The light faded.
At the bottom of the massive crater violently torn open by the T-X robot lay an irregular blue crystal.
It wasn't large, only about the size of a fist.
Yet the halo it emitted seemed to possess physical substance, forming ripples of blue light in the surrounding air.
Qin Yu controlled his mech, slowly descending to the bottom of the crater.
Even through the thick S-Class Alloy Armor, he could feel the rhythmic pulsation emanating from the object.
Like a heartbeat.
A heart belonging to the ocean.
Qin Yu bent down.
His mechanical hand opened, carefully grasping the blue crystal.
It felt icy cold.
Even transmitted through the armor's force feedback system, the soul-piercing chill made Qin Yu shiver.
Immediately after.
The system prompt in his mind, which had always been emotionless, suddenly became urgent.
[Ding! Ultra-high energy level item detected!]
[Item Name: Ocean Soul Crystal Mother (Fragment One)]
[Current Rating: ??? (Energy fluctuations exceed S-class detection range, preliminary assessment indicates potential above SSS-class)]
[Item Description: This is the anchor point of the world, one of the cornerstones maintaining the rules of this apocalyptic sea.]
[Special Note: System database comparison indicates this crystal mother has five fragments scattered throughout the sea.]
[Collect all five fragments to reforge the "Ocean Soul Heart," at which point the host will gain the authority to break through the system level cap and touch this world's... "truth."]
Qin Yu's pupils sharply contracted.
Break through the level cap?
Touch the truth?
He had always found this apocalypse suspicious.
Global unconsciousness, waking up on a raft, and this game-like survival system.
There must be an invisible hand manipulating everything behind the scenes.
And this object in his hand...
Seemed to be the key to uncovering what lay behind the curtain.
"Five fragments..."
Qin Yu gazed at the deep blue crystal in his hand, his eyes growing profound.
Faint, complex patterns were carved on this fragment.
Resembling an incomplete nautical chart.
Almost impossible to notice without careful observation.
"It seems my days won't be boring from now on."
A playful smile curled at the corner of Qin Yu's mouth.
Since there was "One," there must be "Two" and "Three."
No matter what monsters and demons lurked behind this.
As long as he gathered all five stones, even the highest authority would have to bow before Qin Yu.
"Store."
With a thought from Qin Yu.
The "Ocean Soul Crystal Mother" instantly vanished from his mechanical hand, stored in the deepest space grid of his system.
However.
The moment the crystal disappeared.
A sudden change occurred.
"Boom——!!!"
A dull, massive roar instantly reverberated throughout the entire Underwater Garden.
Like a supporting pillar suddenly removed from a great structure.
The previously calm space began violently shaking.
Above their heads.
The transparent bubble film that had been isolating them from the five-hundred-meter deep sea pressure began flashing wildly.
The once-bright iridescent glow was visibly dimming at an alarming rate.
Crack!
A crisp sound echoed through the air.
Like shattering glass.
Qin Yu looked up.
A hundred-meter-long fissure had appeared across the massive membrane overhead.
Black seawater began seeping through the crack.
Descending like a waterfall of darkness.
"Alert! Alert!"
Yao Qian's voice crackled through the comms, trembling with tears.
"Brother Qin Yu! The membrane is breaking!"
"Atmospheric pressure is dropping rapidly!"
"The water pressure will crush us!"
"Run! We'll be buried alive if we don't!"
The entire Underwater Garden was collapsing.
The ground fractured beneath them.
The Demon Flowers, already torn apart by the T-X Robots, now emitted piercing shrieks.
They seemed to sense their impending doom.
All their roots tore free from the soil, writhing like countless green snakes across the ground, desperately seeking escape.
"Run?"
Qin Yu observed the chaotic scene around him.
Yet he remained unmoved.
His gaze fixed on the convulsing Demon Flowers.
The system had warned him earlier.
These things were highly toxic, powerfully hallucinogenic, and possessed terrifying vitality.
In this apocalyptic world.
Beyond guns and artillery.
Sometimes poison proved more effective.
Especially this kind that could lull victims to eternal sleep in beautiful dreams.
If he could bring them back, extract their toxins, coat bullets or create poison gas...
The possibilities delighted him.
"Since we're already here, we can't leave empty-handed."
Qin Yu smirked coldly.
He had this habit.
Of never missing an opportunity.
They'd spent considerable fuel for this trip - just taking one stone wouldn't cover the costs.
"T-X, orders!"
Qin Yu shouted.
"Forget the drills!"
"Switch to harvest mode!"
"Collect every plant - roots, stems, leaves - compress them into storage!"
"Even the mud - take two pounds of it!"
The idle T-X Robots instantly activated, their optical sensors glowing crimson.
[Command Confirmed]
[Storm Harvest Mode Activated]
Bzzzt—
The drills on their arms retracted, replaced by high-speed rotating alloy blades.
Like tireless farmers.
Or ruthless plunderers.
They charged into the chaotic sea of flowers.
Squelch! Squelch!
Green sap splattered everywhere.
The shrieking, writhing Demon Flowers fell before the spinning blades as easily as tissue paper.
While cutting, the robots opened their abdominal storage compartments.
Massive blossoms and thick vines were brutally stuffed inside.
Even the pollen-contaminated soil was scraped up and stored.
"Brother Qin Yu! Have you gone mad?!"
Li Ruobing screamed through the comms.
"Water's pouring in from above!"
"That's five hundred meters of water pressure!"
"We'll be crushed into paste!"
Overhead.
The cracks multiplied.
What were thin streams now became massive columns of water.
Crashing thunderously to the ground.
The entire space groaned under the strain.
Soil flew everywhere.
Rubble tumbled down.
The dreamlike bubble verged on complete destruction.
Qin Yu glanced at the T-X Robot's loading progress bar.
"Not enough yet."
He narrowed his eyes.
He even took matters into his own hands.
The thrusters on the back of the S-class battlesuit emitted a burst of air current.
Like a giant black eagle, he swooped down toward the largest "Flower King."
The flower, having had half its roots severed by the T-X earlier, was now dragging its mangled body, trying to burrow into a crevice.
"Trying to run?"
Qin Yu grabbed the vine thicker than a thigh.
His mechanical hand clenched with immense force.
"Get over here!"
"Squeak——!!!"
The Flower King let out a desperate shriek.
The hydraulic assist system in Qin Yu's arm instantly output maximum power.
"Snap!"
The enormous purple flower disc, over three meters in diameter, was brutally yanked back.
"Package it!"
Qin Yu casually tossed the Flower King to a nearby robot.
"Retreat!"
Without a moment's hesitation.
"Recall the robots!"
Several flashes of white light.
The fully loaded T-X Robots instantly vanished, returning to the system space.
And at that very moment.
"Boom——!!!"
The already precarious membrane overhead finally collapsed completely.
The sensation.
Was like the sky caving in.
Billions of tons of seawater, with apocalyptic force, came crashing down.
The former bubble space was instantly flooded.
The terrifying impact pulverized the remaining rock pillars on the ground into dust.
"Go!"
Qin Yu shouted.
All thrusters of the S-class battlesuit erupted at full power.
"Whoosh!"
Blue exhaust flames carved a long vacuum trail through the water.
Qin Yu shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.
No.
Like an intercontinental Missile surging against the current.
He charged upward head-on against the colossal cascade of seawater.
Immense water pressure slammed against the armor.
Emitting an ear-grating creak.
[Warning! External pressure exceeds critical value by 120%!]
[Warning! Armor integrity dropped to 95%!]
His vision was filled with white bubbles and turbid silt.
Chaos.
Destruction.
Yet Qin Yu's gaze remained terrifyingly calm.
He stared fixedly at the radar navigation on his visor.
His hand gripping the control stick tightly.
"Break through... damn it!"
The battlesuit roared.
Speed surged once more.
He traced an eerie arc through the water, dodging a massive rock plummeting with the current.
Then.
Just before the collapsing ruins could bury him completely.
He burst out of the crumbling chasm.
Returning to the vast depths of the ocean.
...
"Splash!"
Beside the President, the sea surface erupted in a huge spray.
A black figure soared into the sky, scattering mist everywhere.
Executing a graceful flip mid-air.
"Thud."
He landed steadily on the deck.
Sunlight.
Sea breeze.
And the lingering aroma of grilled meat.
Qin Yu unsealed his visor.
Took a deep breath of the salty air.
"Phew..."
"The air up here is fresher."
He stretched his stiff neck.
Water dripped steadily from his battlesuit.
"Brother Qin Yu!"
Three figures immediately rushed over.
Yao Qian's eyes were red, clearly frightened earlier.
Li Ruobing circled Qin Yu excitedly, tapping on his armor.
"So tough, Boss!"
"The radar showed that pit had completely collapsed, but you still managed to charge out!"
Yao Xue remained silent.
She simply walked forward quietly, holding a prepared handkerchief, and wiped the water droplets from Qin Yu's face.
Then she adjusted her glasses, her gaze falling on Qin Yu's still-dripping mechanical hand.
"Did you get it?"
Her question was brief.
Qin Yu smiled.
With a flip of his palm,
the blue fragment of the Ocean Soul Crystal Mother appeared in his hand.
Under the sunlight,
the crystal no longer appeared as eerie as it had in the deep sea.
Instead, it became utterly transparent, as if containing a miniature ocean sealed within.
Li Ruobing leaned in, her large eyes filled with curiosity.
"It doesn't look particularly special—similar to a sapphire."
"Don't underestimate it."
Qin Yu tossed the crystal lightly.
"This is essentially a fragment of the property deed for this sea."
"With it, our words will carry weight in these waters from now on."
After speaking, he stored the crystal away again.
Turning to Yao Xue, he said,
"By the way, there's another interesting item."
"I think you'll be interested."
Qin Yu snapped his fingers.
"T-X, unload."
In an empty spot on the deck, a flash of light appeared.
Several large piles of green plant debris materialized out of thin air.
These were the "spoils" salvaged from the seabed moments earlier.
An intense, sweet fragrance instantly permeated the air.
"Cover your nose and mouth!"
Yao Xue's expression changed abruptly, and she shouted immediately.
Reacting swiftly, she pulled several gas masks from her pocket and tossed them to Yao Qian and Li Ruobing.
She put one on herself as well.
"Is this the hallucinogenic flower from earlier?"
Yao Xue crouched in front of the plant debris.
Even through the mask, her eyes gleamed with fervor as she observed the twitching broken branches—
the passion of a doctor encountering a rare case or a scientist discovering a new element.
She took out a scalpel and carefully sliced open a vine.
Green sap oozed out.
Falling onto the deck, it emitted a faint sizzling sound.
Even the specially treated anti-corrosion wood showed signs of corrosion.
"Such potent toxicity."
Yao Xue's voice, muffled by the mask, still carried excitement.
"This isn't just a hallucinogen."
"It's a powerful neurotoxin with strong corrosive and penetrating properties."
"If an ordinary person's skin comes into contact with a single drop, they'll lose consciousness within three seconds."
"Within ten seconds, their nervous system will be paralyzed."
She looked up at Qin Yu.
"Every part of this plant is valuable."
"Give me three days."
"I can refine at least twenty bottles of Grade S concentrated venom."
"Even..."
Yao Xue paused, a cold glint flashing across her glasses.
"I could try combining it with your incendiary bombs."
"To create 'Hallucinogenic Toxic Mist Incendiary Bombs.'"
"Once detonated, even if the fire doesn't kill, the poison will."
"And if the poison doesn't finish them, the hallucinogenic effects will make them slaughter each other, mistaking allies for monsters."
Hiss—
Li Ruobing and Yao Qian both gasped sharply beside her.
Li Ruobing swallowed hard and shrank back.
"Sis Xue..."
"You always seem so gentle and refined."
"I never expected you to be even more ruthless than Brother Yu."
"If these were thrown into a crowd, wouldn't that be... catastrophic?"
Yao Xue glanced at her coolly.
"Mercy toward the enemy is cruelty to oneself."
"This is a surgeon's principle."
"Some rotten flesh must be excised, and the method doesn't matter."
Qin Yu burst into hearty laughter.
He walked over and wrapped his arm around Yao Xue's shoulders, paying no mind to the plant juices staining her clothes.
"Truly my wife."
"Your thinking aligns perfectly with mine."
"Our firepower is already formidable."
"But sometimes, direct confrontation wastes too much ammunition."
"With this kind of dirty weapon, when we encounter those who favor human wave tactics—like that scum Zhang Nanhai—"
"It'll make things much easier."
Qin Yu gazed at the massive pile of green "treasure" before him.
His mood was excellent.
This trip had been immensely profitable.
Not only had he obtained the key to the world's truth,
but he had also acquired such a powerful weapon.
"Alright, don't just stand there."
"Ruo Bing, Qian Qian, help move these into the freezer."
"Be careful ot to cut your hands."
"Yao Xue, make a list of any equipment you need and let me know."
"If it's not in the warehouse, we'll just... borrow it."
Qin Yu stretched lazily.
By now, the sun had fully risen.
Golden sunlight spilled across the sea surface.
The slaughter of last night and the terror of this morning seemed to dissipate with the sunlight.
But Qin Yu knew.
This was only the beginning.
He looked toward the distant, boundless horizon.
In his mind surfaced the faint patterns on that Ocean Soul Crystal Mother.
Four more pieces remained.
This world was vast.
Many people wanted a piece of this cake.
But since Qin Yu had already taken a seat at the table,
he had no intention of letting anyone else touch the utensils.
"Set sail."
Qin Yu turned and walked toward the cockpit, his voice calm yet resolute.
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