Chapter 8: The Ocean's Depths
Luka didn't fully adhere to Tom's rules.
After sailing with Tom to a spot in the ocean, setting fishing nets, and patiently waiting all morning, Luka stood up, his gaze fixed on the still-empty fish bucket.
Tom seemed to sense Luka's intentions. He sighed and cautioned, "The seawater is filthy. It'll worsen any wounds."
In response, Luka tore off the bandages and gestured to the faint pink scar on his chest. "Thanks for your concern, Tom. I'm going to dive down and catch some big ones for you."
With a gentle push of his toes, Luka slowly floated off Tom's small fishing boat.
He dared not exert too much force. Even though he'd enjoyed several rare days of leisure, Luka was long accustomed to familiarizing himself with increased strength through combat. Now, without a suitable opponent and his strength having abruptly more than doubled, if he wasn't careful with his control, a casual kick could shatter Tom's small fishing boat.
Hovering about two or three meters above the sea, Luka stretched his arms, took a deep breath of the salty sea breeze, and plunged into the deep blue ocean.
As the icy seawater enveloped him, Luka felt a refreshing chill.
His Viltrumite physique meant he didn't need to worry about water pressure or lack of oxygen. The deep-sea darkness was as clear as daylight to him. Fish scales shimmered in the faint light, their movements as distinct as if slowed down tenfold.
I remember learning in Viltrum class that without a streamlined body, swimming too fast underwater would create waves that push away creatures relying on currents for movement. And if I were to use supersonic speeds, the pressure differential would crush all marine life nearby.
To obtain fresh food underwater, I must suppress my strength and speed to a relative level.
Luka thought to himself, subtly sinking deeper as he slowly pursued a nearby school of mackerel swimming in formation.
He deliberately slowed his movements, his fingertips nearly brushing the tail fin of the outermost fish when it suddenly darted away as if pricked by a needle.
The entire school scattered instantly, leaving only a trail of bubbles rising through the water.
Luka paused, then frowned.
I moved with utmost caution, even suppressing my aura. How could they have sensed me?
Unconvinced, Luka tried again. Though he had lived two lives, he had never gone diving to catch fish before. Still, he had survived Viltrum and excelled there. Surely a few low-level Earth creatures wouldn't be a problem.
After scanning the area for a while, Luka spotted a solitary grouper drifting nearby.
The fish was stout and moved with a slow, clumsy grace.
This time, Luka deliberately slowed his heartbeat, approaching like a lurking hunter.
When he was less than a meter away from the grouper, he suddenly reached out, his fingertips aiming precisely for its body.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch the scales, the grouper suddenly exerted force, its body slipping and twisting, actually sliding through the gap between his fingers. It even stirred up a cloud of silt, obscuring his vision.
"Damn it," Luka cursed under his breath, waving away the murk.
Missing twice in a row, Luka began to wonder if his control over his strength wasn't proficient enough.
Since recovering from his near-fatal injury, his power had doubled, and he hadn't fully adjusted to the change.
He hadn't noticed the issue when deliberately restraining himself in the cabin, but perhaps he was too relaxed now, out in the open sea.
Closing his eyes, he calmed his mind and locked onto a new target: a medium-sized yellow croaker swimming in a steady, unhurried path, seemingly oblivious to the danger.
This time, Luka was extra cautious, suppressing his strength to the bare minimum as his fingertips gently closed around the fish's body.
The croaker felt cold and slippery. Just as he was about to tighten his grip slightly, he heard a whoosh as the fish flicked its tail, leaving a trail of slime as it slipped free from his palm, leaving his hand slick and wet.
After three consecutive failures, Luka's patience remained intact, but his heart began to pump with slightly more force, almost imperceptibly.
A faint heat rose in his chest.
In the training camps on Viltrum, he had never stumbled on such "low-difficulty targets."
No. Calling them "low-difficulty" was already generous. To Luka, this should have been nothing more than a game.
Stop right there!
No longer deliberately suppressing his speed and strength, he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, hurtling toward a slightly larger sea bass.
Sensing mortal danger, the sea bass panicked and accelerated its escape, but its speed still seemed laughably slow to Luka.
Luka fiercely reached out to grab it.
This time, the instant his fingers touched the fish's body, a crisp "crack" echoed through the water. The sea bass's spine was crushed, and its body instantly went limp.
Blood seeped between his fingers, spreading into the surrounding seawater.
Staring at the lifeless fish in his hand, Luka studied it for a moment before casually tossing it aside.
His gaze swept toward the deeper waters, where a massive dark shadow was slowly swimming.
A tuna.
The tuna stretched over a meter long and likely weighed at least 40+ kilograms, its movements steady and powerful.
Luka's body suddenly dropped like a cannonball, hurtling toward the tuna.
This time, he didn't even attempt to grab it, aiming only to stop the creature with his body.
A dull "thud" echoed through the silent depths, unnervingly clear.
His shoulder solidly collided with the tuna's body. The tremendous impact instantly shattered the fish.
He could clearly feel the bones splintering, a sensation he had experienced countless times against other Viltrumite opponents.
In the next instant, blood erupted from the tuna like a fountain, rapidly forming a dense crimson cloud that stained his vision dark red.
Suspended in the center of the blood mist, Luka lowered his gaze to his hands and chuckled ruefully.
These hands could tear apart the hulls of interstellar spacecraft and shatter solid cosmic asteroids.
It seems that Viltrum's culture has influenced me in ways I hadn't realized.
He remained in the deep sea for another half-hour, abandoning his impatience and instead slowly experimenting to find the right balance of force.
When his fingertips touched a fish's body, he would first feel the slickness of its scales before gently adjusting his grip.
Even so, several fish were either crushed or managed to escape.
It wasn't until an hour later that Luka finally grasped the technique.
Holding his breath, he carefully secured two silver-white, medium-sized, unidentified sea fish, ensuring his grip was firm enough to restrain them without harming them.
Just as he was about to surface, one of the fish suddenly began to struggle violently. Instinctively, he tightened his grip, and with a sickening "crunch", the fish's head shattered in his hand, leaving him with a palm covered in blood.
Luka stared at the mangled fish in his hand and sighed in resignation.
Giving up on further attempts, he clutched the remaining, relatively intact fish and shot upward toward the surface.
Breaking through the water, he shook the droplets from his hair and gulped in fresh air. His eyes immediately met Tom's, who sat calmly on the fishing boat, rod in hand, watching him with a hint of amusement.
"How's the catch?" Tom asked, his gaze lingering on the slightly deformed fish in Luka's hand.
Luka grimaced and tossed the fish into the empty bucket on the boat.
"The fish here are too quick, and... I'm still getting used to Earth's gravity."
Tom chuckled, set down his rod, and scooped some seawater into the fish bucket.
"Fishing isn't about brute force. Just like understanding your enemy on the battlefield, you need to understand the sea here."
Luka leaped into the air, tilting his head back to feel the sunlight on his skin. With a swift twist of his torso, he transformed into a blur of motion, shaking off every drop of water.
As he landed lightly on the boat, Tom asked, "Do you want to become a superhero?"
(End of chapter)