Chapter 10 The Fattening Plan  

If the shark could roar, it would have. Its whole body numb, the shark turned sharply, opened its bloody mouth, and dashed toward Chen Fan.

Chen Fan, who felt rather than saw the shark turn, managed to dodge the attack just in time. Twisting with all his might, he managed to escape what would have been a fatal blow. Even so, he did not escape unscathed; the shark’s razor-sharp teeth nicked the eel’s cheek, leaving a white gash.

The shark considered retreating at this point, the potential meal not worth the high electrical charge. Chen Fan noticed the shark beginning to retreat, but could not keep up the high voltage. As the charge weakened to only a few dozen volts, the shark’s numbness decreased as well. With regained feeling came renewed spirit. It was not going to retreat! The shark charged Chen Fan again at top speed.

"Ah!" Chen Fan had calmed a little at the prospect of the shark’s retreat. When it renewed its charge, Chen Fan succumbed to a depthless fear, screamed again, and swam for his life.

This vicious shark would not give up after being attacked. To catch up with its prey, the shark flicked its tail faster than a piston engine.

I’m so dead!

Exhausted, Chen Fan couldn’t generate a trace of electric current. Watching the shark gain on him, he was ready to close his eyes and wait for his death.

"Wait! What was that?" In the moment before his death, Chen Fan noticed an intricate orange-red coral with a cave about the size of a small pail down on his right.

He was like a drowning man given a straw. In milliseconds, Chen Fan was full of adrenaline. With new energy, Chen Fan twisted like a rope and managed to get into the pitch-black cave.

Bang!

As soon as he got into the cave, it started shaking as if there were an earthquake. Small pieces of coral rained down on his head.

Chen Fan knew the shark had crashed into the coral. He could smell blood.

The cave was big enough for Chen Fan to turn around. As he did so, he saw that the shark’s entire face had coral and stone pieces sticking out of it. The sight made Chen Fan laugh out loud.

When Chen Fan realized the shark had no intention of leaving, he stopped laughing. Stirred into a frenzy, it swam back and forth at the entrance of the cave.

"Oh God. It’s testing my patience!"

Half an hour later, the shark still refused to leave. After resting a bit, Chen Fan decided to shift his consciousness back to his own body. Since the cave would be safe enough for the eel for the time being, he simply went to sleep. The encounter with the shark had given him a headache.

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Early the next morning, Chen Fan’s intense hunger woke him up just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

The shark from last night was gone. It had probably run out of patience.

Still uneasy, Chen Fan stretched out his head cautiously and looked around. There were no large fish around. He waited patiently for a little while longer until he was sure there was no danger.

"When am I going to leave if not now?"

Chen Fan didn’t want to hang around in this area anymore. The sunken ship was very attractive, but if he lost the electric eel avatar, it wouldn’t matter if it was a mermaid!

Escaping was a matter of strategy. Chen Fan chose a path with few jagged stones along the way to prevent sharks from jumping out of nowhere.

After swimming for a long time, Chen Fan reached the sea by Zhongyun City, and dared to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It is too difficult to stay alive in the depths of the East China Sea!"

At that moment, Chen Fan was reminded of the proverb about a mountain filled with treasure, but without a road that led to it. It had taken him a lot of effort to find a sunken ship loaded with porcelain, but there was a shark blocking his way.

Chen Fan erupted with anger inside whenever he thought about yesterday’s incident.

After a hearty meal, Chen Fan returned to his first hiding place.

Yesterday had taught Chen Fan that a few tricks up his sleeve would not do him any good if he could not think and react in crucial moments.

Once he was full, Chen Fan fixed his thoughts on the pituitary gland, targeted the growth region, and stimulated it wildly without stopping to rest. He decided not to look for any treasures for the time being because treasure hunting would only put his life at risk if he didn’t possess a certain level of skills. His goal was to grow enough to win the battle against the shark guarding the ship.

Anything was possible. If science could change a person’s gender, Chen Fan could make this eel grow. Certain feed could help a pig can gain two pounds per day. Chen Fan’s electric eel grew much faster.

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"Hey brother, do you think we’re catching fewer fish because of the ghosts we keep hearing about? If this keeps up, there won’t be enough money for me to take a girl out!"

A mottled wooden boat drifted along in the blue sea, and in it stood a youth wearing overalls stained with oil. While pulling the fishing net in with all his might, he turned and shouted at a young man sitting on a tin lid next to him.

"Last time it was because of a big shark!"

The young man on the lid looked at his little brother, slowly pulled out a Marlboro cigarette from his shirt pocket, lit it, and took a deep puff of the cigarette. As white smoke poured from his nose, he said: "Uncle says that less fish for us always means a big fish somewhere near."

"Wow, Marlboro costs more than ten dollars per pack! Brother, give me one too!" As soon as the younger brother saw the expensive cigarette, he put down his fishing net, wiped his hands on his overalls, and ran to ask his brother for one.

"Get away!" The young man slapped away his younger brother’s hand, telling him to smoke his own cheap cigarettes.

"Stingy," the younger brother muttered and asked, "Why do you still come to this area every time if you know that there’s probably a big shark here?"

"I’m here to catch it!" The young man chuckled evilly and took out a homemade steel harpoon. "Look, I even got this ready. All we need to do now is to wait for it to show up so that I can stick this in its forehead!"

"Ah! We could make a lot of money after catching it. Even a small shark can sell for thousands!

"Yeah, of course!" The young man replied vaguely. He dusted his clothing and went to the edge of the boat to pee.

"Brother, wait for me. Let’s see who can pee further!"