“We’re the torpedoes?” Lin Xian asked, confused by the words.

Ding Junyi lifted her glasses slightly. “For a professional organization like the Foundation, the action plan definitely won’t be based on experience or improvisation. If it’s an evacuation plan, there must be precise operational parameters. If we launch torpedoes, it wouldn’t rely solely on reacting randomly, right?”

Hearing Ding Junyi’s words, Lin Xian froze for a moment. He instinctively wanted to ask more but saw Ding Junyi calmly gazing at him. Then, his brows furrowed as he connected the dots from her statement.

“Smart.”

Lin Xian relaxed his brow, immediately activating the Mechanical Heart to open the watertight door ahead and quickly headed toward the torpedo chamber.

At this moment, a strange idea crossed his mind, and he was eager to verify it.

Soon, Lin Xian arrived at the torpedo chamber. Looking at dozens of large torpedo launch tubes densely packed, he directly used his mechanical supernatural power to access all the torpedo tubes’ data onto his panel. Then he moved to the nearest tube and took out his mobile terminal to attempt data export.

Beep beep.

After a moment of waiting, Lin Xian completed data analysis. At this point, he saw a segment of strange data on the screen and immediately brightened with realization.

“Just as I thought!”

Those strange data were none other than preset firing parameters for these decoy torpedoes. Each was programmed to launch at specific coordinates. This indicated the submarine’s route must be fixed or predetermined and not a blind gamble at the seabed.

This discovery suddenly cleared Lin Xian’s doubts. He had always wondered how the Sanctum operatives could enter and exit Haiyan Island. Were they all suicide squads, daring to penetrate the center of the hunting monster tide on one-way trips?

But clearly, that was not the case. The Sanctum not only knew how to enter but also precisely how to leave the island. All this was based on experimental data monitored by the Foundation’s offshore base on Unika-1.

“All the decoy torpedoes have preset firing data, which means they have very clear knowledge about the energy discharge outlets and the territorial sea areas of large abnormal entities. At least, they fully understand the hydrological information of this sea region. So they know how to escape. This might be an opportunity for us!” Ding Junyi said quietly, standing behind Lin Xian.

“Even if we confirm this, there are still two problems.”

“First, how to determine this path. If we simply deduce it from the fixed coordinates, the result will have a large deviation. The biological density in the Haiyan Island sea area is so high now that rashly venturing out has almost zero survival rate.”

“Second, this is the submarine’s route. We are the train group, and the Falcon Sea Group operates surface vessels. Obviously, our vehicles cannot make this underwater journey.”

Lin Xian summoned a batch of PX05 robots to help export the preset data of each torpedo. At the same time, he turned back to Ding Junyi and said, “Having an evacuation path in such an area itself is abnormal. The deep water conditions are strange and unpredictable. For the Foundation and Sanctum to use a fixed route, there must be something special about it. We should find it first, then compare it with some conventional hydrological data from nearby waters. Perhaps we’ll gain something. At worst, there’s still a former Foundation security director here.”

“Also.” Lin Xian turned back to Ding Junyi with a serious tone. “Who says we can’t go underwater?”

Hearing this, Ding Junyi nodded slightly. Her eyes looked at Lin Xian with a mix of three parts suspicion and seven parts eagerness. She was silent for a moment, then said directly, “Very exciting.”

“Deep sea?”

“You.”

Lin Xian was embarrassed.

Chen Sixuan spoke bluntly, “You ask Xin to help.”

Looking at Chen Sixuan’s expression, Lin Xian cleared his throat. “Help with what?”

“Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Mistakes.” Chen Sixuan’s glasses reflected the torpedo chamber’s lights. “Give yourself some time;

you should be able to make it bloom.”

Lin Xian’s eyes lit up at her words. “Damn, that means…”

Boom rumble!

Before Lin Xian finished his sentence, a violent tremor suddenly shook the ground. The water in the deepwater port surged wildly. The nuclear-powered submarine moored by the shore now bobbed uncontrollably, and inside, the shaking was like an earthquake.

Inside the torpedo chamber, Zhan Chang grabbed the steady-standing Chen Sixuan, then extended seven spider-like stabilizers to anchor himself in the passageway, stabilizing his posture. Feeling the unprecedented tremors, Lin Xian’s face darkened as he said,

“So soon?”

Lin Xian’s mind screamed that this was bad. There were still several hours until nightfall, but the situation seemed already out of control. He had originally intended to monitor changes at the energy discharge outlets and use his mechanical supernatural power to stabilize the geothermal core device, preparing to face the impending night.

But this sudden tremor gave Lin Xian a terrible premonition: the underwater volcano might have reached some critical threshold.

19:32:45

Looking at the countdown before him, Lin Xian’s mind raced. What exactly did this mean? Could the current disaster be unrelated to this countdown?

“If it erupts, tectonic movements will release energy at all discharge points.” Ding Junyi urgently told Lin Xian.

“Including the geothermal well here!”

Boom rumble!

At 15:06 in the afternoon, beneath the ocean ridge seabed southeast of the Haiyan Island continental shelf, lava gushed along fissures, tearing the seabed with web-like dark red cracks. Large amounts of boiling water rich in sulfides collided with magma, releasing vast clouds of brown-yellow smoke that blotted out the sky. Bubbles like molten glass roiled upward, instantly carbonizing countless abnormal sea creatures and aquatic monsters into black fog wherever they passed.

The entire east coast sea area of Haiyan Island seemed to be cooked by a giant god. Hundreds-of-meters-wide steam domes burst through the waves, and the clash of hot steam and cold air formed thunderstorm cloud walls. In the sky, purplish-red lightning snaked and exploded inside polluted clouds. Storms carrying volcanic ash began to blot out the sun.

The sea churned violently, like the end of the world, monstrous underwater black shadows occasionally appearing among giant waves. The air above the surface was frozen by the salty fishy smell. At this moment, the submarine base shook violently. Lights flickered erratically;

condensation pipes burst under the tremors. Salty seawater mixed with rust particles flooded the corridors.

Members of the Infinite and Falcon Sea groups gathered in the hall, all faces drastically changing, as if facing a deadly enemy.

“How is this possible? Mount Garland has already started erupting?!”

“Wasn’t there still more than ten hours?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That was just the device’s stability threshold, nothing to do with the volcano erupting!”

“Quick!” Chen Sixuan was fully armed, leading the people from the vehicles into the hall. She shouted to the Falcon Sea Group, “We’re sealing off all upper-level passages to prevent abnormal entities from infiltrating through flood discharge channels!”

“How can we get out if everything is sealed?” Azrael from the Falcon Sea Group looked puzzled and serious. “Our fleet is still at the outer harbor!”

“Azrael!” Laine immediately interrupted him, “Do as ordered. We are all on the same ship as Infinite now. Focus on surviving tonight;

nothing else matters.”

Azrael opened his mouth but immediately clenched his teeth and turned to lead his team to join Chen Sixuan’s side toward the upper levels.

“We’ll go help too.” Qian Dele looked up at the flickering lights with a gloomy face and called Shu Qin, Lü Chang, and Luo Yang to move out.

“No!”

Debris and dust kept falling from the ceiling. In the monitoring hall, red alarm lights flashed continuously. KIKI’s face instantly changed when she saw the data on the screen.

“The geothermal well has exceeded the safety limit. We need to find a way to stop it.”

“Where is Lin Xian?” Monica asked.

“We’re going first!” KIKI stood up immediately. “Ryunosuke, come with me.”

Right now, with no better options, KIKI had no choice but to take Ryunosuke to try physically preventing the upper device from being burned by the magma.

Boom!

At this moment, a huge explosion sounded from the ground. KIKI looked up, her brow furrowed, and said,

“Damn, Viola’s side must be under attack.”

A scalding steam wave suddenly burst from the distant geothermal passage, and everyone in the hall immediately activated the power armor’s protective system.

“Watch out!”

“Get away!!”

Seeing this, KIKI stepped forward, raising her hand to form a telekinetic barrier, blocking the entire monitoring hall. The white steam surged inside, soon blurring everyone’s vision.

Beep beep beep beep.

Many people’s power armor started high-temperature warnings. The surging heat made the floor and walls of the hall covered in steaming droplets. Boom rumble—the massive seismic wave surged upward from underground, almost tearing and deforming the entire submarine base. Many corridors collapsed and cracked, metal walls groaned and shrieked, and lights shattered repeatedly.

The Falcon Sea Group members hiding in the lower base were panicking, but suddenly the tremors stopped again. The base was now a scene of ruins and rubble.

Just as KIKI, Cai En, Monica, and others in the monitoring hall thought they could breathe easier, a violent explosion roared from above.

“This should be the first eruption, but not the most intense yet. Judging by the situation, we don’t have much time left.” Monica waved away the dust in front of her and looked at the monitoring screen of the geothermal device’s remains. She found the magma layer had almost spread to the base’s passage entrance, not far from where Infinite was docked at the platform. She said, “Next time, the magma in the geothermal well might overflow into the base.”

“Ah? What do we do?”

Upon hearing this, the Falcon Sea Group members immediately panicked.

“So if we hide here, aren’t we just waiting to die?”

“Yeah, better to be on the ships. Maybe we can still escape.”

Some male and female team members began to discuss anxiously.

Vanessa’s face beneath her power armor was also tense. Although this submarine base beneath the offshore island seemed a relatively safe refuge, the geothermal well was right next door. Originally, after completing the energy discharge plan and stabilizing the device, they thought they might temporarily not worry about volcanic eruptions.

But now, it seemed the worst-case scenario had happened. Everyone was trapped here. If the geothermal well fully erupted, everyone would be wiped out.

“What are we going to do?” Vanessa looked at Cai En.

Laine shook his head, first calming everyone down, then told Vanessa, “The prison above has already started fighting. There might be abnormal entities invading. We must all work together to support them. Only by stabilizing the most urgent problems can we talk about anything else.”

Vanessa nodded and immediately took action with Laine.

At this moment, everyone felt the air grow extremely oppressive. Chen Sixuan, Qian Dele, and Monica’s squads headed to the upper levels, while KIKI led people into the geothermal well’s passage.

Exiting the passage, waves of heat and the pungent smell of sulfur surged, making heads throb.

Seeing the geothermal device one-third submerged, KIKI’s expression was grave. With no other choice, she used telekinesis to temporarily seal the steam-leaking passage.

“Lin Xian, the discharge device can’t hold much longer. Where are you?” KIKI asked in his ear.

“On my way!”

Boom, boom!

A fierce battle seemed to be raging above. KIKI saw on the monitor that many creatures were approaching, detected by the spirit value detector outside.

“There must be a leak here. None of us have marks, but many monsters are being attracted!”

“Forget about that device for now.”

At that moment, Lin Xian and Ding Junyi galloped over quickly.

“Seal the passage. Everyone, evacuate to the lowest level!” Lin Xian ordered.

After he spoke, KIKI stood frozen, staring at the monitoring terminal in shock.

“Lin… Lin Xian.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Look.”

KIKI’s eyes widened, her expression complicated as she gestured for him to look at the screen.

Lin Xian lifted his eyes, and his footsteps suddenly stopped.

On the screen was the direction of the previously arranged energy discharge outlet. The magma spewing from the outlet overwhelmed the seawater, covering the seabed in bright red lava. Violent waves of heat surged and rolled. Splashes of molten lava illuminated the seabed with a bright red glow.

Because of this, Lin Xian immediately noticed something unusual.

Before the energy discharge outlet with uneven terrain, the magma poured down like a celestial river floodgate being opened. No surprise—it was a long red river of lava.

But this lava river was split not far ahead.

The magma divided into two streams, separated as if by a reef. The center area was scoured clean by seawater, leaving only boiling steam surging and rolling. In the vacuum twisted by heat waves, a small black spot remained motionless.

The black spot was tiny, easy to overlook at a glance.

But on the magnified screen on the other side, it was crystal clear.

It looked like a person!

A humanoid creature with a triangular head.

Floating in the seawater, its entire body was wrapped in a silver bubble, like a sculpture.

“That’s not that…”

“That monster again!” Lin Xian’s brows knit tightly. He recognized it at once. This was the same creature that mysteriously appeared at Taku Deepwater Port and also flashed past Lin Xian and KIKI after the appearance of the Oceanic Titan!

“Look quickly!”

KIKI pointed behind the creature. Beneath the abyss, a red eye like a giant wheel was slowly opening.