After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

Just then, the two tightly closed oak doors of the theater were kicked open from the outside.

Three mercenaries wearing tactical vests and carrying automatic rifles rushed in, their tactical flashlight beams flickering wildly in the dimly lit hall as they tried to regain control.

Lin remained in his spot, not looking over there.

The three mercenaries had barely crossed the threshold by half a meter when they suddenly froze, their knees buckling as they knelt heavily on the thick carpet.

The rifle slipped from their hands and fell to the side. Before they could even utter a sound, their eyes rolled back and they lost consciousness completely.

The surrounding passengers watched in horror, completely bewildered by what had happened. They simply saw the vicious thugs with guns inexplicably collapse as soon as they entered the room.

Soon after, hurried footsteps echoed from outside the corridor.

The second group of mercenaries followed. When they saw their comrade lying inside the door, they were about to go forward to check on him when the terrifying pressure descended once again.

Without uttering a sound, the two collapsed to the ground, piling on top of their former companion.

This illogical phenomenon finally instilled fear in the subsequent militants.

The third group of people stopped five meters away from the door. Several of them leaned against the metal wall of the corridor, staring at the open door with suspicion in their eyes.

It's like an invisible meat grinder inside; whoever goes in dies.

"What the hell? What's inside?" A mercenary's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

The person next to him swallowed hard and immediately pressed the walkie-talkie hanging on his shoulder: "Calling the captain, this is Team F, there's an anomaly at the theater entrance."

Several gunshots rang out from the walkie-talkie, followed by the sunglasses-wearing man's cold voice: "Speak."

"Our people lost consciousness the moment they entered the theater, completely unable to resist. There must be a high-level player hiding inside; the magnetic field suppression is too strong, we simply can't get in."

The man in sunglasses cursed on the other end of the line, then quickly issued a new order: "Abandon the theater. Ignore the ordinary people. A very troublesome Moon-level player has appeared on the ninth floor and has already killed more than a dozen of us. Everyone, bring heavy firepower and come to support us immediately!"

The heavy footsteps gradually faded into the distance, moving towards the upper deck.

"bite."

A faint electronic notification sound broke the silence, followed by a series of cell phone vibrations and notifications from all corners of the theater.

The Queen Mother of the West's signal has been restored.

Lin's phone screen, which was resting on his lap, suddenly lit up.

Su Nian was very close, and her gaze naturally fell on the lit screen.

It was a wallpaper, a close-up photo taken with the phone's front-facing camera, with the background appearing to be a dimly lit lounge area in a movie theater.

The girl in the photo is very close to the camera. She is looking at the camera with a smile on her lips and an undisguised focus in her eyes, which even hides a hint of cunning.

This is what Shen Yi asked Lin Ye to put on.

Su Nian looked at that face, paused for only a second, and then looked away.

She had never met Shen Yi before, but since Shen Yi appeared on Lin Ye's phone, she knew without a doubt who she was.

The next scene further confirmed this speculation.

The screen was covered by a full-screen voice call request, with the caller ID flashing two words: Shen Yi.

Lin also answered the phone.

Shen Yi's voice came through the receiver, trembling noticeably, and you could even hear the faint sound of her breathing as she gasped for air.

"Lin Ye, where are you? How are you?" she asked incoherently, her voice trembling with tears. "The news said the Jinlan has lost contact. I've been calling you, but I can't get through. I thought..."

After losing her mother, Lin was the most important person in her world. If something happened to Lin, she didn't know what she would do.

"I'm on the Jinlan, I'm fine."

"Then be careful, take good care of yourself, and make sure you come back safely, otherwise..."

Lin reassured her again, and once Shen Yi had calmed down, he hung up the phone.

The phone screen had barely gone dark for a second when it started vibrating wildly again.

The caller ID showed Pei Xiao calling through the Queen Mother of the West's encrypted channel.

"Lin Ye, can you hear me?" Pei Xiao's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding like she had just gone through a period of intense exertion.

"I can hear you."

"I just entered the communications room on the ninth floor and destroyed the jammer they connected to the main control console. The Queen Mother of the West has repositioned the ship." Pei Xiao spoke very quickly, and Xiang Lin also reported the situation. "They forced the ship to a reef area in international waters, and now the ship is anchored near an unnamed island."

"They're afraid I'll take control, so they've already blown up the engine room. Now the bottom of the ship is flooding. You need to find a way to clear a path and get the ordinary people on the fourth floor off the ship."

The theater lobby was in complete chaos when suddenly the voice of the Queen Mother of the West came through the theater's loudspeakers, and at the same time, all the passengers' cell phones vibrated.

"Urgent notification: The Jinlan's lower-level engine room has been severely damaged, and the ship is listing irreversibly. It is expected to sink within thirty minutes. All passengers are requested to immediately proceed to the temporary boarding gate on the lower level according to the evacuation route planned on the terminal..."

A huge commotion erupted from the crowd, and people who had been slumped in their seats scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the exit.

Lin Ye and Su Nian walked in the crowd. Actually, he had a magnetic field, so he wasn't afraid that Su Nian would get lost or get hurt.

But out of instinct, he reached out and grabbed Su Nian's wrist.

Su Nian's wrists were very thin; you could feel their fragility even through the fabric.

As she watched herself being held, the image of the lock screen wallpaper on Lin Ye's phone earlier flashed uncontrollably through her mind—the girl named Shen Yi.

Her instinct was to create distance and pull her hand away. But the surrounding environment was not safe, so she had no choice but to compromise.

The emergency boarding gate on the second floor has been opened, and outside it connects to a pier made of steel plates, which extends all the way to a dark piece of land.

There were no lights outside, only an unnamed island I had never seen before.

The sea breeze rushed into the cabin, and the crowd surged onto the pier like a flood breaking through a dam.

Just as the crowd reached the halfway point, the steel plate beneath their feet began to shake violently.

boom!

boom!

Several deafening explosions rang out from underwater, causing the ship to tilt more sharply due to the impact.

People slipped and fell on the sloping decks and piers, making the disembarkation process even more chaotic, with countless people tumbling and scrambling towards the shore.

As soon as they landed, beams of tactical flashlights suddenly lit up several high points on the edge of the island.

The passengers, like startled birds, screamed and scattered in all directions toward the woods and reefs deep within the island.