Pinecone

There was a green pinecone in the fish king's head. It was half-embedded, and it shone an ominous green like a third eye. The light pulsated, and when the pinecone lit up, it caused the fish king's body to twitch.

The fish did not look like it had been dealt a grievous blow, but it seemed to be incapacitated. The fish was submitting to the water, and it was sinking fast.

"Is that what the fruit spat out? It knocked him unconscious," Han Sen thought, as he swam towards the fish, clutching Taia.

The fish king was unable to move, so Han Sen sought to remove the pinecone with his sword.

Dong!

Taia hit the pinecone but was unsuccessful in damaging it. Han Sen stabbed it a few more times, but it proved to be far sturdier than he imagined.

"I'll dig it out then!" Han Sen opened the nine gene locks of the Blood-Pulse Sutra, and it made Taia glow a spooky red.