170: Chapter 170 The Sea Scale Recognizes Its Owner, Mio Gets on the Car

"Ship Spirit?" Chen Chen swept his gaze over her. "Are you a living person, or a machine?"

"Half living person, half system fragment."

Mio raised a finger and pointed overhead. "The original shipboard AI didn't die completely, and neither did I. After merging, this is what I became."

Shen Wanbing had already followed him in, the holographic panel in her hand glowing blindingly bright.

She didn't rush to speak, scanning the main console first.

The next second, her hand froze.

"Chen Chen, this ship really isn't completely scrapped yet."

Chen Chen turned his head.

Shen Wanbing stared at the data, her speaking speed noticeably faster.

"The nuclear reactor's integrity is at thirty-two percent, there are three main weapon bays left, the deep-sea shield core isn't broken, and there's even a naval combat vehicle production line inside the hull. As long as we tow it back, this thing isn't just a warship; it's a mobile factory."

Hearing this, Mio finally smiled.

"You know your stuff."

"Stop playing coy."

Chen Chen looked at her. "What's the situation with the door you mentioned earlier?"

Mio raised her hand, pointing toward the deep seabed outside the main control room.

"The real door has opened."

"The Deep Sea Court's stomach passage has already latched onto the dock."

The High Priestess was brought in at this moment.

She was still wearing that tattered white and red shrine maiden outfit, two seal rings on her wrists had been torn off, and her complexion was poor, but her posture remained stiff.

As soon as she entered, she stared at Mio for two seconds.

"You're actually still alive."

Mio retorted.

"You didn't manage to die either, quite a pity, right?"

The High Priestess turned to look at Chen Chen.

"Amaterasu Shrine isn't worshipping a Sea God at all."

"They are worshipping a living deep-sea spine."

"The shrine's upper echelons were long ago parasitized by Sea God eggs. Capturing people for sacrifice isn't to resurrect anyone; it's to feed that thing, to make it wake up early."

Su Xiaoqi stood at the doorway, forgetting to chew the dried meat in her hand.

"That's just too disgusting."

Blood Rose licked her lips, answering quickly.

"I told you these people smelled wrong."

Chen Chen ignored them and asked Shen Wanbing directly.

"Can you hold on?"

Shen Wanbing stared at the panel, her fingers tapping rapidly.

"I can hold on, but there isn't much time. The thing on the seabed is stretching the passage; in eighteen minutes at most, the dock will be dragged away."

"Eighteen minutes." Chen Chen raised his eyes. "That's enough."

He swiped his hand, unfolding the holographic map.

"Jiang Yanxue, Su Xiaoqi, go to the altar line and smash all the chains first."

"Qin Hongye, find a high point. Keep an eye on the priests and reinforcement ships; shoot whoever shows their head."

"Blood Rose, use poison mist to seal the corridor; don't let the parasites rush this way."

"Shen Wanbing, you and the High Priestess go to the access control altar room and close the main door first."

"Jiang Jiuyou, take over all the surface gunboats and suppress the shrine's reinforcements."

"Shen Wanxing, Mio, and I will go to the nuclear reactor core area."

Jiang Jiuyou replied immediately.

"Received."

Her fingers tapped rapidly on the sub-command console, and the control of several dilapidated gunboats on the sea surface was pulled over instantly.

Iron Wall stood by, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"You can take over this stuff too?"

Jiang Jiuyou didn't even look up.

"If it can move, don't let it sit idle."

Chen Chen turned and left.

Mio followed behind him, her steps a bit slow, the cables on her shoulders still swaying slightly.

"Are you really going straight to the reactor core?"

She spoke. "It's full of polluted egg nests in there now. Nine out of ten people who go in will vomit."

"And the tenth?"

"A lunatic."

Chen Chen pulled the corner of his lip.

"Perfect."

The nuclear reactor core area was even more chaotic than the outside.

The walls were covered with black-red fleshy matter, and several semi-alive tentacles were embedded in the corners, twitching from time to time.

Shen Wanxing followed behind, her shawl wrapped tightly, her steps unsteady.

Seeing the pulsating black-red core ahead, her face turned pale.

"Chen Chen... do I really have to come?"

"You have the best luck."

"But I don't want to touch this at all right now."

"Less nonsense, touch it."

Shen Wanxing looked at him aggrievedly, but still crouched down.

Before reaching out, she shrank half a step behind Chen Chen.

"If I touch something dirty, you have to help me wipe my hands first."

"Fine."

The moment her fingertips touched the core, the first critical strike exploded.

Triple.

A pile of black-red core fragments rolled out.

The second time, five times.

Shen Wanxing's eyes widened.

"There... there's more?"

"Continue."

She bit her lip and pressed her finger onto the blackest fragment in the center.

A buzz sounded.

A golden-purple beam of light shot up, illuminating the entire core area.

Shen Wanxing was stunned for a moment.

"I didn't use any force..."

Shen Wanbing reported the number directly over the comms.

"Ten times critical strike. Something came out."

Chen Chen reached out and caught it.

A Purification Core, a Hull Pollution Stripping Module.

System notifications popped up.

[Obtained: S-Rank Purification Core x1]

[Obtained: Hull Pollution Stripping Module x1]

"This time it was worth it." Chen Chen shoved the module into the interface slot. "Mio, connect it."

Mio didn't waste words; she stepped forward quickly and knelt to press the module into the main reactor interface.

The next second, the entire Sea Scale shook violently.

The black-red flesh on the outer layer began to fall off in large chunks.

Several parasitic tentacles hidden in the walls burst out, but before they could struggle, they were crushed into pulp by a ring of Gravity Domain.

Mio's electronic pupils lit up completely for the first time, glowing with a straight, intense blue.

"Main control authority returned."

"Restored to forty-seven percent."

Shen Wanbing paused for a half-beat over the comms.

"Chen Chen, the pollution stripping is effective. Sea Scale can move."

"Can it fight?"

"Yes."

"That's enough."

At the same time, things had already exploded over at the altar.

Jiang Yanxue cut seven chains with one slash, and the black chains were still twitching as they hit the ground.

She followed up with a backhand strike, splitting a shrine warrior and his bone blade in two.

Su Xiaoqi was more direct.

She rushed to a whale bone pillar, hugged it with both hands, forcibly pulled the pillar out of the ground, and swept it horizontally, knocking three priests flying.

"Move, move, let me dismantle it."

"Dismantle it slower, don't smack the people too," Jiang Yanxue tossed out, not stopping her feet.

Su Xiaoqi blinked.

"I was already being gentle."

"You call that gentle?"

Just as Jiang Yanxue finished speaking, half a row of sacrificial locking racks ahead was knocked flying by Su Xiaoqi again.

This time, even she shut up.

Qin Hongye lay at a high point, her muzzle steady as if nailed in place.

A priest had just raised his hand to cast a Spirit technique, and she fired a shot, hitting him right between the eyebrows.

The man didn't even make a sound before falling straight into the sea.

The second, the third, all suffered the same fate.

While changing magazines, she spoke coldly.

"Three on the left are preparing to run; shoot the shortest one first."

Blood Rose stood at the corridor entrance, pink poison mist pressing into the passage.

Several shrine warriors inhaled just a bit, and their expressions changed instantly; they turned and started fighting their companions.

"With this little willpower, you dare to sacrifice?" Blood Rose laughed. "Aren't you afraid of losing your ancestors' faces completely?"

When Shen Wanbing rushed into the access control altar room with the High Priestess, a deputy priest was standing inside.

Half of that man's face was already mutated, a black-red tumor bulging on his forehead, and his first sentence was disgusting.

"You dare to come back."

"Do you think you can betray the shrine and still walk out alive?"

The High Priestess stood at the door, unmoving.

The deputy priest stepped forward, his laugh numbing.

"Sooner or later, you will also become a sacrifice, fed into the sea along with those people."

The High Priestess stared at him for two seconds, then raised her hand and shook the bronze bell.

Buzz.

The tumor on the deputy priest's forehead exploded violently.

Black-red liquid splattered everywhere.

He knelt down, mouth still open, already breathless.

The High Priestess retracted the bronze bell, her voice flat.

"I was blind before."

Shen Wanbing looked at her, didn't say much, and just scanned the entire access control array into her panel.

"Only the last layer left."

"Fast enough."

When Chen Chen rushed into the depths of the reactor core with Shen Wanxing and Mio, that giant eye on the seabed opened once more.

This time, it wasn't watching from afar.

It cast a wisp of blood-red will directly inside.

A suffocating scent instantly filled the air.

Shen Wanxing's legs went soft, and she nearly knelt down.

Chen Chen reached out and grabbed her, his other hand already on the hilt of his ship-slayer blade.

"Stand steady."

"I, I can't stand..."

"Then lean."

Shen Wanxing leaned back against him, her hands still clutching her shawl tightly.

Mio looked at the blood-colored projection in front, her expression also changing.

"It has its eyes on you."

The mass of blood-red will twisted in mid-air, slowly condensing into a humanoid outline.

The voice came directly inside, carrying a harsh echo.

"Door thief."

"Leave your body."

Chen Chen raised his eyes to look at it, not even stopping.

"Are you worthy?"

The Tier 5 Limb Projection pressed forward violently, and mental ripples exploded.

Shen Wanxing's mind swayed, and she suddenly saw herself standing on a stage before the apocalypse, the audience below all holding light sticks.

She was stunned for two seconds, her fingers loosening.

Chen Chen gripped her wrist.

"Come back to your senses."

Two words slammed down.

Shen Wanxing shuddered, and the hallucination shattered.

On the other side, Jiang Jiuyou was also grazed by the ripples on the sea, and the lights on the sub-command console almost went black.

She gripped the back of her chair, her breathing disrupted for a moment.

"Chen Chen, the Mental Power shock on the surface is doubling!"

"Understood."

Chen Chen raised his hand, 176 points of Mental Power spreading out directly.

In the metal corridor, a ring of silver Spirit shock rushed out, colliding exactly with the second wave of ripples from the Tier 5 projection.

Boom.

The blood-red will shook violently.

The dozen or so parasitic shrine warriors preparing to rush into the main control room slammed their knees onto the ground simultaneously, their faces pressed into the floor.

Chen Chen took a step forward, and the Gravity Domain pressed down simultaneously.

Twenty-five times.

The group at the door couldn't even lift their heads, their bones emitting muffled sounds one by one.

"A thing playing god and ghost, daring to reach out toward me."

The blood-red projection was enraged, lunging directly at Chen Chen's chest, trying to burrow into his sea of consciousness.

Chen Chen didn't retreat, slashing back with his blade.

On the golden ship-slayer blade, the gravity collapse activated instantly.

The moment the blade fell, a black hole-like gap split open on the projection's chest instantly.

It let out a harsh screech, the entire mass of will being dragged and collapsing inward.

Chen Chen followed up with another slash.

The blood-red projection shattered into two pieces, dissipating into a mist of blood.

System notifications jumped out immediately.

[Captain's Seal has been unlocked.]

Mio stood by, frozen for two seconds.

"You cut its projection?"

"Cut it." Chen Chen retracted his blade. "Where is the Seal?"

Mio finally came to her senses and walked quickly to the crystal cabin in front.

Inside the cabin, a black-gold Captain's Seal was floating, with a final protective film on the outer layer.

She reached out to press it, but the protective film didn't open.

Chen Chen raised his hand, and a blade stroke fell.

The crystal cabin cracked open in response.

The Seal rolled into his palm, heavy.

The next second, the broadcast of the entire Sea Scale lit up simultaneously.

[New Captain authority confirmed.]

[Authority inheritance complete.]

[Sea Scale main control system, greetings to the new Captain.]

Outside the main control room, the sea surface shook once more.

This time, it wasn't Spirit ripples; the entire seabed was rising.

Shen Wanbing's voice exploded from the comms.

"Chen Chen, that thing on the seabed has started rushing up!"

"The door has opened!"

Mio turned back violently.

"It's filling the stomach passage; it wants to swallow the dock along with it!"

Chen Chen put the Captain's Seal into his ring and looked up at the main control screen.

On the screen, the entire seabed channel began to turn red.

The next second, a hidden panel on the right side of the main console popped out.

[New Captain detected.]

[Start main gun self-test procedure?]

The moment the prompt popped up, Mio's expression changed.

She rushed to the main console, her palm pressing onto the hidden panel.

"Don't touch it!"

Chen Chen looked at her.

Mio spoke very quickly.

"The Deep Sea Fission Spear can still be used, but the energy lines are polluted by the Sea God eggs. If you start it now, the main gun will explode first, and the entire dock will be pierced through along with it."

Shen Wanxing shrank behind Chen Chen; hearing the words "pierced through," her face turned pale.

"Then shouldn't we run?"

Chen Chen turned to look at Shen Wanbing.

"Scan."

Shen Wanbing was already crouching beside the main console, concentration ice heart necklace glowing almost blindingly.

Her fingertips pulled three layers of structural diagrams on the holographic panel.

"Main gun name, Deep Sea Fission Spear."

"Nuclear piercing cannon, designed to pierce the shells of deep-sea behemoths."

"Current integrity is forty-one percent."

Mio replied immediately.

"Forty-one percent can't fire! If the reaction lines overload, the bow will explode from the middle!"

Shen Wanbing didn't stop.

"If we connect the S-Rank Purification Core we just found to the No. 3 reaction ring, and then use the Hull Pollution Stripping Module to clear a temporary pipeline, we can force a shot."

Mio was stunned.

"How do you know the No. 3 reaction ring hasn't rotted?"

Shen Wanbing looked up, golden light pressing within her ink-black pupils.

"Because you didn't close the old logs just now."

Mio opened her mouth, unable to curse for a long time.

Chen Chen threw the Purification Core over directly.

"Connect it."

Mio caught the core, gritting her teeth.

"Fine, don't blame me for not warning you after firing."

Boom—

A loud noise came from the outer wall of the dock.

The entire main control room shook.

On the screen, the seabed fissure was widening.

A black-red spine pushed out from deeper down, hundreds of tentacles climbing up along the outer wall of the dock, as if dragging a huge piece of iron.

Alarms exploded one after another.

[Outer wall damage rate: 12%]

[Seawater backflow area: Port No. 3, Maintenance Hangar No. 6, Altar Passage]

[Dock anchoring structure abnormal]

Mio looked up violently.

"It's starting to drag the dock!"

Chen Chen looked at the red area on the screen.

"How long?"

"Ten minutes at most, the stomach passage will swallow this whole place."

Shen Wanxing's voice trembled.

"Stomach... isn't that just a belly?"

Su Xiaoqi's voice came from the comms, still chewing on something.

"So are we fighting right next to someone's mouth?"

Blood Rose laughed.

"To be precise, we're about to be eaten."