89: Invading the deep blue! So what if the whole world is our enemy? A new deep-sea overlord has arrived!

"Ang—"

The monster's sorrowful cry had just left its mouth when it was choked back by the surging seawater.

Its massive body crashed heavily back onto the sea surface, kicking up a terrifying tidal wave even greater than before.

And amidst that sky-filling rain of blood and wreckage...

The black iron ghost was like a red-hot dining knife, without slowing down in the slightest, carrying an indomitable momentum as it directly sliced through the monster's churning corpse and the turbid seawater.

"Target silenced."

"Course... clear."

Following zero's cold announcement...

The black iron broke through the final blood mist. Although the hull was covered in the monster's bodily fluids, it appeared even more ferocious and domineering under the lightning's glow.

Stepping over the corpse of the old era overlord, it officially crossed that boundary between life and death... breaking through that thick blood mist and wreckage, the world seemed to be split into two halves in this instant.

A clearly visible dividing line lay across the turbulent sea surface.

On this side of the line was the tailwater of the Yangtze River, still carrying silt and appearing a turbid yellow-green;

On the other side of the line was a deep, cold, ink-black that seemed capable of swallowing all light.

That was the true deep blue, so deep that it became black.

The black iron ghost did not hesitate for a moment, its bow cutting through that dividing line as it plunged headlong into that heart-palpitating black ocean.

"Beep— Depth alarm.

Sonar failed to find bottom... it's empty below."

Old Chen stared at the seabed contour line that had suddenly disappeared from the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty:

"We've crossed the line.

This is the edge of the continental shelf. The water depth... instantly exceeds a thousand meters."

From a river channel of a few hundred meters to suddenly entering a thousand-meter abyss, this feeling of being suspended in mid-air could be clearly felt even through the thick hull of the ship.

The surrounding ocean currents instantly became violent and chaotic.

The waves here were no longer like the lapping waves in the river.

Instead, they were like collapsing mountain peaks, carrying hundreds of millions of tons of seawater, 'smashing' down fiercely from a height of dozens of meters.

"Rumble—!!!"

Every impact of the surging waves was like a heavy hammer striking a steel plate, emitting a dull, thunderous roar.

This pure, great power from nature, carrying a cold malice, was far more oppressive than that Leviathan just now.

It was warning the intruders: This is the domain of gods, mortals stay away.

However, the black iron at the center of the storm showed amazing adaptability.

"Zizi..."

The bio-active armor covering the entire ship...

Stimulated by the high-salinity seawater and immense water pressure, it actually emitted a pleasant low hum, like a biological whisper.

The dark silver armor surface automatically secreted a layer of hydrophobic grease, its microstructure rapidly reorganizing and hardening.

It no longer resisted the impact of the waves head-on, but instead, like a slippery black fish, it skillfully deflected those waves of lethal striking force.

Amidst the sky-high waves, this steel warship rose and fell, yet remained as steady as a rock throughout.

"All indicators normal, salinity adaptation good, hull structural stress... perfect."

Su Qingyu looked at the data, a flash of brilliance in her eyes:

"It likes it here.

Compared to the narrow and filthy inland rivers, this abyss is its true home."

Jiang Ran stood on the violently heaving deck, his feet unmoving as if they had taken root.

He looked out the window at the seemingly endless black waves.

That oppressive deep-sea aura seeped in through the vents, carrying a biting chill.

But he did not shrink back; instead, he took a deep breath.

"Since we've entered."

Jiang Ran's fingers lightly tapped the helm, feeling the unyielding resilience coming from the hull: "Then don't think about turning back."

...The physical storm had just been adapted to by the hull, but a storm in the electronic world followed closely behind, pressing down overwhelmingly.

"Beep— Beep— Beep—!!!"

The communication terminal inside the bridge suddenly erupted in an unprecedentedly urgent buzzing. It wasn't someone calling.

Rather, the intensity of the electromagnetic signals permeating the air was simply too high, so high that it directly triggered the black iron's passive defense warning.

"Warning: High-orbit radar lock signal detected."

zero's voice remained without a ripple, but the red warning boxes refreshing on the screen were startling:

"Signal source: Zenith direction.

Identification code: Ark 'Sky Eye' satellite array.

They are locking our coordinates from space."

Jiang Ran looked up, as if his gaze could penetrate the thick hull and the clouds tens of thousands of meters high.

He saw those electronic giant eyes hanging in space, coldly watching this sea area.

At this moment, that feeling of 'being isolated by the world' became incomparably concrete.

Immediately after, the white noise on the public channel was forcibly suppressed.

That loathsome, metallic Ark female broadcast voice echoed in the bridge once again.

Only this time, its coverage was no longer the Yangtze River basin, but the entire globe across all frequencies.

"...Notice to all global war zones... S-class Extermination Order is now in effect..."

"...Target code name 'black iron', confirmed as the number one threat to human civilization..."

"...Authorizing all global armed forces, including but not limited to orbital bombardment and tactical nuclear strike authority, to ensure its complete eradication..."

Every single word was a declaration to all survivors on this planet: This ship must die.

This was a malice coming from the entire old world order.

It was heavier than the deep-sea water pressure and sharper than the fangs of a giant beast.

"Ha... Hahahaha!"

A sudden burst of wild laughter broke the oppression brought by the broadcast.

Old Chen grabbed that deformed stainless steel wine bowl, laughing so hard he doubled over, tears nearly coming out.

He pointed at the string of bounty numbers on the screen that was long enough to make one dizzy, his fingers trembling:

"Orbital bombardment? Tactical nuclear strikes?

Listen! Listen to this! Those bastards are actually going to pull out their most prized treasures for our 'broken ship'!"

Old Chen took a fierce swig of wine, his face full of drunkenness and arrogance:

"It's worth it! Something I built in my life can force the Ark to this point... it's damn well worth it!

This isn't a wanted poster, this is the highest certificate of honor being issued to me!"

Su Qingyu did not laugh.

She stood quietly before the porthole, watching the ink-black, violently churning waves outside.

In the depths of that endless darkness, it seemed there were countless greedy eyes peering in.

Countless muzzles were turning from all over the world, pointing at this insignificant coordinate.

"The whole world as the enemy," Su Qingyu softly murmured those five words.

She turned around, looking at the figure still sitting steadily in the command seat, a flash of complex light in her eyes:

"Jiang Ran." "Hmm?"

"Now, the whole world is hunting us down."

Su Qingyu's voice was very light, sounding somewhat ethereal amidst the thunder: "There is no road to heaven, no door to the earth. Are you... afraid?"

"Afraid?"

Jiang Ran did not answer immediately.

He slowly fished out that box of long-dampened cigarettes from his pocket and lit one.

The flame flickered and died in the dim bridge, illuminating his sharp-featured profile, which was as calm as a pool of stagnant water.

He took a deep drag, the acrid smoke swirling in his lungs, taking away his exhaustion but igniting a deeper wildness.

Jiang Ran stepped to the very front of the bridge, his hands propped on the cold bulletproof glass.

Beyond that were black waves dozens of meters high, pressing down like collapsing mountains.

It was a sky full of thunderstorms, and also the greatest malice the entire world could show him.

"Dr. Su, you've got one thing wrong."

Jiang Ran exhaled a puff of blue smoke, the smoke hitting the glass and instantly dissipating:

"In this wasteland where the weak are prey for the strong, only the lambs waiting to be slaughtered would fear the howling of wolves.

Only the weak would worry about being hunted."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over Old Chen's laughing face.

Sweeping over Su Qingyu's hands tightly gripping her dagger, and finally fixing on the scarlet wanted poster on the holographic screen.

"The Ark thinks this piece of paper can scare us to death, or get the whole world to besiege us."

Jiang Ran gave a cold laugh, reaching out and lightly tapping on that wanted poster from a distance:

"But they are wrong.

This isn't some death warrant at all."

"This is certification.

It is the fearful wail emitted by the overlords of the old era when they have no choice but to bow to the challenger of the new era."

Jiang Ran's voice suddenly rose, penetrating the thunder and exploding in everyone's ears:

"S-class wanted poster?

That is the medal of the strong—personally awarded to us by the Ark!"

The moment his words fell, Jiang Ran's hand suddenly gripped the power lever and, without any hesitation, pushed it directly to the bottom!

"Sit tight!"

"Let them see exactly who is hunting whom!"

"Buzz— Rumble!!!"

Deep in the bottom hold, that nuclear heart erupted in an unprecedented roar.

The black iron ghost's mountain-like hull vibrated violently at this moment.

The magnetofluidic thrusters at the stern sprayed out two hundred-meter-long blue flames, boiling the pitch-black seawater behind them.

Facing the thousand-ton black wave ahead that was enough to crush a ten-thousand-ton ship, the black iron did not evade in the slightest.

It raised its proud bow.

Like a black sharp sword thrown by a god, carrying an indomitable determination and dominance, it pierced fiercely into that wall of water connecting heaven and earth!

"Crash—!!!"

The giant wave shattered. The sky-filling seawater was smashed into pieces, turning into a rainstorm covering several miles.

Amidst that sky-filling spray and lightning, the black iron ghost broke through the waves and soared into the air.

It traced a ferocious and beautiful arc in mid-air, then crashed heavily between the wave troughs, splashing up ten thousand feet of billows.

It no longer looked back.

It left that turbid Yangtze River, that burning Floating City, and that narrow inland river world all behind it.

Ahead, in that endless darkness and abyss, within that vast, dangerous deep blue that also buried countless opportunities and truths...

A true deep-sea monster officially entered the field.