Chapter 553

“Congratulations, Master! Shark defeated ×1!”

The adorable mechanical announcement chimed from behind him!

In Fang Qi’s hand, the pronged spear, still stained with shark’s blood, gleamed coldly.

He lowered his head and looked at the deck beneath his feet.

The shark had been pierced through and dragged onto the deck. Its tail weakly slapped the wooden boards twice before…

It stopped moving completely.

He blinked.

Huh?

That was it?

He’d killed a shark that easily…?

“Crunch, crunch!”

The sound of gnawing beside him remained gratingly clear!

Tsk! They were still chewing!

He immediately turned around, raised the harpoon gun, and took aim—!

“Every last one of you can go to hell!”

“Bang!”

The harpoon shot out once more!

Its sharp prongs pierced straight through another shark’s spine!

“Congratulations, Master! Shark defeated ×2!”

Dark-red blood instantly spread through the seawater!

He pulled on the rope and dragged the struggling shark onto the deck. Pinning it down with one foot, he yanked the harpoon free—

“Bang!”

“Congratulations, Master! Shark defeated ×3!”

Liguang’s announcements rang out one after another!

Crisp, excited, and cheerful!

“Wow, Master is amazing!”

Fang Qi drew a deep breath…

And excitement surged through him too!

Again!

“Bang!”

“Congratulations, Master! Shark defeated ×4!”

One shot, one shark!

He dragged the fourth shark aboard, kicked it hard, then planted his foot on its head and gripped the harpoon with both hands before wrenching it free!

This felt incredible!!!

He instinctively glanced back at Liguang…

The silver-haired girl was crouching at the cabin entrance, resting her chin in her hands. She watched him with a beaming smile and even waved a tiny fist at him!

Ha-ha!

Looks like he was killing them so quickly that Liguang didn’t even need to repair the raft!

He took aim again…

“Bang!”

Fire!

The fifth, sixth, seventh…!

One shot, one shark!

One shot, one shark…

One shot, one shark.

One shot…

Fang Qi: “…?”

By the time he pulled the harpoon out of the body of the shark whose number he had long since lost track of, the excitement he’d felt from killing them…

Had already faded considerably.

In fact, as he stared at the shark carcasses pierced through on the deck…

He froze for a moment.

Then he raised his head and looked at the sharks beside the raft, the ones still working hard to produce those “crunch, crunch” sounds…

And then—

“Crunch!”

One of the planks was bitten off!

Well, the shark swarm had scored its first point.

But…

Fang Qi stared blankly at the few remaining sharks.

There weren’t many left at all, were there?

…This wasn’t right, was it?

He had imagined that this “Raft Defense Battle” would be epic and stirring! Fraught with danger! An evenly matched, incredibly grueling struggle!

He and Liguang would fight back-to-back, shoulder to shoulder. He would be responsible for killing the enemies, while she repaired the raft…

The two of them would work together seamlessly, barely surviving the sharks’ assault as they were surrounded by more than a dozen of them!

In the end, they would both collapse, exhausted and covered in blood, on the deck. They would exchange a smile, and then…

In the middle of Liguang’s screams, he would lose too much blood and fall into a coma!

When he awoke, he would find Liguang asleep beside his bed…

Ah, no. She’d run out of power.

Because she had spent several days and nights caring for him, weeping her eyes out the entire time, she hadn’t had the chance to recharge!

Now that would be the standard plot!

Passionate and romantic!

But…!

Fang Qi looked at the spear gun his wife had given him, then raised his head to look at the sharks still going crunch-crunch as they chewed on the raft...

The corner of his mouth twitched.

No, seriously, Shark Bros, you guys...

are so ridiculously weak!!

This was beyond absurd!

They were really doing nothing but chewing on the deck!

Fang Qi even had the strange impression that...

these sharks hadn’t come to attack them at all. They had practically lined up to donate kills...

Donate shark heads!

What kind of raft defense battle was this? This was clearly—

“Bang!”

He pulled the trigger on instinct.

Another shot, piercing straight through another shark!

A perfect hit!

“Congratulations, Master! You have killed 10 sharks!!”

Fang Qi was expressionless now.

This was basically spear-gun target practice, wasn’t it?!

The weapon was too powerful. It felt so empty!!

...

...

“Congratulations, Master! You have killed 14 sharks!!!”

“Oh my gosh, Master is amazing! To do it so quickly...! Hehe...!”

Liguang’s announcements and delighted cries rang in his ears.

Meanwhile, Fang Qi...

held the spear he had just reeled back in, its tip still dripping blood.

Standing at the edge of the deck, he stared out over the nighttime sea.

In the water, the sharks’ blood was dark and thick, gradually thinning out and spreading with the rolling waves.

The bloody stench mingled with the salty sea breeze, sharp and pungent.

There were no longer any triangular fins visible on the surface.

The sea had returned to calm.

Fang Qi: “...?”

Slowly, he turned to look at the sharks he had dragged onto the deck.

They lay strewn about in every direction—fourteen of them in total.

Every one of them had a hole punched through its body by his spear, dark red blood still seeping out!

One or two of them still had tails that twitched faintly, their gill covers opening and closing, but...

they were only making their final struggles.

The rest had long since gone completely still.

...Huh?

Fang Qi blinked.

Wait...

That was it?

He looked down again at the edge of the raft.

The outermost ring of decking had been gnawed into a wreck. Several planks had been bitten to pieces...

But that was all.

The raft’s main structure was completely intact.

The wooden cabin sat steadily in the center, not even having shaken once...

“Hmm-hmm-hmm~”

Liguang’s humming came from behind him.

Fang Qi turned to look at her.

The silver-haired girl was crouched on the deck, examining one of the sharks that had been speared through.

At some point, a small silver knife had appeared in her hand. She was holding it up against the shark’s dorsal fin, measuring it...

Then, with one swift motion—

“Swish!”

She cleanly sliced the fin off!

She pinched the fin between her fingers and inspected it. Satisfied, she nodded and tossed it into a wooden bucket at her feet.

Then she got up and walked to the shark’s tail. Bending over, she grabbed it with both hands, twisted at the waist...

“Heave-ho!”

She spun in a circle!

The shark, nearly twice as long as she was, was swung up into the air in a full arc—

and hurled straight off the raft!

“Splash!”

It crashed into the sea some distance away, sending water spraying everywhere!

The nighttime waves rolled over it. The shark carcass turned belly-up once, then disappeared into the vast ocean beneath the cover of darkness.

Fang Qi: “...”

Honey, if any animal rights groups saw what you were doing...

They’d probably flame us into oblivion!

“Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.”

Liguang, still barefoot, ran over to another shark.

This one wasn’t quite dead yet. Its tail twitched faintly, and its gill covers opened and closed.

The silver-haired girl lowered her head to look at it, then suddenly raised her little foot, about to kick it!

Fang Qi: “?”

His gaze sharpened at once!

“Hmm?!”

He stared straight at Liguang’s raised foot!

“Ah...!”

The silver-haired girl froze!

Her little foot hovered right above the shark’s body!

Then she slowly turned her head and blinked at Fang Qi.

She hurriedly put her foot back down!

“M-Master...”

A fawning smile immediately spread across her little face.

“Liguang was wrong. Liguang won’t kick it!”

Then she glared at the shark again and clenched her little fist...

“Bang!!”

Her fist slammed viciously into the shark’s head!

The shark, which had still been twitching, shuddered violently before going completely still.

Mm!

Fang Qi nodded in satisfaction!

Very good. So obedient!

Then she could keep cutting them up!

Those shark fins really were delicious!

And besides...

“Clunk.”

He set down the spear gun in his hand and looked at the shark corpses scattered all over the raft...

The corpses of enemies!

Every one of them was “authority”!

They could make him stronger, make him...

Full of energy!

Who could possibly say no to that?!

Naturally, the more he ate, the better!

Fang Qi loved eating his enemies’ flesh most of all!

Eat!

Eat them all...!

“Huh?”

A soft cry of surprise suddenly rang out.

...Hm?

Fang Qi focused his gaze on Liguang.

She had already cut off the final shark fin. Now, she was crouching on the deck...

Holding the freshly cut fin in her hand, staring at it absentmindedly.

“It seems... there’s enough already?”

She murmured. Her voice sounded...

A little unsteady?

As if... she were excited?

Fang Qi blinked.

Enough of what? “Authority”? Had they successfully...

Seized the enemy’s authority?

Then...!

The silver-haired girl suddenly lifted her head and looked at Fang Qi!

Her gaze was astonishingly heated!

Her amber left eye was wide open and unfocused.

The crimson in her red right eye wasn’t flickering, but it shone with startling brilliance!

It was so dazzling that Fang Qi had to squint slightly!

In the darkness atop the raft, it illuminated a small patch of deck before her.

Her fingers clenched so hard that the shark fin in her hand was visibly deformed!

Fang Qi: “?”

He instinctively held his breath!

Honey.

That look in your eyes...!

“Master!”

Liguang suddenly stood up!

In two bouncing steps, she arrived in front of Fang Qi. She tossed the shark fin into a bucket...

Then grabbed his arm and hugged it tightly!

“Master, do you want a late-night snack?”

She tilted up her little face, her phoenix eyes curving as she looked at Fang Qi.

Her hands were still sticky and carried the fishy smell of shark...

But she did not care in the slightest!

Her face was filled with excitement! Happiness! Utter, overwhelming happiness!

Fang Qi opened his mouth, but his arm was already being shaken back and forth without pause!

“Can Liguang make you a late-night snack?”

She pressed her entire body against his arm and looked up at him!

“Ingredients this fresh will spoil if we leave them overnight!”

“Pleeease~”

Fang Qi looked at the pretty face before him, which was clearly far more excited than it needed to be, and raised an eyebrow.

Oh? Someone’s really happy, huh? Then maybe it’s time to…

“Liguang.”

He immediately folded his arms and looked down at the silver-haired girl.

“Your master here killed fourteen sharks!”

He pointed at the shark carcasses.

“So, how many fish are you counting that as me catching?”

Liguang blinked.

“Hmm…”

She tapped a finger against her lips.

“One shark counts as three fish caught…”

she murmured softly, then looked up at Fang Qi with a cheeky grin.

“So that makes forty-two!”

Forty-two…

Fang Qi furrowed his brow slightly.

Adding the twenty-four fish he had caught earlier, he was still quite a ways from one hundred…

Tsk, why was it still—

“But—”

Liguang suddenly leaned half a step closer, her eyes curving into crescents.

“Liguang had so much fun tonight!”

As she looked at Fang Qi, a faint glimmer of deep blue suddenly flashed through her amber eyes.

…!

Fang Qi stared into her eyes.

Liguang, you did it again…!

“So!”

She lightly pressed a slender finger against Fang Qi’s chest.

“Every shark today counts as…”

Her eyes curved into a smile.

“Ten fish caught by Master!”

Fang Qi: “…”

He stared at her, eyes wide.

Fourteen sharks, each counting as ten fish?

In other words…

“That’s right, Master!”

The silver-haired girl clapped enthusiastically, looking absolutely delighted.

“Congratulations, Master!”

“You completed in just one day the objective Liguang estimated would take three days!”

“Oh my, Master really is amazing~”

She picked up the wooden bucket beside her feet, filled with shark fins, and hugged it to her chest, her expression radiating happiness.

“Liguang will tell Master everything!”

Fang Qi stared at her blankly.

…Huh? It was over already? That fast?

He hadn’t even been ready. He’d still wanted to keep playing a little longer…

“But, Master, there is one condition…”

Liguang’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

She suddenly lifted the wooden bucket in her hands and brought it up in front of Fang Qi.

Inside were nine shark fins, each nearly half a meter long, piled on top of one another and still carrying the briny stench of the sea.

The silver-haired girl looked at Fang Qi, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly.

“Master has to eat all fourteen of these shark fins!”

The smile at the corners of her lips suddenly took on a meaningful edge.

“Not. A. Sin. Gle. Bite. May. Be. Wasted.”