longer cared about his dignity and shouted loudly, just to get help.
Fortunately, at this moment, Shen Feng had already taken to the air, using the wind to move in the sky. Seeing Zhou Jiuxiang entangled and Chang Haojie about to be pulled down, he quickly summoned hundreds of wind blades to attack the tentacle that had entangled Zhou Jiuxiang, instantly severing it.
At that moment, a two-hundred-meter-tall giant monster was revealed on the water surface. Chang Haojie had not realized how strong the sea beast was before, but at this instant, Chang Haojie found that the light around him was blocked. Looking up, he saw a giant squid standing in the sea, its huge eyes staring at him.
"Oh my god!" Chang Haojie no longer cared about pulling Zhou Jiuxiang from below the cloud. He controlled the cloud and drifted towards the ship, while Zhou Jiuxiang was still hanging below the cloud.
For Chang Haojie, he had never seen such a huge animal; it was endless. The part exposed above the water alone put immense pressure on him, and the part underwater was even more so. The fear in Chang Haojie's heart instantly filled him, and he only wanted to escape.
In the process of fleeing, Zhou Jiuxiang suffered more. He swayed in the air, his body swinging constantly, his bile almost churning. Unable to bear it, he opened his mouth and vomited his breakfast, a scene that was captured by the camera in Zhu Kai's hand.
On the cruiser, Li Keyi said to Fang Qinghao, "Now, the squid has reached the surface. Shouldn't you use your ability now?"
Fang Qinghao looked serious, took a deep breath, and said earnestly, "No problem, I'll act immediately. Watch this!"
Then, Fang Qinghao squatted slightly, gritted his teeth, and held onto the railing with both hands. The moment he unleashed his ability, the waves in the sea surged, and the huge waves even caused the ship to sway violently. Although there was no strong wind, the waves could surge up to ten meters high.