Super Zoo

People who linger in the shadows are often night owls. Past one in the morning, the lights in the fish shed on the shore were still on. The ground inside the shed was littered with beer bottles tossed every which way, and there were a few leftover dishes on the table. The bald man and a few thugs were bare-chested, playing a game of Fight the Landlord.

"What's that noise?"

The sound of water from the lake reached the fish shed, and the bald man dropped his cards onto the table and turned to peer out the window.

"Must be the wind, what else could it be in the middle of the night? Dude, play your card!" another thug said nonchalantly.

The bald man looked out the window for a moment; outside was pitch black, no sign of anyone around. He kicked a guy who was dozing off and said, "Erzi, go check out what's going on!"

The one called 'Erzi' muttered a few words, reluctantly got up, grabbed a flashlight and a steel pipe, and walked out of the fish shed.

"Keep playing cards!"

The bald man and the others continued their game. Before long, Erzi came back, flopped onto a bed, and yawned widely.

"I sent you to check things out, how come you're back so soon?" The bald man kicked him again.

Erzi replied with annoyance, "Nothing, bro, just the fry jumping around! Probably going to rain, the air's stuffy and lacks oxygen."

...

Below the lake surface, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals had already herded all the fry within an acre together, and then, like escorting prisoners, pushed the school of fry towards the outside of the fishing net, in the direction of the underwater passage.

Fish have a natural tendency to follow the crowd, instinctively swimming together, especially the smaller ones, because they have little ability to protect themselves. Swimming alone makes them easy prey for other strong aquatic creatures, but sticking with the group is much safer.

Leading at the front was a bighead carp, followed by thousands of fry forming a long queue, quite a spectacle.

Initially, the procession was orderly, but soon after leaving the fishnet and not swimming far, chaos ensued!

Due to the large number of fry and the varied species among them—this group alone contained seven or eight different species—some, out of fright or other reasons, veered off the planned route and scattered in all directions.

The shrimp soldiers and crab generals roamed around the perimeter of the school of fish, and when they came across any fry straying from the group, they would rush forward and herd them back onto the intended path.

Of course, there were formidable ones among the school of fry; some fish were even the natural predators of shrimp and crabs!

A small blackfish, weighing about half a pound, flipped its tail and charged at a pair of shrimp soldiers and crab generals with its mouth wide open!

Unlike the timid and mild-mannered crucian carps, this omnivore, which preferred meat, even had a row of fine teeth lining its mouth, making it one of the more ferocious kinds among freshwater fish.

The blackfish opened its mouth wide and sucked in forcefully, creating a powerful current!

A small crayfish, the closest to it, flicked its tail, trying to escape, but the immense suction pulled it right to the blackfish's mouth!

The blackfish didn't have to struggle; it simply clamped its mouth shut, effortlessly biting the small crayfish in half, and gulped down its succulent tail with a satisfied swallow!

The blackfish, content, wobbled its head and turned towards its next target. The area was teeming with little shrimps and crabs—its favorite food; it could have a feast without any effort!

From the standpoint of the food chain, the blackfish was a natural enemy of the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, and its presence should have sent the little crabs and crayfish scattering in terror!

But it immediately realized something was off!

After the sacrifice of one crayfish companion, rather than fleeing, the remaining shrimp soldiers and crab generals didn't scatter; instead, they closed in on it from all directions!

The blackfish felt a slight pain behind it, as a small crab, barely a fraction of its size, with two large pincers viciously clamped onto its tail!

Such a minor injury was nothing to the blackfish, who forcefully flicked its tail, instantly flinging the small crab away.

It turned around, ready to punish the audacious crab, but before it could charge, several other areas on its body simultaneously erupted in intolerable pain—more crabs and lobsters had latched onto it!

A small crab, barely larger than a coin, even deviously climbed onto its gills, a tiny yet extremely sharp claw mercilessly jabbing towards the blackfish's eyeball!

Scared out of its wits, the blackfish couldn't care less about punishing the previous crab and was solely focused on shaking off these detestable little creatures, desperately twisting its body in the water, trying to use the current and its own thrashing to rid itself of the shrimps and crabs clinging onto it.

The water churned in a wild brawl, with crabs and lobsters repeatedly being tossed away, but immediately after, even more fearless shrimp soldiers and crab generals charged at the blackfish!

Soon, the blackfish was coated in a layer of 'armor', as dozens of crabs and lobsters of varying sizes clung onto it like bone-eating maggots, covering its entire body…

…

This scene was everywhere.

Of course, this aggressive character within the school of fish fry wasn't the only one; the blackfish, green fish, and even the grass carp were not easy to provoke. Fish fry continuously attempted to break away from the main group or to prey on the nearby shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

As natural predators, these fierce fish fry had individual combat strengths far surpassing that of the crabs and lobsters!

However, after undergoing Suming's training, the crabs and lobsters were no longer disorganized militia but had become an orderly, fearless 'army'. After paying a small price, they easily suppressed the fierce fish fry that dared to create trouble.

One after another, confident fish fry dashed out from the ranks only to return shortly thereafter, covered in wounds, back to the main group, obediently following along through the underwater passage to Shuijun Lake.

Suming sat in an assault boat, waiting on the surface above the passage. Whenever a fish fry entered, he would simply use his spiritual power to 'brainwash' them unreasonably, thoroughly subduing the fish fry.

His spiritual power, if not needed for control but solely for conquest, had no trouble at all with the almost brainless, small fish fry—it was an easy and straightforward task to wash their brains.

With countless fish fry, his spiritual power quickly bottomed out. Suming picked up the beehive on the boat, scooped a clump of honey, and stuffed it into his mouth before taking a big gulp.

In no time, the entire school of fish from a whole acre of water in the Huating Reservoir had been herded into Shuijun Lake, becoming wholly Suming's 'private property'.

The shrimp soldiers and crab generals regrouped, returned to the Huating Reservoir, and once again cordoned off an area of water about an acre in size, following the same method to herd the fish fry into Shuijun Lake like sheep.

It took an entire night, but finally, Shuijun Lake was saturated with fish fry, including not only the four main household fish and blackfish mentioned by Zhu Chenggui but also a considerable number of carp and upturned-mouth fish.

Suming's spiritual power drained again and again, then refilled swiftly. With the aid of the great blue honey, he was practically a perpetual motion machine, his spiritual power never running dry!

Suming estimated that just this batch of fish fry had saved him at least four to five hundred thousand yuan, and that was assuming a smooth transaction without being swindled.

But for the Fishery Company, the loss was much more than four to five hundred thousand yuan!

On one hand, though the shrimp soldiers and crab generals were very diligent, many fish fry still escaped during the transfer!

The worst part was that several large holes had been made in the fishing nets, and within a few days, the remaining fish fry in the nets would mostly escape through these holes.

"Zhou, you've had it hard!"

Suming sincerely clasped his hands and bowed in the direction of the Fishery Company Villa, then shamelessly commanded the shrimp soldiers and crab generals to take a large amount of snails and aquatic plants used by the Fishery Company for nurturing fish fry and slyly moved them to Shuijun Lake.