Heart of the Ocean (4): Catch the thief

The first thing Tan Xiao did was rush to the large tank where the jellyfish was kept. Seeing the little jellyfish wobbling as it contracted its bell to float up from the bottom, his anxious heart instantly settled. “Thank goodness, thank goodness,” he thought. “The fish are gone, but at least the jellyfish is still here.”

Suddenly remembering something, he immediately dashed to the second floor. The stockpiled grains were neatly stored in the dry storage room on the second floor. Since it was a rental guesthouse, each of the three floors had its own kitchen and refrigerator. Over the past two days, Tan Xiao had diligently filled all the refrigerators and painstakingly moved light-sensitive food items to the second floor, where he was temporarily staying.

The storage room on the second floor was still packed to the brim, with no signs of anyone having entered. Everything he had purchased over the last two days was right where it should be—nothing was missing.

Tan Xiao opened the refrigerators on each floor. They were fully stocked with vegetables and fruits. Aside from what had been used for cooking the day before, not a single item was gone.

He carefully inspected every corner of this unfamiliar temporary residence, but there were no traces of a break-in.  

No living supplies were missing, no food or water was gone, and none of the valuable items had been taken. Apart from the missing big fish, no other resources had been depleted.  

Tan Xiao walked from the living room to the outside. The courtyard gate was securely locked, and there were no foreign footprints in the soil. The situation seemed to point to an inside job—after all, locks can’t keep out thieves within the household.  

The only people here were him and Xiao Bai. If the big fish hadn’t been eaten by him sleepwalking, then logically, it must have been Xiao Bai. But Tan Xiao found it hard to believe that the well-behaved and sensible Xiao Bai could have done such a thing.  

Not losing anything was supposed to be a good thing, but failing to uncover the reason behind the mysterious disappearance of the big fish was a serious problem. It meant that some mysterious presence had targeted their home, and they had no idea what capabilities this enemy might have.  

Xiao Bai was curled up like a little marshmallow, sleeping soundly in his small wooden house. Tan Xiao knocked on the roof. “Xiao Bai! It’s morning! Time to eat!”  

“What?! What?!”  

Hearing his owner’s voice, Xiao Bai immediately jumped up from his little house. In his haste, his head bumped against the wooden wall with a loud thud. “Good head,” he muttered.  

Hearing the crisp sound of the collision, Tan Xiao couldn’t help but feel a wave of helplessness. He might have overestimated Xiao Bai’s reliability. With such a clumsy and impulsive demeanor, could Xiao Bai really be trusted to guard the house properly?  

Xiao Bai wasn’t stupid—just a little unfamiliar with the new environment. After that initial accidental bump, he quickly scrambled out of the wooden house and circled Tan Xiao’s legs twice. “Woof woof! Good morning, Master!”  

With practiced ease, Xiao Bai trotted over to where his dog bowl was kept, using his fluffy paws to drag it out. He then went to the faucet, rinsed the bowl, and carried it in his mouth before hopping onto his designated seat. Placing the bowl on the table, he looked up at Tan Xiao with eager anticipation.  

Tan Xiao didn’t move, and there was no smell of food in the house. Xiao Bai let out a couple of barks, his face full of confusion as he asked, “Where’s the food?”

Tan Xiao had definitely just said it was time to eat, but Xiao Bai couldn’t smell any delicious breakfast.  

His owner carried a faint scent of mint and mouthwash—Xiao Bai loved meat and big bones, wasn’t too fond of vegetables, adored sweet strawberries, but absolutely disliked minty toothpaste.  

Disappointed, Xiao Bai stared up at his owner with watery, accusatory eyes: Xiao Bai worked so hard guarding the house yesterday! How could you lie to poor Xiao Bai like this?!  

Tan Xiao’s frustration over the missing fish instantly melted away at Xiao Bai’s antics. He opened the bag of dog food and poured a small portion into Xiao Bai’s bowl. The young man tapped the table lightly with his slender, pale fingers. “Xiao Bai, we lost a lot of fish last night. Did you hear anything unusual?”  

Xiao Bai looked even more shocked than Tan Xiao. He jumped down from his chair. “What?! We lost a lot of fish?!”  

Tan Xiao studied Xiao Bai’s eyes—they were clear and innocent, without a trace of guilt. It seemed Xiao Bai really had no idea what had happened. Unfortunately, Tan Xiao had been too busy stocking up on supplies yesterday and hadn’t bought any surveillance cameras.  

Xiao Bai rushed to the big fish tank and started counting diligently. “One, two… Ah! There really are a lot of fish missing!”  

When they had first poured the fish into the tank yesterday, the swarm had been so dense that losing one or two wouldn’t have been noticeable. But after a certain jellyfish’s hardworking feast overnight, over a dozen large fish had vanished—anyone with eyes could see the difference.  

Tan Xiao checked the receipt the shop owner had printed for him. “We’re missing three large yellow croakers, two sea bass, four sauries, three tiger groupers, and one red spotted grouper—about 200 pounds in total.”  

These were all genuine wild-caught sea fish, and big ones at that. A dozen fish might not sound like much, but they weighed over 200 pounds. Even though he’d bought them wholesale by clearing out the seafood shop, the total still amounted to tens of thousands. After all, fresh seafood was far pricier than frozen.  

Losing this much property was serious enough to involve the local police. From the start, Tan Xiao hadn’t really suspected Xiao Bai—after realizing just how many fish were gone, he knew it couldn’t have been the dog.  

But if it was an outside thief… What kind of thief could silently make off with 200 pounds of fish? The mystery of the missing fish was baffling. Xiao Bai sniffed around, but unfortunately, he couldn’t detect any foreign scents.  

Meanwhile, a certain jellyfish drifted lazily in the water, listening as the human and the little dog tried to track down the “fish thief.” Feeling a little guilty, it curled its tentacles into a tight ball. This wasn’t really the jellyfish’s fault—it was just hungry, and the fish were swimming right beside it, practically begging, “Eat me! Come eat me!”  

Sure, the jellyfish might have been wrong for sneaking a snack, but didn’t the human share some blame? How could a hungry jellyfish resist such delicious temptation?  

It had only eaten a little—just a few fish from this tank, a few from that one… It hadn’t caused any real damage. It was, after all, a kind, gentle, and good jellyfish.

If someone had to be blamed, then blame the human for not feeding it enough brine shrimp larvae! If the human thought it ate too much, he could always release it back into the ocean—the jellyfish was perfectly capable of hunting on its own!  

It had worked hard to catch fish from the neighboring tanks—that didn’t count as stealing! At worst, it could just repay the human by catching double the fish later!  

Tan Xiao’s stomach growled loudly. What was done was done, and wasting more time searching for the “fish thief” was pointless. He picked up the dog food bag and poured a towering mountain of kibble into Xiao Bai’s bowl, then cracked open a meaty can for him. “Good job. Eat up first.”  

Humans in a state of hunger suffered reduced stats—not just physical strength, but mental clarity too. Only with a full stomach could one work efficiently.  

Since things in the house kept mysteriously disappearing, Tan Xiao had no choice but to leave Xiao Bai on guard. “Xiao Bai, stay here and keep watch. I’m going out to buy some things. Don’t wander off—just guard the fish tanks, okay?”  

Pets and owners shared a kind of mutual sensing ability, but considering Xiao Bai wasn’t an ordinary dog, Tan Xiao pulled out an old phone. “If anything happens, contact me immediately. I’ll come back as fast as I can.”  

He had thought the supplies from the past two days would last him a while without needing to go out. After all, his goal was survival, not making a grand performance in this instance.  

But now, it seemed the house was still missing too many essentials. This time, he planned to buy some miniature surveillance cameras—so at least before disaster struck, he could monitor the house in real time. Even if he couldn’t catch the thief, he could at least identify what was stealing their belongings.  

As for his most precious items—his ring, ID, or that black card—Tan Xiao kept them either on his person or in the system’s inventory slots.  

But this was the first time he’d used player abilities while fully conscious, so he hadn’t dared to store anything truly valuable in there yet. He remained cautious about relying on the system’s backpack function.  

The town wasn’t large, but Tan Xiao still drove the small pickup truck he’d rented. This time, besides expensive seafood, he bought plenty of cheap fish and shrimp.  

Aside from fresh shrimp, he also stocked up on dried krill—not the completely dehydrated kind, but slightly moist, lightweight ones that could fry up into a big plate with just a handful.  

Dried shrimp were cheap but packed with nutrients, making them a high-value purchase. Best of all, they took up little space and were stored easily.  

After some thought, he also bought dried kelp, dried wakame, and dried seaweed—though he deliberately avoided the freshest stock, opting for batches at least a month old.  

When stockpiling, it always felt like nothing was ever enough. Though the town’s water supply came from freshwater lakes and groundwater rather than desalinated seawater, Tan Xiao still worried about future mutations. He bought large bottled water containers and empty barrels to store tap water as emergency reserves.  

Today, the town was even busier with shoppers. But most players spent their money on essentials, clearing out instant meals in bulk. Few, like Tan Xiao, bought fresh meat and vegetables.  

With only a month to survive, who had the patience to cook under constant tension? Preparing meals might be cheaper, but it also wasted time. Experienced players would rather grab ready-made fast food.  

Budget-conscious players stuck to cheap, filling boxed meals. Since player inventories didn’t preserve freshness, they avoided stocking too many perishables.  

Wealthier, more extravagant players? They feasted on lavish takeout until stuffed. In a survival instance like this—with no obvious supernatural threats yet—everyone was living relatively comfortably in the early stages, maintaining peak condition.  

[Ocean’s Heart] was rated as a Hard survival instance. Players speculated the difficulty lay in terrifying mutated monsters or a catastrophic tsunami drowning the coastal town. But since no monsters had appeared yet, they might as well enjoy each day while they could.  

By dusk, Tan Xiao drove his fully loaded pickup back home. He called out, “Xiao Bai!”  

The dog bounded over cheerfully. “Xiao Bai guarded the house well today! Not a single fish is missing!”  

“Good job, Xiao Bai!” Tan Xiao enlisted his help unloading the supplies. Meanwhile, the still-unfed jellyfish seized the opportunity to snatch a few more fish into its stomach.  

It possessed formidable digestive abilities—its gastric juices were akin to the corpse-dissolving potion from novels, capable of breaking down prey instantly.  

By the time Tan Xiao finished unloading, he noticed two more fish had vanished.  

A suspicion flickered in his mind. He glanced at the tank—the little jellyfish lay at the bottom, looking slightly… rounder than it had that morning.  

Was it his imagination? Maybe not.  

Quietly, Tan Xiao installed miniature cameras around the house, ensuring as few blind spots as possible.  

He skipped cooking dinner, sharing takeout with Xiao Bai before retiring upstairs early.  

“Xiao Bai, guard outside.”  

With the door closed, Tan Xiao booted up his laptop. The hidden cameras in the living room silently went to work. The room’s soundproofing was excellent, leaving the entire space in perfect silence.  

As he organized supplies, he periodically checked the camera feed, not wanting to miss anything crucial.  

He waited… and waited… patiently enduring nearly two hours before the mysterious fish thief finally appeared on screen!  

The tiny lighthouse jellyfish, confirming the coast was clear, rapidly expanded—from thumb-sized to the dimensions of the fish tank itself. Its elegant tentacles draped over the tank’s edges.  

With eerie smoothness, one tentacle pried open the glass lid, swiftly snatching a 30-kilogram fish inside.  

The enlarged jellyfish devoured the fish in seconds, its gelatinous stomach wobbling like a blooming rose.  

Even through the silent screen, Tan Xiao could almost hear the sloshing of its digestive chamber.  

There was no doubt—this was the culprit behind the hundreds of missing fish.  

“Xiao Bai!”  

Tan Xiao bolted downstairs, summoning his guard dog to catch the little thief red-pawed!