Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
On the western beaches of the southern new continent.
Behind a pile of rocks, Nong Chan made a hushing gesture, his eyes fixed intently on what lay ahead.
The sea pushed up mounds of foam, depositing eggs onto the sand. Each egg was the size of a grown man's fist, pure white, and smoothly oval.
Nong Chan kneaded a ball of dough in his hands, mixing in some powder from his backpack, dividing it into small balls, and wrapping them in a thin layer of meat.
Tie Sai was quickly sketching on paper atop a wooden board, his charcoal pencil moving swiftly and steadily.
Aside from depicting these eggs, he also captured their guardians.
They resembled Cannibal Crabs, with four legs, no eyes, and bodies as black as giant spiders.
The most striking feature of these monsters was their mouth full of sharp teeth. Always ravenous, they hunted every living thing they encountered—fish, turtles, birds, trees… even consuming the sand beneath them.
Tie Sai was particularly impressed by these creatures.
Lacking intelligence, they were incomparable to Cannibal Crabs. However, in terms of destructiveness, they far surpassed any known Transcendent being.
Before these four-legged beasts, all life was prey.
They attacked in two ways: one was to leap and embrace their victim, piercing it with their sharp limbs before frenziedly biting.
The other was to shoot out their tongue like an arrow—their tongues were like fine chains with barbed tips, easily piercing flesh and bone, smashing the prey's innards.
The worst part was their resilience and high reproduction rate, with their numbers rapidly increasing.
At that moment, the eggs on the beach began to hatch.
One by one, small four-legged beasts crawled out, nibbling on the eggshells until they were fully consumed. After ingesting some sand to supplement their diet, they headed towards the forest ahead.
The vast forests along the western coast had been devoured by them, leaving not even grass or tree stumps untouched, turning the ground a grayish-brown.
Further away, adventurers and elves were joining forces to resist the invasion of the four-legged beasts.
Nong Chan captured two eggs, sealing them in a wax-infused wooden box, and mouthed the word: "Go."
The two retreated quietly.
But as they looked back, they suddenly discovered a small four-legged beast behind them. It opened its mouth, its tongue slowly extending, the scissor-like barbed tips cautiously intertwining.
The little creature seemed unsure if it could hunt the two large prey before it, hesitating slightly.
Nong Chan tossed it a small dough ball.
The four-legged beast embraced the food and began to devour it frantically.
Seizing the opportunity, the two retreated swiftly.
But more four-legged beasts were chasing after them, surging like a tide.
They had no choice but to run, relying on the copper shields on their backs to withstand the onslaught. Amidst the rapid thudding impacts, the beasts' iron tongues punctured the shields, splintering the wooden boards beneath.
Just as Nong Chan and Tie Sai despaired, two beams of white light suddenly shot down from the sky, straight at them.
In an instant, they felt a surge of strength, as if they could kill a fire buffalo with a single punch!
Isabella sat atop her magic wand, overlooking the four-legged beasts below.
A flock of swift white sparrows dove from the clouds, the speedy hunters beginning their slaughter.
The four-legged beasts spat out their tongues but couldn't keep up with the sparrows' low flight, and after many of their kind were pecked to death, they scattered like the tide.
"Head to Jodi's place; it's safer there. I'll clean up the surroundings."
Isabella instructed before flying towards the four-legged beasts' stronghold on her wand.
Nong Chan and Tie Sai exchanged glances, both wearing smiles of having survived a catastrophe.
"We're saved, God Yao bless."
But the adventure had been worth it.
Nong Chan obtained precious ingredients, fresh eggs of the black water minnow. Freshness greatly affects the cooking outcome!
Tie Sai sketched the hatching process of the black water minnow on-site, clarifying their physiological structure and characteristics, allowing him to present these terrifying creatures in the form of drawings to more people.
***
In the Eastern Continent, the Valley of the Gods.
"Trouble, trouble, Apostle sir!"
The little fish-man hopped off a sandworm's back, running in a panic: "Those crawling black water minnows, they've started fighting with the Fighting Beetles!"
Pinkman was leisurely watering wild roses with a ceramic jug.
He asked indifferently, "Then what?"
"The Fighting Beetles lost; they were outnumbered and not very smart."
"But the mighty grass took action, strangling and smothering the black water minnows underground, turning them into fertilizer…"
The little fish-man scratched his head: "The Songlv Mice of Canopy City are pretty stable. The red poison pine trees they planted are natural barriers. Some four-legged beasts rushed in and quickly fainted dead among them."
"It's just that there are so many of them, it could pose a threat to the valley in the long run."
Pinkman simply nodded, his fingers caressing the rose leaves, even a smile on his face: "Don't worry. Nature will provide an answer, and the forest will show them their place."
"By the way, didn't you say that outside the valley, Cannibal Crabs were hunting the black water minnows?"
"Yes, sir!"
The little fish-man said excitedly: "It's bustling out there. Cannibal Crabs have blocked the sea, and the fiery birds and fire chickens are hunting these monsters everywhere. Despite their fierce appearance, they're said to be quite tasty. Especially when fried in oil, dipped in salt, and sour raspberry sauce…"
He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
"Who told you this?" Pinkman couldn't help but chuckle.
"Gourmet Nong Chan sir, he was the first to try cooking fried black water minnows, a special delicacy in Sanilo, loved by humans and many Transcendent beings!"
The Rose King was speechless.
With so many Transcendent creatures in the world now, the black water minnows would need an adjustment period to settle in.
The little fish-man suddenly said, "Oh no, I almost forgot the most important thing! The rose garden you recently opened in the south has been destroyed by the black water minnows, I came to tell you this…"
Pinkman's jug shattered in his grip, and the smile on his face gradually faded.
"Guard."
"Here, sir!" The Rose Apostle stood to attention.
"Join me in battle, to exterminate the invading enemy." Pinkman raised his hand, conjuring a pink rapier.
His eyes, once gentle, now held only a cold intent to kill.
The little fish-man shivered uncontrollably.
***
In the northern ice and snow world.
A black dragon circled high above, breathing out black dragon flames.
The dragon's breath scorched a long black swath across the ground, burning the black water minnows to ashes. The survivors, as if mad, began to fight each other.
Soon, the elder of the giant monsters led the ice giants to collect the spoils of war.
The elder picked up a slender rod, giving it a gentle tug. Despite being scorched by dragon flames, the rod remained flexible and sharp.
He instructed, "The tongues of the black water minnows are quality materials, all of these belong to the dragon's nest, not one can be missed."
The giants, with wooden tongs, picked up the remaining iron tongues from the ground and tossed them into the wooden boxes on their backs, their movements practiced and agile.
"And the feet, especially the tips, will make the finest arrowheads and awls," the elder reminded.
By the sea, a snowman with a wicker basket on his back picked up monster eggs.
"Delicious eggs!"
"Tasty eggs!"
"Eggs that can hatch!"
"We mustn't waste nature's gifts!"
Led by the snowman and the young dragon Pasha, the dragon's nest team swept the beach before slowly returning.
As they left, the humans secretly watching rushed in, searching for leftover materials among the ice and sand.
They didn't dare confront the black water minnows directly, but they had the courage to inform the dragon's nest.
Once the dragon's nest cleared the monsters and had their fill of meat, the nearby adventurers could also have a taste.
This was the consensus formed after gradually dealing with the dragon's nest.
Cooperation, after all, is just a matter of different roles.
***
Meanwhile, beneath a cliff in the northern part of the western continent.
Three humans were trapped.
Surrounded on all sides by hundreds of adult black water minnows, they had no escape.
Among the three, two were martial cultivators and one was an ascetic. But against such a vast number of enemies, their small group couldn't hold out for long.
"We've run out of anesthetic juice."
One martial cultivator said with a wry smile, "We've used up all the magic potions; we can't hold them off anymore."
The other gripped his iron sword, his face filled with defiance: "The jackrabbits and carrier pigeons were eaten by these beasts, and our last line of communication was cut… I didn't expect this to be a nesting site."
The ascetic remained silent, simply offering a final prayer.
As the four-legged beasts surged forward, a fireball flew from afar, engulfing many of the creatures in flames.
The fireball dissipated, revealing a ragged old man.
He looked at the approaching black water minnow horde, flames rising around him, the temperature soaring.
Just standing there, the old man made the black water minnows hesitate. They seemed to sense the extraordinary aura and strength of the man before them, but after a moment, they instinctively charged.
Flames engulfed the surroundings.
***
After a brutal fight, the ground was littered with charred insect corpses.
The old man, weary, said, "Let's go, if we don't leave now, the next wave will come."
"Your hand," one of them said with concern.
The old man had lost his right hand in the life-and-death struggle, and his left was covered in wounds, blood streaming down.
The silent ascetic suddenly realized something, his eyes widening: "Are you… the great elder Salt Long?"
The old man spoke softly, "I am but a servant of God Yao, a mere cultivator."