132: Survival by cutting the cable

The gale was like a blade, instantly shredding the thick mist over the sea.

At the edge of the horizon.

An ocean-going freighter even larger than No. 0819 was suddenly exposed under the moonlight!

It turned out another survivor team was hiding there.

But before that sky-reaching tentacle, this steel behemoth was as fragile as Lego bricks.

Crack—!

The tentacle simply gave a casual coil.

The giant ship was snapped clean in half!

Flames exploded!

People on the ship fell like dumplings into a pot.

Before they could even hit the water, they were sucked up and swept away by suckers as large as millstones on the tentacle, disappearing without even a splash.

It was too fast.

Only the span of two heartbeats.

Hundreds of lives, along with that giant ship, were forcibly dragged into the bottomless, pitch-black abyss.

Gurgle... A few massive bubbles rose to the sea surface.

Then, the tentacle slowly retracted, vanishing beneath the waves.

"It wasn't... targeting us?"

Xia Mo's palms were drenched in cold sweat as she gripped her blade, her legs feeling somewhat stiff.

That unspeakable monster was just passing by, grabbing a midnight snack on its way.

But the true crisis was only just beginning.

"Grip the handrails! The wave is coming!" Xia Mo barked into the walkie-talkie.

Rumble!

As the massive object entered the sea, a towering wave crashed toward them like a black wall!

No. 0819 rocked violently, the cables snapping taut and creaking incessantly.

Screams and the sound of vomiting echoed from the lower deck, as if everyone had been tossed into a drum washing machine.

The massive wave didn't just strike the ship; it surged over the dyke, frantically ransacking the container area on the Dock.

Crash—!

As the tide receded, a pile of trash and silt was spat out.

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

"Help... someone pull me up! I don't want to die!"

From the gaps between the collapsed blue containers, several figures were swept out by the wave, rolling miserably in the muddy water.

It was that one-armed Man with Glasses and his accomplices!

These people were truly hard to kill!

They had just escaped the beast tide, only to be washed out by the great wave.

Each one looked like a drowned rat, their mouths filled with the taste of salt and blood, their eyes wide with terror.

"Shut up!"

Xia Mo's eyes sharpened, but it was already too late to stop them.

Those pig-slaughtering howls were like turning on a subwoofer on the Dock.

In the distance.

The tail end of the beast tide, which had been gradually moving away, suddenly halted.

In the darkness, dozens of eyes glowing with a faint red light turned in unison.

Those were... starving beasts that had caught the scent of a buffet.

"Roar—!!"

A low growl erupted.

The scent of blood from those living humans on the Dock was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil in the sea breeze.

It ignited instantly!

"Run! Run!"

"The monsters are coming!"

An accomplice screamed, scrambling on all fours to crawl into the gaps between the containers.

It was already too late.

Several Wind-Blade Mutant Hounds with festering skin were the fastest, their hind legs, showing red and white muscle, propelling them over ten meters in a single leap.

Crack!

One accomplice, still searching for his glasses lens, didn't even have time to turn around before his neck was snapped by a mouth full of fangs.

Blood sprayed three meters high, splashing directly onto the mutant's face!

The remaining accomplices were driven mad with fear, scurrying around like headless flies.

The Man with Glasses watched this bloody scene and suddenly lunged upward.

His single arm exploded with surprising strength as he grabbed the cable hanging from No. 0819.

"Let me up! Let me up, quickly!"

His legs tightly coiled around the thick cable as he desperately wormed his way up.

Behind him, over a dozen mutant beasts had already lunged to the base of the ship, frantically gnawing at the cable!

Soon they were piling on top of each other like a human pyramid, the monsters trying to reach the soles of his feet.

Veins bulged on the Man with Glasses' single arm, his expression hideous and distorted:

"Pull me up! We're all human! Are you even human if you just watch me die?!"

"I'm a Talent! I'm still useful..."

"Don't push me! Or I'll smear blood all over your ship! If I'm going to die, we're all dying together!!"

Moral kidnapping plus death threats—he was very practiced in this combo.

At the bow.

The sea breeze made her black leather coat flutter, outlining the woman's graceful yet lethal curves.

Xia Mo rested her hand on the hilt of her blade, looking down coldly at the Man with Glasses.

Beneath the cable, a dense swarm of beasts was gathering.

The stench was almost reaching the deck.

"Save you?"

Xia Mo tilted her head, her beautiful eyes devoid of any warmth.

"You think you're worthy?"

Before she had even finished speaking.

Half an inch of the famous blade, sword name, left its scabbard!

"No! You can't—"

The Man with Glasses' pupils shrank to the size of pinheads, reflecting the ultimate terror of death.

He hadn't expected this woman to be so ruthless!

Shua!

No nonsense.

A flash of blade light passed, and the wrist-thick nylon cable was sliced through as cleanly as a noodle.

The Man with Glasses felt the weight suddenly vanish from his hand.

He began to freefall under the pull of gravity!

"You bitch! I won't let you off even as a ghost—AAAAHHH!!"

He clawed wildly at the air, finally falling into the swarm of beasts below with a desperate curse.

Over a dozen mutant hounds swarmed him.

Like a piece of fatty meat dropped into a meat grinder.

The sounds of tearing and chewing, mixed with his shrill screams, were particularly chilling in the night.

In just three seconds.

The screaming stopped.

Only a set of bloody white bones draped in shredded rags remained on the ground.

"A ghost?"

Xia Mo sheathed her blade, her thumb gently stroking the cool tsuba.

"If a ghost dares to come, I'll kill the ghost too."

At that moment.

The scent of blood completely ignited the bestial nature of the monster swarm.

"Awoooo—!!"

More and more monsters surged toward the Dock, a dense black mass.

They trampled over the corpses of their own kind, frantically charging at the narrow Gangplank connecting to the Dock.

If it fell, everyone on the ship would die.

"Come on!"

Xia Mo stepped forward, standing at the very edge of the Gangplank.

In this moment, she was no longer the artistic girl who loved to paint.

She was Chen Du's blade, an S-rank Talent holder.

Puchi!

The first rotting wild dog leaped high, trying to use its speed to bypass the defensive line.

Xia Mo didn't even blink.

She sidestepped, drew her blade, and slashed horizontally!

Her movements were as smooth as flowing water, so fast that only afterimages could be seen.

The wild dog was split in two mid-air, its internal organs freezing into ice shards before they even hit the ground.

The frost effect attached to Shadow Assassin!

"The first one."

Xia Mo flicked her wrist, stylishly shaking the blood droplets off the tip of her blade, her gaze sharp: "Next!"

Then came the second, the third... The Gangplank was only so wide, allowing only two or three small monsters to pass at a time.

It became a natural meat grinder.

Xia Mo was like a tireless harvester.

Every strike of her blade inevitably took a life.

She didn't even need much technique, as long as she was fast enough and ruthless enough... Gradually...

Her leather coat was splattered with black, foul-smelling blood.

Sweat slid down her cheeks.

It flowed into her eyes, stinging sharply.

"Huff... huff..."

Xia Mo's breathing remained steady, but her gaze grew increasingly solemn.

There were too many of these beasts; the speed at which frost formed on her blade was struggling to keep up with the influx of monsters.

"Number 107."

She counted coldly.

Her left foot retreated slightly,

Dodging a mutant dog's sneak attack by a hair's breadth, she pinned it to the Gangplank with a backhand strike.

Meanwhile.

Inside the lower deck.

The muffled sounds of impact and the roars of monsters weighed heavily on every girl's heart.

"Sister Xia Mo... she's fighting all by herself..."

"There are so many monsters outside... are we going to die?"

A few timid girls huddled together, not even daring to cry out loud.

The air was thick with despair and the stench of urine.

At this moment.

Tang Ran suddenly stood up and kicked over a wooden crate in front of her.

She ripped off her cumbersome sports jacket, leaving only a black sports tank top.

Especially those well-defined abs; she was full of wild energy.

"Shut the hell up, all of you!"

Tang Ran roared, stunning the sobbing girls into silence.

"Crying? Can crying kill the monsters?"

She wiped the cold sweat from her face, her eyes fierce: "The Captain said this ship doesn't house useless people!"

"Xia Mo is up there risking her life alone, and we're hiding down here?"

She suddenly raised her Spiked Club: "I'm not going to just sit here and wait for death! If you've got any spine, come up and fight with me!!"

In the corner.

A series of mechanical gear-clicking sounds rang out.

Xia Lai had already equipped her mechanical arm, "Madman No. 1".

"Even though I, your second sister, am afraid of dying..."

"But this ship is my modification! No one is allowed to break it!"

She raised the mechanical arm; the crossbow bolt slot was already loaded.

The two women looked at each other.

Their legs were still trembling, and their hearts were beating so fast they felt like they would explode.

But they did not back down.

"Open the hatch!"

Tang Ran roared, leading the charge toward the staircase.

"Mao Mao, get moving!"

"Even if you die, take a few bites out of them for me!"