A god-tier fishing spot, anglers lined up to give me money.

……

"Everyone, board in an orderly fashion, don't push! Drop off your gear, then get on!"

The tarmac at the central base was packed with people, with countless military transport planes, private jets, and passenger planes.

Engines roared, propellers whirred, the scene was chaotic yet orderly...

Gu Hua and Ye Fan walked quickly through the crowd and soon saw the nine people standing under the wall.

Gu Tianyu stood at the very front, tiptoeing and peering into the crowd.

Yang Qi stood beside him, his expression calm, quickly scanning the surroundings.

The group formed a semi-circle, and Shirai Itō muttered to himself: "Only a few months have passed since I arrived, and the Great Wall of the Boundary Sea is gone already, tsk tsk tsk..."

"Tianyu!" Gu Hua called out to them.

Gu Tianyu turned his head and saw his grandfather and Ye Fan squeezing through the crowd. He immediately went over and called out, "Grandpa!"

"Come on, get on my plane, you guys come too."

Gu Hua grabbed his arm, turned around and walked quickly towards the east side of the tarmac, with Ye Fan following beside him, and the nine people close behind.

A dark gray private jet was parked at the edge of the runway, its cabin door open and its gangway lowered and resting on the ground.

"Get on the computer."

Gu Hua stood beside the gangway, raised his hand, and gestured for everyone to come up.

Nine people filed up the gangway.

Yang Qi followed Gu Tianyu into the cabin, which was quite spacious.

Two rows of seats are arranged facing each other, with a wide aisle in the middle.

He found a seat by the window and turned his head to look out the porthole.

The crowd on the tarmac was still pouring onto their respective planes, while several fully loaded transport planes in the distance had already started moving.

The engine roared louder, and the fuselage began to vibrate and move.

Outside the porthole, the figures shrank, and the entire central base shrank into a tiny dot as the plane climbed.

At the end of the runway, more planes accelerated and took off, flying inland like a flock of startled birds.

Apart from Gu Hua, who had a private jet, the other high-ranking fishing masters, Tang Xuan, Zhang Daolin, and others all left with their own people.

...

After everyone left, Zeng Tianguo stood alone on the platform at the top of the command tower.

Below were snakefish, octopus sharks, and other giant creatures of various shapes whose names I didn't know.

They are crawling in along the corridors and passageways, extinguishing the flames and lights that are still burning.

"Ugh!"

Zeng Tianguo shook his head and waited to board the plane, after which the plane ascended to a certain altitude.

He raised his hand, his fingertips hovering above a red button.

He closed his eyes, thought about many things, and after a long while opened them and pressed his thumb down.

boom……

A mushroom exploded behind the plane, symbolizing the enduring power of heaven and earth.

That cloud was larger and brighter than the two in the east and west, with dark red veins swirling inside its crown.

All the planes in flight shook at the same time, and people in the cabin could feel the muffled sound of the air blast from behind hitting the fuselage.

Yang Qi leaned against the porthole, watching the mushroom cloud that seemed to symbolize the enduring power of heaven and earth rising behind him, and remained silent.

Apart from Yang Qi, everyone else stared at the mushroom cloud without saying a word.

His expression darkened for a moment as the mushroom cloud rose.

Some clenched their fists, some looked away, and some closed their eyes.

The place where they had lived for many years, along with the colossal structures that filled the base, turned to ashes in that light.

Their expressions showed they were in pain, very pain...

But beneath the deep sea, unknown to them...

Due to the impact of the three nuclear bombs, the edge of an existing rift in the due south direction was torn into a larger opening.

Large amounts of black gas surged out of the cracks and were frantically snatched up by the surrounding mad fish.

Just then, a claw as big as a heavy truck appeared.

The moment it emerged from the crack, all the giant fish that had been scrambling for the black energy around it fell silent and watched.

Then came the second claw, the third, the fourth... all four giant claws simultaneously gripped the rock wall at the edge of the crack, pushing the crack several meters further to both sides.

A head emerged from the crevice, with a broad snout and a robust lower jaw.

Dark gold vertical pupils were set in the hollow of his brow bone, and light flowed deep within his pupils.

The bony coronoid process on the top of the head resembles an upright shield, with dark gold patterns spreading along both sides of the coronoid process.

Its body is over 100 meters long, its limbs are thick and powerful, and it weighs several million kilograms.

Its tail has a pair of forked tail fins at the end, which create eddies in the surrounding seawater with each swing.

The sixth-tier ancient fish king, the Godzilla Beast Fish.

They haven't fully revealed themselves yet, but the fourth and fifth tiers, those usually arrogant deep-sea snakefish.

At this moment, they were all lying prone on the seabed mud and sand, their heads facing the Godzilla fish.

The Godzilla didn't hiss or roar; it simply tilted its head upwards.

Then it moved.

Four giant claws gripped the edge of the crack simultaneously, and the massive body climbed up segment by segment from the fissure.

With each rise, the surrounding seawater is compressed by immense force, forming a spreading shock wave that pushes the bowed giants even further away.

After its hindquarters left the crevice, the giant trembled as its tail fin swayed.

"roar……"

With a roar, thousands upon thousands of colossal creatures simultaneously changed direction.

They surged toward the edge of Antarctica, toward the open sea.

Leaving Antarctica...

Two weeks later, at the Gu family villa in Beijing.

When Yang Qi got off the plane, his legs went weak the moment he landed.

The wind in Beijing is completely different from the wind in Antarctica.

He stood on the lawn, looking up at the withered sycamore tree overhead, a few yellow leaves still hanging from its branches, swirling in the wind.

"Young Master Gu, Young Master Bai, and everyone else, I'm heading back now," Yang Qi said to the group.

Chen Zilu is still in the Water World. He hasn't been in for half a month, and he's getting a little anxious.

He couldn't possibly expose himself to them, so he had to leave first.

"So eager? Won't you come in and sit down?"

Gu Tianyu frowned, looking at Yang Qi, "You've just returned from Antarctica, you haven't even gotten your footing yet, take a breather before you go on."

Yang Qi shook his head: "Next time."

"Not next time, just this time."

Bai Yiteng came up from behind, put his arm around Yang Qi's shoulder, and showed no sign of being upset about the loss of the Boundary Sea Great Wall. Instead, he looked smug and said, "Shangjing, my territory. Come on, tonight, I'll take you out for some fun. I guarantee you'll fall in love with Shangjing."

Yang Qi removed Bai Yiteng's arm from his shoulder and smiled, "Thank you for your kindness. But I really have to go. My wife... she got on the wrong plane, I need to go find her right away."

Yang Qi knew they would try to persuade him to stay, so he had no choice but to bring up Chen Zilu.

This reason also perfectly explains why Chen Zilu is not by Yang Qi's side.

Upon hearing this, Gu Tianyu and Bai Yiteng were both taken aback. They exchanged a glance, then remembered that they hadn't seen Chen Zilu with Yang Qi since the evacuation from Antarctica.

Gu Tianyu: "Brother Yang, it was my oversight. Your wife is more important. You should go find her right away."

Bai Yiteng nodded and said, "Brother Yang, don't stand here and waste your breath talking to us. Don't be nervous, your wife might..."

"Can't you speak properly?" Qi Qingling interrupted Bai Yiteng, who was about to utter some ominous words, frowning. "If you can't speak properly, then shut up."

Bai Yiteng stumbled forward half a step after being slapped by her, only then realizing that she had almost said something she shouldn't have. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand and apologized to Yang Qi repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, Brother Yang, I spoke too quickly. Your wife is absolutely fine. Well... we won't keep you any longer. You should go now. Your wife has been so good to you; the wedding ceremony can't be missed. I'll definitely be there to give a gift."

Yang Qi nodded, a tense and serious expression on his face.

Chong and the others nodded in farewell, then led Zhang San and the others quickly out of the Gu family villa.

His steps returned to normal after he turned the street corner, but the expression on his face also relaxed a little.

As for Gu Hua and Ye Fan, they left in a hurry after landing.

Before Gu Tianyu could even ask a question, he could tell from the two men's pace and expressions that they must be in a hurry.

Yang Qi didn't think much of it and took a taxi to the nearest commercial area, where they found a chain hotel and booked a room by the hour.

After closing and locking the door, Yang Qixian quickly checked the room.

After confirming that there were no abnormalities in the surveillance cameras at the bedside table, air conditioner vent, smoke detector, and corner socket, I opened the bathroom door, went in, closed it behind me, and with a thought, stepped into the underwater world.

Yang Qi walked quickly along the riverbank for a while and saw Chen Zilu squatting by the river drawing water.

She was wearing a loose, light gray long dress and carrying a plastic bucket, bending down to scoop water into it.

When Yang Qi saw her, he stopped in his tracks.

It had been half a month since I last saw Chen Zilu, and her belly was noticeably bigger, with the loose skirt creating a slight curve.

Immediately afterward, he strode over and took the work from her hands: "Zilu, I'll do it."

Chen Zilu was startled by his sudden voice, and the bucket was in his hands as soon as she let go.

She turned her head and saw it was Yang Qi. Her expression first brightened, then she immediately pouted and complained, "It's been half a month, and you haven't come to see me at all! Humph, I'm ignoring you!"

"Alas, the Great Wall of the Boundary Sea has fallen." Yang Qi put the bucket on the ground and put his hands on her shoulders.

"What, what?" Chen Zilu asked in disbelief.

"I've only been gone a few days, and the Great Wall at the Border Sea has already fallen. What happened?"

"Here's what happened, baba..."

Yang Qi pulled her to sit down on a flat rock nearby.

He recounted the entire process from the Aurora Island tsunami to the nuclear detonation in the west and east, the final evacuation from the central base, and the three mushroom clouds that seemed to rise from the sky.

It was concise, covering everything that needed to be said and omitting anything that shouldn't have been mentioned.

After listening, Chen Zilu remained silent for a long time, covering her mouth with both hands, her gaze fixed on the boundary between the reeds and the river surface. She blinked only after a long while.

"So... you're in a hotel in Beijing right now?"

"Um."

Yang Qi squatted down in front of her, placing his palm on the back of her hand. "I came in to take you home. Today is December 31st, and tomorrow is January 1st, which is New Year's Day. Let's go home."

"Okay." Chen Zilu nodded, grasping his hand firmly in return. "Let's go home."

...

After a while, the two left the underwater world.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Qi led Chen Zilu out of the elevator. As for why one person went in but two people came out, no one noticed or paid attention.

Zhang San and his group waited in the hotel lobby, watching Yang Qi arrive.

Several people rushed forward and said in unison, "Sister-in-law!"

Chen Zilu smiled in response.

……

As I left the hotel, a news report was playing on the television screen in the lobby.

The female news anchor spoke quickly: "According to the latest news from international monitoring organizations, multiple nuclear-level energy fluctuations have been detected deep within Antarctica. The specific cause is still under investigation, and many countries have expressed serious concern..."

Yang Qi didn't stop walking, leading Chen Zilu towards the hotel entrance.

I glanced at the captions in the corner of the screen: "Anomalous Energy Fluctuations in Antarctica," "Nuclear-Weapon-Level Seismic Source," "Multinational Joint Investigation"...

Then he looked away, pushed open the door, and left.

Zhang San followed behind them, his eyes fixed straight ahead, his steps steady.

The group took a taxi and arrived at the airport.

I bought three first-class tickets for a flight to Hongdu City at 11 a.m.

While waiting for my flight, the airport's television screens were also broadcasting news about the Antarctic nuclear fluctuations.

A middle-aged man in a suit sitting next to me was looking at the same news on his phone. He lowered his voice and said to his companion:

"Did you see that? They're saying it's a nuclear weapon-level energy fluctuation. What on earth is going on in Antarctica...?"

His companion shook his head: "Who knows? It was detected by satellite; the authorities haven't come out with an explanation yet."

Yang Qi sat on the waiting chair, looking down at his phone, the screen showing a shopping page he had deliberately opened.

Chen Zilu leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes to rest, while Zhang San sat in the back row reading an online novel.

Whispers drifted over from the surrounding area from time to time.

"Some online sources say it might be underwater volcanic activity."

"What volcano? Which volcano can produce a nuclear shockwave?"

"Sigh, I was wondering if some major power was conducting a secret experiment."

"Possibly!"

……

Yang Qi turned a page on his phone and clicked on a shop selling agricultural products, carefully reading the details of a farm-raised free-range egg.

Chen Zilu originally wanted to interject and say something about what to write, but Yang Qi stopped her with a hiss.

There was a queue in the corridor when I boarded the plane, and people around me were still talking about news from Antarctica.

Yang Qi held Chen Zilu's hand as they walked in the middle of the line. Chen Zilu's palms were warm, and she squeezed his fingers. Yang Qi looked down at her.

She smiled slightly at him, but said nothing.

As the boarding announcement came over the loudspeaker, one could hear people behind me chattering amongst themselves.

Upon arriving at the first-class window, Yang Qi found a seat and sat down, giving the window seat to Chen Zilu. He then sat in the middle, while Zhang San sat on the aisle side.

"go home!"

"go home!"

……