20: The world has changed

“I also checked the surveillance footage, and there was no trace of this Octopus all day today,” Zhou Kubo said, nodding.

“The Octopus is considered one of the creatures with the strongest Camouflage Ability in the world. Even if it’s right in front of you, you might not be able to spot it, let alone through a screen,” Professor Jin Weiguo said calmly at this moment.

“I see. Professor Jin, we’ll all follow your lead.” Zhou Kubo nodded after hearing this.

“Let’s begin. This bucket of shrimp and crab has been soaked in a special chemical that has an extremely high attraction to the Octopus. Start deploying it now, and everyone, get ready,” Professor Jin Weiguo nodded to Liu Ye, who then took over and made the arrangements.

For safety and ambush considerations, they set the deployment location along the riverbank this time.

In terms of weaponry, in addition to ten underwater combat harpoon guns, there were also ten tasers. Furthermore, a special large net had already been spread underwater, ready to be pulled in at a single command.

It could be said that this arrangement was a complete dragnet.

As a bucket of shrimp and crab was poured onto the riverbank, a special scent immediately permeated the area, even attracting some Big Fish.

“Splash!”

A splash of water sounded, startling everyone. They saw a Big Fish, over a meter long, leap out of the water and bite a crab.

“What kind of fish is that? It must be over a meter!” everyone exclaimed, a Security Officer shouting out.

Such a large carnivorous fish posed a certain danger, even to humans.

“That looks like a Big Black Fish, but it’s too big,” Liu Ye frowned slightly.

“Recently, creatures all over the world have been affected by an unknown influence, with a general trend of mutated growth in their overall size. Some individual creatures have mutated extremely rapidly.”

“Just like the Chinese Chub you encountered last night, and our target this time, the Giant Octopus, these are rapidly mutating individuals,” Professor Jin Weiguo explained.

“Splash!”

Another splash sounded, and a large Bighead Carp also surfaced its head, biting a shrimp.

The usually dull-witted Bighead Carp was exceptionally fierce this time, with fine teeth in its mouth, swallowing a large shrimp whole.

Then, Carp over a meter long, Black Carp over a meter long, Chinese Chub over a meter long, Ide over a meter long, Catfish over a meter long, Mandarin Fish over eighty centimeters, and so on.

There were too many; too many Big Fish appeared in succession, vying for the shrimp and crab, all of them unusually large fish that were rarely seen in the past.

“So… so many Big Fish!” a Security Officer stammered.

For some reason, seeing this scene, he felt no usual surprise, only a fear rising from the bottom of his heart.

Because these fish were too ferocious, and all had visible sharp teeth, savagely hunting the shrimp and crab.

He even had a bad feeling that if he were in the water, he might also be attacked.

Liu Ye, Fang Chenjin, Lin Meng, and Huang Chaoyao, although they had seen these figures on the underwater cameras, were also moved to witness them firsthand, especially gathered together like this.

“Should… should we drive them away?” Zhou Kubo was also unsure, worried that these fish and shrimp would be eaten up, affecting the plan.

“Don’t worry, the chemical substance has a greater attraction for the Octopus, and it won’t dissipate just because the fish and shrimp are eaten.”

“Furthermore, for our Giant Octopus, these Big Fish are also its prey,” Professor Jin Weiguo shook his head, meticulously observing the movements and behavioral patterns of these Big Fish.

“Don’t miss a single detail of these; film everything. It’s all valuable research material.”

“Old Jin, is this what you mean by global biological mutation?” Liu Ye asked Professor Jin Weiguo.

“Yes, it’s not just here; most of the creatures across the entire globe are being affected by some unknown force, accelerating their evolution, or rather, mutation.”

“In fact, during the brief clear weather yesterday, animal-related injury incidents didn’t just happen here.”

“Within Linjiang Province alone, dozens of wild animal injury incidents occurred, and these are just the ones actively reported.”

“If this unknown mutation continues, and these Big Fish grow even larger, reaching three, four, or even five or six meters, and the Giant Octopus reaches ten meters, human life will be affected.”

“Even more so, will the entire global ecosystem revert to prehistoric dinosaur giant beast forms, with creatures routinely five or six meters, or even giant predators over ten meters long appearing?”

“Currently, the top scholars in the country are preparing to hold a meeting to discuss and research this situation. In a few days, I might need to go to the capital for a meeting,” Professor Jin Weiguo said slowly.

Zhou Kubo and the other Security Officers looked at each other, somewhat dumbfounded. Revert to the age of dinosaurs?

If the person speaking weren't a professional professor, they would have certainly refuted it.

But now, they were somewhat bewildered.

Undoubtedly, if the future were such an era of giant beasts, even humanity would certainly be forced to change the current social situation.

Time slowly passed, and the Big Fish gradually dispersed, but a few of the Big Black Fish were quite ferocious. After finishing the shrimp and crab, they chased and bit other Big Fish, seemingly wanting to hunt them, which left everyone amazed.

“Isn’t that a Big Black Fish? How can it be so fierce!” several Security Officers watched the scene with surprise.

“Although the Big Black Fish is common, it is actually a very fierce fish with extremely strong explosive power. It’s usually not fast and is an ambush predator. Very few fish of the same size can contend with the Big Black Fish,” Liu Ye said, watching the scene.

Time slowly passed until three in the afternoon, and there was still no movement, which made Professor Jin Weiguo frown.

“Let’s change locations and try again,” Professor Jin Weiguo had prepared several buckets of shrimp and crab, just in case.

“Okay.”

Everyone moved a few hundred meters away and once again poured a bucket of fish and shrimp. The strong chemical permeated the water, exerting a huge attraction on the Octopus.

However, the Giant Octopus they were expecting still didn’t appear. Instead, Big Fish over a meter long appeared one after another.

“Splash!”

Suddenly, a huge Big Black Fish leaped out of the water, nearly two meters high, creating large waves.

This was a Giant Black Fish nearly two meters long, with a terrifying mouth full of sharp, knife-like teeth. Its narrow, fierce eyes looked at everyone before it fell back into the water.

“Holy cow!”

Everyone was startled, especially Liu Ye and the other three, who thought another giant fierce fish was charging at them.

“We can’t let the public get close to this river anymore. I will explain the situation to the higher-ups,” Professor Jin Weiguo said with a frown. This Big Black Fish definitely had the ability to harm people.

Perhaps because Yangxi Town is close to the rich resources of Dayang Lake, or for some unknown reason, the speed of biological mutation here surpassed other places in the country, exceeding his expectations.

In fact, various wild animals in Dayang Mountain Nature Reserve were all mutating, but their degree of mutation was subtly inferior to that of the creatures in the river.

“This Big Black Fish must be close to two meters, right? Far exceeding the world record!”

“This world has truly changed!” Liu Ye said with a complex expression.