26: Stealth impact! A devastating crushing force at sea.

And so, under Li Sen's terrified gaze...

He saw that black nightmare, covered in burning fragments and blood.

Like an ancient giant beast, it crushed his wingman, and then... a flash of light and shadow.

It disappeared once again into the vast rainy night.

Leaving only a mass of burning wreckage on the water and a few faint cries for help.

"Old Seven! Old Seven!!!"

Li Sen's eyes were nearly bursting as he frantically pulled the trigger in that direction.

But the bullets passed through the firelight, hitting only the empty water.

At this moment, fear completely shattered the psychological defenses of this elite squad.

"It's invisible! It's completely invisible!"

The pilot of the remaining Ark-08 completely broke down; ignoring Li Sen's orders, he frantically turned the rudder full lock, trying to turn around and flee.

"Don't run! Maintain formation!!" Li Sen roared.

But it was useless.

Jiang Ran's voice, like a death sentence, came through the communication channel:

"Run?"

"In these waters, without my permission..."

"No one leaves."

The pilot of the "Ark-08" assault boat had gone completely mad.

He had seen with his own eyes that black iron ghost with thousands of tons of kinetic energy tear Boat Seven to pieces in an instant.

This visual impact directly shattered all his psychological defenses as an elite soldier.

"Die! Don't come over! Don't come over!"

He pushed the throttle to the floor, the two diesel engines emitting overwhelmed black smoke.

The stern propellers churned the water frantically, attempting to escape these deadly waters.

However, in the face of the Lv3 black iron ghost's 60-knot top speed, this escape speed was like a snail racing a cheetah.

"Too slow."

Jiang Ran looked at the red dot on the radar trying to pull away and shook his head with an indifferent gaze.

He didn't even need to use another collision to finish the opponent.

A collision would scratch the newly grown Biological Armor; it wasn't necessary.

"zero, open the broadside Close-In Weapon System..."

Jiang Ran paused, remembering that he had prioritized stealth and electronic systems during the upgrade and hadn't had time to install cannons yet.

So he changed his words: "Never mind, kill it with a wave."

"Course correction, cut into the enemy ship's path at full speed."

[Command confirmed.]

The stealthy black iron ghost carved a strange arc in the water.

With nearly double the speed of the opponent, it was like a bolt of black lightning, instantly overtaking the fleeing Boat 08.

Then, Jiang Ran suddenly turned the rudder full right.

The massive hull drifted sideways on the water, the power system kicking up a giant wake three meters high.

Like a collapsing wall of water, it slammed hard against the fragile side of Boat 08.

"Boom—Crash!"

Before the giant wave, which carried the hardness of steel, the small assault boat instantly lost its balance.

It was like a soda can flushed down a drain.

It flipped and capsized directly, then crashed heavily against a lamp post protruding from the water.

"Bang!"

The fuel tank ruptured, and flames soared.

In less than two minutes.

Of the three arrogant "Ark" elite squads, two were completely wiped out.

Only the last one remained—the 09 command boat where Li Sen was.

By now, Li Sen had stopped his meaningless blind firing.

His face was as pale as paper, and looking at the burning wreckage around him, his hands trembled so much he couldn't even hold his gun.

He wanted to run too, but he knew he couldn't.

That monster was nearby, watching him from the darkness.

"Come out... come out for me!!"

Li Sen roared desperately at the empty rainy night: "Have the guts to fight face to face! What kind of skill is hiding in the dark!"

"As you wish."

This time, the voice no longer came from the radio, but exploded directly from above his head.

Li Sen looked up stiffly.

He saw that in the air less than ten meters above him, the rain was suddenly pushed aside by some invisible force field.

Then, that massive, pitch-black streamlined bow slowly exited optical stealth mode.

It was like a towering black mountain, silently hovering above the side of the 09 command boat.

That immense sense of pressure made Li Sen feel like an ant being stepped on by a boot.

"Clack—" The rear deck of the black iron ghost made a heavy sound of mechanical operation.

That heavy hydraulic Mechanical Arm that had once wreaked havoc in the Logistics Park.

Now strengthened and covered in a layer of bio-metal armor, it looked even more sinister and powerful.

It slowly extended, its giant three-fingered steel claw opening under Li Sen's terrified gaze, looming over the entire cockpit of the command boat.

"No... wait! We can talk! I have money! I have..."

"I gave you a chance just now."

Jiang Ran stood on the high bridge, looking down at the man who had just wanted to press-gang him into hard labor.

"Now, it's too late."

"Hum—"

The Mechanical Arm slammed down.

"Creeeeak!!!"

The sound of twisting metal rang out. The giant steel claw didn't directly crush the cockpit but instead precisely grabbed the command boat's bow and keel.

Like an iron hand squeezing a plastic toy duck.

Dozens of tons of hydraulic force erupted.

Li Sen felt the entire boat vibrate violently, and then... it was airborne.

His boat was being lifted bodily out of the water by the opponent!

The roar of the idling engine became exceptionally piercing, but in the face of absolute power, this bit of power was meaningless.

"zero, lock it down."

Jiang Ran turned around, no longer looking at the captive dangling in mid-air.

"Drag it onto the rear deck."

"Dr. Su, prepare your scalpel.

But this time, it's not to save someone."

A cold, sharp light flashed in Jiang Ran's eyes:

"I'm going to pry his mouth open and see what secrets the so-called 'Ark' is hiding."

... "Clang!" A loud noise.

The "Ark-09" command boat, held firmly in the air by the Mechanical Arm.

Like a bag of trash, it was thrown heavily onto the wide rear deck of the black iron ghost.

The ship's keel made a sound of being overstrained and snapping, and the cockpit glass shattered everywhere.

Li Sen, his face covered in blood, crawled out of the deformed hatch in a wretched state.

That fall just now had broken two of his ribs, and the intense pain made it almost impossible for him to stand straight.

But he didn't dare stop.

Because he saw a pair of feet wearing tactical military boots stepping through the rainwater, walking toward him step by step.

"Don't... don't kill me!"

Li Sen ignored his so-called elite dignity and fell to his knees on the water-logged deck with a thud.

Raising his hands above his head, his voice trembled out of tune: "I am a high-ranking officer of the Ark! If you kill me, you'll be wanted across the entire territory!

Keep me... keep me for ransom! You can get a lot of supplies!"

"Supplies?"

Jiang Ran stopped and looked down at the man begging like a dog, a mocking sneer curling his lips:

"Do you think I'm short of supplies right now?"

He pointed to the warship armed to the teeth beneath his feet, then to the wreckage floating on the surrounding water.

"As for you, didn't you just say you wanted my doctor to provide 'housekeeping service' for you?"

At the mention of this, Li Sen's body shuddered violently.

He felt the flash of killing intent in Jiang Ran's eyes.

"A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

Li Sen kowtowed frantically: "Big brother! Lord! I was blind and didn't recognize greatness! Please be magnanimous..."

"Enough, cut the crap."

Jiang Ran stepped on Li Sen's chest, pinning him flat on his back on the deck.

The cold, glinting tactical machete in his hand lightly patted Li Sen's cheek.

"I'll ask, you answer.

If there's a single lie, I'll chop you up and feed you to the fish at the bottom of the water."

"Yes, yes, yes! Ask away! I'll tell you everything!" Li Sen was so scared that tears and snot flowed freely.

"First, what exactly is your so-called 'Ark Project'?"

Li Sen swallowed hard, looking around with a terrified gaze, and said tremulously:

"That's... that's a top secret launched by the authorities six months ago.

The higher-ups knew this rain would come long ago... no, it's not just the rain.

They knew this was a 'cleansing'."

"Cleansing?"

Jiang Ran's eyes narrowed slightly. This word matched the information from the stone tablet.

"Yes... the experts said this is a forced rewrite of Earth's ecology."

Li Sen spoke extremely fast, fearing he'd be killed if he was too slow: "To preserve the seeds of humanity, they established seven giant fully-enclosed biospheres in the Inland Plateaus, code-named 'Ark'.

There are independent air circulation and water purification systems that can isolate the Heavy Water and radiation outside."

Beside them, Su Qingyu's fists clenched tightly upon hearing this.

So the authorities knew all along but chose to hide it, establishing shelters for only a few.

"Second."

The cold blade in Jiang Ran's hand pressed down slightly, cutting a layer of Li Sen's skin:

"Why are you here? Don't tell me you were just passing by."

"It's for the 'Fireseed'!"

Li Sen screamed and spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube: "Our radar detected a high-frequency signal under the Museum!

The mission from the superiors was to recover that thing at all costs!

They call that black stone tablet the 'Fireseed'!"

"What use is that thing?"

"I... my rank isn't high enough. I only know it's the key to opening the door to a new world, or rather... some kind of 'pass'."

Li Sen panted: "Supposedly there are twelve such stone tablets in the world, and the Ark has only obtained one so far.

Whoever controls the stone tablets can control the direction of this evolution!"

Twelve pieces.

Jiang Ran's heart stirred.

It seemed the one under the Museum was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Very good."

Jiang Ran withdrew his foot, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

Seeing this, Li Sen thought he had saved his life and quickly scrambled up, a flattering smile squeezed onto his face:

"Lord, I've told you everything I know.

Do you think... you could let me go?

I won't say a word when I go back, I can be your inside man! I can..."

"Let you go?"

Jiang Ran looked at him with an indifference that suggested he was looking at an idiot.

"You just threatened to kill me and insulted my crew member."

"In this post-apocalyptic world, not pulling up the roots when cutting the grass is a major taboo."

"What? You're not keeping your wor—"

Li Sen's pupils dilated suddenly; before he could finish, a sharp, cold light flashed through the rainy night.

"Puchi."

The machete in Jiang Ran's hand didn't hesitate, precisely slicing his throat.

鮮血噴湧而出， 瞬間被暴雨衝刷。

Li Sen clutched his neck, making a gurgling sound.

He looked at Jiang Ran in disbelief, his body slumping down, twitching a few times before becoming still.

Jiang Ran expressionlessly flicked the blood off his blade and turned to look at Su Qingyu, whose face was somewhat pale.

"Think I'm cruel?"

Su Qingyu looked at the corpse on the ground, remained silent for a few seconds, then shook her head, her gaze becoming firm:

"No. If he had won, our fate would have been ten thousand times worse than this."

"Good."

Jiang Ran walked over and kicked Li Sen's body into the water like trash.

"zero, record the intel."

"Keywords: Ark Project, Twelve Fireseeds, Ecological Cleansing."

He looked up toward the Museum in the distance, which was still emitting the lure signal, his eyes burning with the flames of ambition.

"Since the authorities are all fighting for this 'Fireseed', it must be more precious than gold."

"Originally I just wanted to go take a look, but now..."

Jiang Ran turned toward the cockpit, his silhouette appearing exceptionally tall in the rain.

"This stone tablet, I'm definitely taking it."