The thunderbirds had attacked them with the intention of turning them into food, but in the end, the hunters came out on top and safely ate the thunderbirds instead.
This is a fundamental principle in the world of hunters.
"We also brought up some of those strange fish," Lilith said softly, pointing to a small pile of hammerhead fish on the other side of the deck.
"But they're definitely not edible. There are, however, some parts of their bodies that can be useful."
These fish had been hauled up by Marione's puppets, adding to their supplies in a way that might not satisfy hunger but could still serve a purpose.
Because bringing all of the fish up at once would overload the ship, only a portion of them were transported onboard.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be any space left to store the rest of the harvest later.
Everyone gathered around the school of fish, observing these creatures that had just caused them some trouble.
The fish had bodies resembling sharks, each roughly half a meter to a meter long, much smaller than thunderbirds, but they made up for it in numbers.
Dozens were piled together, all marked with purple spots on their skin, a clear sign that Lilith's toxins had made them highly poisonous.
That's why Lilith insisted they were inedible; in fact, she was the only one on the entire ship brave enough to eat them.
Besides their shark-like bodies, the most noticeable feature was a lump on their heads.
This dark lump looked almost like steel and had a slight shine to it.
Lilith tapped it lightly, producing a dull, metallic sound.
"This part is definitely different from the rest. It's especially hard, much harder than steel," she explained.
Golden wrapped his spirit around his hand and touched the lump himself, confirming Lilith's observation: it was indeed very tough.
At that moment, Larry's voice came from the side.
"There's a pig in the Visca Forest on the Six Continents called the 'Great Stamp,'" he began. "It has a hard, long nose that can smash rocks easily, which it developed to protect its fragile forehead."
He then looked at the hammerhead sharks.
"This strange fish also has a hard part on its face."
Walking over to stand beside the fish, Larry continued slowly, "Do you think this lump grew to protect a vulnerable part of its body?"
Sammy raised an eyebrow in confusion.
He didn't see anything particularly vulnerable about the fish.
Larry clarified, "No, actually, I mentioned the 'Great Stamp' only as a contrast. If the pig's nose grew on its own for protection, this lump isn't just a random growth, it's something the fish absolutely needed."
These hammerhead sharks were shark-like
Fish with strong, sturdy bodies that often traveled in groups.
Because of the unique conditions of the Sea of Thorns, their bodies absorbed special metallic elements from the seawater, which was most evident in the hard lump on their heads.
At first, Larry was only about thirty percent sure of his theory.
There just wasn't enough information yet to be certain.
But after using the illustration ability, he became completely confident that his idea was right.
"We saw it not long ago," he began. "The waves turned into thorns and got stuck on the sea surface. You all remember that, don't you?"
Everyone nodded; it had happened recently, so the strange sight was still fresh in their minds.
Ging, standing beside Larry, lowered his eyelids thoughtfully.
Just from Larry's first sentence, he began to suspect something, maybe it had to do with those strange waves.
Noticing Ging's reaction, Larry pressed on.
"Those fixed waves, or seawater, contain some kind of metal-like substance," he explained. "When the concentration hits a certain level and conditions are right, the seawater solidifies and forms like that. Why it happens on the surface might have something to do with the air."
He paused, emphasizing the important part.
"But that's not the main point. The key is that this substance in the seawater probably affects other living things."
He pointed to the lumps on the heads of some fish.
"Those bumps are from the fish absorbing the metal-like substance. You could call it a mutation. So far, we've only seen this in this type of fish, but there's a good chance other fish in this area are similarly affected."
He added, "For now, the mutation seems to be beneficial, but we can't rule out hidden risks."
These fish reminded Larry of the Porcupine, but also brought to mind something else from the Dark Continent, the parasitic plants that create gold and silver ingots.
Those plants grow on specific minerals and absorb some of their properties, which is why they have their unique abilities.
As Larry finished his explanation, the others around him showed surprise but agreed with his reasoning.
Honestly, Larry's words made sense, even if no one quite knew how he arrived at the conclusion.
Still, no one questioned him; as the team leader and their most trusted member, they took his word as truth.
"It looks like these fish are worth preserving," someone said. "But maybe just keep the lumps and a few specimens."
Beyond paused for a moment, weighing his options, and decided to bring a few buckets of seawater on board to take back with them.
Despite being an unknown substance, seawater held some value.
Even though they had faced a tense crisis recently, they had also gained a lot in return.
With the biological obstacles behind them, the ship pressed forward, soon leaving behind the stormy Sea of Thorns.
After several days, the ship finally cleared the Sea of Thorns, though thorny waves still appeared occasionally along the way.
True to Larry's warning, they encountered several attacks from marine creatures during this time.
All of these creatures shared features resembling hammerhead sharks, affected by the seawater in some way.
Initially, the crew was a bit nervous when these attacks happened, but they quickly adapted.
At this point, this level of danger was no longer enough to shake them.
If the Sea of Thorns marked the edge of the unknown sea, then after some more sailing, they had reached roughly the middle section.
The creatures in the earlier part were relatively ordinary, but as they ventured deeper into the unknown sea, more bizarre and strange beings awaited them.
That night, thick clouds covered the sky, blocking most of the moonlight and dimming the surroundings.
Even the blue sea below looked dark and ink-like, as if someone had spilled ink over the water, turning it completely black.
The only light came from a faint moonbeam reflecting on the sea's surface, making it seem as though the ship was sailing through a sea of ink rather than water.
It was late, and the ship moved slowly, guarded by a member of the Stone Wall Force.
During the day, Bushidora managed the ship, while this guard took over at night.