Chapter 259: The Statue’s Mechanism, Creating a Diversion

Chapter 259: Chapter 259: The Statue’s Mechanism, Creating a Diversion

"Leila, Ao Ke, can you hear me?"

Goring, who had been trying to contact Leila and her team from the control room, hadn’t yet realized that the Sea Ship had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He assumed the intense rocking was simply caused by massive waves. It wasn’t until President Lucas arrived with Lick to find him that he realized the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control.

"Leila! Ao Ke! Please respond if you can hear me!"

Currently enveloped by Mermaids at the bottom of the sea, they had absolutely no way of knowing what was happening on the surface. Liang He’s fate was unknown, and he couldn’t reach Leila or Ao Ke. Goring felt as if what little hair he had left was going to fall out all at once.

"BZZT... BZZT BZZT."

"Vice District Chief, this is Ao Ke."

After calling for a while, Ao Ke finally responded. The moment he heard his voice, Goring let out a sigh of relief, his stiff body relaxing slightly.

"Ao Ke, what’s your situation over there?!"

Judging by Ao Ke’s voice, they shouldn’t be in any immediate, severe danger.

"Leila and two team members are investigating the statue hidden beneath the Mysterious Sea Area," Ao Ke reported, explaining their findings to Goring in full detail. Unaware of the attacks happening on the surface, he didn’t realize the depth of Goring’s anxiety.

"Good. Stay safe, and keep in touch at all times."

Now certain that they were safe, Goring had no intention of telling them what had just occurred. There was no point in mentioning it; it would only cause unnecessary worry and shake their morale.

After hanging up the comms, Ao Ke once again fixed his gaze intently on Leila and the others. Although the statue showed no abnormalities, they hadn’t found anything useful either.

"Chief Commander, if it’s really not working, shouldn’t we have them come back?"

The sailors accompanying Ao Ke had been in the dangerous Mysterious Sea Area for too long, and their psychological endurance was wearing thin. Especially since Leila and the others had been gone for so long without any new discoveries, they worried about what would happen if things went wrong.

"Wait a little longer," Ao Ke replied.

He and Leila had made an agreement before departure: as long as there were no anomalies within the designated timeframe, they would continue to wait. Once that time limit was exceeded, she would return to the submarine no matter what.

"Colonel, I haven’t found anything on my end," a teammate signaled. Wearing diving equipment made verbal communication difficult, so Leila and her squad relied on the exclusive hand signals of the Federation Army.

"Nothing on my end either," another teammate signaled.

This outcome didn’t surprise Leila, but she wasn’t about to give up so easily. She swam to the direct front of the statue and began to study it carefully.

"Come over here and take a look. Do you notice anything strange?" she signaled.

According to the information from Liang He, the Tiger Whale Mother had been poisoned because she entered the Mysterious Sea Area. If someone were to poison the entire ocean, putting aside the astronomical dosage required, the reserve’s patrol teams would have undoubtedly detected it by now. Therefore, a localized toxin release affecting only a small section of the sea seemed much more plausible.

"Could it be... this totem?" she wondered.

Recalling the Beast God that the man had just mentioned, Leila fell into deep thought. Since this statue had been painstakingly placed here, it must serve a purpose. Worship, creation... could that be its purpose?

"Hold onto the rope attached to me and back away. If you notice anything wrong, pull me out," Leila signaled.

She prepared to test this Beast God herself. Entrusting her escape route to her teammates, she wholeheartedly dedicated herself to studying the Beast God totem held by the robed statue.

Finally, she noticed a clue.

RUMBLE!

As Leila gently turned the totem, it clicked into a crucial position. The distinct sound instantly made her realize that her gamble had paid off. The mechanism was indeed hidden within the totem!

The surface of the Mysterious Sea Area began to churn violently. The waves swelled so massively they seemed capable of swallowing the sky and devouring the earth. Inside the warship, everyone feared for their lives.

"Director, something doesn’t seem right here."

Looking down through the glass, it wasn’t just his subordinates; even Ace himself was feeling apprehensive. Why was the place where the Black Wizard conducted his experiments so eerie?

"Hurry up and find Liang He, then evacuate!"

Even in this precarious situation, Ace refused to let Liang He go, proving just how deep his hatred for her ran. However, he probably never imagined that Liang He had been nearby this whole time.

"Lanton, you stay here and lay low. I’ll go in first. Once I give the command, come and get me."

Long before Ace’s group had arrived, Liang He and Lanton had entered the airspace above the Mysterious Sea Area. Utilizing the advantageous terrain and the cover of the fog, they had hovered near the entrance. Once Ace and his men steered their warship into the area, Liang He and the Canglan Hunting Eagle exploited their blind spot, stealthily landing on top of the vessel.

"Remember, absolutely do not fly around, understand?"

Lying flat on top of the warship, Liang He instructed Lanton on their next steps after locating an access hatch leading inside. Lanton nodded obediently. To avoid exposing their position, he didn’t even make a sound. The tacit understanding between the human and the eagle required no further words.

"I’m heading down now."

Confidently entrusting her escape route to the Canglan Hunting Eagle, Liang He infiltrated the warship alone. She had killed Ace once, and she could destroy his warship a second time. Truth be told, in such a narrow space that required absolute stealth, Liang He vastly preferred using a sharp blade to slit her enemies’ throats rather than relying on a gun.

"Have you still not found any trace of Liang He?"

For some reason, a chilling sensation welled up in Ace’s heart. It was one thing to be unable to find Liang He, but for the Canglan Hunting Eagle to vanish completely was highly irregular.

"We found them! Director, they’re on top of the warship!"

A subordinate suddenly cried out in alarm, and his words filled Ace with dread. He hurriedly tightened his grip on his Photon Gun and led his men toward the ventilation shaft that granted access to the roof. Consumed by panic and fury, he entirely failed to notice that something was amiss in their immediate surroundings.

"You! Go up and take a look!"

Ace commanded his subordinate to take the lead, highly valuing his own life. The equally terrified man stared at the Photon Gun in Ace’s hand, gulped hard, and ultimately chose to climb up, trembling with every step. But when he successfully reached the top of the warship, he found absolutely nothing.

"How could there be nothing?!"

Ace yanked the man down and scrambled up himself, only to find the same lack of evidence. A flash of realization struck him, and his eyes widened in sudden understanding.

"Damn it! It’s a trap!"

Ace hastily dropped back down and rushed his men back to the control room, but they only arrived in time to see Liang He’s back as she leaped out and was caught in mid-air by the Canglan Hunting Eagle.

"Ace! I hope you like the gift I left for you! Let’s never meet again!"

Offering her friendly farewell, Liang He looked at Ace’s ashen face and curled her lips in sheer satisfaction. The rhythmic BEEP BEEP of the warship’s self-destruct sequence began to sound, echoing like the call of a demon from hell.

"Liang He!"

Gritting his teeth with enough hatred to devour her flesh and drink her blood, Ace only had time to leap from the warship once more and plummet into the sea. He would return! He swore to torture Liang He to death with his own hands!

That was the sole thought in Ace’s mind as he jumped off the doomed vessel.

BOOM!