Chapter 211: The Powerful Dunkleosteus
Translator: Aristophaneso
The next morning, Chu Xian headed back to Hai Qing City early in the morning. When he got to the airport, he called Gu Li and told him he had a family situation.
Gu Li had no words for how Chu Xian left without even letting him know, but when he thought about how Chu Xian did not even have time to stay for his own auction, his unhappiness went away. He asked after Chu Xian’s wellbeing, and then hung up the call.
On the airplane, Chu Xian drank a cup of coffee. A beautiful woman sat beside him, and he couldn’t help but sneak a gaze or two.
But to his confusion, a very familiar picture appeared in his eyes.
Human: Energy 1550
Gift: None
Combat Power: 65
“What is happening? I can check human statuses now?” Chu Xian’s heart began to beat rapidly.
Since day one, Chu Xian had only been able to examine the status of various fish, but now he could even examine a human’s. Did this mean that human’s were evolved from fish, and the system upgrade had somehow made it possible for him to examine human’s because of that?
Of course, it wasn’t just Chu Xian’s guess that humans have a fish ancestor, but rather a proper scientific theory. There is a saying that water is the origin of life, and many biologists claim that all creatures ultimately came from the sea.
The theories prevalent in Paleontology suggest that the Crossopterygii, a type of ancient fish, was the ancestor of amphibians. Its offspring split into two categories, one that surfaced and adapted to land life and became amphibia, like the frog, and the rest stayed in the water and slowly developed in that environment.
Later, amphibians cast off their water roots and became fully terrestrial animals, and gradually evolved into all kinds of creatures. From these creatures came the primate, and later, the ape became man.
From fish, to monkey, to man.
In a word, man was evolved from fish, and fish was the ancestor of humans. (A/N This is a scientific theory, not my BS!)
And now, because of the new gene ability, Chu Xian could examine the status of a human. Part of the human genome was shared with those of fish.
“Since even humans share some genetic similarity with fish, other creatures must as well. For example crocodiles, or whales. They probably share more genes with fish than humans do. Maybe one day I can devour them to increase my energy, or maybe I’ll be able to control one?” Chu Xian wondered about future possibilities, but very soon he shook himself from his fantasies. In the end, these were still questions that he had no answers for.
The plane ride to from Jing Hai to Hai Qing was not too long, and very soon Chu Xian landed. He called Old Huang, and told him to take the mermen to the harbor.
“Sail out into the waters.” When Old Huang and the others hurried over, Chu Xian commanded Old Mu immediately.
“Yes boss!” Old Mu nodded, and then started the fishing ship and sailed it out of the harbor.
Chu Xian stood on deck, observing some of the shrimp and crab in the ocean. He could see their attributes as well, which confirmed his belief that all creatures were related to fish.
“But they aren’t much worth the effort. Even if they are related to fish, they have no real use to me!” Chu Xian shook his head.
“Gen cultivation. I don’t know what it means to cultivate.” At this point, the ship was already far from shore, and there were no other fishing ships around. Chu Xian called out and had Old Mu stop the boat.
The reason that Chu Xian had left Jing Hai City and rushed back to Hai Qing City was this moment, when he could come out to sea and see what it meant to cultivate the Dunkleosteus.
According to the estimate, the Dunkleosteus was about ten meters in length. If a ten meter long Dunkleosteus suddenly appeared in the middle of a city, there would be no end of headaches. At that point, there would be no sufficient explanation, and Chu Xian would be in a big mess.
And so he came out to the open seas to avoid all troubles.
When the fishing ship stopped, Chu Xian peered within and activated his skill.
Under his shocked gaze, a palm sized fish appeared in his hand. With some confusion and disappointment, Chu Xian examined the little fish, and its status appeared in his head.
“Steal Grinder – Dunkleosteus. Baby, Energy 10. Gift: Steel Body. Combat Power 25.”
At the same time, Chu Xian could feel that the energy within his body had decreased by 10. After a moment of epiphany, Chu Xian felt like the mechanics of this cultivation ability became somewhat clear, and he looked down at the little fish.
The baby Dunkleosteus was still very fierce. Its body was very close to the form of a modern fish, and tough plate bones covered its head and neck. Its jaw size was obvious even in this small form.
Its body was grey, and when Chu Xian touched the body, it felt like he was touching steel. Its teeth were especially tough.
“It’s no wonder that this fish can bite a shark in two, and tear gold and crush stone. This kind of crushing power and these teeth, what kind of fish could resist?” Chu Xian looked down at the baby Dunkleosteus and exclaimed silently.
“I’ll put it in the water and see what happens!” Chu Xian took off his clothes and jumped into the ocean, letting go of the Dunkleosteus.
The fish he had cultivated was like a part of his body. Chu Xian could control its movements, and so he had no worries that it would swim away or that it would get lost.
The Dunkleosteus swam happily in the water. It moved around extremely quickly, and Chu Xian let it follow its instincts, moving behind the darting fish.
The Dunkleosteus dived into the deeps, and Chu Xian noticed a small croaker in the vicinity.
The Dunkleosteus also noticed the small croaker nearby, and immediately sped forward. Under Chu Xian’s surprised gaze, the Dunkleosteus darted up beside the small croaker, and with a quick snap of his mouth, tore the fish in two, and the quickly snapped up the two pieces.
“Strong predatory instincts!” Chu XIan was shocked by the tiny Dunkleosteus’ hunting ability.
But what was more surprising was how, even after the tiny fish had devoured the fifteen cm long carcass, it still seemed hungry, and darted off into the distance again.
Chu Xian didn’t know if the Dunkleosteus had some kind of power, but five minutes later, they neared another small croaker.
The same quick hunter happened again. The Dunkleosteus was like the king of the sea and directly swam over, bit the croaker in two, and swallowed the remains.
But, to Chu Xian’s amazement, after these two small croakers, the Dunkleosteus’ body had miraculously grown, and was clearly much bigger than it had been in the beginning.
“Maybe the cultivated Dunkleosteus also has an ability that allows devouring and evolving?” Chu Xian wondered with confusion, and continued following the fish.
The Dunkleosteus steadily found and devoured more and more little fish, and its body grew at an unbelievable pace. After a little over an hour, when it had just finished devouring a five catty cod, it finally stopped its hunt.
Chu Xian could feel that the fish was finally full.
“It looks like the Dunkleosteus can’t evolve without limit like I can. Although its size can grow rapidly, it won’t be able to continue indefinitely. Still, this is quite the insane ability!” Chu Xian looked at the half meter long Dunkleosteus with some amazement.
The half meter long fish was fierce, and its body looked as if it was covered in a plate of metal. Its biting force was extremely strong, and every fish it had hunted was snapped in two with just one bite. Its thick, muscled body was like that of a monster.
Chu Xian checked its status, and was shocked again!
Steel Grinder – Dunkleosteus: Energy 525
Gift: Steel body.
Combat power: 187
“What an insane combat power!” Chu Xian exclaimed. A strong human’s combat power peaked at around 80 or 90, and this half meter long fish was already twice as strong as that human. Compared to other fish, the Dunkleosteus was over ten times as powerful. That comparison was enough to demonstrate this fish’s extraordinary superiority.
There were probably only a select few special fish that could put up a fight against it!
“I don’t know when it will be able to grow to its mature length of ten meters, but when it does grow that long, its powerful body matched with its steel plate toughness and incredible biting power will make it a match for the strongest shark or the the mighty Sperm Whale. If the Dunkleosteus can grow to longer than that ten meters, or maybe to twenty meters, it will be matchless in the ocean.”
“Should I make more Dunkleosteus!” Chu Xian hesitated for a moment. Every time he created one of these fish, his energy would decrease by ten. If he created a total of ten, his energy would decrease by a hundred. This was not a small number.
“Create. After all I can gain energy by devouring more fish in the future, and I will end up cultivating these Dunkleosteus in the future anyway. Making them now means that they have more time to grow!” Chu Xian grit his teeth, and very quickly, nine more palm sized Dunkleosteus appeared around him.
After the nine Dunkleosteus were created, they immediately swam away, and this time Chu Xian left them be.
In his observations of the first creation, Chu Xian had discovered that these Dunkleosteus had a special instinct that allowed to both hunt effectively, and avoid danger.
When he thought about it, he supposed that it made sense. The survival instincts of strong ocean creature from over a hundred million years ago was not something that modern day fish could compare to.
Since the Dunkleosteus were created from Chu Xian’s energy, he could pick up on their situations with a single thought.
When he was back on the deck of the fishing ship, Chu Xian looked at the full Dunkleosteus following him and smiled.
“I really look forward to the day when they become huge monsters of the sea!”
Chu Xian stood on the deck and waited quietly. Two hours later, the full Dunkleosteuses returned and swam alongside the fishing ship. They were all about the same size, and gathered together, they already looked like huge primordial monsters.
Chu Xian looked at them, and his face shifted into deep contemplation. After some though, he shook his head and made a decision. “I’ll just let them grow naturally. I look forward to see how they will look the next time I come see them.”
Chu Xian’s fish farm still wasn’t in his hand yet, and he had no place to raise thees Dunkleosteus. Even if he just tossed them into a pond, the limitations of their environment would prove a huge obstacle to the development of the Dunkleosteus, so he decided to let the prehistoric fish grow by themselves.
“The ocean is your home, but before I let you go, I’ll need to reform you guys!”
The Dunkleosteus were already extremely strong, but their intelligence was lacking. This natural limitation of fish meant that however fierce the Dunkleosteus was, it was still not smarter than any other fish, so Chu Xian decided to increase their intelligence.
There was no need to remold anything else, all Chu Xian focused on was the intelligence of the fish. Although remolding the Dunkleosteus would lower his energy by a lot, in the long term the development would only bring great benefits.
Very soon, the half meter long Dunkleosteus had shrunk to thirty cm, but their swimming was even more lively.