Chapter 868: Rain Man

Connor was extremely cautious.

In this era of great mutation, no one knew what kind of enemy they might encounter any day.

So he merely locked onto the Golden Edge with torpedoes from a distance, without directly approaching with the Copernicus.

Instead, he ordered Barot Kurim to board for inspection.

"Yes, Captain!"

Jobana acknowledged the order and departed.

Connor also had his soldiers issue a warning to the Golden Edge.

"Attention vessel ahead. This is the Columbus Ocean Navy Fleet. We will be boarding your ship for inspection."

"Please cooperate fully. Do not attempt to flee or resist! Otherwise, we are authorized to attack your vessel."

...

Upon hearing the announcement, Zhang Yi frowned slightly, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Boarding inspection?"

Old Tian's face darkened. "Mr. Zhang, should we prepare to attack their ship?"

"Forget it. With the limited weapons we have, how could we fight against Columbus' most advanced cruiser?"

"Everyone stay at your posts. Do nothing until I give the order."

Zhang Yi turned and walked toward the deck.

But upon exiting the cabin, he suddenly noticed with surprise that the sky above had changed color.

The gloomy clouds shifted from gray-white to a deep charcoal, swirling directly overhead.

"Pitter-patter—"

A sound both familiar and unfamiliar to Zhang Yi suddenly reached his ears.

For a moment, it actually made him feel somewhat dazed.

He shouldn't have been unfamiliar with this sound, yet it had been so long since he last heard it.

"Plop!"

Something landed on his shoulder.

Looking down, Zhang Yi was shocked to discover it was a raindrop!

The current external temperature was between -30 to -40 degrees Celsius.

For rain to fall under such conditions made Zhang Yi briefly wonder if he was hallucinating.

But soon, more and more raindrops truly descended from the clouds onto the Golden Edge.

"It's really raining?"

Zhang Yi was astonished, but he immediately realized this was no ordinary rain.

The others, however, remained unaware.

Having been cooped up on the ship for so long, they were overjoyed at the sight of rain after such a long absence, rushing out from the cabins to see the spectacle.

Those in the lower deck cabins couldn't come out, but the Rockflow Group had freedom of movement during daytime.

Thus they scrambled outside eagerly.

"It's raining, it's really raining! How wonderful!"

"Has the ice age ended? Are we returning to how things were before?"

Zhu Yunque and Su Nuanxi were also drawn by the rain.

The two leaned against the window, looking utterly enchanted.

"How beautiful the rain is!"

"Let's go out and see!"

"Come on, let's go together!"

Hand in hand, the two women ran out smiling.

On the deck, people cheered joyfully.

But the celebration didn't last long before screams erupted from the crowd.

Where the raindrops landed on their heads, hair immediately fell out in patches, white smoke rising from their scalps.

Their thick winter coats corroded, developing large holes.

"Ahhh!!!!"

Hideous red spots began appearing on their skin.

No longer cheering, everyone now fought to scramble back inside the cabins.

However, some noticed the Columbus warship anchored on the sea.

Che Haicheng, Xie Yunfan and others exchanged glances, their eyes alight with excitement!

Their plan had succeeded—the Columbus warship had truly come to rescue them!

Su Nuanxi and Zhu Yunque stood by the cabin door.

Su Nuanxi gazed curiously into the distance. "Huh? Is that a Columbus warship?"

She actually said with some delight to Zhu Yunque: "Look how handsome that Columbus warship is!"

Zhu Yunque frowned, giving her a cold sidelong glance: "I doubt they come with good intentions."

"How could that be?"

Su Nuanxi tilted her head, puzzled. "Columbus is a peace-loving nation. They must be here to protect us."

Zhu Yunque took a deep breath, too exasperated to respond, though her eyes nervously tracked the warship on the horizon.

"Everyone return to the cabins. This is highly corrosive acid rain," Zhang Yi calmly instructed the group.

In truth, his combat suit's AI system had already analyzed the rain's composition the moment it started.

Under normal circumstances at these temperatures, it would have been hail.

But the acid couldn't damage his combat suit.

The Golden Edge wasn't so fortunate.

The highly corrosive acid rain fell on the ship's hull, causing the paint to discolor, leaving ugly streaks like tear stains.

The entire vessel appeared aged and dull, as if weathered by time.

Zhang Yi remained on deck instead of returning inside.

His gaze fixed ahead.

From an aerial view, one would see the acid rain only covered the area around the Golden Edge.

The Copernicus hadn't approached.

Yet someone had already arrived.

As a top-tier spatial superhuman, Zhang Yi was acutely sensitive to spatial fluctuations.

The rain continued falling.

Then something bizarre occurred on the deck before him.

The raindrops seemed to pause midair, sliding aside as if encountering an invisible barrier.

Upon closer inspection, the disturbance gradually took human form.

Ten fully armed Columbus marines materialized from nothingness.

Seeing them, Zhang Yi instinctively compared them to the Malaya navy they'd previously encountered.

Just judging by equipment and military bearing, the Columbus marines were at least two or three tiers superior!

They were armed to the teeth with cutting-edge gear.

The man leading them exuded a sinister, chilling aura.

Clad in a thick dark green raincoat with a black face mask, he stood with hands clasped behind his back.

"Superhuman."

Zhang Yi instantly recognized.

As a battle-hardened veteran, his instincts could usually distinguish superhumans from ordinary humans.

"This acid rain must be his handiwork."

He scanned the sea again.

No vessels approached—the Copernicus remained at least five nautical miles away.

Meaning this superhuman likely possessed stealth capabilities too.

At the sight of the Columbus marines, Che Haicheng and the others could barely contain their excitement.

White Mo swallowed hard, immediately wanting to rush over and call for help.

Che Haicheng quickly restrained him: "Not yet! Let's see how this plays out first!"

If they misjudged the situation, they'd expose themselves prematurely.

And Zhang Yi would never forgive them.

White Mo reluctantly suppressed his eagerness, though his eyes remained glued to the scene.

Old Tian and the crew emerged with rifles, glaring coldly at the soldiers.

But to the marines, their defiance seemed almost laughable.

The disparity in firepower wasn't even close.

Especially with the top-tier Copernicus cruiser backing them up.

"This is a Huaxu Kingdom vessel, and we are Huaxu citizens. It's improper for you to intercept us in international waters," Zhang Yi said mildly, going through the motions.

Some formalities needed observing, however pointless.

Until their intentions became clear, basic dialogue was necessary.

Kurim's muffled voice came from beneath his rain hood:

"Are you this ship's captain?"

Zhang Yi nodded. "That's correct."

Kurim continued: "We're the Columbus Navy. We've received intelligence that your ship is unlawfully detaining several Columbus citizens, along with reports of inhumane killings."

"Therefore, we're taking you in for questioning."

Author's Note