85: Core overclocked by 150%! Optical stealth startup, this is the real ghost ship!

At this moment, his usual sloppy and lazy appearance was long gone.

A fanatical fire burned in those cloudy old eyes, like a mad modifier replacing the heart of a racing car.

Before him lay a pile of [Rhenium-Nickel Single Crystal Alloy] that had just been refined from the furnace.

It had been recast into twelve uniquely shaped turbine blades and two massive Vector Nozzle liners shimmering with a dark gold luster.

“These beauties...”

Seeing Jiang Ran walk in, Old Chen immediately jumped down, pointing at the new components with a finger covered in black oil, his voice trembling:

“Do you know what these are? They are an industrial miracle!”

He stroked the mirror-smooth alloy surface, even pressing his face against it to feel the icy touch, his expression full of intoxication:

“Our previous reactors were powerful, but it was like putting two bicycle wheels on a Ferrari.

As soon as the output power exceeded 80%, the nozzles would overheat and deform, even risking melting.

We’ve been dancing in shackles!”

Old Chen turned abruptly and slapped the massive thruster assembly behind him hard:

“But it’s different now.

This is high-temperature resistant single-crystal rhenium stripped from an aviation engine!

Its melting point is as high as 3000 degrees, and its creep resistance is twenty times that of ordinary titanium alloy!”

“With this, we can give this nuclear heart a truly indestructible iron throat!”

“Install it.”

Jiang Ran watched Old Chen's frenzied state without interrupting, simply giving a brief command: “I want to hear its voice.”

“Hehe, I'll let you hear a real bang!”

Under Old Chen's direction, the Mechanical Arms precisely embedded those dark gold alloy blades, one by one, into the thruster's main shaft.

As the final nozzle liner locked perfectly into place with a 'click,' the entire power system modification was complete.

“core ignition! Cooling circuits fully open! Thruster preheating!” Old Chen lunged at the console, his hands blurring as he typed on the keyboard.

“Vroom—”

The reactor emitted a dull, low growl.

This time, that energy was not suppressed.

As Old Chen slammed down the power valve, a violent stream of blue plasma instantly surged into the brand-new thruster chamber.

“Boom!!!”

The expected violent vibration did not occur.

On the contrary, the vibration of the entire ship actually decreased.

In its place was a high-frequency, pure whistling sound.

It was no longer the sound of water being crudely churned, but the aerodynamic shriek produced when high-pressure fluid is extremely compressed and ejected.

Like a jet fighter igniting in the deep sea.

The values on the holographic screen began to jump wildly.

【Thruster Nozzle Temperature: 2200 Degrees (Stable)】

【Thrust Output: 120%... 140%... 150%!】

【Warning: Entered Overclocking Mode, but core component structural integrity is 100%, no signs of overheating!】

“Do you see it?! Do you see it?!”

Old Chen pointed at the thrust data surging into the red, dancing with excitement, spit flying all over the screen:

“150% overload! And it hasn't even touched the red line!

As long as there's enough fuel, this ship can now hit a super high speed of 50 knots underwater!

At this speed, even those mutated deep-sea sharks can only eat our bubbles!”

Looking at the stable indicators, a satisfied curve finally appeared at the corner of Jiang Ran's mouth. Speed was survival.

In an environment like the deep sea, an extra knot of speed often meant the difference between life and death.

“This is no submarine...”

Old Chen wiped the oily sweat from his face, looking at the machine that was still steadily roaring, and muttered to himself:

“This is an underwater rocket on a chain.”

“Good job, Old Chen.”

Jiang Ran patted Old Chen's oil-stained shoulder: “With this heart, we have the capital to venture into that minefield.”

“However, just running fast isn't enough.”

Jiang Ran turned around, his gaze shifting toward the bridge, a mysterious light flashing in his eyes:

“In those waters filled with eyes, we also need to learn how to... disappear.”

...Leaving the sweltering power room, Jiang Ran returned to the cold and silent bridge.

Compared to Old Chen's fanatical pursuit of mechanical violence, what was happening here was a more precise and mysterious evolution.

“zero, is the analysis of that ‘phased array radar’ core processing chip stripped from the gunboat finished?”

Sitting in the Commander's seat, Jiang Ran swiped his fingers lightly in the air, pulling up an extremely complex holographic structural diagram.

It was the microscopic structure of the black iron’s surface “Bio-active Armor”—

Under the microscope, that layer of dark silver metal was not a solid block, but was composed of countless micron-sized hexagonal crystals stacked like scales.

They were like living skin cells, still slightly breathing and undulating.

“Analysis complete, Commander.”

zero embedded a virtual chip model into the holographic diagram:

“Although the logic units of this chip are damaged, its original ‘phase control algorithm’ used to control radar beam deflection is still perfect.

If transplanted into our Biological Armor control center...”

“Then it extends the control of ‘waves’ from radar waves to light waves.”

Jiang Ran took over the conversation, his eyes flashing with an almost cold, rational light:

“Previous camouflage relied on changing colors to blend into the environment; that’s a chameleon's trick, too low-level.

Slightly stronger optical detection could see through it.”

He suddenly clenched his fist, and the countless tiny crystals in the holographic diagram instantly shifted their angles in unison:

“What I want isn't color change, but ‘disappearance’.

Let light flow around this ship like water flows around a rock.”

“Logical bridge established.”

“Biological crystal array... Phase synchronization activated.”

As zero's command was issued, a visual spectacle worthy of a physics textbook occurred on the exterior of the black iron.

The massive hull, which had been moored in the dim waters with a dark silver metallic luster, suddenly began to become “unstable.”

It wasn't that the ship was shaking.

Rather, the billions of microscopic biological crystals covering the hull's surface, under the control of the phase algorithm, simultaneously performed micron-level angular deflections.

“Hum—”

A strange sense of visual distortion instantly enveloped the entire warship.

Like a piece of transparent jelly thrown into water, or a mass of hot air distorted by high temperature.

From the outside...

The previously clear outline of the hull began to blur and fade, and the surrounding scenery—

The pitch-black river water, distant reefs, even floating dust—eerily “penetrated” the hull.

Appearing on the other side of the ship.

Light was being bent.

It did not reflect off the hull but slid past along that force field, deceiving the eyes of all observers.

“Open external self-check perspective.”

Jiang Ran looked at the footage sent back by the drone on the screen.

In the image, the forty-five-meter-long steel beast was gone.

In its place was a faint, distorted transparent outline like a ghost.

Only when it moved rapidly would it produce a barely perceptible ripple due to the disturbance of background light.

“That’s it.”

Jiang Ran nodded with satisfaction, looking at the newly generated system icon—【Optical Deflection Field】.

“Before, we were assassins hiding in the shadows.”

“Now...”

He looked at that nearly perfect void: “We are the shadow itself.”

“Dr. Su, Old Chen, return to your positions.”

Jiang Ran's voice broadcast throughout the ship, carrying a murderous aura after being fully prepared:

“Whether it's speed, firepower, or stealth, we are now armed to the teeth.

Now, it's time to go into that ‘Death Minefield’ and teach the people of the Ark a lesson.”

...All the sounds of debugging had subsided.

The black iron was like a deep-sea torpedo on a launch countdown, quietly suspended in the shadow of an underwater canyon fifty kilometers from the estuary.

At this moment, it was no longer the modified ship pieced together in that wasteland stone forest.

The 【Optical Deflection Field】 covering the entire ship was running at full power, perfectly erasing its massive body from visual and optical detection.

And inside the hull...

The heart reinforced with 【Rhenium-Nickel Single Crystal】 was outputting terrifying power in an amazingly low-noise mode.

Driving the brand-new magnetohydrodynamic and water-jet hybrid thrusters, it maintained absolute silent hovering in the water.

It was invisible, inaudible, yet omnipresent.

This was the ultimate form of a peak Lv5 bio-mechanical ship—the Abyss Ghost.

Inside the command cabin, the lights were set to a dark red tactical mode.

Jiang Ran sat in the Commander's seat, his gaze sweeping over the all-green indicators displayed on the holographic screen, then glancing at the two people on his left and right.

Su Qingyu was wearing that silver “Shadow Dancer” armor; although her faceplate was open, her entire being exuded a sharpness like an unsheathed blade.

Old Chen stood guard at the power monitoring console.

Those hands, always covered in oil, were now extremely steadily fine-tuning the reactor's output parameters, his eyes focused and fanatical.

“Is everyone ready?”

Jiang Ran's voice was low, yet clearly reached everyone's ears.

“Power system redundancy at 100%, ready for an overclocked sprint at any time.”

Old Chen grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: “Even if there's a wall of brass and iron ahead, this ship can smash a hole through it for you.”

“Medical and life support systems normal, weapon modules unlocked.”

Su Qingyu's voice was as cold as ice: “Ready to engage the enemy at any time.”

“Very good.”

Jiang Ran nodded, lightly tapping in the air to enlarge the area at the very front of the nautical chart.

There, dense red skull markers formed a desperate death blockade—

It was a smart naval minefield left over from the old era, a forbidden zone that even the Ark dared not easily enter.

Moreover, it was the only path to that “Containment Zone No. 0.”

In the past, facing such a minefield, Jiang Ran might have chosen to take a detour or use drones to clear the mines bit by bit.

But now... “zero, activate active phase interference.”

Jiang Ran looked at the flashing red lights, his eyes showing no trace of fear, only the arrogance of a top predator:

“We don't need to clear mines.”

“We just need to make them... unable to see us.”

“Command confirmed.”

“Entire ship entering 【Phantom Stealth】 mode.”

As zero's cold voice fell, the water around the black iron suddenly underwent a strange distortion.

That distortion was not just optical, but also acoustic and magnetic.

It was like a drop of ink blending into the ocean, completely losing all physical characteristic signals.

“Depart.”

Jiang Ran pushed the power lever.

The massive ghost warship glided silently through the deep sea.

Like an invisible shadow, it cut straight into that dreaded death minefield.

At that moment, the deep-sea hunt officially began.