The Dragon Lord's Seastead

When the tsunami came, ninety-five percent of the world's land disappeared beneath the ocean. I was just an ordinary graduate student in aquaculture when I was swept into the deep sea and unexpectedly awakened a god-tier talent: Dragon Lord. From then on, I could sense the emotions of marine life, issue simple commands, and even make elite sea beasts bow their heads and obey. While everyone else fought for a single mouthful of fresh water, I opened a ranch in the deep sea. With an army of sea beasts, I built a city of trade upon the sea! Chapter 1 "Back off. The last of this water is mine!" A rough hand shoved my shoulder. My foot slipped, and I crashed onto the deck, which was bristling with wooden splinters. My throat felt like I had swallowed sand. I looked up at the man in front of me. His name was Victor Pike. His face was thick with hard flesh, and he was monopolizing the only plastic bucket on the boat that had collected rainwater. There was only a mouthful of fresh water left in it. "Victor, everyone collected that rainwater together. If you drink it all yourself, what are the rest of us supposed to do?" I gripped the gunwale and stood, my voice hoarse. "Who the hell are you to lecture me?" Victor sneered and wiped the muddy water from the corner of his mouth. "A useless fish-farming student isn't worth a damn in the apocalypse." He stepped forward and pointed at my nose. "My fists are bigger, so I get the last of the water. Got a problem with that?" The survivors packed onto the broken fishing boat all lowered their heads. No one dared to speak. I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. "Put the bucket down." I looked him in the eye and did not back away. "Still talking back?" Victor swung his fist at me. At that instant, the surface of the sea suddenly began to churn violently. Bang. The entire boat lurched. "What's happening?" "There's something under the water!" The crowd broke into screams. A mutated barracuda more than ten feet long burst out of the sea, its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth flashing coldly. Its thick tail slammed against the side of the boat. I happened to be standing near the edge. The impact threw me off balance. "Help!" I only managed to shout that much before I plunged into the icy water. Bitter salt water flooded my nose and mouth. Suffocation and water pressure squeezed me as if my lungs were about to burst. The mutated barracuda turned in the water. Its crimson eyes locked onto me. It whipped its body and shot toward me like a torpedo. I'm done. I closed my eyes. Just as the barracuda's teeth were about to bite through my neck, warmth surged out from inside me. A mechanical voice rang through my mind. [Ding! Host has come into contact with Calamity Water. Deep Blue Survival System activated!] [Ding! First activation bonus granted: one Extraordinary Sequence lottery draw.] [Ding! Congratulations, host. You have received a god-tier sequence talent: Dragon Lord!] The surrounding seawater seemed to freeze. I opened my eyes and saw the mutated barracuda stopped less than four inches from my face. The madness in its eyes vanished, replaced by fear. It was trembling. I could clearly sense its emotions. Absolute submission. A vague thought flashed through my mind. "Get lost." I issued the command in my heart. The mutated barracuda looked as if it had been pardoned. It clamped its tail fin and fled toward the deep sea, disappearing in the blink of an eye. I froze, then looked down at my own hands. Within a radius of about a hundred yards, the location, heartbeat, and even faint emotional ripples of every marine creature appeared in my mind like radar. Ten yards to my left, I could feel a school of frightened sardines. On the seabed to my right, an iron-shelled crab was crawling slowly. The feeling was extraordinary. It was as if I had become the ruler of this sea. I took a deep breath, kicked my legs, and climbed back up the side of the boat. "Cough..." I spat out a mouthful of seawater and collapsed on the planks, drenched from head to toe. The deck fell silent. Everyone stared at me as if I were a monster. Victor was still holding the plastic bucket. When he saw me climb back up, he stumbled back two steps in fright, spilling water everywhere. "You... you didn't get eaten?" He pointed at me, stammering. They had all watched that huge mutated barracuda rush toward me. They had thought I was dead for sure. No one had expected me to survive. I stood up, wrung the seawater out of my clothes, and walked toward him step by step. "Now give me the bucket." Victor shivered and handed it over. For the moment, I had scared him silent. Chapter 2 Night fell. The broken boat drifted over the pitch-black sea, surrounded by darkness so thick I could not see my own hand. "Finn, what are you scooping around in the water for with that busted net? Have you lost your mind from wanting fish?" Victor Pike crouched on the other side of the deck, staring at me with open mockery. I ignored him and lowered the simple scoop net I had tied together from old fishing net and a wooden pole. Through the Dragon Lord's perception, I knew exactly what was gathering beneath the boat. A cluster of glowing jellyfish. "Come up." I issued a faint command through my consciousness. Blue light shimmered under the water. A dozen fist-sized glowing jellyfish swam into my net. I lifted the net onto the deck and hung it from the mast. The ghostly blue light illuminated half the deck. The survivors who had been whispering all stared. "How... how did he do that?" "Those jellyfish usually sting the moment anyone gets close. Why are they so obedient in his hands?" I did not explain. I simply looked at the interface that appeared from the system. [Tamed Creatures: Glowing Jellyfish x15] [Status: Docile / Illuminating] "Everybody move." A rough voice cut through the murmurs. Captain Graham White, the leader of the small fleet, strode over with half an unlit cigarette clenched between his teeth. He looked me up and down. "Finn, did you awaken some kind of special ability?" After the tsunami, ninety-five percent of Earth's land had been swallowed by the sea. Seawater had become Calamity Water. Only a very small number of people awakened special abilities and became favored by what was left of humanity. I looked at him and gave a noncommittal nod. "You can make things in the sea listen to you?" Captain White guessed, glancing at the jellyfish I had caught. "Only small, harmless things." I was not stupid enough to reveal everything. I kept my real cards hidden. Captain White stroked his beard and thought for a moment. "There's an old leaking barge being towed behind the fleet. We were going to tear it apart for firewood." He pointed toward the stern. "Since you studied aquaculture, that boat is yours. Figure out how to get us some food." "Captain White, you're giving that old boat to this loser?" Victor snapped, jumping to his feet. "Shut up. Other than wasting rations, what can you do?" Captain White shot him a cold glance. I did not hesitate. "Deal." The next morning, I moved onto the battered old barge. The hull did leak, but I patched the gaps with a few broken boards and a sheet of waterproof tarp. Then I used the abandoned fishing nets on board to fence off a simple patch of water of about a hundred square feet around the barge. This was my first ranch. Through my perception, I found a type of sawgrass carp in the nearby waters. They were docile, grew quickly, and their meat was barely edible. As starter stock, they were perfect. I stood on the edge of the barge, closed my eyes, and spread my will outward. "Come here." In less than ten minutes, ripples spread across the surface. Five sawgrass carp, each about a foot and a half long, slowly swam into my net pen. [Tamed Creatures: Sawgrass Carp x5] [Status: Healthy / Ready to Breed] [Ranch Area: 100 square feet] [Estimated Output: Fish eggs available in one week] I looked at the carp in the water with satisfaction and began scooping plankton from the sea to feed them. For the next few days, I became completely absorbed in the rhythm of raising fish. Every day, Victor stood on the main ship's deck and jeered at me. Chapter 3 "Hey, college boy, how's your fish farm going? Don't tell me it'll barely be enough to get stuck between our teeth." I turned a deaf ear to Victor and continued feeding the fish and cleaning the nets on schedule. On the last day of the first week, I lifted a corner of the net and saw a translucent layer of fish eggs floating on the water. [Sawgrass carp have spawned. Estimated hatching time: three days.] I scooped up the two fattest adult carp and threw them onto the main ship's deck. The fish slapped against the planks, alive and kicking. Everyone nearby swallowed at once. Captain White walked over, looked at the fish, then at me. Shock flickered through his eyes. "You actually raised them?" I wiped the water from my hands. "There'll be more. Enough for everyone to get sick of eating fish. These two are for everyone to taste today." To keep possession of the old barge in a reasonable way, I did not bother being modest. I painted them a future. The promise worked at once. For the next several days, no one mentioned making me move back to the main ship. Since most land had already been swallowed by the ocean, we could not remain in one patch of water for long if we wanted enough food. Today was another day of migration. "We can't go near that reef ahead. Pirates show up there all the time!" Victor stood at the bow and pointed at a dark cluster of rocks barely visible in the distance. Captain White frowned and looked toward me on the barge. "Finn, what do you think?" My eyes were closed. The Dragon Lord's perception had already covered the entire stretch of water. A submarine ridge rose there, forming a natural barrier. The currents were calm, and plankton was abundant. It was a perfect natural ranch. More importantly, I sensed a group of valuable creatures hiding in the cracks of the reef. "Anchor there," I said, opening my eyes. "Are you insane? If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!" Victor roared. "If you're scared, you can jump overboard and swim away." I glanced at him. Captain White gritted his teeth but finally gave the order to anchor. The fleet slowly approached the reef cluster and stopped on the leeward side. I ignored the complaints and paddled a plank toward the largest reef. About fifteen feet underwater, more than a dozen long blue-gray shadows were cruising. Mutated sentry eels. I reached into the water and released the pressure of the Dragon Lord. "Submit or die." The eel school froze instantly. Then they all swam toward my hand and rubbed against my fingers. [Tamed Creatures: Sentry Eels x12] [Status: Absolute Obedience / High Voltage Discharge Available] I ordered them to spread around the edge of the reef cluster, forming an invisible line of defense. In the distance, two speedboats carrying ragged black flags appeared on the sea. "Pirates! Run!" Victor collapsed onto the deck in fright. Captain White drew the rusty knife from his belt and stared at the approaching speedboats. I stood on the reef without moving. The speedboats rushed toward our fleet. The lead pirate held up a homemade firearm and laughed wildly. The moment they crossed the eel line, I gave the command in my heart. "Discharge." Blue-white lightning burst beneath the surface. Crackle. The engines of the two speedboats smoked, sparked, and died. The pirates on board convulsed from the shock, screaming as they fell into the sea. The remaining pirates desperately paddled away and fled in disgrace. The crisis ended so strangely that everyone on the boat simply stared. Chapter 4 Captain White swallowed so hard he forgot to sheathe his knife. "Finn, what just happened?" I hopped back onto the barge and clapped my hands. "Nothing much. This patch of water leaks electricity." After that, I directed everyone to use wood from wrecked ships and old canvas to build simple floating shelters around the reef cluster. With the sentry eels protecting us, this place was safer than anywhere else. When the shelters were finished, I stood on the highest reef and looked down at the carp swimming nearby and the eels patrolling the perimeter. The sea breeze brought a rare sense of peace. Captain White came to my side and handed me an intact cigarette. "You found this place. Name it." I lit the cigarette and took a deep breath. "I plan to live here for a while. From now on, this will be our home." I looked out at the calm sea. "We'll call it Shallow Bay." The moment the name was settled, my heart felt strangely grounded. For the next few days, everyone was busy building shelters and repairing fences. Shallow Bay slowly transformed from a temporary anchorage into a proper settlement. But Victor's mouth never stayed shut. "You're going out again? On that rotten raft? A sea beast would barely get it stuck between its teeth." Victor leaned against the frame of a shelter and picked at his teeth in that mocking way of his. After several days of rest, Shallow Bay was beginning to look like a place people could actually live, but he still could not change his attitude. Maybe he simply could not accept the shift in status. With his strength, Victor had once barely counted as the second-in-command. Wherever he went, people feared and respected him. Now I had overtaken him, and my position in the group was firmly above his. Even Captain White's influence had begun to fall short of mine. I had become the real head of Shallow Bay. After all, in a world short on food and fresh water, people followed whoever could feed them. And I could get food that kept them from starving. I continued sorting through my scoop nets without looking up. "If you're that bored, go patch the net on the left side." "Who do you think you are, ordering me around?" Victor glared. I paused and looked at him. A six-foot sentry eel leaped from the water below and slapped down beside his feet, splashing water and crackling with blue arcs of electricity. Victor shrieked, then scrambled back into the shelter on all fours. I sneered, pushed my wooden raft away, and left Shallow Bay's core area. The ranch needed to expand. I had to look for more valuable creatures that could be tamed. The Dragon Lord's perception currently covered about two hundred yards. I paddled around the surrounding waters and searched. Two hours later, near the edge of a deep-sea trench, I found a surprise. [Target Discovered: Rainbow Mussel] [Traits: Extremely sensitive to water temperature. Produces colored pearls containing trace energy.] I dove into the water and used Dragon pressure to soothe the sensitive shellfish, carefully moving them into a constant-temperature tank on the raft. This was hard currency. In the apocalypse, a single colored pearl could trade for ten pounds of dry rations. Moving on, I found a group of bubble jellyfish in a floating kelp forest. Their transparent bells stored large amounts of purified fresh water. They were practically mobile natural reservoirs. Finally, at the bottom of a huge shipwreck, I scraped off a large quantity of iron-shell barnacles. These barnacles had powerful adhesion. They could reinforce hulls and resist the bites of smaller sea beasts. Chapter 5 By the time I returned fully loaded, the sky was dark. As soon as I approached the edge of Shallow Bay, I sensed something was wrong. An unfamiliar sheet-metal boat was parked outside my ranch, and several shifty men were using scoop nets to catch my carp. "What are you doing?" I asked coldly. The leader turned around, looked me over, and snorted. "What, this sea belongs to you? I'm catching a few fish. So what?" Then he saw the rainbow mussels on my raft, and his eyes lit up. "Good stuff. Leave those mussels here, and I'll let you off today." He drew a rusty machete and weighed it in his hand. These were clearly wandering scavengers, the kind who bullied the weak and feared the strong. I sighed and tied my raft to the reef. "Do you know what happens when you steal from someone else's ranch?" "Cut the crap. Die!" The man raised his machete and charged. I stood where I was, my gaze turning cold. "Do it." The sentry eels beneath the water erupted at once. More than a dozen strong currents conducted directly through the bottom of the sheet-metal boat. "Ah!" The men were shocked until their hair stood on end, their bodies blackened, and they collapsed on the deck foaming at the mouth. I stepped onto the side of the boat and poured the carp they had caught back into the sea. Captain White rushed over at the commotion. When he saw the bodies on the ground, he sucked in a breath. "Did... did you do all this?" I handed him the tank full of rainbow mussels. "Set these up in the warm leeward area. Be careful." Captain White stared at the glowing colored pearls in the tank and rubbed his hands together in excitement. "These pearls look incredible. Finn, we're going to get rich from this." I looked toward the dark water in the distance. "Getting rich is only the first step. The real show hasn't even started." But before the show could begin, the stage had already drawn attention. A few mornings later, a sharp female voice broke Shallow Bay's calm. "So this is the Shallow Bay everyone mentioned? Looks unimpressive. What good stock could this place possibly have?" A merchant ship with a white sail, the Seagull, anchored beyond the reef. On the bow stood a sharp-eyed middle-aged woman in a clean waterproof suit, toying with a gold coin. Her nickname was Ledger, and she was a notorious hard-bargaining merchant in this stretch of sea. Captain White greeted her with a forced smile. "Ms. Ledger, we have the freshest rainbow pearls here, along with pure fresh-water jellyfish." Ledger glanced at the pearl in his hand. Greed flashed in her eyes, but her face showed only disdain. "Mediocre quality. How about this? Ten pearls for one liter of purified water." That was outright robbery. Captain White's face stiffened. Before he could argue, I walked out from behind him. "No deal," I said lightly. Ledger looked me over and sneered. "Kid, don't talk so big. These days, other than my Seagull, who can supply you with industrial goods? What are you going to do, eat those shiny pearls?" I did not get angry. Instead, I gestured politely. "Since you're here, why don't you take a look around my ranch before you decide?" Ledger eyed me suspiciously, but she still followed me up to the high reef. From there, all of Shallow Bay could be seen at once. On the left, dense schools of sawgrass carp were feeding on plankton. Chapter 6 On the right, rows of rainbow mussel beds glittered with colored light beneath the water. Farther away, dozens of bubble jellyfish floated like enormous transparent balloons, their bodies filled with clear fresh water. Ledger's eyes widened, and her breathing grew quick. "You... you raised all of this?" The fresh-water purifier she had been so proud of was a joke compared to those bubble jellyfish. "Sustainable supply," I said, looking at her. "Continuous output. Now let's discuss the price again." I was not afraid she would try to seize everything by force. First, I already had a certain level of self-protection. The number of sentry eels under the water was growing, and ordinary robbers would suffer for it. Second, Captain White had told me about Ledger. She was greedy, but her reputation was not terrible. She was a businesswoman, not a raider. After seeing my ranch, the arrogance on Ledger's face vanished. It was replaced by the shrewdness and hunger of a true merchant. "What do you want?" she asked, swallowing. "Medical supplies, solar panels, and advanced building materials." I listed a long set of requirements. Ledger gritted her teeth. "Fine, I can agree. But I want everything you produce." "Impossible," I refused without hesitation. "You get thirty percent. If you don't agree, the next merchant ship that passes by will be happy to take this deal." Ledger stared at me, trying to find a crack in my expression. I only looked back at her calmly. In the end, she gave in. "Fine. Thirty percent it is. In a few days, I'll return on schedule to collect the goods." She held out her hand and forced out a sincere smile. "Pleasure doing business." I smiled as well and shook her hand. Watching the Seagull sail away from Shallow Bay, Captain White trembled with excitement. "Finn, we actually made a deal!" I looked at the shimmering reflection on the water, and a larger blueprint had already formed in my mind. "Captain White, notify everyone." I turned around. "Clear all the outer reefs. We're going to build a sea market." But just as that blueprint was drawn, before construction could even begin, a more urgent problem crashed down on us. "Finn! Bad news! There's a huge shadow underwater. It smashed through our nets!" The young man in charge of patrol stumbled into my shelter, his face ashen. I stood, and the Dragon Lord's perception instantly opened to full strength. A violent, heavy energy fluctuation was coming from the deep water directly beneath Shallow Bay. It was an elite sea beast: a cracked-shell giant turtle. Its shell was over fifty feet across, covered in fissures, and its limbs were as thick as pillars. A sea beast of this level only had to roll over to crush every wooden structure in Shallow Bay. The deck was already in chaos. "Run! That monster could swallow us in one bite!" Victor shrieked hysterically as he tried to untie a lifeboat. Captain White drew his knife, both hands shaking like a sieve. "Finn, we can't handle that thing. We should evacuate!" I took a deep breath. "We can't run. This place is our work." I took off my jacket and jumped into the cold water. "Finn! Are you insane?" Captain White shouted from the surface. Visibility underwater was dim. The cracked-shell giant turtle was like a moving underwater mountain, slowly forcing its massive body toward a huge cave at the base of the reef.