Behind those three SS-class Overlords.
An enormous black battleship.
Slowly emerged from the mist.
Jet-black armor.
Densely packed gun barrels.
And on the mast, a golden scepter flag fluttering in the wind.
Click.
At the highest point of the black battleship, a full-channel loudspeaker was activated.
A voice with a heavy accent yet brimming with arrogance, speaking in Chinese, resounded across the entire sea.
"Qin Yu."
"Surprised? Or not?"
"We meet again."
Qin Yu sneered.
"Solomon."
"Last time, Qian Qian's shot didn't teach you how to behave."
"And now you dare to show your face in front of me again?"
"You think you didn't die thoroughly enough last time, so you're rushing here to deliver achievements, is that it?!"
"Insolence!!"
Solomon roared through the intercom.
His voice turned shrill with extreme fury.
"Qin Yu! Don't you dare act so arrogantly!"
"Last time was just your luck!"
"But this time, you're dead!"
Standing on the bridge of the battleship, Solomon pointed at the three SS-class Sea Beasts with crimson eyes below.
He laughed wildly.
"See that?"
"These three SS-class deep-sea overlords now all obey my command!"
"Not only that!"
"Today, even if you grew wings, you couldn't fly out of this sea!"
"Because the one who wants your life isn't me."
"It's the one 'above'!"
The "one above" Solomon mentioned, Qin Yu knew perfectly well.
It was that lackey Executive Officer hiding in the Arbitration Tribunal.
"A dog relying on its master's power."
Qin Yu picked at his ear.
His face full of disdain.
"That coward doesn't dare to come down himself, so he sent a piece of trash like you to disgust me?"
"Enough nonsense."
"If you want to fight, then fire your cannons."
"I'm in a hurry."
"Rushing to be reborn?"
Solomon let out a cold, sinister laugh.
"Qin Yu, I know what you're looking for."
"Look at this!"
Snap!
On the rear half of the black battleship's deck.
A row of blinding searchlights suddenly lit up.
The intense light fell upon an enormous, specially-made titanium alloy cage.
Inside the cage.
Thick electrified chains tightly bound a colossal creature.
It was a bird.
A giant bird larger than a passenger jet.
Its feathers were like sharp barbs, but large patches had fallen off, stained with dried black blood.
Most bizarrely.
On this bird's forehead grew a third eye.
But at this moment.
That eye was emitting an eerie blue light.
An extremely terrifying, yet extremely weak energy fluctuation was emanating from its body.
Beep beep beep—!
The omniscient radar before Yao Qian suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.
"Brother-in-law!"
Yao Qian stood up abruptly.
Pointing at the golden question mark on the screen.
"The coordinates match!"
"The signal source of Fragment No. 3..."
"It's inside that bird's stomach!"
Qin Yu looked at the giant bird in the cage.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"No wonder the coordinates kept moving."
"So it was swallowed by this beast."
Solomon's laughter came again.
Permeated with the arrogance of a petty man who has gained power.
"Hahahaha!"
"Qin Yu! Bet you didn't expect this!"
"That SSS-Class Abyssal Colossus you crippled ended up benefiting me in the end!"
"The great System Executive Officer transformed it from its Sky Island Form into what it is now."
And handed it over to me.
"Now."
"The World Fragment in its belly is mine!"
"Your head is also mine!"
"All the rewards from the global bounty are mine!"
"Kill him!"
At Solomon's command.
The sea surface churned violently.
Those three SS-class Overlords, whose Aggro Mechanisms had been forcibly rewritten.
Let out an ear-splitting roar.
Carrying towering waves.
They charged directly toward the [President]!
"Boom!"
The leading [Ironclad Frenzy Shark] opened its maw, bristling with barbed teeth.
And clamped down on the President's Energy Shield.
The Shield flickered intensely.
"Alert! Shield Energy down 15%!"
Yao Qian shouted over the comms.
"Brother-in-law! Their hides are too thick!"
"These three monsters are deliberately stalling for time!"
"Radar shows those foreign warships around us are regrouping, preparing to flank us!"
"Flank us?"
Qin Yu stood at the bow.
The sea wind tousled his hair.
But the killing intent in his eyes.
Was colder than the deep sea's waters.
"A bunch of worthless rabble."
"Think they're worthy of surrounding me?"
Qin Yu abruptly raised the [Kiss of Death] in his hand.
The muzzle.
Aimed directly at the Ironclad Frenzy Shark tearing at the Shield.
"Ruo Bing! Yao Xue!"
"Here!"
"Here."
The two women stood on either side behind Qin Yu.
"Since their hides are thick."
"Then we'll skin them!"
"Move out!"
"Got it!"
Li Ruobing had been itching for action.
She pushed off powerfully with her legs.
Leaping straight down from the ten-meter-high deck!
Her fiery tank top flapped wildly in the air.
"You stinking fish!"
"Dare to bite my ship!"
"Let go!"
Li Ruobing swung the two-meter-long heavy alloy pipe wrench with both hands.
Using her falling momentum.
With crushing force.
She smashed it hard onto the Ironclad Frenzy Shark's skull!
"Clang!!"
A deafening crash.
Sparks flew.
The SS-class Frenzy Shark's armor, reputed to be impervious even to Missiles.
From this single wrench blow.
Was brutally dented into a massive crater!
The Frenzy Shark roared in pain.
Forced to release its bite.
The moment its jaws opened.
A shadowy figure flashed past like a ghost.
Yao Xue had somehow appeared at the ship's railing.
Her long legs, sheathed in Black Silk Stockings, braced against the guardrail.
Her gaze icy to the extreme.
"Your nerve cluster."
"I'll take it."
A flick of her wrist.
The [S-Class: Soul Dissection Scalpel] transformed into a streak of light.
"Thud!"
With pinpoint accuracy, it followed the path of the Frenzy Shark's open mouth.
Plunging deep into its brain!
No blood sprayed out.
But the Frenzy Shark's massive body.
Convulsed violently as if electrocuted.
The agony of soul dissection.
Instantly robbed it of all combat capability.
"Useless!"
Seeing this from afar, Solomon cursed in fury.
"The other two! Attack!"
"Keep them occupied!"
The [Corrupted Leviathan] and the [Abyssal Tentacle Monster] closed in from left and right.
Launching another pincer assault.
Dozens of disgusting tentacles, thick as water vats, wrapped around the President's hull.
Trying to drag the entire warship to the seabed.
"Qi Chun!"
Qin Yu didn't even turn his head.
"Chop all those tentacles off for me!"
"Roger that!"
In the sky.
Qi Chun piloted the Floating Fortress.
The Vulcan cannon matrix on the abdomen spun wildly.
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!"
A dense barrage of Armor-Piercing Incendiary Rounds.
Like a net of fire drawn across the sea surface.
Directly shredding those tentacles into a bloody pulp.
Severed tentacles fell onto the deck, still wriggling incessantly.
"Roar!"
The Corrupted Leviathan seized the chance to charge forward.
Its body of rotting blubber possessed an extreme immunity to physical attacks.
Artillery shells striking it.
Simply sank into the flesh without even stirring a splash.
"This piece of rotten meat is mine."
Qin Yu sneered coldly.
He pressed one eye against the scope of the Kiss of Death.
His finger.
Resting on the trigger.
He didn't use that round of [Void Grasp] capable of erasing coordinates.
To kill a controlled dead fish.
Using that move.
Would be too wasteful.
"Weapon trait switch."
"Gravity Magazine."
Qin Yu silently recited in his mind.
The gun emitted an extremely faint mechanical click.
A Specialized Bullet shimmering with purple light.
Was pushed into the chamber.
"Time to send you down to eat mud."
"Bang!"
The gunshot.
No massive recoil.
No dazzling muzzle flash.
Only a faint ripple in space.
Instantly piercing through the body of the Corrupted Leviathan.
"Thud."
A muffled sound.
The bullet remained inside the leviathan's body.
The next second.
A sudden mutation occurred.
"Hum—"
A terrifyingly extreme Gravity Field.
Centered on the bullet, violently erupted inside the leviathan!
"Tenfold Gravity!"
Qin Yu uttered four words.
"Creak... Crack!"
That was the sound of bones being instantly crushed.
That hundred-meter-long SS-class Corrupted Leviathan.
Without even having time to scream.
Its entire massive body.
As if squeezed by an invisible giant hand.
Instantly collapsed inward!
The surrounding seawater was pulled by the immense gravitational force, forming a massive whirlpool.
"Splash!"
In less than three seconds.
This deep-sea overlord capable of withstanding an entire fleet.
Had turned into an extremely dense ball of flesh.
Plummeting straight toward the five-thousand-meter-deep seabed.
Never to stir again.
"This... this is impossible!"
Solomon watched from the battleship, his eyes nearly bursting with rage.
That was an SS-class Sea Beast personally enhanced by the System Executive Officer!
Three bodies fused.
Even his fully equipped battleship.
Wouldn't dare claim to emerge unscathed!
How did Qin Yu do it?!
What the hell is that gun in his hand?!
"Nothing is impossible."
Qin Yu lowered the gun barrel.
Across less than a thousand meters.
He locked firmly onto Solomon's bridge.
"The leash is broken."
"Now."
"It's your turn."
Qin Yu's voice, amplified by the loudspeaker.
Coldly reached Solomon's ears.
Solomon shuddered all over.
A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
He was afraid.
Truly afraid.
He had no more substitute Items left.
If Qin Yu hit him again.
He would truly vanish completely from this world!
"Shields at full power!"
"Fire interception! Block him!"
Solomon roared like a madman on the command platform.
Simultaneously, he grabbed the remote control from the console.
Staring fixedly at the Three-Eyed Spirit Roc in the cage.
"Qin Yu! Don't come any closer!"
"You want Fragment No. 3, right?!"
"I'm telling you! I've already strapped a High-energy Bomb to this damn bird's internal organs!"
"You dare fire!"
"And I'll press the detonator!"
"At worst, we'll perish together! No one will get the fragment!"
Upon hearing this, Yao Qian's expression in the cockpit changed.
"Brother-in-law! The radar has detected a strong detonation signal!"
"If the bomb explodes, the energy inside the SSS-class Divine Beast will go out of control."
"Everything within ten nautical miles will be flattened!"
"The fragment will also be blown to pieces!"
Li Ruobing walked over, carrying a blood-stained pipe wrench, and spat a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the deck.
"Fucking despicable!"
"Can't win a fight, so they resort to hostage-taking!"
Qin Yu remained silent.
He stared at the dying Three-Eyed Spirit Roc in the cage.
The giant bird sensed Qin Yu's gaze.
It struggled to lift its head.
Its eerie third eye fixed intently on Qin Yu.
There was no anger.
Only the humiliation of a top-tier ruler being chained like a dog.
It recognized Qin Yu.
Recognized the man who had once shot it down from its divine throne with a single bullet.
"Let out a couple of cries."
Qin Yu suddenly spoke an inexplicable command into the loudspeaker.
Everyone was stunned.
Even Solomon was bewildered.
"Are you insane? Who are you telling to cry?"
"Shut up. I wasn't talking to you."
Qin Yu stared at the giant bird in the cage.
His voice was cold and sharp.
"I'm telling you to let out a couple of cries."
"You're supposed to be an SSS-grade breed."
"Being tied up like a pig, and you don't even dare make a sound?"
"Where's your backbone?"
A flash of eerily human-like fury suddenly appeared in the Three-Eyed Spirit Roc's eyes.
It was the humiliation of a king's dignity being severely provoked.
"Screech—!!"
A piercing bird cry.
It tore through the clouds and shattered stones.
Violently ripping apart the surrounding roar of the turbulent sea!
Along with this furious cry.
The eye at the center of the Three-Eyed Spirit Roc's forehead suddenly erupted with a blinding blue light.
That was the power of Fragment No. 3!
It was forcibly exhausting its life force!
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The specially designed electrified chains binding its body began to tremble violently.
The powerful energy surge.
Instantly caused a short circuit in the electrical grid on Solomon's battleship!
"Warning! Electrical grid overload!"
"Warning! Detonation signal experiencing strong electromagnetic interference!"
Hearing the mechanical voice from the battleship.
Solomon's face instantly turned deathly pale.
He frantically pressed the buttons on his remote control.
But.
All the indicator lights were dead.
The signal was cut!
"Damn it! Damn it! You feathered beast!"
Solomon, enraged and flustered.
Drew his pistol and aimed to shoot at the Three-Eyed Spirit Roc.
But.
It was already too late.
"Just waiting for this moment."
A cold curve lifted at the corner of Qin Yu's mouth.
"Yao Qian! Cut manual control!"
"Power furnace restrictions lifted!"
"Full speed ahead!"
"Ram into them!"
"Received!"
Yao Qian forcefully pushed the full-power lever forward.
Her White Silk Stockings-clad calves pressed hard against the pedals.
"President, full speed ahead!"
"Hum—Boom!!"
The Ion Thrusters at the stern of the [President] instantly shifted from blue to red.
Erupting with a terrifying thrust invisible to the naked eye.
The tens-of-thousands-ton steel behemoth.
Like a shell fired from a cannon.
Directly crushed over the still-sinking corpse of the Ironclad Frenzy Shark on the sea surface.
With an overwhelming, crushing pressure.
Straight.
It collided with Solomon's black battleship!
"No!!"
Solomon watched the rapidly enlarging metal bow in his vision.
Letting out a desperate scream.
"Fire! Fire!!"
Too fast.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The speed of the President had already exceeded the locking limit of conventional warship fire control radars.
"BOOOOOOM————!!"
An earth-shattering roar that shattered eardrums!
The President's invincible ram, reinforced with [Deep Sea Mithril] and [Titan Alloy],
was like a red-hot knife slicing through butter.
In an instant.
It pierced through the side armor of the black battleship!
Sparks flew everywhere!
The ear-piercing screech of twisting steel made one's scalp tingle.
The black battleship was directly rammed amidships into a terrifying V-shape.
The deck fractured.
Turrets were sent flying.
The bridge where Solomon was located collapsed halfway under the immense impact.
"Bang!"
Qin Yu stepped onto the ship's bow railing.
His [Kiss of Death] was aimed directly at the breach in the shattered bridge.
The muzzle.
Was less than ten meters away.
From Solomon's head.
Solomon was covered in blood, half of his body pinned under the wreckage.
He looked up at Qin Yu, who stood above him like a god of slaughter.
And completely broke down.
"Don't... don't kill me!"
"Qin Yu! Spare my life!"
"I'm the top-ranked player in the Middle East Zone! I have a lot of resources!"
"I can give you the entire Middle East Zone!"
"I can even tell you the Executive Officer's weakness!"
Qin Yu looked at Solomon, who was begging for mercy like a dog.
Not a trace of pity flickered in his eyes.
"Spare you?"
"No need."
Qin Yu lowered the gun barrel slightly.
Aiming it at Solomon's terrified, twisted face.
"Your resources, I'll take them myself."
"Your ship, I'll use it for firewood."
"As for that so-called Executive Officer..."
Qin Yu sneered.
His tone icy.
"Once I get the fragment."
"I'll go to the backend myself and break his legs."
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out.
Solomon's head.
Like an overripe watermelon.
Exploded into a spray of red and white amidst the wreckage.
[Ding!]
[Killed Middle East Zone top-ranked player 'Solomon'!]
[Obtained Plunder Value: 5 million points!]
[Current regional bounty target eliminated, Bounty Order invalidated!]
The mechanical System notification echoed in the public channel.
At that moment.
The entire sea area.
Fell into deathly silence.
Those foreign warships still observing from the periphery.
Those players who had originally hoped to fish in troubled waters.
All froze in their tracks.
Leaving only the sound of sharp intakes of breath.
Two shots.
One ram.
The second-ranked Solomon, along with his proud, fully-equipped battleship.
Had been physically.
Erased from existence.
Qin Yu holstered his gun.
Without even glancing at Solomon's corpse.
He leaped.
Directly landing on the rear half of the sinking battleship's deck.
He walked up to the massive titanium alloy cage.
Looking at the [Three-Eyed Spirit Roc] inside, also severely injured and barely able to stand.
Qin Yu reached into his pocket.
And pulled out the glowing blue Fragment No. 4.
"Hey."
Qin Yu looked at the giant bird's azure third eye.
His voice calm, yet carrying an undeniable authority.
"Spit it out."
"From now on."
"You're with me."
.