Sobek swam under the ship and memorized the sound of its propellers. He was sure that with his super-developed senses he would be able to track down the right vibration.

Then he began to hunt.

It had been a while since he'd hunted in the water, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable anymore. He was still able to track down preys and catch them with ease. With all his skills, even in the ocean he wasn't in danger of encountering any predator capable of defeating him. On the contrary, he was the superpredator out there now!

He had gone too long without hunting. His body quivered at the thought of a new challenge. He wasn't bloodthirsty, but he was still a predator; his hunting instinct wanted to be vented on some prey. He wanted to sink his teeth into some animal again and fight to tear it apart. Luckily, the ocean was a place teeming with all kinds of lifeforms.

He headed out to sea and hid with [Ambush]. Although it was full night, his extraordinary sight allowed him to see as if it were day. In addition, he had his ears for support: sounds in water propagated much faster than in air. Even his other senses were no different: his nose could perceive smells even underwater and through his skin he could perceive the displacements of the water caused by the movements of fishes or other living creatures.

It wasn't long before a dark shape appeared in his field of vision.

[Prey identified: Tylosaurus proriger, tylosaurinae. Experience: 120,000 points]

He was satisfied. His first prey provided more points than a t-rex, so its nutritional value was much higher.

The tylosaurus was a prehistoric marine reptile up to twelve meters long. It could consider itself an apex predator, displaced only by other behemoths such as the mosasaurus, the megalodon or giant whales such as the Leviathan melville. It had rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth, a hydrodynamic and streamlined body, and a skull nearly 1.3 meters long. It was a real monster of the seas, a mythological creature.

But against Sobek, that big reptile could do nothing! It didn't even hear him coming before it died instantly. It wasn't difficult to understand why: practically, a bullet of nearly fifteen tons of weight had been fired at 300 km/h against it and as soon as it hit its target it had exerted an additional 25 tons of pressure with its bite. Under that power the bones of any living creature would crumble like butter. The tylosaurus' body was basically cut in two in less than a second.

Sobek quickly devoured the tylosaurus. It was extremely satisfying. Though he hadn't gone hungry for the last few weeks, being finally able to eat a prey killed with his own hands was wonderful, almost intoxicating. The acrid taste of frozen meat was no match for the fine flavor of the blood of a living creature. Also, with all the movement he had made he needed to eat, and now. His body was still biological and needed energy, a lot of energy.

He also wanted to level up.

The tylosaurus gave him 120,000 experience points and 8 skill points. Sobek quickly rose to level 30. He was now a colossus 30 meters long and 9.6 meters high! The goal of 10 meters high was getting closer and closer. As far as skill points were concerned, he couldn't use them as all his actual skills were at full capacity, but it wasn't a bad thing to keep them: as he would soon evolve again he would need them badly.

Once this step was completed and his hunger was finally satiated, Sobek had to find food to take to the other carnivorous dinosaurs. He had to hurry: even if he had given his word, it was important that the dinosaurs immediately understood that they could trust him, or some hothead would start fighting with each other. Besides, he was sure that like him they were hungry too.

It didn't take long to find the next prey. With his speed he could travel several kilometers in no time.

[Prey identified: Balaenoptera musculus, balaenopteridae. Experience: 500,000 points]

Sobek's eyes widened. A blue whale! That was good!

Blue whales were the largest animals that ever existed. While there were sauropods like argentinosaurus that beat them in length, none reached their terrifying weight of nearly 190 tons. The nutritional value they possessed was enormous, more than enough to feed dozens of carnivorous dinosaurs for days or even weeks.

Killing it was the simplest action in the world. Sobek was now as long as the whale and had weapons that it could only imagine. In a few moments he snapped its neck, then grabbed it by the tail and dragged it towards the freighter. Fortunately they were in the water, or he would never have been able to move 190 tons of weight. He considered putting the carcass in the [Inventory], but he rejected that idea: he knew that the food placed in the [Inventory] lost the possibility of providing experience points and skill points, so there was a possibility that it would have lost its nutritional value too. He didn't want to risk to bring to the dinosaurs something that, no matter how big, couldn't feed them.

When he got to the ship he tapped the hull three times. As he had ordered, the carnivorous dinosaurs were soon on the bridge. When they saw the huge body of the whale they exulted: with that they could have eaten for a long time!

To be able to haul the carcass aboard, Sobek first had to tear it apart. Once he was able to throw all the remains on board he ordered the dinosaurs to take them below deck: the corpse certainly couldn't be hidden with [Ambush], anyone would have realized its presence even from a distance.

"Pack leader, don't you get on board?" Carnopo asked, leaning over the deck.

"No" was Sobek's dry reply.

He had multiple reasons to not join the others on the ship. The first was the weight: the dinosaurs had no problem climbing because he had helped them by acting as a pulley, and therefore he had balanced the weight to which the ship was subjected; but if he clung to the hull and put pressure on it, he was more than certain that the freighter would overturn due to its fifteen tons. And then there was the risk of being attacked: he wanted to stay in the water so as to create an area free of marine predators near the freighter, so that no one would risk sinking it.

Finally, the third point: he had to go and attack other ships in the vicinity. In fact, the boats, especially the merchant ships, kept in constant contact with the coast guard or with their employers. If these people hadn't received a call from the captain within a couple of days, they would have started the research. It would have been easy to track the freighter via satellites.

But if Sobek had created a reason for the ship's disappearance then no one would have looked for her. And for that he had to sink at least three or four more. In this way the humans would be convinced that he was responsible for the disappearance of the freighter. He wasn't afraid that they would come looking for him: he was in his element now, and with a speed of 310 km/h he could easily outpace even a torpedo. On land a confrontation with humans was uncertain, but in the water Sobek was unrivaled.

He didn't need to sleep anyway. In his early evolution he had become able to survive without resting for days on end. Now he was sure he could hold out for several weeks. And even if this hadn't been the case, he would have only needed to find a small island to rest for a while.

If he stayed on the freighter and did nothing, the humans would have soon tracked the ship and when they figured out what was on board they would have blown it up with a missile. But if Sobek started spreading terror across the ocean, then no one would have been surprised by the disappearance of a ship, especially one that passed near Flagard City just as the notorius spinosaurus jumped into the water. Furthermore, his presence alone could lure humans away from the freighter's route, preventing them from discovering it.

That was his plan for the return. For the next three weeks he would have had his work cut out, but he didn't mind at all.

And while he was there, he would also get a lot of experience and skill points. Maybe he would have been able to level up once or twice and when he would have completed his third evolution he could have upgraded some skills right away.

"These are my orders" he explained to the dinosaurs. "No one attacks the other members of the pack, regardless of motivation. Food must be distributed equally. Always stay on course. I will come here once a day and you will recognize me because I will tap on the hull three times; Carnopo will then have to go out to report to me. And if someone starts sneezing, coughing, having a headache or some other symptom, then they will have to be put in isolation right away and no one will have to go near them until further notice, including family members. I've been clear?"

He had added that last clause for a very specific reason: organisms such as viruses and bacteria thrived indoors. It was much easier for an epidemic to develop. And for dinosaurs that didn't have health care, even a fever could lead to death. It was therefore absolutely imperative to avoid any contact with an infected person and isolate him as soon as he showed any symptoms: it was the only way to stem the infection that otherwise would have easily spread throughout the ship.

"We understand!" the dinosaurs confirmed. Satisfied, Sobek plunged back into the water.