The atmosphere in the Main Control Room was frozen solid.
Qin Yu had just cut off communication with Qi Chun.
Before he could even sit back down in his chair, the "Netherworld: Death's Kiss" behind him suddenly trembled violently.
That tremor wasn't a warning.
It was more like the excitement of a wild beast catching the scent of blood.
"Zzz—"
The originally cold gun body was now scalding hot.
The dark metal surface rippled with an eerie undulation, like boiling asphalt, even emitting faint "gurgling" sounds.
Qin Yu reached back and gripped the gun.
An intense suction force transmitted from his palm, and the muzzle uncontrollably tried to turn toward a certain direction.
That direction was the storage room.
The very place where Li Ruobing had just stored that S-grade Parasitic Crystal.
"Hungry?"
Qin Yu looked down at the thing in his hand, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
He had fed it dozens of tons of refined steel before, and it had eaten reluctantly, as if chewing wax.
Now, just smelling it through several bulkheads, it got this excited?
"Interesting."
Qin Yu didn't sit down. Instead, he turned and strode out.
"Ruo Bing, come with me to the storage room."
Li Ruobing was organizing defense data nearby and froze at his words.
"What are we going to the storage room for?"
"Wasn't that thing just sealed away? It's extremely unstable right now. Didn't Qi Chun say its 'mother' is coming? Moving it now..."
"Let's go."
Qin Yu pushed open the door, his steps not pausing.
...
The closer they got to that heavy alloy door, the more violently the "Kiss of Death" reacted.
It even began actively liquefying.
Black liquid flowed down Qin Yu's arm like greedy black serpents, raising their heads on his shoulders and staring fixedly at the door.
That sense of longing was directly transmitted into Qin Yu's mind.
Like someone who hadn't eaten for three days suddenly seeing a full Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.
"Open it."
Qin Yu stood at the door and commanded.
Li Ruobing hesitated for a moment before placing her hand on the scanner.
"Qin Yu, the temperature inside has been adjusted to minus forty degrees."
"That lead box is sealed with liquid nitrogen."
"What if..."
"Beep!"
Before she could finish, the door rumbled open.
A blast of white, frigid air rushed out.
In the center of the room sat a lead box wrapped in tape like a zongzi.
Even in such extreme cold, that lead box was still faintly pulsating.
"Thump, thump, thump."
The thing inside hadn't given up hope.
Sensing the approach of its host body, it was making a final struggle.
Qin Yu walked into the room.
He wasn't wearing protective gear, letting the frigid air hit his body.
The black liquid on his shoulders instantly surged, forming a thin, Shield-like membrane in front of him, blocking all the cold air.
This gun was protecting its master.
Or rather, it didn't want its master disturbed while "feeding."
"Take it out."
Qin Yu pointed at the lead box.
Li Ruobing's eyes widened, looking at Qin Yu as if he were insane.
"Are you crazy?"
"Open it here? Without the lead shielding, that signal will instantly amplify tenfold!"
"At that time, that 'Sky Island' will lock onto us directly!"
Qin Yu didn't explain.
He walked straight forward and grabbed the cold lead box.
"Rip—"
The industrial tape wrapped around it was torn off violently by him.
The lid of the lead box was flung open.
"Squeak—!!!"
A piercing, high-frequency scream instantly erupted.
The blue crystal suddenly sprang up, its light blazing intensely. Its originally dim core now shone like a miniature sun.
It sensed it.
It sensed a deadly threat.
It wanted to flee!
However.
It was too late.
The moment the lid opened.
The "Kiss of Death" on Qin Yu's body went completely out of control.
Without any order from Qin Yu.
The black liquid metal surged forward like a bursting flood.
There was no sound of chewing.
Only a soft "plop."
Like a drop of water falling into the ocean.
The S-grade Parasitic Crystal, along with the terrifying energy and scream it unleashed, was instantly enveloped by that mass of black.
Blue light struggled within the black liquid, thrashing and darting about.
Causing the liquid mass to warp and deform in various ways.
But the struggle lasted less than three seconds.
"Gulp."
A final swallowing sound echoed.
The storage room fell silent.
The blue light vanished.
Even the chill in the air seemed to dissipate slightly.
The black liquid mass wriggled contentedly a few times before flowing back into Qin Yu's hand, coalescing into the form of that slender, menacing Sniper Cannon.
Only this time.
A blue pattern now adorned the gun's body.
The pattern resembled a blood vessel, pulsing with an eerie blue glow, appearing particularly sinister against the pitch-black firearm.
[Ding! Devouring successful!]
["Netherworld: Death's Kiss" has devoured a High-energy Biological Core (S-Class)!]
[Energy purity is extremely high, perfectly compatible!]
[Evolution Progress skyrockets!]
[Current Evolution Progress: 1.5% → 11.5% (First Stage)]
Qin Yu stared at the system panel that popped up before his eyes, his pupils contracting slightly.
Ten percent.
A full ten percent!
Just moments ago, devouring dozens of tons of special alloy steel had only increased it by a pitiful 0.5%.
Yet this tiny, fingernail-sized stone had directly boosted it by 10%?
This wasn't a stone.
This was a goddamn miracle pill!
Qin Yu reached out and stroked the blue pattern on the gun's body.
The firearm responded with a warm feedback, even conveying a lingering sense of craving.
It was saying: More.
More is needed.
"As expected."
The corners of Qin Yu's mouth curled upward, his smile widening until it transformed into a chilling, maniacal laugh.
"Hahaha!"
"Good stuff, truly good stuff!"
Beside him, Li Ruobing, who had long been stunned into silence, stared blankly at Qin Yu's wild laughter.
"That… that's it?"
"That monster that nearly killed Chen Xiaoya was just… eaten by this gun?"
Qin Yu stopped laughing and turned to look at Li Ruobing.
His eyes shone with an unsettling intensity.
"Ruo Bing, do you remember what Chen Xiaoya said earlier?"
Li Ruobing was taken aback for a moment before instinctively replying:
"She said… there's a huge pit on that island."
"The pit is filled with these blue stones."
"Densely packed, thousands upon thousands…"
At this point, Li Ruobing's voice abruptly cut off.
She glanced sharply at the gun in Qin Yu's hand, then at the spot where the lead box had been.
A crazy idea exploded in her mind.
"You mean…"
Qin Yu slung the gun back over his shoulder, patting its cold stock.
"One piece is ten percent."
"Ten pieces is one hundred percent."
"What if it's a thousand pieces, ten thousand pieces?"
Qin Yu walked up to Li Ruobing, placing both hands on her shoulders.
"Ruo Bing."
"We don't need to run anymore."
"That damn 'Sky Island' isn't here to hunt us down."
"It's here to deliver takeout!"
"And it's delivering a full imperial banquet!"
Li Ruobing's throat moved.
She was a warmonger at heart.
But faced with that unknown behemoth, her instinctive reaction was still to avoid it.
Yet now, looking into Qin Yu's eyes filled with greed and killing intent.
The blood in her veins was ignited too.
"Thousands upon thousands of pieces..."
Li Ruobing murmured.
"If we could devour them all, what would this gun evolve into?"
"Could it blast a hole right through the heavens with one shot?"
Qin Yu released his hands and strode out of the storage room.
His voice echoed through the corridor, carrying an undeniable domineering aura.
"Relay my orders!"
"Everyone, enter combat readiness level one immediately!"
"Target: Northeast direction, eighty nautical miles!"
"Full speed ahead!"
...
On the deck.
The sea wind grew stronger, stinging people's cheeks.
Yao Xue was supporting the pale-faced Chen Xiaoya, helping her get some fresh air.
Seeing Qin Yu and Li Ruobing charging out with murderous intent.
Yao Xue's heart tightened.
"What's wrong?"
"Are we evacuating?"
She had also heard Qi Chun's warning earlier, knowing something huge was approaching.
Qin Yu walked to the control console, shoving aside the autopilot that was setting the course.
Switching to manual control.
He slammed the throttle lever forward.
"Vroom—!!!"
The President's engine roared, churning up massive waves at the stern.
The tremendous inertia made everyone on board sway.
"We're not evacuating."
Qin Yu gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, his gaze fixed on the pitch-black sea ahead.
"Wives, fasten your seatbelts."
"We're going on a heist."
Yao Qian clung to the robot's leg, her small face pale with fear.
"H-heist? Who are we robbing?"
"Isn't that a monster island?"
"Brother Yu, aren't you always the most cautious?"
Qin Yu glanced back at Yao Qian, then at the still-weak Chen Xiaoya.
"Cautious—that's for the dead."
"In this world, the bold get fat while the timid starve."
He pointed to the gun on his back.
"This thing just told me it's hungry."
"And that island is full of its food."
"Since they've come all this way to deliver it to our doorstep, wouldn't it be rude of me not to accept?"
Chen Xiaoya was confused, but she understood one thing.
Qin Yu was taking them back.
Back to where the nightmare began.
"N-no... we can't go!"
Chen Xiaoya ignored her stomach pain, struggling to shout.
"It's truly terrifying there!"
"That gravity... the ship will fly!"
"And there are many Guardian Monsters there! Not just these stones!"
"With so few of us, going there is suicide!"
Qin Yu ignored her.
He just stared coldly at the massive red dot rapidly approaching on the radar screen.
"Suicide?"
"Chen Xiaoya, watch closely."
"Before, you were prey because you had no blade in your hand."
"Now."
Qin Yu patted the red button on the control console.
That was the activation key for the Kiss of Death's Shipborne Mode.
"The blade is in my hand."
"Who is the hunter, and who is the prey—we'll only know after we fight."
...
Half an hour later.
The sea had changed.
The once turbulent waves had now eerily calmed.
But this was not a peaceful calm.
It was a dead silence forcibly suppressed by some immense power.
The air was thick with the heavy smell of ozone.
The scent of highly ionized air.
"We're here."
Li Ruobing, who had been staring into the observation lens, suddenly spoke.
Her voice was somewhat dry.
"Twelve o'clock direction."
"Distance... ten nautical miles."
Everyone instinctively looked up.
At the horizon ahead, where sea met sky.
There was no island in sight.
Only an enormous black storm, connecting the sea and the sky.
At the center of the storm was a massive vortex.
But that vortex was not in the sea.
It was in the sky!
Countless tons of seawater were being sucked out of the ocean by the aerial vortex, forming thick columns of water that flowed upward against gravity.
Like countless giant dragons drinking water.
And amidst the curtain of water and dark clouds.
A black landmass loomed faintly.
It hovered about five hundred meters above the sea.
Its underside was draped with broken chains and tangled seaweed, like a hell ripped from the earth.
"My God..."
Yao Qian covered her mouth, her entire body trembling.
Even Yao Xue, accustomed to life and death, felt suffocated.
This was beyond human comprehension.
It was a miracle.
And a calamity.
"Alert! Gravity field anomaly!"
"The hull is ascending!"
"The hull is ascending!"
The system's mechanical voice screamed frantically in the cockpit.
The President, which had been riding deep in the water, now seemed lifted by an invisible hand.
The hull rose from the sea.
The sensation of weightlessness struck instantly, churning stomachs.
"Steady!"
Qin Yu roared.
He showed no panic.
On the contrary, the light in his eyes grew brighter.
Because as the distance closed.
The Kiss of Death on his back was vibrating so intensely it felt ready to explode.
It was cheering.
It was exulting.
Its craving for sustenance was so palpable Qin Yu could almost hear its hissing.
"Click!"
Qin Yu yanked the sniper cannon from his back.
And slammed it hard into the weapon slot in front of the console.
[Access port detected!]
[Netherworld: Death's Kiss is switching forms...]
[Shipborne Form: High-Energy Particle Annihilation Cannon, activating!]
"Hum—!!!"
The sniper rifle, originally just over a meter long, instantly began to liquefy and reconfigure.
Black metal proliferated wildly, spreading from the weapon slot across the entire bow.
In less than three seconds.
A massive black cannon, five meters long with a terrifyingly wide bore, appeared prominently at the bow.
On its surface, the blue pattern now glowed blindingly bright.
Like a demonic eye opening.
Qin Yu gripped the fire control handles with both hands.
On his retina, the crosshairs had already auto-locked onto the underside of the distant floating island.
There.
A dense cluster of blue light points shimmered.
Exactly the "Crystal Pits" Chen Xiaoya had mentioned!
"All mine!"
Qin Yu licked his dry, cracked lips.
Took a deep breath.
And placed his finger on the trigger.
The colossal Sky Island seemed to sense the provocation of this "insect."
Within the clouds, several streaks of purple lightning were gathering.
As if intending to shatter this reckless little vessel into dust with a single strike.
"Come on!"
Qin Yu roared, his finger abruptly pulling the trigger.
"This first shot is my greeting to you!"
"Boom—!!!"
A massive black beam, infused with destructive spatial collapse fluctuations, erupted from the prow of the President.
It tore through the curtain of rain.
It tore through the gravitational field.
It even tore through space itself.
Carrying Qin Yu's boundless greed, it blasted straight toward that lofty "divine realm."
Since it's an all-you-can-eat buffet.
No need for plates.
I'll just flip the table and feast directly!