"The net! That shark net made of steel wire!"
Zhao Dahai screamed hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot.
He saw the only chance.
The tough net, made of high-strength nylon rope twisted with fine steel wire and specially designed to deal with tiger sharks, was right next to the cabin door.
Several uninjured crew members, fueled by Zhao Dahai's roar, forcefully suppressed their fear and scrambled to drag out the heavy net.
While the monster was tearing at the fallen crew members, Zhao Dahai personally took the lead, like hunters cornering a beast, and together they exerted all their strength to throw the net over the twisting dark figure.
"Hiss-ga--!!!"
The monster, caught in the net, instantly fell into a frenzy.
Its shriek almost pierced eardrums.
It struggled madly, its scaled fish tail and sharp eagle claws frantically tearing and slapping.
The specially made steel wire rope let out a teeth-grinding "creak," several tough nylon fibers were severed by its sharp claws, and the fine steel wires were bent by the immense force, sending sparks flying.
But its range of struggle was limited.
"Pull tight! Pull with all your might! Tie it securely!"
Zhao Dahai and the remaining crew members' eyes bulged, veins throbbing, as they used every ounce of strength to desperately pull the net rope, ignoring the monster's frantic impacts and claw scrapes from within the net, quickly tightening the net's opening.
Then.
They took out the thickest cable on the ship, one loop, two loops, three loops…
Like shackling a raging Dragon, they bound the furiously roaring, twisting monster, net and all, in three layers inside and three layers outside, turning it into a meatball that could only squirm on the ground, constantly emitting low, threatening growls.
The thick ropes bit deeply into the monster's scales and the net's mesh.
Only then.
Everyone felt as if their bones had been drained, collapsing onto the cold, slippery, blood-stained deck, gasping violently and vomiting.
The exhaustion of surviving a disaster was brutally shattered by the three gruesome corpses of their companions on the deck and the thick, unyielding smell of blood.
Zhao Dahai looked at Li Qiang's eyes, which were wide open in death, and a huge pang of sorrow choked his throat, his heart felt as if it was clutched by a cold hand, every beat bringing a dull ache.
Brothers who had lived side by side for years, in the blink of an eye, had become cold corpses…
With trembling hands, they used whatever tarpaulin they could find to roughly cover their companions' remains.
The squirming, foul-smelling "meatball" was dragged and pulled into an empty fish hold, and the heavy hatch door slammed shut with a "clank."
The fishing boat turned around in an oppressive, extreme silence, its engine emitting a dull roar, fleeing at full speed towards the East Sea City pier, where the morning light was just beginning to break.
Time: 05:30:11.
Less than forty minutes since capture.
East Sea City, East Suburbs, Haifeng Farm.
The farm entrance was already overwhelmed by noise.
The police cars' red and blue flashing lights spun blindingly, dozens of police officers had set up a cordon, desperately trying to block the surging tide of reporters and onlookers.
Long and short lenses, phone cameras, curious, fearful, excited gazes intertwined, and the buzzing murmur converged into a chaotic ocean.
News of "East Sea Captures Man-Eating Sea Monster, Three Dead, Two Injured" had already sprouted wings, becoming an explosive headline across the city and even the entire nation.
Several black, large SUVs, without any special markings but exuding a cold, hard quality, broke through the crowd, ignoring the police sirens, and drove directly into the cordoned area.
The car doors opened, and seven people emerged.
The man leading them was tall and straight, his face as cold and sharp as if carved by a knife, his eyes so keen they seemed to penetrate the heart; he was Chen Feng, Wang Yufei's summoned dependent, now serving as Deputy Director-General of the newly established Special Management Bureau.
Behind him were six people: four with eyes as cold as machines and precise, uniform movements; and two carrying silver-gray, specially made metal boxes, their surfaces shimmering with subtle energy patterns.
The invisible pressure caused the noisy crowd to fall silent.
Zhang Hongyuan, the East Sea City Governor, was already waiting in front of the farm's main house, his face displaying an official solemnity and a hint of imperceptible tension.
"Director Chen, you've had a hard journey! The situation is urgent, I didn't expect to alarm the General Bureau…" He extended his hand.
Chen Feng merely nodded slightly, not shaking hands, his gaze sweeping over Zhang Hongyuan's face like a scanner.
He knew when he arrived that the person before him had already been parasitized by a Brain-Controlling Demon Insect, and he could even sense the Dominator's Brain-Controlling Demon Insect working efficiently deep within Zhang Hongyuan's brain.
This twelfth-order Brain-Controlling Demon Insect was larger and more complex than the earliest Mind Control Demon Bug.
Countless tiny neural tendrils perfectly simulated Zhang Hongyuan's thought patterns, behavioral logic, and even subtle facial habits, like a precise biological processor, taking over all functions of this identity.
In Chen Feng's eyes, this Governor, who held power over an entire city, was nothing more than a puppet perfectly controlled by a higher, Advanced will, exquisite yet hollow.
"I read the brief on the way. Let's go straight to the target."
Chen Feng's voice was unruffled, cold and direct, carrying an undeniable tone of command, interrupting Zhang Hongyuan's prepared pleasantries.
Zhang Hongyuan's smile stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal: "Good, good, this way please, Captain Zhao is inside."
The farm owner and captain, Zhao Dahai, was currently hunched over in the main hall, the cigarette clamped in his hand long extinguished, his bloodshot eyes filled with exhaustion, fear, and deep sorrow.
Seeing Chen Feng and his group enter, he hurriedly stood up, his lips trembling, wanting to say something.
"Lead the way." Chen Feng's gaze did not even linger on his face for a second.
Zhao Dahai flinched at that look, not daring to say more, and hurriedly led the group towards a reinforced warehouse, converted from a brick house, deep in the backyard.
The heavy iron door of the warehouse opened, and a nauseating stench, a mixture of strong fishy, bloody, and reptilian nest-like odors, assailed them.
In the center of the warehouse, inside a massive, exceptionally sturdy iron cage welded from arm-thick steel bars, was the target of their trip.
Although bound by layers of thick cables stained with dark red blood, the Blackscale Monster was still struggling and twisting frantically.
Its thick fish tail violently slammed against the iron cage bars, emitting loud "clank! clank! clank!" sounds.
The entire iron cage vibrated violently.
Its black-scaled eagle claws futilely tore at the tough cables.
When it saw people enter, especially sensing the inhuman, apex predator-like cold aura from the several people behind Chen Feng.
It became even more furious.
Its fanged, bat-like mouth opened to its maximum, emitting a sharp, ear-piercing shriek filled with venom and fear, its pitch-black eyes, bloodshot, locked onto Chen Feng and the others, frantically slamming its head against the steel bars again and again!
With each impact, dark green mucus and congealed blood splattered from the wounds on its head.
Chen Feng walked expressionlessly to the cage, less than a meter from the frantically twisting monster, his gaze as sharp as a scalpel, carefully scrutinizing this legendary "Blackscale Merman."