Very delicious bait Part I

Not much food living in the sea...?

I thought that was the most ridiculous statement because I had never been short of food since I had lived here. Though we did not have space to grow vegetables, I would travel once a month to stock up with many things that you would never starve as long as I was alive.

But if I died, they could still get out of here by ship. It was only up to how lucky they were.

If they made it out alive, I only wished for their happiness upon their return, but if they did not make it...

I would have to express my condolences that some of them might end up inside the bellies of the megalodons.

"Crunch." I took a bite from the red apple that had just been taken out from the fridge five minutes ago while I was walking over to gather the equipment for feeding all the fish. I smiled, putting on a wetsuit, though I would not dive anywhere. I had no snorkel, just a wetsuit that would protect me from the cold when I was in the water.

"You got up real early." I placed a bucket of raw fish to the side. It was a surprise to see Steve in the whale calf area. I glanced at my watch; it was just a little past seven o'clock. I did not expect that there would be others who woke up early besides Bernard and Eric. "I won't give you any bonuses, Steve. Unless you can make them healthier, then I might consider giving you a raise."

"I'll do it even if you won't give me a raise."

"Hmm."

"Good morning, boss. Are those for me?" Steve pointed at the silver bucket, which was full of little fishes. They were for dolphins and whales. I was going to feed them, but it seemed like someone was already on it in this pool.

"If you want this, you need to show me a little something." I grinned and crossed my arms, looking at Steve, who was smiling. He patted the little whale's head back and forth, and it let out a high-pitched squeak as a greeting to me. A spray of water shot out from the blowhole on top of its head and splashed me a little. It impressed me so much that I had to clap for it.

I handed the silver bucket over to Steve and rubbed the little whale's head when he brought it closer to me. Then, I changed the target to ruffle the hair of the younger man.

"Work hard, please." Steve shook his face endearingly. He did not mind when I did that. I picked up another bucket and headed towards the dolphins. As soon as the fishy smell wafted forward, they all rushed towards me. "Hey, kids. Breakfast's ready."

"Squeak!" Their high-pitched noises greeted me when I slipped into the water. I was a little startled by the cold of the deep-blue sea, but it was not enough to drive me out. I picked up the small fish and put the half-eaten apple on the dry floor. Then, I fed the fish to the dolphins which swarmed around me. I loved their cuteness as much as I loved teasing the sharks.

"Hey, Ace. Your wound seems to be getting better, and you swim faster too."

"Squeak," it squealed in response. I teasingly pouted and laughed when their slippery mouths gave me a smooch. They circled around and waited for their breakfast. When I was away, Steve and Bernard would take care of them, so I did not have to worry about whether they would starve to death.

I was more worried about the monster who had just woken up.

Bang!

"Rampaging so early in the morning," I muttered, shaking my head at the crash that shook the cage. At a glance, I saw one long fin floating about. I recognized which one it was from the middle of the fin, which was slightly indented.

If it was Dylan, there would be a scar on its back.

"Good morning, Dy. Is it a nightmare that makes you so irritated this early in the morning?"

Bang!

"Oh, are you jealous because I kissed these dolphins? They're cute, not destructive like you." I tried to provoke the stupid shark which did nothing but use its head to bump into things. I caught a dolphin, tipped its face up, and kissed it on the mouth again. Its high-pitched squeak frustrated Dy. He circled around. If there had not been something in its way, Dy would probably have charged at me. "Don't be so loud. You are scaring them."

"Squeal."

"It's okay, kids. That is just a mean shark." I smiled to calm the dolphins down in front of Dy. I continued feeding the dolphins, and gently patting their heads. I turned back to the monster, who constantly asked for attention. It seemed like he was going to wake Dylan up to help him knock on the rail.

I peeked at my watch. It was almost feeding time.

"Take this first." I threw Dy a small fish, but he ignored me. He turned away as if he did not care, even though the bloody smell of dead fish should have alerted him. "You're being too hard to please."

I murmured while glancing at the two brothers swirling around and threw a fish at Dylan. He swung back and bit it like someone had stuck a knife on its back. He was way more dramatic than his brother, and he made me laugh out loud because he was so funny in my eyes.

"You guys are equally stupid." I heard the faint sound of teeth snapping together when I said that. He gave me a warning that if I refused to stop bad-mouthing them, one of them would jump up and snatch me. I threw them another fish. Dylan did not eat it this time. He swam away in frustration, leaving his older brother behind.

I smiled, knowing what he was waiting for.

I had something special for them every Tuesday.

"Bernard, where's the beef that I brought?" I shouted to the person who was cleaning nearby. It was a surprise to see him. I thought he would rest and spend more time contemplating what had happened yesterday. "A big chunk of meat, almost as big as a whole cow."

"Oh! It's in the meat storage room."

"Can you please fetch it for me? Today's Tuesday."

"Oh, today is Tuesday?! Oh God. Roger that, Mr. Sol. I'll handle it quickly!" Bernard was frantic for a moment. The word 'Tuesday' was like an order here. When I said, 'go get the meat', and reminded them what day it was, everyone would know exactly what to do.

It was a promise. We agreed that every Tuesday we would prepare something special for Dy.

He seemed to love it ever since I had first given it to him.

Bernard put a large piece of beef into a cart. He pushed it to the crane, which we used to drop bait down for Dylan and Dy. It was safer than having to throw it on our own and risk losing an arm. An employee almost went crazy once because he had thrown a dead calf into the water and Dy had lunged for him instead.

A body soaked with blood and fearful reactions would be better than any dead animal.

I pushed myself up from the dolphin pool and strolled along the walkway with Dy. I left Steve to feed the dolphins, and I helped Bernard load the meat into the crane, preparing to lure Dy closer. I could tell that he was hungry for the meat from his frustrated demeanor. There was not even a drop of blood dripped down, but I thought the smell alone was able to alert him easily.

This was probably similar to crocodiles which were raised with chicken carcasses.

"I'll go up on the crane."

"You can't do that. If Dy misses, it'll bite your leg.”

"It won't..."

"If it knocks the crane down, you'll be in big trouble," Bernard sternly warned me, pointing to the new red-and-black crane. It looked sturdy enough to climb up onto. As it was extended into the water, however, no one dared to try it.

Except for me.