Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Kelp Forest
Beneath the night sky, the mutated white shark’s eyes glowed with a blood-red hue, silently fixed upon Qin Fei, who hovered midair. The intensity of the creature’s gaze unsettled Qin Fei, sending a chill through his heart.
He drew his Tek rifle and fired several shots toward the stone platform below. The mutated shark, aided by the tentacles sprouting from its body, moved nimbly across the platform, evading half the bullets fired from the Tek rifle.
Soon, the rifle in Qin Fei’s hands was depleted of energy. Every two percent of the Tek rifle’s energy equaled a single round; exhausting its full charge meant he had fired over fifty Tek bullets. Yet the mutated white shark appeared barely harmed.
Continuing this assault would be far too costly for him.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Qin Fei retrieved a cryopod from his backpack. Inside was a pet he’d tamed within the Ark world: the colossal Tosoteuthis squid. With its combat prowess, this mutated shark would be no match for it.
However, even if victory was assured, Qin Fei knew that releasing the squid would almost certainly expose it to the Kharaa virus.
Should he really let the squid out?
He hesitated, torn by indecision.
While he pondered, the mutated shark suddenly emitted a strange, sibilant hissing from its mouth. Its tentacles writhed, and using them, it crawled across the stone platform for a few seconds before abruptly leaping back into the water.
The shark had fled.
Qin Fei let out a sigh of relief. Though he couldn’t fathom the exact reason for the creature’s retreat, at least the trouble had been resolved for now.
Activating the night vision mode on his Tek helmet, Qin Fei surveyed the waters nearby for a long time, then cautiously returned to the stone platform.
Moments later, the mutated white shark resurfaced. It gazed up from the water, its eyes shimmering with crimson light, and cast Qin Fei a meaningful look. After wordlessly conveying a sense of “you’ll come to understand,” it dove beneath the surface, vanishing completely.
That look...
For an instant, Qin Fei felt a shiver of horror. The shark’s eyes brimmed with hatred, looking less like an ordinary fish and more like a person.
It was likely that the creature would return.
Restless and uneasy, Qin Fei encircled the stone platform with fishing line, tying the end to his own wrist. This way, he fashioned a tripwire trap—if the creature approached while he slept, the movement would instantly rouse him.
Yet it still felt insufficient.
To prevent himself from falling too deeply asleep and missing any danger, Qin Fei donned his full set of Tek armor and cradled his Tek rifle, lying down on the stone platform fully armed.
Tek armor, when worn but not activated, would not consume elemental energy.
With apprehension weighing on his heart, Qin Fei gradually drifted into sleep.
[Disintegration countdown: 58 days]
Daylight broke.
A shrill beeping noise roused Qin Fei—the source was the diamond-shaped crystal affixed to his wrist.
He raised his arm and opened the crystal’s storage space.
[Tablet has received an unknown signal from afar!]
Staring at the message, Qin Fei was momentarily stunned. He pulled the tablet from his backpack and pressed the power button.
[Unknown signal detected! Source located 385 meters southeast, in the water.]
The tablet’s functions closely resembled those in the game. It precisely marked the signal’s location and distance.
Qin Fei surmised the signal was likely sent by a crew member from the Healer.
To gather more information about this planet and the Kharaa virus, Qin Fei had to set out for the signal source and find the crew member.
The white shark’s territory lay northwest. Qin Fei’s destination was southeast, meaning he wouldn’t need to cross the shark’s domain.
The southeast region was relatively safe, dominated by a peculiar species of seaweed. These seaweeds grew dozens of meters tall and were remarkably robust.
Gazing across the area, Qin Fei saw the entire southeast water filled with dense, towering seaweed, creating an underwater forest.
If memory served him right, these seaweeds were edible.
He drew his knife and cut off a small piece. To be cautious, Qin Fei scanned the seaweed first before eating.
[Seaweed: A kelp-type species thriving in shallow, sandy waters; light-loving, rich in iron, edible.]
[Seaweed block: Silicon-based plant material]
Edible, as expected!
Qin Fei was delighted. He put the piece in his mouth.
The taste was akin to chewing grass—salty and coarse. Swallowing it left him thirsty.
He guessed the seaweed contained a high salt content, which explained the urge to drink water after eating.
Since these were high-fiber plants with little caloric value, and consuming them depleted water supplies, Qin Fei abandoned the idea of relying on seaweed as his main food source.
After all, in ocean survival, fresh water was often more precious than food.
Occasionally, he spotted fish with sharp fangs swimming among the seaweed.
Qin Fei recognized them at once—they were the Stalkers native to the seaweed region.
He had arrived on this planet not long after the protagonist departed. At this point, the Kharaa virus had already infected the entire ocean.
Because of this, Qin Fei found countless repulsive yellow-green spots on nearly every Stalker’s body.
These were late-stage symptoms of Kharaa infection.
For Qin Fei, the Stalkers posed little threat in the seaweed forest. Clad in Tek armor and possessing strength far beyond normal humans, these fish—much smaller than the white shark—were no match for him.
After spearing a few attacking Stalkers with his metal lance, Qin Fei quickly reached the signal’s location.
There, he discovered an escape pod.
The pod was still within the seaweed forest. Both airbags were damaged, causing it to sink to the seabed below.
A large opening marred the escape pod’s surface, through which Qin Fei crawled inside.
The equipment within was either rusted or broken—clearly beyond use.
Yet on the pod’s floor, Qin Fei found a palm-sized piece of white glass.
[PAD info recording module: Contains information about crew members lost from the Healer. Can be read via portable computer.]
Qin Fei inserted the module into his tablet.
It contained a brief record:
September 5, 2211
“Our ship was overturned by a shark dozens of meters long. Its teeth could easily puncture titanium...
After the attack, we were forced to take refuge in escape pods... I landed in this seaweed forest.”
September 10, 2211
“Though eating animal corpses disgusts me... I must admit, food here is abundant.”
September 15, 2211
“There’s a strange predator here with sharp fangs.
They’ve caused me trouble, but I can manage... Like me, their bodies are covered in those damned spots...”
September 22, 2211
“My condition has worsened. The disgusting spots on my body have started to sprout strange tendrils...”
September 30, 2211
“I think I hear a voice calling to me from the depths...
Yes, I can hear its call...”
End.