92: The underwater Shanghai! Has the financial center become a pool of billions of tons of poison? A perilous journey through a narrow, deadly passage!

Eighty meters underwater.

This was no longer the despairing, pitch-black abyss, but a highly toxic world shimmering with an eerie luminescence.

Looking out through the thick, pressure-resistant porthole of the black iron, the seawater was a nauseating, murky yellowish-green.

It was radioactive dust leaked from the upstream Hongwan Nuclear Power Plant, mixed with chemical agents remaining after the explosion of countless chemical factories along the coast.

After decades of fermentation and sedimentation, it had formed a unique “corpse water” capable of melting flesh and bone.

Countless faintly glowing Mutated Jellyfish drifted outside the window like spectral lanterns. Their tentacles were ridiculously long, trailing behind them like a tangled mess, tracing paths of death in the murky water.

“Drip... Drip... Drip...”

The monotonous sound emitted by the Sonar Detector was the only heartbeat in this silent world.

“Something’s wrong... This terrain is completely wrong.”

Old Chen stared intensely at the holographic terrain map, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

The Electronic Cigarette in his hands was crushed out of shape, but he forgot to smoke it:

“According to the nautical charts of the old era, leaving the Yangtze River Estuary and heading southeast should lead to a flat, Shallow Continental Shelf.

But what the sonar echo is showing... What the hell is this? Mountains? Trenches?”

On the screen, the previously smooth seabed lines suddenly became extremely rugged.

A continuous stretch of massive shadows, undulating and extremely regular in shape, looked like towering walls reaching into the sky.

They abruptly rose from the seabed, blocking the path of the black iron.

The height of these “peaks” was astonishing.

Some even pierced the surface of the water, and the submerged parts were arranged perfectly, like... “Like they were placed there artificially.”

Su Qingyu looked at the eerie Rectangular Echoes, feeling an inexplicable chill crawl up her spine:

“Nature doesn't create this many right-angled rocks.”

“zero, turn on the Main Searchlight.”

Jiang Ran stood before the Command Seat, his voice low.

Although activating an active light source would expose their position, navigating blindly using only sonar in such complex waters full of unknown obstacles was suicidal.

“Buzz—”

The armor plates on both sides of the black iron's bow flipped open, and two modified high-power Deep-Sea Searchlights instantly flared to life.

Two dazzling, pale white beams of light sliced through the murky, viscous yellowish-green seawater ahead like sharp swords.

The light beams swept forward.

The first thing that came into view was layer upon layer of thick, moss-like grayish-green sediment.

Then, as the black iron slowly advanced, the true appearance beneath the sediment was finally revealed to everyone.

It wasn't rock.

It was rusted rebar, cracked concrete, and broken, reflective glass curtain walls.

“Oh my god...”

The Electronic Cigarette in Old Chen's hands clattered onto the floor.

He stared dumbfounded at the massive object slowly passing by outside the window.

It was a Skyscraper tilted about fifteen degrees.

It stood like a silent giant, most of its body buried in thick seabed mud, exposing only the upper half—the steel framework that once symbolized the pinnacle of human civilization.

Countless Mutated Barnacles and coral polyps were densely parasitic on its exterior walls.

Transforming the once glamorous office building into a massive, hideous “concrete coral reef.”

The light beam continued to move upwards.

Higher up, several incomplete giant Neon Signs could still vaguely be seen.

Although the light tubes had long burst, the corroded metal framework still stubbornly outlined a few vague characters:

[...Lujiazui Financial Center].

“This is the Magic City.”

Jiang Ran looked at the silent Underwater Steel Jungle before him, a complex light flashing in his eyes:

“The most prosperous metropolis of the old era, now a Seabed Grave.”

As the black iron's perspective pulled back, an utterly shocking Apocalyptic Tableau slowly unfolded.

It wasn't just one building.

But hundreds, even thousands.

The famous Jin Mao Tower lay across the seabed like a broken bamboo shoot;

The iconic trapezoidal wind tunnel atop the World Financial Center was now a nest for Giant Mutated Fish Schools;

And countless unknown Residential Buildings and shopping malls, like massive tombstones, were haphazardly stuck in the sediment.

The former bustling traffic and dazzling nightlife were now mercilessly submerged and sealed by billions of tons of this yellowish-green seawater.

There was no noise here, only deathly silence and a suffocating sense of oppression.

“No wonder the Ark set up their Defense Line here.”

Su Qingyu looked at the hair-raising ruins and took a deep breath:

“These high-rise remnants are natural barriers.

Large warships can't sail in at all, and submarines would crash and be destroyed among this rebar and concrete.

This is a massive Underwater Labyrinth.”

“Labyrinth?”

Jiang Ran sneered, tracing his finger across the dense obstacle markers on the Holographic Nautical Chart:

“It's a labyrinth for others.

But for us, it's the best Cover.”

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze turning sharp:

“Slow down, enter Silent Submerged Mode.

We won't go over the top; we'll pass through the... gaps in this graveyard.”

“Beep—Warning.”

zero's emotionless Electronic Voice suddenly rang out in the Command cabin, shattering the shock everyone felt facing the ruins.

“High-intensity Active Sonar Signal Matrix detected.

Location: Sector directly ahead.

Signal source characteristic: Fixed Array.”

Accompanied by the alarm, the display on the Holographic Nautical Chart instantly changed.

Between the gray shadows representing the Skyscraper remnants, blinding red lines suddenly lit up.

These red lines were not physical objects, but the coverage area of High-Frequency Sonar Beams.

They resembled a massive spider web, invisible to the naked eye.

Using the not-yet-fully-collapsed landmark buildings as anchor points, they wove together into an impenetrable Blockade Wall dozens of meters underwater.

“Hiss—These bastards, they really went all out.”

Old Chen gasped, pointing at the red net on the screen:

“They're using these buildings as natural Sonar Buoy Stakes?

Look here, the top of the Jin Mao Tower, and over there... the remnant of the World Financial Center that looks like a bottle opener.

They've set up Sonar Tripwires between these two buildings!

Anything passing through the airspace between these two buildings will immediately trigger an alarm.”

Su Qingyu quickly tapped a few keys on the keyboard, pulling up more detailed analysis data, her expression grim:

“It's not just an alarm.

Based on the beam intensity, these nodes are likely equipped with Directional Depth Charges or short-range torpedoes.

Once something hits the net, it's a sitting duck, and will be instantly blown to pieces.”

The entire Lujiazui Ruins had been transformed by the Ark into a massive mousetrap.

The formerly wide main channel was completely blocked by this “Death Spider Web,” and passing through seemed only possible by taking a detour.

“Detour Plan being calculated...”

zero quickly provided several Alternative Routes, but without exception, they were all marked in red:

“Plan A: Detour fifty kilometers to the east. Requires traversing a Shallow Water Minefield and risks exposure to shore-based radar.

Plan B: Surface and attempt a forced breakthrough. Survival rate assessment: Below 5%.”

“There's no way.”

Old Chen aggressively scratched his messy hair, slumping onto the chair in despair:

“This isn't a blockade line, it's a Net of Annihilation, they don't even want a single fish to pass through.”

“No, there is one path.”

Jiang Ran, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

He reached out, zoomed in on a section of the Holographic Nautical Chart, and pointed his finger toward the two most massive ruined structures—

Between the Jin Mao Tower and an adjacent, unknown Collapsed Commercial Building.

Because their foundations had collapsed, the two buildings leaned against each other in a strange ' people' (person) shape.

And at the very bottom of the angle formed by their leaning collapse.

Due to the accumulation of large amounts of rubble and rebar, an extremely narrow “Line of Sky” fissure had formed, which was also a sonar blind spot due to the obstruction from the building remnants.

“Here.”

Jiang Ran pointed at the pitch-black gap:

“The remnants of these two buildings are too thick; they block the sonar beams above.

As long as we hug the foundation and slip under the ‘crotch’ of this triangle, the sonar net won't see us.”

“Are you insane?!”

Old Chen's eyes widened. He looked at the gap width data, then at the black iron's Beam Width, his voice cracking:

“Is that a path? That's the Gates of Hell!

The widest part of this gap is only fifty meters! And it's irregular!

Our ship, including the external armor, is nearly forty-five meters wide!

Only five meters of clearance combined on both sides?

And that's with a strong Underwater Current present?

If we deviate even slightly, we'll get stuck!

At that point, the Ark won't even need to lift a finger; the water pressure alone will crush us into a can of meat!”

Su Qingyu also frowned slightly, looking at the dangerous Route, wanting to speak but holding back.

As a doctor, she instinctively rejected such extremely high-risk maneuvers.

But as a soldier, she knew Jiang Ran was right: this was the only way out.

“Five meters is enough.”

Jiang Ran ignored Old Chen's roar.

His gaze was terrifyingly calm, like a surgeon about to perform a high-difficulty needle-threading procedure.

“zero, disconnect Autopilot.”

“Turn off active searchlights, retain only Passive Thermal Imaging.”

Jiang Ran strode onto the Command Platform and gripped the cold metal Helm with his hands.

With a soft “click,” Manual Mode was engaged.

He felt the subtle vibrations transmitted through the Helm—the pulse of the black iron's massive hull struggling against the current.

“We are going to dance in this dead man's labyrinth.”

A crazy arc curved Jiang Ran's lips, and he sharply turned the Helm:

“Hold on tight.

Don't blink now.”

“Buzz—”

As the Autopilot System disconnected, the black iron's massive hull dipped slightly underwater, like a beast suddenly freed from its reins.

Jiang Ran gripped the Helm tightly with both hands; the cold metal sensation brought him into a state of intense focus.

In his mind, what was transmitted via the Nerve Connection was no longer dry data, but every subtle surge of the surrounding water flow.

He could feel the Underwater Current trapped between the ruins of the two Skyscrapers.

It was like a frantic python, trying to smash any intruder violently against the reinforced concrete walls on either side.

“We're in.”

With Jiang Ran's low utterance, the black iron shut off all external light sources and plunged into the death canyon named “Line of Sky,” relying only on the fuzzy outlines provided by thermal imaging and Passive Sonar.

The sense of oppression instantly washed over them.