Flames shot into the sky.
The sea surface resembled boiling water, churning with red foam.
That was blood, mixed with burning fuel.
"BOOM!!"
Another deafening explosion.
A speedboat attempting to turn and flee was violently kissed on the keel by a "Black Widow" that shot out from underwater.
This kiss tore a three-meter-wide gash directly through the hull.
Seawater flooded in.
The three pirates on board, unable to even put on life jackets in time, were sucked into the vortex by the immense force.
"Help!!"
"My leg! Someone pull me up!!"
"Don't come over! Don't head this way! There are mines! It's full of mines!!"
The communication channels were filled with desperate wails.
Qin Yu stood on the second deck of the [President], holding the glass of red wine he hadn't finished.
That trademark cold smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
"This is the so-called joint fleet?"
"A ragtag mob."
Li Ruobing stood beside him, loading specialized slugs into her shotgun.
"Don't get careless."
She glanced at the radar.
Although the cannon fodder ahead had been decimated, the massive red dot representing the flagship hadn't slowed down at all.
It was moving even faster.
"That Solomon hasn't made his move yet."
...
Solomon's flagship, the [Desert Scorpion].
This was a heavily modified hovercraft, its hull covered in thick yellow armor, resembling a giant beast crouched on the sea.
The explosions outside were deafening.
Inside the command room, however, it was eerily quiet.
Solomon sat in the crocodile-skin-wrapped captain's chair, spinning two iron walnuts rapidly in his hand.
"Click, click."
He showed not a hint of panic at the carnage outside.
He didn't even lift an eyelid.
"Boss!"
The scar-faced adjutant stumbled in, his face covered in blood.
"We can't get through ahead! It's full of water mines!"
"Those things are sinister! They can track automatically!"
"We've lost half our vanguard!"
"Let the brothers behind retreat..."
"Retreat?"
Solomon's hand stopped moving.
He looked up.
A glint like a venomous snake flashed in his murky eyes.
"Since we're here."
"What's the point of going back empty-handed?"
He stood up and walked to the bulletproof glass, gazing at the brightly lit [President] in the distance.
Greed.
Unconcealed greed.
"This Qin Yu is indeed a fat sheep."
"But boss, the minefield..." Scarface stamped his foot anxiously.
"Those are sonar mines triggered by engine vibrations."
Solomon snorted coldly.
He had seen through the "Black Widow's" operating mechanism at a glance.
As the number two on the leaderboard, he relied not just on numbers.
But also on brains.
"Pass the order."
"Activate the 'Death Squad' decoys."
Scarface was stunned.
"De... Death Squad?"
"But we worked so hard to build those up..."
"Enough nonsense!"
Solomon slapped Scarface across the face with such force that two teeth were knocked out.
"People can be replaced."
"Ships can be rebuilt."
"But that 'Regional Core,' and the good stuff on Qin Yu's ship."
"Opportunity knocks but once!"
"Yes... yes!"
Scarface covered his face and scrambled out.
A few seconds later.
The previously chaotic formation of the assault boats suddenly changed.
Over a dozen small speedboats that had been on the flanks suddenly charged forward like madmen.
Their engines roared as if on the verge of death.
They had pushed the throttle straight into the fuel tank.
Overload!
Extreme overload!
The tremendous noise and vibrations created an extremely conspicuous "acoustic target" on the sea surface.
Underwater.
The lurking "Black Widows" were instantly drawn by this massive disturbance.
They abandoned their original targets.
Like a school of piranhas smelling blood, they frantically surged toward those dozen or so speedboats.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
A series of dense explosions rang out.
The flames lit up the night sky as bright as day.
Those dozen or so speedboats, along with their pilots, were instantly reduced to ashes.
But in that very instant.
A wide safe passage was blasted open by sheer force.
"Now!"
Solomon roared.
"All main ships!"
"Activate the 'Sandstorm Force Field'!"
"Charge through!!"
...
On the [President].
Qin Yu frowned.
"Ruthless."
He watched as dozens of red dots vanished instantly on the radar, followed by the large blips advancing at full speed.
"Using his own men's lives to clear the mines."
"This Solomon is a real piece of work."
Li Ruobing also gasped in shock.
"Is he even human?"
"Dozens of lives, sold off without batting an eye?"
"In times like these."
Qin Yu set down his wine glass.
His gaze sharpened.
"Human lives are the cheapest fuel."
"Since the minefield didn't stop them."
"Then it's time for a head-on clash."
With a flip of his hand.
The [Netherworld: Death's Kiss] appeared in his grasp.
The gun was cold, gleaming with an eerie blue luster.
"Elena!"
"Here!"
"Lock both autocannons onto that yellow hovercraft!"
"All Valkyries, prepare for boarding combat!"
"Yes!!"
Qin Yu raised the gun.
"Rank two?"
"I'm gunning for rank two."
Pull the bolt.
Chamber a round.
Aim.
"Bang!!"
A heavy gunshot drowned out the roar of the waves.
An armor-piercing round imbued with the "Tenfold Gravity" trait tore through the sky.
Straight toward Solomon's forehead.
This shot.
Fast, precise, ruthless.
No probing.
Straight for the headshot.
However.
Just as the bullet was about to pierce the windshield of the [Desert Scorpion].
A sudden change occurred.
A hazy yellow glow erupted from the hovercraft.
It was sand.
Countless fine, rapidly spinning grains of sand formed a visible defensive shield around the hull.
[Item: Pharaoh's Sigh (SS-Class · Defensive Type)]
[Trait: Absolute Defense (Physical). Deflects all kinetic attacks through high-frequency vibrating sand.]
"Zzz—!!"
The bullet plunged into the sandstorm.
Like a clay ox entering the sea.
The originally straight trajectory was forcibly deflected the moment it made contact with those high-speed spinning grains of sand.
"Snap!"
The bullet grazed past the edge of the command room.
Shattering a nearby radar antenna.
Yet it didn't harm the people inside in the slightest.
"Blocked?"
Li Ruobing's eyes widened.
She knew the power of the Kiss of Death.
It was a divine weapon that could pierce steel plates like paper.
And it was actually deflected by this seemingly thin layer of sand?
"Interesting."
Qin Yu wasn't discouraged by missing the first shot.
Instead, a hint of excitement appeared on his face.
If he had killed with one shot,
then this number two on the leaderboard would be too weak.
"Since one shot won't do it,"
"then a few more shots will."
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
Qin Yu continuously pulled the trigger.
Three bullets shot out in a triangular formation.
But that layer of yellow Sandstorm Force Field was truly too bizarre.
All the bullets were deflected and had their force dissipated the moment they made contact.
It was like hitting an extremely viscous glue.
At the same time,
Solomon's fleet had already charged through the minefield.
They were less than five hundred meters away from the President.
"Hahahaha!!"
Solomon's arrogant laughter came through the loudspeaker.
"Qin Yu!!"
"Your sniper rifle is good!"
"But you want to kill me, Solomon?"
"You're still too green!!"
"Men!!"
"Open fire!!"
"Blow his ship to pieces!!"
Following his roar,
the remaining thirty-plus assault boats opened fire simultaneously.
Not with ordinary firearms,
but with uniform RPG rocket launchers and modified heavy machine guns.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
Dozens of rockets, trailing long flames, rained down on the President like a storm.
"Defense!!"
Li Ruobing shouted loudly.
She fired her shotgun several times into the air, blowing up two of the closest rockets.
But there were too many.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"
Violent explosions erupted around the President.
Qin Yu steadied himself.
Watching the enemy boats drawing closer and closer,
there was no fear in his eyes.
Only an even crazier killing intent.
"You want to play firepower saturation with me?"
"Fine."
"Then I'll show you"
"what real S-Class firepower is."
He put away his sniper rifle.
And pulled something out from his Space.
It was a remote control.
With only one red button.
"I originally wanted to save this for a grand finale."
"But since you're in such a hurry to be reborn,"
"I'll send you on your way."
This was something he had brought back from the Armory earlier.
Those things buried underwater on both sides of the ship's hull...
[Item: Magnetic Storm Coil (Modified · One-time Trap)]
Qin Yu pressed the button hard.
"Zzzap—!!"
A grating electric current sound rang out.
Around the President in the seawater,
eight silvery-white metal pillars suddenly rose.
Immediately after,
a massive blue electric net, with these eight pillars as nodes, instantly spread out.
Covering a three-hundred-meter radius of sea.
Just enough to envelop the first wave of assault boats charging ahead.
"What is this?!"
"Electricity?! There's electricity in the water!!"
The pirates screamed in terror.
But it was already too late.
Seawater conducts electricity.
This is common knowledge.
But in the apocalypse, common sense is often overlooked.
"Crackle! Pop!!"
Fierce electric currents surged through the seawater and the wet hulls, directly penetrating the pirates' bodies.
In an instant,
the people on those assault boats convulsed violently as if breakdancing.
Their hair stood on end.
Their skin turned charred black.
Even the rocket launchers that were firing exploded due to their electronic components being burned out.
"Aaaaahhh!!"
The screams lasted only a few seconds.
Then.
Dead silence.
Dozens of charred corpses floated on the sea.
Along with the powerless, smoke-spewing scrap metal.
This wave.
Directly crippled half of Solomon's combat strength.
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