Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 193 Historical Experience
The Lanqiao position was originally a port, but now it is a bridgehead against sea monsters.

This place is a bit far from the command center located in the main urban area of ​​Haiqu, and is close to the boundary between Haiqu and Haizhou.

The two cities are separated by a river. This river, along with many other rivers along the coastline, are key points for sea defense. Powerful sea monsters naturally do not care about the difference between fresh and salt water; the rivers are their highways for invading the land.

When Su Xun and the others arrived, they saw cannon fire pouring into the sea, white columns of water rising one after another, and mist blown by the wind scattering across the shore.

Although a heavy snowfall had just occurred, the seawater had not yet frozen over; however, a considerable amount of ice was clearly visible on the beach.

"Hey, legal fishing? Can I play?"

Yin Danyi was delighted as soon as she arrived. She found a place to squat down and prepared to retrieve the remains of the mutated fish that had been washed ashore by the waves.

A third-tier mutated beast near the shore saw him alone and launched an attack, preparing to pounce on him and drag him directly into the water. The man casually raised a curtain of water, which was nothing special, but when it hit the mutated beast, it was like a sharp sword, cutting the beast into several pieces.

Red blood spread in the seawater, and several low-level mutated beasts gathered around, quickly devouring its carcass.

In a short while, more shells exploded in the sea, and many nearby fish rolled belly up.

While it's certainly difficult for artillery shells to directly hit the mutated sea creatures, the high gold content of water, being a nearly incompressible liquid, means that these marine creatures can be directly killed by the shockwave from nearby explosions.

However, this kind of impact is generally ineffective against high-level mutated beasts, and seawater reduces the power of the spiritual energy jet, which is one of the reasons why sea beasts are quite troublesome.

In addition, given the mobility of these mutated beasts in the sea, they can easily change their location if they encounter strong resistance.

Various factors have made the overall coastal defense somewhat inadequate and put it under considerable pressure.

Ignoring Yin Danyi, who was usually lazy and only got excited when something amusing to him, Su Xun knew he was in for a treat when he saw that Yin Danyi had already picked out a few mutated fish.

The harbor shore was equipped with jet cannons, but the mutated beasts did not approach directly. Instead, they patrolled the area relatively far from the coast, occasionally urging the seawater to unleash attacks such as streams of water and ice pillars. These attacks contained spiritual power and were quite powerful.

Even at the artillery position far from the sea, as soon as Su Xun and the others arrived, a fourth-tier sea beast launched an attack. Several clouds of high-temperature mist flew over at a speed no less than that of artillery shells. Before they even got close, Xue Hui reached out and used his supernatural ability to manipulate ice spikes, shattering the attack.

This was just a simple test, but it made Li Changshun sigh.

"This mutated beast, which has the ability to attack from a distance, is the most damaging to the ground. Most of the recent casualties have come from it, and many soldiers have been burned by the water mist."

What species was it before it mutated?

"It looks like... a pistol shrimp?"

The extraordinary beings looked into the distance and saw a huge, dark figure floating in the sea. It was a sea serpent that existed in the open, but the attack just now was not launched by it.

"What we can confirm at present is that the sea beasts attacking the position this time are led by two fourth-tier creatures. The most obvious one is this snake-like creature. There is another one hidden in the shadows. We have not yet seen its true form, but based on the relevant information given by the commander-in-chief, it should be a pistol shrimp."

Humans don't actually exhibit any particular tendency towards supernatural abilities. Those who were strong and healthy before the cataclysm might have awakened psychic abilities, while the elderly and frail might have gained physical enhancement abilities during the cataclysm. Mutant beasts, on the other hand, clearly possess more specific species characteristics, and their abilities are often related to their species' strengths. For example, many birds have an affinity for wind, while most aquatic creatures are born with the ability to control water.

Pistol shrimp, or pistol shrimp, was a rather peculiar creature before the Cataclysm. It could eject a jet of water at extremely high speed through its specially evolved giant claws. Due to this extremely high speed, the jet of water would form a tiny low-pressure bubble, which could reach temperatures of thousands of degrees when it burst.

Before the Cataclysm, these creatures were only a few centimeters long. After the Cataclysm, this ability was further enhanced as these shrimp evolved, giving them a rather terrifying ranged attack capability.

This animal is one of the most threatening creatures to land. After the cataclysm, it is not limited to its original habitat but has appeared in various places. Su Xun once specifically described the main characteristics and weaknesses of several mutated beasts, including this one.

Li Changshun's judgment of its species was correct, but Su Xun still shook his head: "Not two, but three."

This made many people widen their eyes. The attack of three fourth-tier mutated beasts was clearly beyond the capabilities of their single position.

In Su Xun's opinion, the reason why this position has not yet been captured is that the other side is unwilling to suffer too many casualties. Unlike the zombies' reckless fighting style, they may be waiting for a better opportunity.

It just happened to me.

"Pistol shrimp are social animals, usually led by a king and queen. The one that came here with that sea snake must be a pair. The three of them have a symbiotic relationship. These pistol shrimp have poor mobility and only came this far with the help of that sea snake."

The crowd suddenly realized, and upon closer inspection of the snake's body, they could indeed see some body structures that did not belong to it.

Looking at the other side, Su Xun pondered for a moment. Pistol shrimp actually have a good temperament and can coexist with many animals.

Upon arriving at this place and discovering that his opponents included pistol shrimp, Su Xun had other ideas. It would be a bit of a waste to kill a pair of fourth-tier pistol shrimp that had come to his doorstep.

Humans are at odds with marine creatures because there are simply too many of these mutated marine organisms. If they were allowed to invade the land, there would probably be no place for humans to stand on this entire planet.

However, if some creatures are willing to cooperate with humans and live in harmony, it is not unacceptable to allocate them a body of water for them to breed and thrive. In fact, as mutant beasts that are adapted to the ocean, they are much more efficient at fighting other marine mammals than humans are at blasting fish here.

Ultimately, these numerous marine creatures are diverse species, not a monolithic entity. The reason they seek survival on land is precisely because they are inflicted upon each other, threatened by natural disasters, and have lost their original habitats.
Divide and conquer, and split the enemy – this is a valuable lesson from history, and it is even more applicable today.

Humans in the past did not achieve this; they were too weak to negotiate with these mutated beasts. The situation is naturally different now.

After sharing this idea with everyone, many people were delighted. Xin Fu's cooperation with those land-based mutated beasts had already proven the feasibility of this method. If they could really bring over a group of powerful creatures like pistol shrimp, the pressure on the coastal defense would be greatly reduced!

"But how do we reach a consensus with them now?"

Su Xun weighed the knife in his hand, a smile appearing on his face. In his previous life, Su Xun had quite a bit of experience in how to fight mutated beasts to a standstill.

"Of course, we should subdue them first, and then talk things over slowly. So many people have been injured, they have to pay the price."

(End of this chapter)