Following her evolution, Ling Shuying’s speed was astonishing.
In the blink of an eye, she fled to the flank of the mall.
She thought, “The City State thinks too highly of me.
Last time they captured the spy from the Child of the Abyss, they only deployed six ships.
I’ll have to activate the backup plan and take a gamble.”
She paused by a window on the mall’s wing, as if intentionally waiting.
The silhouette of the first Sea Hunter drew closer.
“Now!”
Ling Shuying twisted her body and darted into the mall.
She had a petite frame, whereas the Sea Hunters were massive bionic sharks.
In the confined space of the mall, she could press her advantage to the fullest.
“I’ll take out a few of them right here,” she thought as a plan formed in her mind.
SWISH!
The first Sea Hunter stopped outside the mall.
“Captain, she went inside,” the pilot reported from the cabin.
“Numbers Three, Six, and Seven, come with me.
We are entering the mall to capture her.
“The rest of you, surround the mall.
Repeating the combat objective.
Location: Beiguo Mall.
Target: Ling Shuying!”
“Copy that!” the team members responded.
Inside the mall, the seawater flowed sluggishly as several massive silhouettes swam slowly through the area.
The interior structure wasn’t as intact as the exterior.
Amidst the ruined walls and debris, several collapsed pillars were jammed obliquely into the ground, barely supporting one another.
Algae crawled between the pillars, their tangled threads linking the columns together like vines in a primeval forest or ancient banyan trees submerged in the sea.
The Sea Hunter captain did not dare let his guard down.
The cramped space here was detrimental to combat operations.
Moreover, ever since entering this building, he had been plagued by a bad premonition.
This building was dangerous.
He thought, “Find the target, deploy the capture nets, retrieve her, and get out quickly!”
BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE!
It was dead silent.
There was no sound other than the water currents stirred up by the sharks’ movements and the bubbles escaping from the coral clusters.
It was quiet—too quiet.
Such a massive building should have been inhabited by numerous Sea Beasts.
It shouldn’t be this silent.
Unless…
“Run!
Get out of here!” the captain suddenly roared into the intercom.
“AHHH!”
Before his voice could even fade, a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the comms channel.
Unless a massive Sea Beast was nesting here.
The captain looked back and felt the breath knocked out of him.
A squid.
A giant squid.
Its body alone occupied three entire floors of the mall.
One of its gigantic tentacles was tightly twisting a Sea Hunter in the rear—the exact ship piloted by the team member who had just screamed.
The vessel had already been crumpled into a mangled heap of metal.
“Run, run, run!” The captain and the remaining team members frantically activated their hyper-speed modes.
“How can there be such a massive giant squid in the shallow seas?!
What the hell is the Inspection Bureau doing?!”
“It might have just arrived, or maybe the mall blocked the signals!”
“Just run!”
Grabbing one was not enough for the squid; it extended another tentacle.
SWISH!
It pierced right through the rearmost Sea Hunter, skewering it like a kebab.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
The skewered Sea Hunter truly became food as the squid shoved the vessel into its beak.
CHOMP, CHOMP…
A tremor ran through the squid’s body, and then it stopped moving.
PTOOEY, PTOOEY, PTOOEY!
The Sea Hunter, now reduced to metallic dregs mixed with fresh blood and machine oil, was violently spat out.
The squid had mistaken the Sea Hunters for real sharks.
Generally speaking, sharks were highly intimidating in the ocean, and ordinary marine life would avoid them at all costs.
Furthermore, this streamlined bionic design offered high speeds and low fuel consumption.
That was why sharks had been chosen as the bionic blueprint.
But today, this squid clearly didn’t take these few “little sharks” seriously and had intended to enjoy a good meal.
Unfortunately for it, they were all fake.
Hiding on the sidelines, Ling Shuying found the scene quite amusing.
She had originally planned to use the terrain and aquatic plants to entangle a few of them before finishing them off with the “treasure” in her jacket.
To her surprise, there was a giant squid lurking inside that completely ignored her.
Perhaps her adaptive evolution made the squid sense the aura of its own kind, or maybe it just thought she had too little meat on her bones to even fill the gaps between its teeth?
Ling Shuying decided to properly research this after she escaped.
“Damn it,” the captain cursed, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
“Everyone outside, get in here and unlock your weapon safeties!
We’ve got a big one!
“A giant creature like this in the shallow seas poses far too great a threat to the City State!
We are taking it out right here!
“Target: the giant squid!
“Avenge Liu Neng and Wu Qixia!”
Hearing this, the remaining Sea Hunters outside, who had already been itching for a fight, charged in through the windows from all directions at his command.
Torpedoes, lasers, harpoons, and bullets poured out, raining down madly upon the squid.
Ling Shuying hid in the corner.
Though the seawater was freezing, she couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, their orders regarding her were capture, not annihilation.
Otherwise, she probably would have been blown to bits in their first encounter.
“Since you’re all inside now…” Ling Shuying grinned.
“You might as well stay here permanently.”
Taking advantage of the fierce battle between the two sides, Ling Shuying darted out from the shadows.
Using the seaweed for cover, she began searching for something.
Her gaze swept the area until her eyes suddenly lit up.
Found it!
An Extreme Patrol Shell.
It was a type of mollusk that had emerged after the “Great Sinking.” A mutated bivalve over half a meter long, it possessed carnivorous habits and hunted much like a Venus flytrap.
The Extreme Patrol Shell had mimetic abilities.
It usually hid amongst aquatic plants, and whenever fish swam by, it would immediately snap its shells shut, trapping its prey with immense force.
Ling Shuying pulled a test tube from her jacket.
The liquid inside was a deep, bloody red that exuded a dangerous aura.
P-7, a liquid explosive.
Ling Shuying was a little excited.
Ever since she made this, she hadn’t had the chance to test it.
She was eager to see exactly how powerful it was.
She carefully approached the Extreme Patrol Shell and gently tossed the test tube inside it.
No reaction.
Perfect.
As expected, the Extreme Patrol Shell had no interest in anything that wasn’t food.
Next, Ling Shuying took out another vial from her jacket: Q-S88.
It was a biological attractant designed to lure creatures near.
Very carefully, she twisted the stopper open just enough to let a little of the potion seep out, then swiftly closed it.
The attractant began to spread through the water.
And then—
Run!
A smile crept onto Ling Shuying’s face as she sprinted toward the mall’s exit at full speed.
The Sea Hunters and the squid were still locked in combat.
The two sides were evenly matched; three more Sea Hunters had been destroyed, but the squid wasn’t faring much better, having lost six of its tentacles.
From a distance, Ling Shuying looked back at the mall, calculating in her head.
The timing should be just about right…
Based on the dilution rate of the Q-S88, she had roughly estimated how long it would take to attract fish.
As long as a school of fish swam into the Extreme Patrol Shell’s hunting range, the shell would clamp down, crushing the P-7 in the process.
And the P-7 was a highly destructive liquid bomb she had hastily synthesized just a couple of days ago.
In a very short amount of time, she had used the materials on hand and the surrounding environment to set up a makeshift time bomb.
“Poor big guy, this bit of explosive shouldn’t kill you.
I’ll make it up to you next time we meet,” she murmured.
BOOM!!!!
An explosion skyrocketed from the seabed.
Waves churned violently as fish and shrimp scattered in all directions.
The shockwave rippled through the surrounding waters, kicking up a massive cloud of mud, sand, and gravel.
CRASH!!!!
This building, which had stood firm even after the “Great Sinking,” finally collapsed into ruins under Ling Shuying’s sabotage.
“What a pity…
It was such a beautiful building,” Ling Shuying murmured, looking at the scene before her with an indescribable feeling in her heart.
“One day, I’ll restore you.”
Ling Shuying glanced back one last time and checked the time.
“Crap, I got a little delayed.
I need to hurry.”
She turned and continued swimming toward the deep sea.
Over there, an ocean storm was beginning to form.
Back at the mall ruins, several stone slabs trembled.
A Sea Hunter flipped out from underneath them.
Its mechanical armor was somewhat battered, a crack snaked across its front glass canopy, and half of its tail fin had been smashed off.
The pilot glared furiously at the figure disappearing into the distance.
“Ling Shuying…!!!”