Light.
A pure, extreme black radiance collided head-on with the all-destroying violet-gold ray in midair, without any embellishment.
There was no explosion.
At least at the moment of impact, there was no sound.
All sound was swallowed by the black singularity that appeared out of thin air.
It was as if the world had been muted.
Then.
Crack.
A crisp sound, like that of an eggshell shattering, clearly reached everyone's eardrums.
That once-overbearing violet-gold ray was split apart by the pitch-black beam as if it were butter meeting a red-hot blade!
Unstoppable!
Carrying the unique spatial collapse property of the "Kiss of Death" and amplified by the terrifying power of two "Ocean Soul Crystal Mother" fragments, the black beam surged upward against the violet-gold ray!
One meter!
Ten meters!
One hundred meters!
In the blink of an eye, the black light had blasted into the face of the colossal creature!
To be precise.
It blasted directly into the central violet-gold vertical pupil, as large as a football field!
Squelch!
A torrent of green fluid, like a sudden downpour, instantly dyed the entire sea green.
That enormous eye had exploded.
It was blasted into a massive black hole!
"ROAR—!!!"
Only then did the delayed scream finally erupt.
It was a cry of agony from the depths of its soul.
The sky-obscuring "Floating Island" convulsed violently, countless black rocks on its back collapsing, and purple vines thrashing wildly.
It was in pain.
It was afraid.
It had never expected that this ant on the ground would possess a venomous sting capable of piercing the heavens!
Immediately after.
A visible white shockwave, centered on the point of impact, swept out in all directions!
At this moment.
The entire apocalyptic sea boiled.
...
[World Chat Channel]
The chat channel, which had grown somewhat quiet after nightfall, now felt as if a depth charge had been dropped into it.
"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"
"Earthquake?! Tsunami?! Why is my raft dancing?!"
"Not just the raft! The sea here is boiling! Waves five meters high! Who the hell said tonight was a windless zone?"
"Coordinates (9527, 4396)! Northeast direction! I saw it! I saw the sky split open!"
"I saw it too! A black light! It pierced straight through the clouds! It was so bright I almost went blind!"
"What's going on? Is it a system bug? Or did some super boss appear?"
"This kind of commotion... could someone have used a nuke?"
"Bullshit! Where would anyone get a nuke in this damn place! I think it's some kind of S-Class or higher skill going off!"
"Impossible! Who could have that kind of damage at this stage? Not even Qin Yu could, right?"
"Don't even mention Qin Yu! That light came from his direction! I bet it was him causing this commotion!"
"Is he insane? Is he fighting the Sea God or something?"
Survivors all over the world stopped what they were doing at this moment.
Whether they were grilling fish or battling sea beasts.
Everyone stared in terror toward that direction.
The oppressive aura emanating from high-level energy could make one's heart palpitate even from over a thousand nautical miles away.
...
Meanwhile, the President, at the center of the storm, now faced its greatest crisis.
As one of the Abyssal Lord's eyes was blasted apart,
the Anti-Gravity Field enveloping the President instantly collapsed.
The sensation
was like sitting in an elevator rapidly ascending when the cable suddenly snaps.
"Boom!"
One moment, the President was soaring skyward; the next, it entered a state of free fall!
"Hold on!!!"
Qin Yu only had time to roar those two words.
An immense sense of weightlessness instantly engulfed everyone.
Five hundred meters in the air.
If it slammed directly into the sea surface, it would be no different from crashing onto concrete.
Even after countless reinforcements, the President would be torn apart!
Li Ruobing clung desperately to a load-bearing column, her body suspended mid-air, her face deathly pale.
"Qin Yu! The engines! Reverse thrust!"
She didn't need to remind him.
Qin Yu's hand had already slammed onto the emergency brake button.
"Blast, damn it!"
Qin Yu's eyes were bloodshot, fixed intently on the altimeter.
400 meters!
300 meters!
The descent was too fast!
Wind pressure blew away the already shattered windshield of the cockpit, countless shards of glass pouring inward like bullets, cutting Qin Yu's cheek.
Blood splattered.
But he didn't even blink.
"Power transfer! Divert all energy except for this cannon to the bottom thrusters!"
"Hum—!!!"
The thrusters at the ship's bottom let out a groan of strain.
Four blue flames erupted instantly.
A tremendous counterforce fiercely pushed against the hull.
The downward momentum abruptly halted.
A grating sound of twisting metal echoed through the cabin.
It was the Keel enduring extreme stress.
But this buffer was merely a drop in the bucket.
Hundreds of tons of dead weight, combined with the altitude, created staggering inertia.
100 meters!
50 meters!
The dark, churning waves of the sea were now terrifyingly close.
"Brace for impact!"
Qin Yu released the control panel, turned, and lunged toward Yao Xue and Yao Qian in the corner, shielding them tightly with his back.
"Crash—!!!"
A deafening roar.
Like two mountains colliding.
A massive spray of water shot over a hundred meters high.
The entire President slammed into the sea, plunging over ten meters deep before bouncing back to the surface like a rubber ball.
The cabin was in complete disarray.
All instruments sparked and sputtered.
The lights went out entirely, leaving only red emergency lights flashing frantically.
"Cough... cough, cough..."
In the darkness, Qin Yu's violent coughing echoed.
He felt as if all his internal organs had been displaced.
His mouth was filled with a metallic, bloody taste.
"Anyone still alive?"
Qin Yu pushed aside the cabinet that had fallen on him, shook his dizzy head, his voice hoarse.
"I... I'm alive."
Yao Xue's weak voice came from beneath him.
Protected well by Qin Yu, she only had minor scrapes and was otherwise unharmed.
"Ruo Bing?"
Qin Yu called out.
"Here."
Li Ruobing's voice came from the other side, tinged with pained gasps.
"My arm seems dislocated... I'll live."
"But this ship... is going to need major repairs."
Qin Yu let out a sigh of relief.
As long as everyone was alive.
As long as a man is alive, a broken ship can be repaired. Even if only a plank remains, I can still rise from the ashes.
He struggled to stand up, leaning against the tilted wall as he shuffled step by step toward the window with the gaping hole.
He looked up.
In the sky.
That enormous shadow was retreating into the distance.
The eye that had been blasted apart was still dripping green blood, like a shower of acid rain, sizzling as it corroded the surface of the sea.
It was afraid.
That once-invincible SSS-grade creature had chosen to flee.
It flapped its four sky-obscuring wings, dragging its shattered body, even as the island on its back teetered on the verge of collapse, desperately climbing higher into the cloud layer.
It remembered this scent.
Remembered the man who had left it with a lifelong shadow.
"You got away fast enough."
A piercing electronic tone shattered the deathly silence inside the cabin.
"Beep—beep—beep—"
It was a communication request.
The sole surviving instrument—the explosion-proof communication console—was now flashing a red light.
Qin Yu walked over and pressed the connect button.
The screen flickered a few times before finally lighting up.
A large face, distorted by the wind, was practically pressed against the lens.
It was Qi Chun.
The expression on this fat man's face was as if he had seen a ghost.
His mouth was open wide enough to fit a lightbulb.
His eyes were filled with terror, along with the kind of awe reserved only for witnessing a divine miracle.
"Qin... Qin Boss?"
Qi Chun's voice trembled.
Even through the screen, you could feel him shaking.
"You... you're actually still alive?"
Qin Yu leaned against the console, fishing a pack of crushed cigarettes from his pocket.
He pulled out a severely bent cigarette and placed it between his lips.
He didn't light it.
Just to steady his nerves.
"What?"
"Hoping I'd die so you could inherit my assets?"
Qin Yu glanced at him, his tone as casual as if he'd just stepped out to buy groceries.
Qi Chun shook his head like a rattle-drum.
"No, no, no! How could I!"
"I'm just... I'm just excited!"
Qi Chun swallowed hard and pointed at the screen behind him.
It was his radar monitoring display.
It showed the energy fluctuation readings from that moment just now.
The red bar had shot straight up, breaking through the screen's upper limit.
"Boss Qin, that shot you just fired..."
"Do you know what's happening on the World Channel right now?"
"Everyone's asking if aliens have invaded!"
"My goodness."
At this point, Qi Chun suddenly leaned closer to the microphone, lowering his voice, his chubby face full of mystery and admiration.
"Boss Qin, give me the inside scoop."
"On your ship... is there some kind of ancient Star-Destroying Cannon hidden away?"
"Just now, I saw space itself collapse!"
Qin Yu reached up and took the bent cigarette from his lips, toying with it in his hand.
"No Star-Destroying Cannon."
"Just a fire poker."
He turned to look at the still-smoking bow of the ship, a cold smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.
"As for that big eyeball."
"It had bad luck."
"It insisted on coming up close to take a look at my treasure."
"I'm a bit stingy."
"Taking a look comes with a fee."
Qi Chun was stunned for a moment.
Then he gave a thumbs-up, the fat on his face trembling.
"Brilliant!"
"Absolutely brilliant!"
"The price of that one look cost it half its life!"
"Alright, enough with the flattery."
Qin Yu straightened his back, his posture ramrod straight despite the excruciating pain wracking his entire body.
"Although that monster escaped…"
"It dropped quite a few things."
"That last shot didn't just blow out one of its eyes."
"It also seemed to break several of its bones, leaving behind quite a few valuable items."
"They're all soaking in the sea now."
Upon hearing this, Qi Chun's eyes instantly lit up, even brighter than when he witnessed the explosion.
"You mean… loot?"
"Got it! Boss Qin!"
"I'll keep watch for you!"
"If anyone dares take a single step near that sea area, I'll kill them!"