42: The final farewell ceremony

The black iron ghost glided silently across the dark river surface, like a black scalpel cutting through the night.

Although he had left the area of chaotic rock formations, Jiang Ran was not in a hurry to maximize speed. He was waiting.

"Commander, data decryption is complete."

zero's voice echoed in the quiet bridge.

At the same time, a red-marked encrypted folder popped up on the holographic screen.

This was extracted from the personal terminal of Li Sen, the squad leader of the previous "Ark."

Although that arrogant elite Captain was dead.

The tablet he left behind, however, became the most valuable loot in Jiang Ran's hands.

"Although that guy named Li Sen was an idiot, his level of clearance was higher than I expected."

Jiang Ran leaned back in the command chair, his finger sliding across the virtual screen, browsing the top-secret documents restored by zero.

Most of them were personnel transfer and purge lists related to the Ark Project, which were of little significance to the current Jiang Ran.

But at the very bottom of the folder, an offline map labeled [Logistics Node · Backup] caught his attention.

The map showed a specially marked yellow pentagram near the Jiangcheng Sports Center, less than fifteen kilometers from their current course. The notes were simple, yet enough to make one's heart pound:

[Material Type: Heavy Ammunition / Radiation Isolation Equipment / VLS Vertical Launch Unit Reserve Munitions]

[Status: Sealed (3 personnel remaining)]

[Extraction Authority: Squad Leader B-Class or higher]

"VLS reserve munitions..."

Jiang Ran savored these four words, his gaze involuntarily drifting toward the foredeck.

Although the terrifying twin-barreled Electromagnetic Railgun was already installed there.

But for a 500-ton displacement frigate, relying only on the main gun was clearly insufficient.

When facing dense aerial targets or swarms of small underwater speedboats, using a cannon to swat a fly is not only inefficient but also wastes energy.

He needed more flexible and concentrated firepower coverage. In other words—missiles.

"zero, scan the target area."

Jiang Ran straightened up, a faint blue light flashing in his eyes: "Since these are 'backup' supplies, it means the Ark personnel haven't had time to move them.

Rather than letting them rot in the water, or be picked up by some random stray cat or dog..."

A smile of certainty appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Why not let them serve as travel funds for leaving this novice village, sending me off on my journey."

"Course correction."

"Target: Jiangcheng Sports Center."

"Full speed ahead."

Jiangcheng Sports Center.

This magnificent building, which once accommodated sixty thousand people.

Now, only a massive, disc-like white steel structure roof remained, floating alone on the water's surface.

Several dark green military rainproof tents were set up on the slightly flatter maintenance platform of the roof.

Three soldiers wearing Ark standard issue Exoskeletons.

Were huddled under the rain shelter, smoking damp cigarettes and cursing the damned weather.

"Damn it, did the people at Headquarters forget about us?"

A soldier with a face full of stubble spat fiercely:

"Li Sen's squad has been out of contact for two days, and there's still no explanation.

They just dumped us in this godforsaken place to guard this pile of junk?"

"Stop complaining. Guarding supplies is better than going to the front line to die."

Another younger soldier fiddled with the terminal in his hand.

He glanced at the two quad-barreled Close-In Weapon Systems next to him, which were automatically rotating and scanning:

"Besides, with this thing here, unless the enemy comes in a submarine, anyone who shows up dies."

Just then, the third soldier, who had been silent, suddenly frowned.

He put down the binoculars in his hand, looking confusedly at the dark river surface ahead.

"What is it?"

His companion asked.

"The radar isn't responding..."

The soldier muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the darkness: "But... don't you guys think the sound of the rain has changed?"

"The sound of the rain?"

The other two paused, instinctively cocking their ears to listen.

Crash—the heavy rain was still falling, and the sound seemed no different.

But immediately after, the stubbled soldier's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw a scene he would never forget. In mid-air, less than fifty meters from the platform.

The raindrops, which should have been falling straight down, seemed to hit an invisible wall, sliding and splashing eerily outwards.

In that void of air, the rain outlined a massive, suffocating silhouette.

It was streamlined, sharp at the front, like a gigantic deep-sea beast, silently gliding just above the water.

There was no engine roar.

No lights. Only the displaced airflow and the oppressed water surface silently heralded the arrival of some terrifying existence.

"Wh-What is th..."

The young soldier's voice caught in his throat, and the gun in his hand froze halfway up.

Beep—Beep—Beep—

The indicator light on the nearby Close-In Weapon System radar was still green, signaling safety.

The fire control system rotated the muzzle blankly, trying to find the enemy that was right there, but found nothing.

This feeling of watching death approach while the technology they relied on most was blind was more devastating than facing a muzzle directly.

"Enemy attack!!!"

The stubbled soldier finally let out a shrill scream, breaking the silence: "Ghost! It's the Ghost!!!"

However, it was too late.

The massive transparent silhouette was already hovering directly above them.

Like an invisible mountain, it blocked all the rain, and also blocked their final escape route.

"Don't open fire, don't waste ammunition."

Inside the black iron ghost's bridge, Jiang Ran held a cup of coffee, his eyes indifferent as he watched the three red dots on the holographic screen—

Those were the three soldiers who were now paralyzed with fear on the ground.

In his eyes, these men and the so-called Close-In Weapon Systems were no more threatening than ants on the roadside.

"If I blow this place up, and the high-explosive warheads inside accidentally detonate, my spoils will be gone."

Jiang Ran put down the cup and lightly swiped his finger across the auxiliary control panel, activating the long-dormant behemoth on the aft deck.

"Mechanical Arm, unlock."

"Let it go down and grab something."

...On the roof of the Sports Center, the rain poured down.

The stubbled soldier's finger was on the trigger, but he hesitated to pull it.

Because he felt that the massive, invisible shadow above was slowly descending.

The suffocating feeling, like Mount Tai pressing down, made the bones throughout his body cry out.

"Click—Bzzzz—"

Suddenly, a grating sound of metal friction came from the void above.

Immediately afterward, the air beneath the formerly transparent behemoth suddenly distorted violently.

A gigantic three-fingered steel claw, covered in pitch-black Bio-metallic Armor, materialized without warning.

It was like the Hand of God reaching out from the clouds, descending with irresistible majesty and heavily clamping down on the thick, blast-proof roof of the VIP lounge.

"BOOM!!!" A deafening crash.

Under the terrified gaze of the three soldiers.

The reinforced concrete roof, which could only withstand ordinary mortar shelling.

Was as fragile as a piece of thin tin foil before this steel behemoth claw.

The steel claw tightened, and the hydraulic pump let out a low roar.

Accompanied by the grating sound of tearing metal.

The entire section of the roof, hundreds of square meters in size, was forcibly "ripped" off.

Revealing the neatly stacked, dark green military ammunition crates beneath.

Those crates of ammunition, marked with conspicuous yellow radiation warnings and the words "High Explosive."

Were now exposed to the downpour and Jiang Ran's gaze, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

"That's them."

Jiang Ran's lips curled slightly.

The Mechanical Arm rotated flexibly; the massive steel claw did not appear clumsy despite its size.

On the contrary, it displayed astonishing precision.

It was like a giant picking up candy, carefully yet incredibly accurately reaching into the ruins.

"Click."

In the first scoop, five half-ton ammunition crates were firmly grasped.

"No... those are ours..."

The young soldier subconsciously tried to raise his gun, but the stubbled soldier next to him immediately pinned his arm down.

"Are you crazy?!"

The stubbled soldier's face was pale, and his voice trembled:

"That's a monster that can turn invisible in the sky! What can your lousy gun do? Give it a scratch?!"

"Don't move! Anyone who moves dies!"

Thus, under the washing of the heavy rain, this absurd scene unfolded.

Three fully armed "Ark" elite soldiers stood there like three stunned dummies.

Watching helplessly as the massive black steel claw reached down again and again.

Taking the strategic supplies they had guarded with their lives for half a month.

Crate after crate was grabbed and sent into the invisible black hole above their heads, as if the claw was taking its own property.

Ten minutes later.

The VIP lounge, once filled with supplies, became empty, with not even a decent piece of sheet metal left.

"Gulp—"

It was a sound of satisfaction, as if after a full meal.

The huge Mechanical Arm slowly retracted, disappearing back into the void.

The oppressive shadow above began to rise, and the surrounding curtain of displaced rain became chaotic once more.

It was gone.

Just as it came, it left without a word, not even bothering to look at these three ants.

Leaving behind only a devastated ruin, and three soldiers trembling in the wind and rain, their worldviews completely shattered.

"Materials loaded, cargo bay locked."

zero's emotionless report announced the end of this unilateral looting operation.

The black iron ghost slowly adjusted its position.

A deep blue wake sprayed from the stern, like a giant beast lazily departing after a satisfying meal.

Leaving the roofless stadium far behind.

Jiang Ran did not immediately return to the command chair.

Instead, he stood alone on the aft observation deck of the bridge.

Through the rainproof glass, he gazed one last time at the city where he had lived for two lifetimes.

The rain grew heavier, as if the Heavenly River had poured down.

At the end of his sight, the Radio and Television Tower, which once represented Jiangcheng's highest skyline and stood four hundred meters tall.

Now, only a solitary lightning rod remained, stubbornly piercing the water surface.

That was the city's final tombstone.

"Crash—"

A muffled roar came from afar, seeming to be a submerged skyscraper finally collapsing under the strain.

The resulting black giant wave, like a massive hand, mercilessly slapped the lightning rod.

That faint red aviation warning light flickered one last time in the massive wave before being completely swallowed by the darkness, leaving no trace.

Jiang Ran looked at the water surface, which had returned to dead silence, his eyes as deep as an ancient well.

With the extinguishing of that light, Jiangcheng—

The place that held countless memories for him.

Whether as a bustling metropolis or as a ruin in the apocalypse, it was completely erased from the map at this moment.

From now on, this was merely an underwater graveyard burying millions of departed souls.

"Hoo..."

Jiang Ran pulled the silver windproof lighter from his pocket and lit a cigarette with a "snap."

He took a deep drag, and the spicy smoke circulated in his lungs.

It carried away a hint of indescribable melancholy. But only a hint.

In this era where human lives were cheaper than grass, sentimentality was an extremely expensive luxury.

"Goodbye."

Jiang Ran whispered to the void of darkness outside the window.

Afterward, he extinguished the cigarette he had only taken two puffs from in the ashtray.

He turned and walked toward the command console, his steps firm, never looking back.

The past belonging to the ordinary Jiang Ran had sunk to the bottom along with the city.

The one standing here now was the Captain of the black iron ghost, the Abyssal Walker who was about to conquer this abyss.

"zero, full speed ahead."

"Target: Downstream Canyon Channel." "Take us out of here."

The black iron ghost's full-speed journey did not last long.

About half an hour after leaving the Jiangcheng ruins, the wide river surface began to narrow rapidly.

The mountains on both banks, originally submerged, gradually revealed their black spines, like massive floodgates.

Forcing the surging floodwaters into a long, narrow canyon channel.

This was the famous "Ghost Gate Pass" canyon section of the lower Yangtze River.

"Warning: External air quality index dropping rapidly."

"High concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, Cadaverine, and unknown biological toxins detected."

"Recommend activating fully enclosed internal circulation mode."

zero's urgent alarm broke the tranquility inside the bridge.

In fact, Jiang Ran and Su Qingyu already sensed that something was wrong, even without zero's warning.

Despite the protection of the Klein Field and multiple air filtration systems.

Yet, facing the stench that seemed capable of piercing the soul, any physical barrier seemed pale and ineffective.

That was not the smell of ordinary decay.

It was a mixture of fermented biogas, putrefied fat, and a sickeningly sweet odor of death.

It was like being locked in a morgue without power for half a month, forced to inhale the leaking corpse fluid.

"Ugh..."

Su Qingyu, who had just walked into the bridge, instantly turned pale, covered her mouth, and dry-heaved, quickly retreating to the medical bay to fetch a breathing mask.

Jiang Ran frowned.

Although he did not have such a strong physiological reaction after his genetic enhancement.

That sticky, nauseating feeling still made him uncomfortable.

"Is this what the outside world is like?"

He stood up and walked to the control console:

"zero, turn on the bow searchlight."

"I want to see what exactly smells this foul."

"Buzz—"

Two blinding xenon light beams instantly tore through the darkness ahead, shining directly onto the water surface deep within the canyon.

However, the sight that greeted him.

Caused Jiang Ran, a survivor accustomed to the horrors of the apocalypse, to have his pupils contract sharply to pinpricks.

The water was gone.

Within the beam of the searchlight.

The black river surface, which should have been turbulent, had now turned into a ghastly white "land."

That was neither foam nor garbage.

It was corpses. Millions of them, dense and layered.

There were men and women, old and young.

They were swollen and shiny from the water, pressed together like massive white balloons, gently rising and falling with the ripples.

This was the drainage point for floodwaters from several mega-cities upstream.

Tens of millions of victims were washed down by the floods, all eventually jamming up at this narrow canyon bottleneck.

They accumulated, rotted, and fermented here, forming a "Corpse Float Mat" several kilometers long and unknown meters thick.

Even the black iron ghost's bow, which was capable of slicing through steel.

Emitted a muffled sound, like cutting into fat and bone, as it sliced into this Corpse Tide.

"Screech—Squish—"

The ship's speed plummeted. This wasn't water resistance; it was corpse resistance.

"This is... the Stench Channel."

Jiang Ran looked at the scene before him, which resembled a scroll painting of hell, his voice terrifyingly low.

He finally understood why this place was called "Ghost Gate Pass."

This was not just a visual shock; it was a physiological death blow.

Beneath this Corpse Tide, toxic biogas was accumulating, and countless mutated plagues were breeding.

And beneath this silent white float mat.

Something small seemed to be frantically wriggling and weaving between the rotting flesh.

The path ahead was no longer clear.

Instead, it was a restricted zone belonging to the dead and the scavengers.