The harbor was blockaded, air superiority was lost, and this experintal freighter had nowhere to run.
Not long after the Flying Fire Fleet's broadcast ended, a reply ca from the Yunjia.
"We will not surrender. There are tens of thousands of hostages on board. If you have the guts, open fire and sink us. If you don't want these people to die with us, withdraw imdiately."
The Yunjia's threat was ineffective. Since Beixing had dispatched the Flying Fire Fleet this ti, they were determined to solve the problem in one go.
Compromising and abandoning the operation was never within consideration from the start.
"You have no qualification to negotiate. Surrender imdiately!"
"Do you think I'm bluffing?"
A sinister voice ca through the communicator.
Shortly after, the reconnaissance post relayed the latest update.
"Report! The enemy just pushed dozens of personnel into the ocean from the deck!"
The Captain's expression darkened upon hearing this.
The enemy was demonstrating their resolve through action.
"This is just the beginning. If you don't retreat within five minutes, more than just this number will go overboard next ti."
That sinister voice ca through the communicator again.
The Captain considered for a mont, then summoned Silver Fox and the others to explain the situation.
"If you have no solution, I will imdiately order a forceful assault," the Captain said. "This will cause so casualties among the uninvolved, but it will save many more."
Guan Tong believed the Captain was right.
If they retreated out of concern for those hostages, that wasn't saving people; it was harming them. Because those hostages would eventually beco test subjects and suffer persecution anyway.
A direct assault would cause casualties among so, but many more would be saved.
Silver Fox looked at Guan Tong after hearing this. "Do you have a plan?"
Before Guan Tong could speak, Chen Na, standing beside them, spoke up. "Brother Guan probably doesn't have a good plan either, right? There are too many enemies on the ship, and they're probably all very strong... It's better to just let the warships attack directly."
Silver Fox glanced at Chen Na upon hearing this, knowing the little girl didn't want Guan Tong to take the risk.
But the key lay in what Guan Tong himself thought.
"I can eliminate the guards in front of the containers, but I cannot guarantee I can suppress those protected rooms behind the barriers imdiately," Guan Tong said after a mont's thought.
He had no idea how many people or how many powerful individuals were inside those barrier-protected compartnts. Forcing a breakthrough without intelligence was dangerous even for him.
"In that case, you will be responsible for eliminating those guards and the defensive forces on the deck," the Captain of the Flying Fire said to Guan Tong. "Then I'll have the soldiers board the ship, and we'll attack the core personnel inside the cabins together."
"Agreed."
Guan Tong agreed.
The operation began imdiately. He controlled the shadows he had pre-positioned on the ship's superstructure, moving them to the feet of the guards stationed near the containers on the deck.
Once all were in position, he struck simultaneously.
"Ghk!!!"
All the guards on the deck had their necks constricted by shadow lines at the sa ti, suffocating and collapsing.
Simultaneously, the Captain of the Flying Fire gave the order. Soldiers imdiately landed on the Yunjia's deck via transport aircraft from the aircraft carrier, securing complete control of the deck in the first mont.
This all happened extrely fast, but the enemies inside the cabins had also detected it.
Most of the hostages on the ship were imprisoned in the containers. Now that Beixing's side controlled the deck, Yuzawa Jun and the others had lost many bargaining chips.
Moreover, the Flying Fire Captain ordered an imdiate assault on the cabins as soon as the soldiers landed.
Guan Tong and the others had also arrived on the Yunjia by now. Through his Shadow's vision, he relayed the interior situation of the cabins to the Flying Fire, and the Captain adjusted the soldiers' assault direction based on the intel.
"The enemies are moving!"
Chen Na exclaid with her eyes closed. She had activated her Perception Domain as soon as she boarded the ship.
Unlike before when she could only sense living creatures, her continuous ability developnt had now elevated her perception to a new level.
Just as no two leaves in the world are identical, the Mind Power of each Ascendant might seem indistinguishable, but in Chen Na's perception, they were different.
This was the further evolution of her Perception Domain: the ability to distinguish different individuals through subtle differences in Mind Power. The more familiar the person, the more pronounced this difference.
For example, the characteristic of Guan Tong's Mind Power she perceived was like a bottomless black hole, undoubtedly indicating an unimaginable amount of Mind Power.
And now, the characteristic of the enemies' Mind Power she perceived was a feeling of madness and distortion, unlike that of normal humans.
"Mon, monsters!"
"Snake-n!"
"Fall back!!!"
The soldiers at the front encountered resistance and imdiately fell back while maintaining formation.
The enemies attacking them also erged from the cabins. Even though Guan Tong and the others had anticipated sothing, witnessing it firsthand still sent a shock through their hearts.
Hundreds of half-human, half-serpent monsters continuously surged onto the deck. Most of their bodies were covered in scales, with only the upper part of their torsos retaining so human form; everything below was serpentine.
Furthermore, unlike the Serpent Servants created by Uenoshi, the serpentification in these snake-n had progressed further. Even though they retained human faces, their vertical pupils and the tongues constantly flicking from their mouths were features not present in Uenoshi's Serpent Servants.
"Let my Serpent Slave Army properly entertain you guests."
Yuzawa Jun's sinister voice ca through the ship's loudspeaker. Then, after he issued so unknown command, those "Serpent Slave Army" mbers all charged madly toward the soldiers.
The scales on these serpent slaves were extrely tough, capable of resisting bullet attacks. For the parts not covered by scales, they protected themselves by slithering low to the ground, making it difficult for soldiers to hit them.
This was the ti for the Ascendants to step up.
"Let's go!"
Silver Fox took the lead, charging into the serpent slave group with two short daggers, severing serpent slave heads one after another with her extrely fast movents.
Guan Tong also manipulated his shadow to transform into countless shadow spikes, piercing the unarmored parts of the serpent slaves.
Uenoshi activated her ability the mont she made eye contact with one serpent slave. The latter's body imdiately stiffened, then began to struggle in agony.
Guan Tong noticed this situation and asked, "Can you control them?"
"I wanted to, but it doesn't seem to have fully worked."
"From its behavior, it looks like it crashed due to conflicting commands."
At that mont, the serpent servant suddenly hissed, then jumped into the sea.
Inside the cabin, Yuzawa Jun frowned.
Those serpent slaves were all modified with a mixture containing his blood, so each one was under his control.
The one that jumped into the sea due to conflicting commands was also imdiately detected by him.
"My Serpent Slave Army is indeed susceptible to that woman's influence... I should have executed her long ago."
Kurokawa Etsu, standing nearby, said, "The number of the Serpent Slave Army is too small; they won't hold for long. What exactly is your plan?"
He couldn't understand why Yuzawa Jun still appeared calm and composed at such a ti.
Once the Serpent Slave Army was annihilated, those inside the cabin would be like turtles in a jar, with nowhere to escape.
"Kurokawa, our past cooperation has been quite pleasant," Yuzawa Jun suddenly said. "I am satisfied with your experintal results, and the data and materials have all been backed up."
These words made Kurokawa Etsu's expression change drastically.
"What do you an by that?"
"It ans, since the experint has already succeeded, you are no longer useful."
Kurokawa Etsu was stunned. He knew Yuzawa Jun was cold-blooded and ruthless, but he hadn't expected him to say it so directly at this mont.
Yuzawa Jun stood up, walked to a corner of the cabin, and pressed an inconspicuous button.
A soft "beep" sound gave Kurokawa Etsu a strong sense of foreboding.
"Yuzawa Jun, what have you done?!"
Yuzawa Jun's previous words had already torn off the veneer of civility, so Kurokawa Etsu naturally no longer held any respect for him.
"I placed many bombs on this ship," Yuzawa Jun said calmly. "The experint's completion originally required silencing everyone. Now, Beixing's attack has disrupted my plan, but it has rely moved the detonation ti forward a bit."
"B, bombs?!"
Kurokawa Etsu was utterly shocked.
He hadn't expected Yuzawa Jun to be so ruthless, doing such a thing behind everyone's back.
"Don't forget Beixing has already used teleportation interference items!" Kurokawa Etsu shouted after regaining his composure. "If you detonate the bombs, you can't teleport away either!"
"I don't need to teleport away."
As he spoke, Yuzawa Jun shed his clothes.
His lower body was already a serpent's tail. The torso of his upper body was completely composed of seven heads. Six of them had their eyes tightly shut, while the top one looked expressionlessly at Kurokawa Etsu.
"The Yamata no Orochi originally ca from the deep sea. Do you really think I would fear the ship's destruction?"
With a thud, Kurokawa Etsu collapsed onto the floor.
His mouth agape, he stared at the monstrous form of Yuzawa Jun before him, his mind completely blank.
"With the research data and materials, I just need to find another place. Creating a true, massive Serpent Slave Army is only a matter of ti. When that day cos, I will repay Beixing in full for the humiliation they have given
today."
"..."
Kurokawa Etsu had nothing left to say, sitting slumped on the floor.
He had always known cooperating with Yuzawa Jun was like making a pact with a tiger, but he hadn't expected the latter's betrayal after crossing the river to be so brutal. If only he had known earlier...
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Explosive flas instantly engulfed him. Bombs had been installed in multiple barrier-protected cabins, and their successive detonations imdiately plunged the freighter's interior into a sea of fire.
The sudden, violent explosions also caught everyone on the deck off guard.
Guan Tong hadn't expected bombs to be on the ship; his previous shadow reconnaissance hadn't detected them. Thinking about it now, the bombs must have been hidden inside the cabins protected by barrier tools.
Now, the large ship issued successive roars as its hull continuously listed. The vast number of containers it carried lost stability, crashing down one after another.
Guan Tong shielded Chen Na with one arm while manipulating his shadow to transform into several large hands to catch the containers crashing toward the group.
But he couldn't protect everyone alone. People continued to be struck and killed or directly fell into the sea. Accompanied by the serpent slaves' shrill roars, the scene on the ocean was like a horror movie.
"The ship is sinking! All personnel, evacuate imdiately!"
The Captain's order was relayed. Transport helicopters lowered rope ladders one after another, allowing soldiers to climb up or grab hold to leave the freighter.
As for the containers continuously crashing and falling into the sea, neither the Captain nor Guan Tong could do anything.
If the Sakura Prayer people inside were conscious, they might have been able to save themselves or evacuate with the soldiers. However, these Sakura Prayer people were all in a drug-induced deep sleep. Combined with the containers being imnsely heavy, they sank rapidly upon hitting the water, making rescue impossible.
The mbers of the investigation team also grabbed the rope ladders lowered by the helicopters, flying away with them.
Guan Tong looked down at the gradually sinking large freighter, frowning.
Did Yuzawa Jun blow up the ship to perish together? But would soone like him die so easily?
"Brother Guan!"
At that mont, Chen Na, whom he was holding, suddenly spoke.
"I sense soone rapidly moving away... they're hiding in the water!"
Guan Tong's gaze sharpened. "Where exactly?"
"Over there!" Chen Na raised her hand and pointed in a direction. "That guy is moving so fast, he's almost out of my Perception Domain's range!"
Upon hearing this, Guan Tong imdiately released his grip on the rope ladder. His shadow transford into a long board supporting his feet. After hitting the water, he swiftly chased in the direction Chen Na indicated.
He was certain the one escaping through the water was Yuzawa Jun. This guy absolutely could not be allowed to get away; the future troubles would be endless.
Uenoshi, not far away, saw Guan Tong's action. Her heart stirred, and she actually also abandoned rescue, jumping into the water and chasing after him in the direction he was moving.
Reviews
All reviews (0)