Fatal Shot
Chapter 56: Stingray

"Big trouble?"

Feng Luo repeated the words unsurely and lifted the M110. He then looked over the right side of the ship through the scope.

There was something in the water producing waves at a range of about 500 meters from the side of the cruise ship. A huge black shadow was swimming rapidly in the direction of the cruise ship.

The ocean in War was anything but a friendly place. If there were sea eagles in the sky, there were naturally even more monsters in the sea.

Strange creatures in the sea were naturally greater in size than animals on land. Plus, they were mysterious and threatening. Especially in the Gray Water territory, where there were many creatures that were contaminated and mutated. It wouldn't be beyond expectations to see a mermaid with a human face.

However, the source of "big trouble" was obviously not a mermaid. It could be seen that its body was at least eight to nine meters in size. Such a giant creature chasing their cruise ship definitely was just not passing by.

"Warning! Warning!"

The crew in the observatory had noticed the situation and had triggered the alarm before the players even realized it. NPC crew members who could act as combatants during an emergency had already done their job. They then immediately drew weapons such as assault rifles from their respective places and prepared for the battle.

The six-barrelled electromagnetic machine gun placed on the rear deck of the ship was set up by one of the crew, but there was no shooting because the monster was too far away. With the degree of dispersion of the machine gun's trajectory, it would take up to five or six shots to land a hit.

The monster in the sea was moving fast. Within 10 seconds, it had already reached a location that was three meters from the ship. They could see its true body through their telescopes and rifle scopes.

"What is this? A bat?" said Big Pineapple in a curious tone.

The appearance of the monster was indeed strange—completely different from a normal fish. Its body was not in vertical shape but was a giant, flat mass that looked like a great kite consisting of a triangle and a disc. The exposed part at the back was dark gray in color, scattered with white spots. Big Pineapple's comparison was understandable. This creature did look like a bat, but it was a giant bat magnified 1,000 times.

Feng Luo and Big Pineapple were amazed by the strange fish at first due to their lack of marine knowledge. However, after some adjustments made by Feng Luo, his M110—loaded with the Eye of Thunder—allowed him to analyze the species of the monster.

Super Stingray (Level 55 Elite creature). A gentle creature, its weakness is the diamond-shaped area on its abdomen. Estimated 150,000 HP!

An Elite-grade creature over Level 50 was nothing to them, but 150,000 HP was certainly abnormal. Feng Luo rarely saw monsters with more than 100,000 HP unless they were Boss monsters. But looking at its body, which was nearly 10 meters wide, it made sense that such a giant volume of HP would be contained in his humongous girth.

Although the name "Super Stingray" sounded fearsome, the data tagged it as "gentle," which indicated that it was not an actively aggressive monster; it would counterattack only in the event of being attacked. So how had they pissed off this monster?

"Wait, look at its direction. It seems to be moving from the direction where we made the bet with Black Panther. It can't be… A bullet?"

After considering for a moment, Feng Luo did not discount this possibility. Back in another world, he had tried to fire at oblique upward angles of 45 degrees. The landing force of a bullet on a downward trajectory was not enough to kill a man, but it was enough to leave a deep mark. However, Feng Luo had also heard about incidences where shooting into the sky had resulted in accidental injury and even death.

"It couldn't be… What are the chances?"

Feng Luo rushed to look at his system log and found out that within a few seconds of his fifth shot, the system had issued a prompt showing that he had dealt 23 damage to an unknown creature.

"Wow! What a coincidence,'' said Feng Luo while laughing. However, he immediately decided to remain silent. He couldn't risk admitting that this big guy had been attracted by his shot!

As the Super Stingray drew closer, an NPC crew member suddenly shouted in panic after getting a clearer view of it. "God, it's a Stingray!"

"Why panic? It's just a Level-55 Elite monster," Big Pineapple said calmly. "Don't be scared by its size. We have so many people here that even if it was a Level-50 Commander-grade monster, we could still manage to kill it!"

"That is a Stingray—the devil in the sea!" said the NPC. "Whenever a ship in the sea triggers one, it gets turned over and sinks into the sea. This is the wrath of the God of that Sea who punishes those who disrespect the sea by sending the Stingray!"

"Cut the nonsense!" Big Pineapple scoffed in disdain. "Don't talk about God and the devil in this modern era. As an NPC in a high-tech game, such superstition is not necessary—" But he cut himself off, suddenly crying out, "Did you just say it will overturn the ship?"

"Yeah, it will!" said the NPC. "If the God of Sea is angered, the Stingray will sink our vessel!"

The NPC crew nodded.

The Big Pineapple began to freak out. "God! We must eliminate it as soon as possible!"

The sea currently stretched on with no end in sight, and players in War were not invulnerable to water. If the boat turned over, they would all lose one level's worth of experience. He would be devastated if he lost the experience.

Boom!

A dull gunshot was released from Feng Luo's M110 before Big Pineapple even finished his sentence.

−444

A low damage value flashed before their eyes. From the perspective of superstition, this number was unlucky!

The next moment, the Stingray revealed an ability which confirmed Feng Luo's feeling of being unlucky after taking the shot. The wing-shaped fins on the sides of the Super Stingray began to flap intensely, accelerating its movement speed. After swimming for more than 10 meters, it jumped out of the water with a bang.

Seawater flowed like a waterfall from its body, but the Stingray had already burst into the sky as high as 20 meters. Who had ever seen a fish flying in the sky? Let alone a fish resembling a bat and weighing several dozen tons.

The Stingray's skin was smooth, and as the sea water refracted the evening sunlight on the horizon, it produced a magnificent sight. After bursting into the air, its entire body stretched flat. The surface of the two wing-shaped fins was covered with a sheen of water energy. It was like a glider flying from the surface of the sea straight toward the cruise ship.

No—it didn't look like a glider. It was more like a bomber!

Boom!

After the Stingray slid through the sky for more than 100 meters, it dropped again. The broad body slammed down with the force of a bomb blasting in the sea. A wave two to three meters high was sent outward from the location of its landing, accompanied by light blue water energy that spread out in rings.

The wave hit the tail of the cruise ship after a few seconds, and a sudden impact made the entire body of the ship shake heavily.

Obviously, this was a certain skill belonging to the Stingray! It was strong enough to use the waves with water energy to shake the hull even though it was far away. If it flew and struck the ship's side, it was very likely to cause the cruise ship to overturn.

This "flying bombing skill" stunned the players. The Stingray's location relative to the cruise ship was now closer, at a distance of 150 meters.

"Fire! Fire now, everyone!" Big Pineapple yelled loudly, ordering the NPC crew to attack with their weapons.

Sha…! Sha…!

The six-barreled electromagnetic machine gun at the stern began to rotate at high speed. At the same time, the crew who held other firearms also started firing. Hundreds of bullets were shot toward the Stingray. Icy Glaze and Feng Luo, as the players with remote attack abilities, also unleashed attacks, firing bullets and ice arrows at the Stingray.

However, their attacks were all wasted! The Stingray did not appear on the surface of the sea again after falling into the water but disappeared from the players' vision before the bullets!