?
Liu Yang instantly grew vigilant.
If fish had truly mutated, he needed to investigate. He couldn't allow them to threaten the safety of the villa complex.
Looking at the women, Liu Yang said,
"Alright, I'll go check out these big fish in the river. If there really are some, I'll catch one so we can enjoy a fresh meal.
"Even though I collected plenty of frozen meat, fish, and seafood from the supermarket's cold storage, it's still frozen. It can't compare to fresh catch."
He Yushi, Zhao Lina, and the others nodded eagerly. "Mm-hmm!"
The women headed back inside the villa to prepare for cooking.
Meanwhile, Liu Yang walked over to the river bank near the villa.
The moment he arrived, he noticed the usually calm water was visibly restless. Numerous dark shadows were darting rapidly beneath the surface.
Every now and then, a massive fish would leap out of the water before crashing back down, creating a giant splash.
Seeing this, Liu Yang was slightly surprised.
"Since when was this river so stocked with fish? If an avid fisherman saw this, they'd probably travel hundreds of kilometers just to cast a few lines. Even the zombies on the road couldn't stop them."
Of course, he also realized this was completely abnormal.
Back in peacetime, while the river had fish, there were never this many-let alone this large.
With a flicker of his intent, Liu Yang launched an ice needle. Instantly, a large fish turned its white belly up and floated to the surface.
He encased the fish in ice and brought it over to his side.
Looking down at the carcass, Liu Yang muttered,
"It's a sturgeon, and a huge one at that-at least a few dozen pounds. But it looks relatively normal, not like a mutant.
"These fish usually live in the ocean and migrate to freshwater to spawn, but it's not spawning season...
"Judging by how fast and recklessly they're swimming, they aren't spawning. It looks more like they're fleeing in panic from some kind of danger...
"Could there be a threat downstream?
"I need to go take a look!"
Making up his mind, Liu Yang took off into the air, flying straight downstream along the river.
As he flew through the sky, the fish in the water continued swimming frantically in the opposite direction.
After flying along the river for a few minutes and covering dozens of kilometers, Liu Yang finally reached a point about ten kilometers from the river mouth. There, he spotted other creatures on the water's surface.
These creatures were actively preying on the sturgeon!
No wonder the fish were frantically fleeing upstream.
"What are those things? They're jet-black and swim insanely fast-even faster than the sturgeon!
"They look humanoid, but their skin is pitch-black and their teeth are sharp like a shark's. Could they be mutated zombies that evolved the ability to swim?"
While Liu Yang was lost in thought, the mutant creatures spotted him.
"Whoosh!"
A spear turned into a black blur, tearing straight out of the water toward Liu Yang's face.
"Well now, they even know how to use weapons?" Liu Yang was even more surprised.
Though the spear flew fast, it moved in slow motion to Liu Yang. He casually reached out, caught the spear in midair, and hurled it back with even greater force.
Whoosh!
Pfft!
The sharp spear slammed straight into the creature's shoulder.
It let out a painful screech, plunged headfirst into the water, and slapped its tail against the surface, vanishing from Liu Yang's sight.
Seeing that massive, black tail, Liu Yang was even more stunned.
"Is that... a mermaid?!"
"Why is it so hideously ugly compared to the ones in legends?"
Seeing their companion injured, the other mutant creatures flew into a frenzy, hurling their spears at Liu Yang all at once.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Over a dozen spears shot straight at him.
An ordinary person would have been turned into a pincushion, but Liu Yang was no ordinary human.
With a thought, a massive shield of ice materialized in front of him.
Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The spears struck the ice shield with metallic clangs, bouncing harmlessly off and falling into the water.
A solid ice shield wasn't something ordinary spears could pierce; they couldn't even leave a scratch on it.
Realizing how powerful Liu Yang was, the creatures immediately abandoned their attack. Turning around, they prepared to dive back into the water and escape.
"Trying the same trick twice?
"I let you get away the first time because I didn't know what you could do. You won't be so lucky a second time!"
With a glance from Liu Yang, over a dozen ice needles shot out simultaneously. Upon striking the creatures, the needles didn't pierce them; instead, they burst into a wave of frigid frost, instantly encasing them into frozen ice sculptures!
Over a dozen frozen mutant mermaids floated on the water's surface.
Liu Yang waved his hand, dragging the ice-encased creatures onto the shore.
He inspected them closely.
Their skin was dark, with human-like skin on their upper bodies. Their lower bodies were covered in black scales, featuring muscular tails that explained their incredible speed in the water.
Among the dozen mutant mermaids, there were both males and females.
The female mermaids even had human-like breasts. Unfortunately, every single one of them was hideously ugly, snarling with thin lips that couldn't cover their razor-sharp, shark-like teeth. Their gaping mouths looked revolting and terrifying.
Even with his genetically enhanced attributes, Liu Yang wouldn't dare entertain any wild thoughts about those mouths.
Then again, who would have thoughts about a fish? Anyone willing to mess with a fish could hardly be called human anymore.
While Liu Yang was contemplating this, one of the mutant mermaids actually spoke:
"You... who are you?! Despicable human! How dare you attack our Black Mermaid Clan! Our people... will never... forgive you!"
Hearing it speak, Liu Yang was surprised. He asked,
"Oh? You can talk? What are you guys? Black Mermaids? Does that mean there are White Mermaids too?"
The Black Mermaid snarled, "White Mermaids? They're trash! We, the Black Mermaids, are the true rulers of the mermaid race! Release us immediately, or you will face the wrath of the Black Mermaid Clan!"
Liu Yang let out a cold laugh. "Do you know what happened to the last person who threatened me?
"I'll give you one last chance. Tell me about the Black Mermaid Clan. If I'm in a good mood, maybe I'll let you go."
Unintimidated, the Black Mermaid sneered, "Despicable human, do you think this is still the old world? You humans won't last much longer! You dare threaten me? You're court-"
"Bang!"
Before it could finish, an ice needle shattered its head.
"Captain! Captain! You... how dare you kill our captain?!" The remaining Black Mermaids cried out in horror.