"Stealth mode confirmed."
Li Ruobing's fingers left a blur on the console as she forcefully pressed the red enter key.
Clank, clank, clank—
A grating screech of metal instantly filled the ship's cabin.
The liquid metal that had been spread across the deck like quicksilver moments ago suddenly seemed to come alive.
It surged frantically up the ship's sides, covering all observation windows and seams in the blink of an eye.
The originally silver-white hull turned into a deep, abyssal blue within a second.
It merged seamlessly with the nuclear-waste-tainted seawater surrounding it.
"Ballast water tanks, flooding."
"Vent valves, closed."
"Dive."
Qin Yu sat in the command chair, the beer can in his hand slightly deformed from his grip.
With the intervention of the "Quantum Ghost" system, the view outside the windows vanished.
It was replaced by a virtual deep-sea landscape constructed on the holographic screen.
Gurgle—
Massive bubbles erupted around the hull.
The steel behemoth that had been strutting its stuff on the surface moments ago now plunged headfirst into the pitch-black depths like a depth charge.
"Depth 50 meters."
"Depth 100 meters."
"Depth 300 meters. Reached designated cruising depth."
Li Ruobing's voice was as calm as a machine's, but the fervor in her eyes was impossible to hide.
"Engine overload, 120%!"
"Thrusters, full power!"
VROOM—!!!
The ship jolted violently.
An immense G-force pressed everyone firmly back into their seats.
Yao Qian let out a startled cry, the chips she was holding scattering across the floor.
"This is too fast..."
"We're just getting started."
Qin Yu glanced at the speed indicator on the console.
There, red digits were madly climbing.
80 knots.
100 knots.
120 knots!
Against water resistance, this speed was practically defying physics.
But with the dual enhancements of the S-class Charging Module and Liquid Metal Drag Reduction, the current "President" was a supersonic missile racing through the seabed.
"Quantum Ghost Jammer operating normally."
"Sonar signature erased."
"Thermal signature shielded."
Li Ruobing looked back at Qin Yu, raising an eyebrow.
"Now, unless they stick their heads in the water and look with their own eyes, their radar will think we're just a slightly oversized whale, even if we pass right under their ship."
Qin Yu smiled.
A hunter's smile.
"A whale?"
"No."
"A shark."
"The man-eating kind."
...
Two hours and forty minutes later.
This place was once known as the "East Sea."
Now, it was hell.
The sea surface was littered with countless wooden splinters and charred corpses.
The air reeked of gunpowder smoke and the acrid stench of burnt flesh.
BOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion.
The massive Floating Fortress hovering above the sea rocked violently. The glow of its protective shield instantly dimmed to its absolute limit, flickering like a candle in the wind.
"Warning! Warning!"
"C-section armor plating breached!"
"Power furnace pressure critical!"
"Energy Shield remaining: 3%!"
Qi Chun was drenched in sweat, slumped over the control panel, the walkie-talkie in his hand soaked through.
"Hold the line! Hold it, damn it!"
"Divert all backup power!"
"Anyone who retreats, I'll shoot them myself!"
But it was useless.
Right in front of him.
A two-hundred-meter-long black icebreaker was charging like a mad bull, slamming violently into the fortress's base.
The ship's bow was welded with a massive, spiked ram.
That was the flagship of Odin's top warrior, the "Berserker" — the Polar Bear.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Fatso! Still not dead yet?"
On the deck of the Polar Bear, a bare-chested, burly man covered in red tattoos was laughing maniacally, one foot propped on the railing.
In his hand, he held a chainsword still dripping with blood.
Behind him stood rows of thugs clad in exoskeleton armor.
"How much longer can your turtle shell hold out?"
"Three minutes?"
"Or two?"
The Berserker spat, his eyes greedily fixed on Qi Chun's battered yet still imposing Floating Fortress.
"This thing belongs to me now!"
"All hands, listen up!"
"Charge the main cannons!"
"Blow that damn membrane open!"
"Get inside! Kill all the men! Loot all the supplies!"
"Roar—!!!"
The thugs on the ship let out beast-like howls.
Three pitch-black main cannons slowly rotated, their barrels glowing with a deadly red light.
Qi Chun despaired.
Watching the charging cannons, he collapsed to the floor.
Three hours.
He had truly held out for three hours.
But Brother Yu...
Where are you?
"Is heaven truly going to end me, Qi Chun..."
Qi Chun closed his eyes, two clear tears tracing paths through the grime on his face.
Just then.
The Polar Bear's sonar operator suddenly tore off his headphones, his face a mask of terror.
"B-Boss!"
"What is it? Why the panic!"
The Berserker kicked the sonar operator in the rear.
"Spit it out!"
"Below... there's something below!"
The sonar operator pointed at the pitch-black radar screen, his voice trembling.
"There's nothing on radar..."
"But the passive sonar picked up... picked up..."
"Picked up what?!"
"A heartbeat!"
The sonar operator swallowed hard.
"A massive... mountain-like heartbeat!"
"Right beneath us!"
The Berserker paused, then burst into laughter.
"A heartbeat? Have you lost your mind?"
"What in the deep sea has a heartbeat besides mutated giant squids?"
"Even if it's a squid, would it dare mess with my S-class Icebreaker?"
"Ignore it! Fire the cannons!"
"Boom—"
Before his words faded.
The previously calm sea surface suddenly began to boil.
Not just in patches.
But for miles around, the seawater churned violently as if brought to a rolling boil!
Countless bubbles surged up from the depths, bursting into white foam.
"What's happening?!"
The Polar Bear rocked violently.
The Berserker nearly lost his balance, grabbing the railing to steady himself.
"N-no... something's wrong!"
The lookout in the crow's nest let out a piercing scream.
"It's coming up... it's coming up!!!"
"What's coming up?!"
The next second.
Everyone fell silent.
Because they no longer needed to ask.
"Crash——!!!!!!"
An earth-shattering roar.
On the left side of the Polar Bear, less than fifty meters away.
The previously calm sea surface suddenly exploded!
A black, streamlined steel peak radiating a cold metallic sheen burst forth from the water!
A massive wave surged over ten meters high, crashing directly onto the deck of the Polar Bear, drenching those still howling thugs into soaked chickens.
Too big.
Too fast.
This ship was like a ghost that had emerged from hell.
Without any warning.
Without any radar alert.
It just appeared right before everyone's eyes.
Seawater cascaded down the pitch-black hull.
Revealing the menacing turret and the layer of liquid armor shimmering with an eerie blue glow under the sunlight.
And.
The man standing at the highest point of the bow, a cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of mineral water in his hand.
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Even the sea breeze seemed to have stilled.
Berserker's jaw dropped, his chainsword clattering to the ground with a clang.
He stared at the colossal warship before him, which was larger and countless times more advanced than his icebreaker.
His mind went completely blank.
"What... what kind of monster is this?"
Just then.
The external loudspeaker on the giant ship crackled to life.
No static.
Clear as if someone were speaking right beside his ear.
"Yo."
"Quite lively here."
Qin Yu's voice lazily echoed across the entire sea.
He stood at the bow of the President, looking down at the group of fools below from his commanding height.
A trademark smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Sorry about that, just passing through."
"Didn't mean to interrupt your fun."
"But..."
Qin Yu pointed at the nearly disintegrated Floating Fortress not far away.
"That fat guy owes me money."
"A lot of money."
"If you kill him, who am I supposed to collect from?"
Berserker finally snapped back to reality.
After all, he was Odin's top enforcer, a man who killed without blinking.
Though startled by this dramatic entrance, his inherent ferocity remained.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Daring to meddle in the affairs of 'Ragnarok'?"
"No matter where you're from, believe me, I'll rob you too!"
Qin Yu sighed.
He turned his head and spoke to the empty air behind him.
"Ruo Bing."
"Here."
"See, I told you."
"Kids these days have too much temper."
"No manners."
Qin Yu turned back to look at the still-bellowing Berserker below.
His eyes instantly turned cold.
A chill more piercing than polar glaciers.
"Who am I?"
"I'm that dead man ranked last on your pathetic list."
As soon as the words fell.
"Clank, clank, clank—"
At the bow of the President, the Kiss of Death, which had been dormant, suddenly raised its head.
The folded barrel instantly extended.
The pitch-black muzzle pressed directly against the forehead of the Polar Bear.
Too close.
So close that Berserker could even see the swirling blue energy vortex gathering inside the barrel.
"Let me introduce you."
Qin Yu flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"This is my reasoning."
"Now."
"May I meddle?"
An overwhelming, utterly inescapable aura of death.
"An S...SSS-class weapon?!"
"You're... Qin Yu?!"
That name, long forgotten by people, declared as a "missing person."
At this moment.
It felt like a heavy hammer smashing into everyone's chests.
"Correct."
Qin Yu snapped his fingers.
"Too bad, no prize."
"BOOM—!!!"
The Berserker was given no time to react at all.
"Kiss of Death" roared.
But not in "Void Mode."
Not even with conventional high-explosive shells.
Qin Yu used—a Gravity Shell.
A shell shimmering with a purple halo fired instantly.
It didn't strike the ship's hull.
Instead, it hit the air directly above the Polar Bear.
"Hum—"
A visible ripple instantly spread out.
[Gravity Field: Tenfold!]
The next second.
A teeth-grating sound of metal twisting erupted.
"SCREECH—CRACK!!!"
Everyone aboard the Polar Bear was slammed to the deck as if by an invisible giant hand.
The knees of the standing thugs shattered instantly!
"AHHH!!!"
Screams filled the air.
But even more terrifying was the ship itself.
An S-Class icebreaker, its keel incredibly sturdy.
Yet under the sudden pressure of tenfold gravity,
the entire ship crumpled like a stepped-on soda can.
The deck caved inward.
Masts snapped.
Even the waterline was forcibly pressed down by two meters!
Seawater flooded in madly.
"You... what did you do..."
The Berserker lay flat on the deck, face pressed against it, his internal organs nearly crushed.
He stared in terror at the man standing above, looking down at them like ants.
"Nothing much."
Qin Yu shrugged.
"Just giving you all a little extra weight."
"After all, you're young."
"A bit more pressure gives you motivation."
"Ruo Bing."
"Bring the ship alongside."
"Take over their fire control system."
"Tell that fat guy."
"Drop the protective shield."
"Come out and clean up."