Qin Yu leaned back in his chair, watching the survivors in the World Channel who seemed to be on stimulants, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Human adaptability was truly terrifying.
But that didn't mean the environment outside had actually become friendly.
Boom!
A thunderclap exploded right above the President.
Immediately after, gale-force winds whipped the torrential rain, pelting the bridge's bulletproof glass like countless steel pellets.
Although the Anti-Gravity Pulse Keel provided levitation, sparing the hull from the battering waves...
...the chaotic air currents brought by the storm still caused the President, suspended mid-air, to tremble violently from time to time, like a leaf in the wind.
The ashtray on the table danced along.
Half of the freshly poured hot tea spilled out, dripping from the table corner onto the floor.
Qin Yu frowned.
He disliked this vibration.
It reminded him of the cheap tractor he'd ridden in college, the kind that rattled your brain.
"And you said everything was fine?"
Li Ruobing wiped the coffee stains from her clothes while shooting Qin Yu an annoyed glare.
"We might not sink, but if we keep shaking like this, we'll be scrambled eggs before that big bird even returns."
"Plus, the noise is unbearable. Rest is impossible."
True.
The howling wind outside sounded like countless shrieking vengeful spirits, grating on the nerves.
Qin Yu pushed the half-full teacup aside.
"Don't worry."
"We were rushing earlier. Now that we're out of the encirclement, it's time for a change of pace."
"A change of pace?"
Li Ruobing was momentarily confused, not grasping his meaning.
Then she saw Qin Yu reach into his jacket.
After a moment of fumbling...
...he pulled out a pearl.
A pearl the size of a longan fruit, its entire body a deep, azure blue.
The moment this pearl appeared, the air in the bridge seemed to grow moist.
A faint, briny scent of the sea, mixed with a cool, calming sensation, instantly permeated the space.
This was the S-Class Sea-Stabilizing Pearl obtained earlier from that 'Underwater Garden'.
Without a word, Qin Yu gently pressed this azure pearl into a recess at the very center of the control console.
Hum...
A soft, resonant sound.
Like the low song of a whale in the deep sea.
A gentle, blue ripple, centered on the President, instantly expanded outwards in all directions.
Immediately after...
Li Ruobing's jaw dropped, her beautiful eyes widening as if she were witnessing the most incredible sight of her life.
The world fell silent.
Truly silent.
In that instant, the previously raging gale, as if suddenly strangled, vanished without a trace.
The torrential rain pounding against the glass now, still several meters from the hull, seemed to hit an invisible wall, sliding down on either side.
The ship's hull, which had been shaking violently, now stood firm as a mountain.
Even the surface of the remaining tea in the cup on the table was perfectly still.
"This..."
Li Ruobing ran to the window, pressing herself almost against the glass.
Outside...
...the apocalyptic scene remained.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
The massive waterspout was still wreaking havoc several hundred meters away, churning up towering waves.
But within a one-kilometer radius around the President...
The sea surface was as smooth as a mirror.
Not even a single ripple could be seen.
It felt...
As if an absolutely safe haven had been forcibly carved out within the eye of a raging typhoon.
"Ocean Stabilizing Pearl."
Qin Yu lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and leisurely blew out a perfect smoke ring.
The smoke ring drifted slowly through the air, its shape flawless, undisturbed by even the slightest breeze.
"This is the life."
He stood up, stretched, and his joints let out a series of crisp cracks.
"Ruo Bing, go check the living quarters."
"Yao Xue and the others should be awake by now."
"Set up the grill."
"Didn't we salvage some tentacle meat from that monster underwater earlier?"
"Slice it up and grill it."
Li Ruobing mechanically turned her head to look at this utterly calm man.
"You mean..."
"Outside, it's raining knives, that SSS-grade monster is going on a rampage to vent its rage..."
"And you want to have a barbecue here?"
Qin Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
"It can go crazy all it wants, I'll enjoy my meat."
"This is called balancing work and rest."
...
Half an hour later.
On the deck of the President.
Next to the heavy machine gun position originally used for defense, a sleek stainless steel grill was now set up.
The charcoal was burning brightly.
Several translucent slices of meat, emitting a faint purple glow, sizzled on the wire rack, dripping with oil.
It was the tender meat from the Abyssal Lord's tentacles.
Even after being cut off, the meat still contained astonishing energy—every drop of oil that fell sparked a blue flame.
Aroma.
An indescribable, exotic fragrance, mixed with the scents of cumin and chili powder, wafted through this small, perfectly still world.
Qin Yu wore shorts and flip-flops.
In his hand was a palm-leaf fan, which he occasionally waved a couple of times.
Yao Xue and Yao Qian were already awake.
Though their faces were still somewhat pale, they had clearly recovered.
Now wrapped in blankets, they sat on folding chairs nearby, looking around in bewilderment.
He picked up a skewer of grilled meat and handed it to Yao Qian.
"Try it."
"SSS-grade seafood, good for the brain."
Yao Qian instinctively took it and took a bite.
The next second.
Her eyes lit up.
The tender, springy texture, accompanied by a warm current that instantly surged into her abdomen, made her hands and feet—chilled from the earlier fright—suddenly feel warm again.
"Delicious!"
Qin Yu smiled and handed another skewer to Yao Xue.
Then he picked up a bottle of ice-cold beer and bit off the cap.
He took a big gulp.
"Refreshing!"
He walked to the ship's railing, leaning on it with one hand while holding the beer bottle in the other, as if watching a giant-screen movie.
"Ruo Bing, zoom in on the external projection."
"I want to see the expression on that big guy right now."
Li Ruobing sat at the control panel, sighed helplessly, but still swiftly adjusted the radar's monitoring display.
In mid-air.
A massive holographic projection unfolded.
On the screen.
The Abyssal Lord was hiding within the clouds ten thousand meters high.
In its remaining two eyes, there was nothing but rage and confusion.
It was roaring.
It was frantically flapping its wings.
It could sense that the ant who had dealt it a heavy blow was right below.
It unleashed the storm and summoned lightning.
According to its script, that ant's ship should have already been torn to shreds, crying out for its parents in despair.
But.
The scene it sensed was—
Calm seas.
That tiny black dot seemed nailed to the surface of the sea.
No matter how much energy it channeled, that area was like it had been carved out of this world, utterly impervious!
"Roar—!!!"
On the screen, the Abyssal Lord was completely enraged.
It opened its massive bird-like beak.
A bolt of purple lightning, as thick as a bucket, carrying the force to annihilate heaven and earth, shot straight down toward the "President"!
This strike.
Was faster and fiercer than any before!
"Watch out!"
Yao Xue cried out in alarm, dropping the skewer in her hand.
The lightning was too blinding; even through the screen, one could feel that suffocating aura of destruction.
But Qin Yu didn't even move.
He remained in that posture, leaning against the railing.
He even raised his beer bottle, toasting the lightning from afar.
"Zzzap—"
Just as the lightning was about to strike the "President,"
The previously invisible blue barrier suddenly glowed.
Like a calm water surface disturbed by a pebble.
That purple lightning, powerful enough to blast an ordinary raft to pieces, upon touching the barrier,
Dissipated like a drop of ink in the ocean.
Instantly spreading out.
And then…
Vanished.
Without even a sound.
Swallowed whole by the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl, no larger than a longan!
He laughed.
Laughed without restraint.
"Thanks, buddy."
Qin Yu shouted toward the sky.
His voice wasn't loud.
But in this absolute silence, it was exceptionally clear.
In the sky.
The Abyssal Lord seemed stunned.
Its underdeveloped brain couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
Its full-power strike.
Just… disappeared?
Without even a bubble?
"Want to give me more?"
Qin Yu took a bite of his skewer, mumbling indistinctly.
As if understanding Qin Yu's mockery,
Or perhaps sensing the contempt from an inferior being,
The massive monstrous bird went completely mad.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three more bolts of lightning struck down in succession.
Followed by countless wind blades, pouring down like a torrential rain.
But the result remained unchanged.
Every attack.
The moment it entered that one-kilometer radius, vanished without a trace.
The blue barrier even grew brighter and thicker.
In the end.
It even illuminated the seawater around the "President" into a crystalline blue.
Exquisitely beautiful.
Like a massive blue crystal ball floating within the black apocalyptic storm.
And at the center of the crystal ball.
Qin Yu held a bottle of beer, pointing and gesturing toward the sky.
"That lightning bolt missed, your aim's off."
"That wind blade's too scattered, no power."
"Tsk tsk tsk, is that all you've got?"
"If you're tired, come down for a bite? My barbecue's pretty tasty, and it's your own meat."
Li Ruobing watched this scene.
The corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
She had seen arrogance before.
But never arrogance like this.
Using the enemy's own meat for barbecue, while running an invincibility hack and letting them attack freely.
This was truly adding insult to injury.
Qin Yu walked back to the barbecue grill.
Picked up a skewer of golden-brown toasted mantou slices.
"Alright."
"Stop watching."
"It's just a firework show for our entertainment."
"Eat, drink, and be merry."
"Wait until it's tired, until it runs out of steam."
Qin Yu took a bite of his steamed bun slice, a flash of killing intent flickering in his eyes.
"That's when we'll really make our move."
"For now."
"Let it rage helplessly."
Yao Qian looked at Qin Yu's confident back.
Suddenly feeling.
That the storm outside didn't seem so terrifying after all.
As long as this man was here.
Even if the sky were to fall.
He could use it as a blanket.
"Yu-ge! I want extra spice!"
"Coming right up!"
"Ruo Bing, get me a beer too! Make it cold!"
"Get it yourself! I'm not your maid!"