Chapter 103

Chapter 103

"What happened? Why the sudden explosion?"

The captain piloting J-158 quickly contacted the other teams. Of the arks caught in the blast, only three combat-ready vessels remained.

A reply soon came through the comms: "We were on the other side and didn’t see the specifics. Probably a monster attack."

Another ark’s operator immediately followed up: "This is J-89. We’ve called for Matia’s support to rescue survivors at sea. Before that, we must work together to eliminate the giant mutated creature ahead."

When the explosion occurred, Vanguard members with a chance of survival seized the opportunity to board lifeboats and retreat from the danger zone.

Countless watercraft navigated through the tempest, their numbers seemingly greater than those initially deployed for reconnaissance.

Though slower, as long as they escaped the storm’s center, they would be safe.

Several captains inside the arks looked down at the sea and declared confidently, "Matia will definitely send reinforcements. Forget about them—let’s prepare for battle!"

Even with half their equipment and personnel lost, their combat reserves were more than enough to handle such a monster with ease.

Most had already returned to their stations, but a few remained by the viewports, their faces petrified.

"What are you all staring at…?" someone asked curiously, moving closer—only to turn pale as they followed their line of sight to the sea.

The churning waves suddenly sprouted teeming clusters of black growths, covering nearly the entire surface below in the blink of an eye. They undulated grotesquely, like the rhythm of the ocean itself.

"What… what are these?" The question, initially confused, quickly turned to shock.

They had seen the monster’s earlier form. That meant these pulsating masses were all part of… this towering, tentacled monstrosity with the cloven hooves of a black goat.

Matia had hinted at this all along. The higher-ups, always so calculating, would never have dispatched so many teams without reason.

If all six combat arks were intact and every Vanguard present, they might still have stood a chance. But now…

Several captains took their positions at the control panels, activating the ship’s waist-mounted nuclear turrets and aiming them at the now-awakened monster.

Amid the bombardment of artillery fire, the wailing of infants sounded even more pitiful. The distressed "mother" shrieked in fury, driving away the intruders.

Watching as her children suffered harm from humans once more, She retracted all her tentacles and stomped the sea with her stubby legs, sending towering waves crashing outward.

Violent surges battered the pustules rising from the water, their edges peeling back in yellow-white curls, churning thick, viscous foam that reeked of putrid stench.

Vanguard members on the verge of escaping the storm’s radius saw salvation ahead—only for an immense force to erupt beneath their boats, flipping them over.

Some watercraft were shattered outright, their wreckage littered with survivors clinging to floating debris. Then, a sudden shadow blotted out the blinding sky above.

The clustered pustules split open instantly, like blooming man-eating flowers, mercilessly devouring the invaders on the sea.

A Vanguard member, tossed by the waves, stiffened in terror, not daring to look up. A slick, slimy liquid dripped onto his helmet, oozing down the visor in a nauseating trail.

Trembling, he slowly raised his head—but before he could wipe the sludge away or even glimpse the monstrosity before him, darkness swallowed his vision. A massive tentacle smashed down, driving him deep into the abyss.

Murky seawater gushed through the cracks in his shattered helmet, flooding his nostrils. At last, he understood the hopelessness of the abandoned laborers.

Seeing the situation at sea spiraling out of control, the captain of the ark swiftly signaled central command: "J-158 calling for Matia support! Calling for Matia support! Call—"

The plea was abruptly cut off by the blaring alarms of the control panel. The hull groaned under external pressure, twisting with a shriek of buckling steel. Emergency lights flashed frantically, sending pulses of panic through the crew as the ship lurched uncontrollably.

"Command… receiving… already…"

The fragmented, distorted response from the speakers was barely intelligible, the garbled static only amplifying the terror inside.

"Are we under attack? Captain, we need to fight back!"

"What do we do? Are we not going to make it back…?"

The once-confident crew now trembled in fear. They tried activating the attack systems, only to find the waist turrets already disabled.

The ark plunged into pitch-blackness, the windows shattering under immense pressure—revealing thick black tentacles coiling around the hull, tightening relentlessly.

Refusing to die like this, they drew their guns and fired at the tentacles outside.

The monster shrieked in pain, its loosened grip suddenly clamping down with crushing force.

"Command received. Support request submitted. Please standby."

The comms officer responded mechanically, inwardly seething at the utter uselessness of the Vanguard. So many dispatched for a single operation, yet they kept begging for reinforcements.

The comms light flashed again—the same ark calling once more.

The comms officer answered impatiently, snapping before the other could speak: "I already said the request was submitted. Stop nagging!"

"Hel—"

A deafening explosion cut off the plea, followed by screams and eerie infant wails before the line went dead.

The comms officer bolted upright, abandoning his lazy slouch, and sprinted to the command room in panic.

"Sir, we have a situation!"

He barged in without knocking, only to find the commander already standing by the window, gazing at the distant sea. Realizing he was too late, he collapsed to his knees, stammering, "Sir, I—"

"Report this to the captain. Then summon Mo Le immediately." The commander turned slowly, frowning at the man on the floor. "Find yourself a good place to go."

The comms officer shuddered, knowing full well what "a good place" meant. If he didn’t choose it himself, command would ensure his end was far worse.

Resigned, his shoulders sagged, and he kowtowed. "Understood. Thank you, sir."

By the time Mo Le arrived, having hurried over from patrol, the captain was already in the command center.

Mo Le bowed apologetically. "My apologies, Captain. I was delayed."

The remaining comms officers frantically dialed the sea teams, but no arks responded—no signals, no answers.

This was supposed to be a simple joint operation. Once the Vanguard returned, Matia would finalize preparations for departure.

How had things gone so wrong?

The captain stared grief-stricken at the screen. "Look. These red blips, linked to Matia’s signals… they’re vanishing one by one. Mo Le, was I wrong?"

Mo Le stood solemnly behind him, lips pressed tight before replying carefully, "The Captain’s wisdom is absolute."

"Bang!"

The captain slammed his palm on the table, voice thick with fury and regret. "I was wrong—wrong to trust Meg so easily!"

"That idiot, who cared nothing for humanity’s future! If he hadn’t knelt before me, pledging allegiance to Matia, claiming he’d had a change of heart—I would never have reinstated him so soon!"

He understood Meg’s resentment after that female scientist’s death. But Matia’s expedition was imminent. They needed assets like Meg to pave the way in new waters.

To give Meg ample time to think, he had originally planned to persuade him properly after reaching their destination, but unexpectedly, Meg took the initiative to find him just two days later.

Meg, who cared about nothing but women, knelt humbly before him, repeatedly apologizing and declaring that to prove his loyalty, he was willing to unconditionally obey all of Matia's orders.

To test whether Meg was lying, he had the Navigation Department continuously assign tasks to him. Surprisingly, Meg accepted them all and completed them exceptionally well, becoming the loyal subordinate he had hoped for.

But now, it seemed everything Meg had done was just to deceive him!

If not for retrieving the black box from the first exploded Ark and hearing the dying words of the 18th squad leader with his own ears, he would still be completely kept in the dark by Meg.

"He betrayed my trust, betrayed Matia! That ungrateful traitor! He deserves to go to hell with that damn woman!" The captain grew increasingly agitated, slamming the table several times in anger.

The commander shot a cold look over his shoulder, and the tower staff, who had been busy dialing, instantly understood, withdrawing from the command center without daring to ask a single question.

The captain pressed a hand to his forehead, his sigh shaking with restraint. "Everything I did was for his own good. How could he not understand? Only if the remaining humans trust Matia without question and work together can we overcome this crisis. Meg... I truly thought he would be a loyal subordinate."

Mo Le understood the captain's implication and stepped forward, volunteering: "Captain, I request to lead a team to support the restricted zone!"

The captain's eyes brightened, and he nodded approvingly at Mo Le. "Mo Le, my most trusted man, you must return safely. Matia will always stand behind you!"

Mo Le lowered his eyes and bowed in acknowledgment. "Yes, Captain."

He turned and strode out of the command center, nearly colliding with Gabriel, who was rushing in. Sidestepping him, Mo Le headed straight for the escort ship.

"Su Xu! How's my experiment?" Gabriel, having heard about the Vanguard team's accident, had abandoned his half-finished experiment and ran straight here.

The dark, chaotic seabed was littered with debris from the explosions. Su Xu, with nothing to hold onto, was tossed relentlessly by the violent waves, dizzy and about to vomit.

Suddenly, Su Xu felt something grip his waist, keeping him steady in the water.

Dizzy, he shook his head, waiting for his vision to clear.

But why was there a face in front of him? A baby's face... No, not just one...

Su Xu blinked sluggishly, trying to make sense of the situation, then sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening in shock.

What held him was indeed a hand—no, the tentacle of a mutated creature!