"Ruo Bing."
"Fire."
There was no warning whatsoever.
Not even the shrill whistle of a shell tearing through the air.
Only an extremely muffled hum.
That purple Gravity Shell exploded with pinpoint accuracy at the very center of the cluster of hundreds of ships.
There was no flash of light.
No shockwave.
Only a visible, intensely distorted ripple, like an invisible black hole, instantly expanding outward in all directions.
[Gravity Field: Twenty-fold!]
This time.
Qin Yu held nothing back.
Not ten-fold.
A full twenty-fold!
CRACK—!!!
The sound was like countless chopsticks being snapped simultaneously.
The dozens of small speedboats at the epicenter didn't even have time to groan before they were crushed into fragments by the terrifying pressure.
The raiders on board instantly turned into pulps of flesh.
They didn't even have time to scream.
Blood sprayed like fountains, dyeing the seawater red for a hundred meters around.
The larger modified ships on the periphery fared no better.
Their hulls emitted a teeth-grating screech of twisting metal.
Decks shattered.
Keels splintered.
Even more terrifying, because they were packed so tightly together, under the pull of gravity, these ships crashed and collapsed toward the center like out-of-control bumper cars.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Wood splinters flew.
Iron plates curled.
The once-ferocious joint fleet transformed in the blink of an eye into a massive floating junkyard.
"Ahhh!!"
"My leg! My leg is broken!"
"Help! What kind of sorcery is this?!"
"The ship is sinking! Abandon ship!"
Wails pierced the sky.
But this was only the beginning.
Amidst this hellish scene, a few stubborn points of light still flickered to life.
"Hold! Everyone, hold the line!"
A furious roar came from a Destroyer that was still desperately holding on.
It was from a squad leader of the [Solomon's Temple], codenamed "Tie Xi".
His entire body now gleamed with a metallic sheen.
[Talent: Steel Body (A-rank)]
Not only that.
He was also holding aloft a massive shield radiating golden light, forcibly propping up a semi-circular protective shield above his head.
"This is just a Gravity Field! It has a time limit!"
"As long as we hold out! He'll have no more tricks!"
Tie Xi's face was flushed crimson, veins bulging on his neck as he desperately withstood the twenty-fold gravity.
Around him.
Several other formidable individuals also displayed their unique skills.
Some used [Rock Hardening].
Some crushed precious [Defense Scrolls], erecting thin layers of light barriers.
Others relied on the sheer toughness of their ships, with armor forged from S-rank materials, to withstand the first wave of crushing pressure.
In total, about a dozen or so individuals.
Or a dozen or so ships.
Amidst the utter chaos, they actually managed to hold on.
Several dozen seconds later.
The purple ripples slowly dissipated.
The Gravity Field ended.
"Huff... huff..."
Tie Xi gasped for breath, the steel-like skin slowly receding to reveal a sweat-drenched, ferocious face.
He looked at the corpses and debris floating around him, the fear in his eyes gradually replaced by a more insane, violent rage.
"Not... not dead!"
"I'm not dead!"
Tie Xi laughed maniacally.
He raised the shield in his hand, pointing at the empty expanse of sea not far away—though he couldn't see Qin Yu's ship, he knew it was there.
"Qin Yu!!"
"Is that all you've got?!"
"You've used your ultimate move, haven't you?!"
"Now, it's my turn!"
The few survivors nearby snapped back to reality.
Though battered, their ships damaged, and their crew dead...
They were still alive.
And they still had weapons, still had skills.
"Kill him!"
"While his skills are on cooldown! Finish him off!"
"As long as we kill him, that Stealth Ship will be ours!"
Greed once again overpowered reason.
These desperados believed that Qin Yu's terrifying attack must have been some ultimate ability with immense cost and a long cooldown.
Since it hadn't killed them...
It was Qin Yu's turn to die.
...
On the deck of the President.
Qin Yu leaned against the railing, a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching the distant "survivors" shouting and cursing.
A mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Tsk."
"Seems there really are a few tough ones."
"A-Class defensive talent? S-Class Item?"
Qin Yu flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"To withstand twentyfold gravity, you do have some skill."
"But..."
Qin Yu turned around.
He walked toward the newly raised helipad at the rear of the deck.
"You survived the first wave."
"And then?"
"Do you think that's all I have?"
Li Ruobing stood nearby, twirling a Tactical Dagger in her hand, her gaze icy.
"Yu-ge, should I pilot it?"
"No need."
Qin Yu waved his hand dismissively.
He tore off his jacket, revealing the black tactical vest underneath.
"Dirty work like this..."
"Is more satisfying when I do it myself."
Qin Yu jumped onto the helipad.
There.
Sat an entirely black, menacingly designed helicopter.
"Vroom—!!!"
The rotor blades began to spin.
A fierce wind erupted.
The powerful airflow nearly knocked Yao Qian off her feet on the deck.
Qin Yu sat in the cockpit.
Put on his sunglasses.
Pushed the throttle.
Lifted off.
The black helicopter shot into the air like a hunting eagle.
...
On the sea surface.
Tie Xi was reorganizing the remaining firepower.
"Aim all cannons over there!"
"Toward that direction! Fire blindly!"
"We have to force him out!"
Just then.
A deafening roar echoed from above.
Not the sound of a ship.
But the sound of wind.
Wind being torn apart.
Tie Xi looked up sharply.
A pitch-black helicopter hovered fifty meters directly above them.
At that altitude.
It was perfectly positioned in their blind spot.
And on both sides of the helicopter.
Two dark, six-barreled rotary cannons began to spin, preheating.
"That's..."
"A helicopter?!"
"This is a naval battle! Where the hell did an armed helicopter come from?!"
Tie Xi's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
In this Wasteland World.
Ships were common.
Even submarines could be acquired.
But aircraft?
That was a rarity among rarities! Requiring extremely advanced industrial capabilities and fuel supplies!
Before he could process it.
In the cockpit.
Qin Yu's cold face appeared in his line of sight.
Qin Yu didn't speak.
He simply raised a middle finger.
Then.
He slammed down the red launch button.
"Zzzzz——!!!"
That wasn't the sound of a gunshot.
It was the sound of fabric being torn apart.
It was the true Metal Storm!
"Ratatatatatatatatat!!!"
A dense rain of bullets poured down like a torrential downpour.
There were no blind spots.
No space to evade.