Eunuch, do you really know these martial arts?

"There's movement over there!"

The sound of the rocks hitting the water was particularly clear in the relatively quiet hydrothermal vent area, immediately attracting the attention of two pursuers nearby. They almost simultaneously turned their searchlights, the beams piercing through the murky seawater to pinpoint the approximate direction from which the rocks were coming.

"what's the situation?"

The commander's voice came through the channel.

"Suspected projectile! Under investigation!"

Just as the two team members were drawn to the spotlight.

"puff--!!!"

Just then, the small hydrothermal vent next to Jiang Nian began a new eruption cycle!

A white torrent, mixed with extremely hot water vapor and a large amount of sediment, erupted like a long-suppressed beast!

The eruption was even more violent than Jiang Nian had anticipated!
The powerful current swept through the surrounding area instantly, and the high temperature caused the seawater to boil violently, making a hissing sound!
Large amounts of chemical deposits were carried upwards, forming an even denser area of ​​cover!
"Watch out for the eruption!"

The team members gasped and instinctively moved backward to avoid the surging heat and possible toxic substances.

It's now!

A fierce glint flashed in Jiang Nian's eyes. Instead of taking the opportunity to escape, he made an extremely bold decision.

Against the surging, murky water, using this natural barrier and noise cover, he lunged at the nearest Team B member!
The team member had just regained his footing, and his vision and detectors were still being interfered with by the aftershocks of the eruption. He had no idea that the target would not only not flee, but would instead dare to get close!

By the time he noticed the unusual water flow behind him, a cold, sharp light had already torn through the water and was aimed directly at the junction of his neck armor and helmet!
It's Jiang Nian's tactical dagger!

"Uh!"

The short, muffled groan was masked by the erupting noise.

The dagger precisely cut into the crevice, destroying the internal life support system and communication lines.

The team member's body stiffened abruptly, his weapon slipped from his hand, and after struggling for a few moments, he stopped moving.

Jiang Nian struck successfully and, without pausing, retrieved the oddly shaped underwater rifle that his opponent had dropped. At the same time, he pushed off with his feet and retreated rapidly, disappearing once more into the murky seawater caused by the eruption.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye, clean and efficient!

"Reply!"

The commander, receiving no response, immediately realized something was wrong.

"Everyone be careful! Target is counterattacking! Repeat, target is counterattacking!"

The remaining three pursuers felt a chill run down their spines.

They thought their opponent was trapped and struggling in vain, but unexpectedly, one of them was killed in the blink of an eye! This ruthlessness and decisiveness was completely unlike someone who was seriously injured and on the verge of death!
"Contract your formation! Don't advance rashly! He's in this chimney area, he can't escape!" The commander forcibly suppressed his shock and anger and immediately adjusted the tactics.

Jiang Nian lurked in the shadow of another black chimney, breathing heavily. The sudden attack had almost exhausted all the strength he had just mustered with stimulants. The wound on his back had reopened due to the violent movement, and the effect of the hemostatic gel was waning.

He gripped the newly captured rifle, its weight heavy and unfamiliar. He quickly checked it; the magazine was full, but he didn't know how many rounds were left. The way this weapon operated was completely different from what he was familiar with; it would take time to get used to, and right now, time was what he needed most.

"Report your location and field of view."

“Group A is located on the east side of the chimney area, with extremely poor visibility and severe heat flow interference.”

"Group C, what about you guys?"

"Group C is located at the west entrance, so effective observation is also impossible."

The commander's voice was tinged with suppressed anxiety: "Can you find a firing angle?"

"Unable to lock on; the target has completely disappeared into the hydrothermal vent and sediment interference zone. The probability of a successful shot is less than 10%, and it may trigger unpredictable geological reactions."

The scene reached a deadlock for a while.

Jiang Nian remained hidden in the shadows, and his pursuers, fearing the consequences, dared not venture too far into this perilous area.

This deadlock must be broken!

He glanced at the navigation system; the green dot representing the receiving submarine was still steadily approaching.

However, ten minutes had passed since he entered the hydrothermal vent area, and it would take at least another seven or eight minutes for the backup to reach the outer edge of this complex sea area.

Seven or eight minutes.

He might not make it to that point.

His gaze returned to the black chimneys around him, which were constantly spewing out thick smoke.

He needs to create even greater chaos!

His goal is the largest main chimney!
According to his observation, although the main chimney was erupting violently, the base did not seem to be completely stable.

There are obvious cracks and loose sediment structures around it.

If a small-scale collapse or eruption disorder could be artificially induced...

This is undoubtedly playing with fire!
If things get out of control, he himself could be dragged into it and leave no trace.

But right now, he has no better option.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the excruciating pain and weakness in his body, and began to carefully move along the shadow of the chimney base towards the main nozzle.

He had to avoid being observed from the other three pursuers' possible angles, moving as slowly as a snail.

The seawater was scalding hot, and visibility was extremely low. He struggled forward, relying on his keen sense of the water flow and temperature changes.

"Commander, hydrothermal activity appears to be intensifying, and background noise is increasing," the sniper reported a subtle change.

"It could be a cyclical fluctuation; we will continue to monitor it."

The commander didn't pay too much attention, as this area was already extremely unstable.

Jiang Nian finally approached the base of the main chimney.

Upon closer inspection, one can better feel the immense power emanating from the earth.

Hot water gushed out from the huge opening, causing the entire seabed to tremble slightly.

Around the base, huge piles of sulfide rocks are stacked like mountains, and in some places they are indeed covered with spider web-like cracks.

He put down his rifle and braced his hands against a large sulfide rock that was wedged above and to the side of the main eruption channel.

The rock weighs at least several hundred kilograms. Although its weight is reduced underwater, moving it is still an unimaginable burden for Jiang Nian at this moment.

"Uh... ah!"

He roared inwardly, squeezing out the last bit of internal energy from his meridians and pouring it into his arms!
His muscles trembled violently from the extreme exertion, a tearing pain shot through the wound on his back, and he saw stars before his eyes.

The rock shifted slightly, but did not move.

not enough!
He suddenly exerted force again, veins bulging on his forehead, and blood spilling from the corner of his mouth stained the lower part of his mask.

"Creak... Crack..."

A faint cracking sound came from the junction of the rock and the base!
It's now!

Jiang Nian used his last bit of strength and kicked off to the side and back!
"Boom!!!"

The huge rock finally lost its balance, tumbled and fell, and right into a critical crack on the side of the main nozzle!

In an instant, it was as if a giant beast from the earth had been startled!
The main chimney's eruption suddenly halted, followed by an even more terrifying roar! The pressure inside the blocked nozzle surged dramatically, and the high-temperature, high-pressure gas-liquid mixture searched for a new outlet!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Around the base, several smaller cracks were instantly blasted open by the violent energy, forming irregular jets!

The seabed shook violently, stirring up large amounts of sediment and instantly reducing visibility to freezing!
"What's going on?! Was it an earthquake?"

"It's not an earthquake! It's a malfunctioning vent! Take evasive action! Take evasive action now!"

"We are surrounded by scalding water! Requesting evacuation!"

"Completely lost sight!"

The pursuers' communication channels instantly descended into chaos, filled with terrified screams and alarm blares.

confusion!

This is exactly what Jiang Nian wanted!

Just before the rocks fell and the nozzle went out of control, he used his last bit of foresight and strength to frantically swim toward the flank roughly in the opposite direction from the receiving submarine!

He did not choose to escape in a straight line because he knew that a straight line would likely still be within the enemy's prediction and the sniper's firing range.

Jiang Nian ignored everything and just kept pushing forward, ever forward.

My body felt like it no longer belonged to me; it was only sustained by sheer willpower.

He didn't know how long he swam; maybe only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity.

Only when the roar and scorching heat behind him gradually subsided, the surrounding seawater temperature began to drop, and the turbidity eased did he dare to slow down slightly and hide in a relatively calm seabed reef area.

He collapsed behind a huge rock, barely able to lift a finger.

The vital signs monitor on the mask issued a more urgent warning, and the black spots at the edge of the field of vision almost merged into one.

He struggled to lift his head and glanced at the GPS.

The red dot representing the pursuers had become extremely chaotic and was rapidly moving away from their current location—they were clearly making an emergency evacuation from that out-of-control and dangerous area.

The green dot representing the receiving submarine is very close, almost overlapping with his current position.

"Advisor Jiang! Jiang Nian! Please respond! We have detected a large-scale hydrothermal vent eruption anomaly in the target sea area! Your signal has just been restored! Report your status!" Captain Zhang Hai's anxious voice finally entered my ears clearly again.

Jiang Nian opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but only managed to utter a hoarse, breathy sound.

With trembling hands, he fumbled to restart the active communicator.

"I am here……"

His voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.

"Signal locked! He's there! His vital signs are extremely weak! Quick! Deploy the rescue submersible!" Zhang Hai's voice was filled with excitement and urgency.

A few minutes later, a small unmanned underwater vehicle silently glided to the reef where Jiang Nian was hiding.

They carefully carried the almost unconscious Jiang Nian into the cabin filled with stable pressure and oxygen-rich air.

The hatch closed, and the submersible quickly surfaced, returning to its mothership.

When the rescue capsule docked with the submarine and the hatch opened, the medical staff rushed in and saw Jiang Nian lying inside, covered in blood and wounds.

His deep-sea suit was torn, the wound was shocking, and the scars on his calves were so deep that the bone was visible.

"Quick! Emergency! Blood transfusion and surgery are needed immediately!"

The medical officer's expression was grave, and he quickly directed Jiang Nian to be transferred to a pre-prepared medical pod.

Before losing consciousness completely, Jiang Nian only had time to grab the arm of the nearest officer and, with his last ounce of strength, utter a few words in broken sentences:

"Beacon deployment successful, catalyst...biological..."

Before he could finish speaking, his hand slipped limply to the ground, and he fell into a deep coma.

Several hours later, at the Xuanwu Base, in the command center.

A detailed report from the medical department has been submitted.

"Advisor Jiang's vital signs are temporarily stable, but his condition remains extremely dangerous."

The medical director reported to Bai Yongxu and General Zhao in a somber tone, "The most troublesome thing is that multiple unknown chemical residues were detected in his body, suspected to be toxic compounds from the hydrothermal vent area. The specific effects still need further analysis."

Bai Yongxu stared at Jiang Nian's still-frowning face on the screen, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"We must save him at all costs!"

"Yes!"

General Zhao took a deep breath and turned to the head of the technical department.

"Have you confirmed what Jiang Nian said at the end?"

"Confirmed!"

The technical lead, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement, announced, "We have successfully received and decrypted the initial data packets transmitted back by the beacon deployed by Consultant Jiang! Although the signal was interrupted after the hydrothermal eruption anomaly, the core data has been fully acquired!"

He operated quickly, projecting a complex set of data and calculated coordinates onto the large screen.

"Based on the final docking coordinates, diving depth, and inertial navigation data recorded by the beacon, we have successfully pinpointed the possible location of Guixu from a radius of fifty kilometers to a deep-sea basin with a radius of no more than five kilometers centered on this coordinate point!"

A radius of five kilometers!
This level of precision is sufficient to ensure that subsequent reconnaissance and operations are targeted and effective!

A suppressed cheer and gasp of amazement erupted in the command center!
"Well done! Jiang Nian has made an unparalleled contribution!" General Zhao's voice trembled slightly.

Bai Yongxu nodded heavily, his sharp gaze fixed on the coordinates that were many times more precise: "Immediately mobilize all our reconnaissance forces capable of reaching that deep sea area to conduct 24-hour continuous focused reconnaissance of this region!"

"I need to know every single rock there, every single ocean current!"

"understand!"

“In addition,” Bai Yongxu added, “the catalyst and organisms that Jiang Nian mentioned match the intelligence we obtained from the cryogenic chamber of the Poseidon.”

"What the organization is delivering is most likely some kind of active preparation. This further confirms that Guixu is conducting some kind of dangerous biological experiment or modification."

He paused, his tone becoming more serious: "Notify the intelligence department to strengthen monitoring of unusual biological resource flows worldwide."

"Yes!"

Orders were issued swiftly, and the entire base, like a clockwork mechanism, began operating at high speed around the newly acquired precise coordinates.

……

A day later, Jiang Nian woke up in the deep medical cabin of the base.

What comes into view is the soft shadowless light and the white ceiling.

The excruciating pain emanating from all parts of his body reminded him that his previous experience was not a nightmare.

He tried to move his fingers, and a feeling of weakness washed over him.

"you're awake?"

"Don't move around, your injuries are serious. Chief Bai and General Zhao instructed that you should notify them immediately after you wake up."

Soon, Bai Yongxu and General Zhao appeared inside the medical pod. (End of Chapter)