12: Eradicate the cancer, a race against time in the secret passage!

The dawn at Shenlan Port was torn apart by urgent alarms!

"Report! Secret Passage Monitoring Point! Abnormal activity detected! Three individuals carrying weapons emerged from a hidden entrance! They are moving towards the abandoned factory area on the west side of the port! Repeat, targets are moving towards the factory area!" Chen Hai's voice, through the communicator, carried suppressed excitement and gravity.

On the bridge and in the outpost command center, all core members instantly tensed their nerves. Scarface's remnants finally couldn't hold back!

"Factory area... underground warehouse!" Lin Feng's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. "Are they trying to move supplies? Or is there a secret passage there that we don't know about, leading further away? Or... is it a trap?"

"Doesn't look like a trap," Chen Hai analyzed quickly. "Not many people came out, and their movements were furtive, like they were scouting. Scarface is likely hiding inside, or there's something there he absolutely must take!"

"The opportunity has come!" Gao Qiang clenched his fist. "Strike directly at their heart while they're dispersed! Take the secret passage! Capture Scarface alive!"

Lin Feng made a swift decision: "Chen Hai! Act according to the plan! The 'Blades' squad will immediately infiltrate through the secret passage! Objective: the core cluster of small buildings in the residential area! Capture Scarface alive! Eliminate the remaining enemies!"

"Gao Qiang! You lead the 'Iron Rock' squad to launch a feint attack from the front to apply pressure! Attract the enemy's attention! Keep the firepower fierce, but be careful, don't actually charge in!"

"Drones! Monitor the three individuals coming out of the factory area throughout! Lock onto them! If they return or rendezvous with others, report immediately!"

"Coastal defense fire points! Heavy machine guns, lock onto the main exit of the residential area! Block it on my command!"

"Deep Blue 01! Main gun on standby! If there is large-scale resistance or an attempt to break out from other directions, provide fire cover!"

Orders were issued like a sudden storm. The entire Shenlan Port instantly entered combat mode!

On the edge of the abandoned factory area, three of Scarface's henchmen were cautiously moving between rusted pipes and collapsed walls. Leading them was Scarface's confidant, "Scar Strong," who tightly clutched a waterproof tarpaulin bag, his expression tense.

"Brother Strong, the boss wants us to bury this thing in the old spot... can it really work? Those soldiers..."

"Shut up! Do as the boss says! Bury it and get back quickly! Don't get discovered!" Scar Strong hissed in a low voice, vigilantly looking around. They didn't know that high above, the drone's camera was firmly locked onto their every move.

At the same time, in the northeast corner of the port, at the hidden entrance on the edge of the cliff.

A ten-person elite "Blades" squad, personally led by Chen Hai, had already assembled. The team members wore black combat uniforms, equipped with silenced weapons, night vision goggles, breaching charges, and ropes, their faces painted with camouflage, their eyes as cold as knives.

"Check equipment! Communication blackout! Move!" Chen Hai ordered in a low voice, being the first to squeeze into the narrow, damp, and musty entrance that only allowed one person to pass at a time.

The interior of the secret passage was more complex than imagined. It wasn't a straight sewer but a winding and uneven combination of abandoned ventilation ducts, maintenance tunnels, and even some natural rock crevices. The air was filled with a strong smell of rust, dust, and a faint odor of excrement. Flashlight beams swayed in the narrow space, illuminating mottled walls and slippery moss underfoot.

"Maintain distance! Watch your step and your head!" Chen Hai's voice was extremely low, echoing through the passage. The squad moved forward quickly and silently like ghosts. Chen Hai continuously adjusted their direction based on Zhao Tiezhu's scattered memories and subtle traces left along the way (such as fresh footprints and discarded cigarette butts).

After about fifteen minutes of travel, a relatively wide fork appeared ahead. One path sloped upward, with a faint light vaguely penetrating; the other continued downward, pitch black, but faint sounds of flowing water and... human voices could be heard!

"The top might be an exit or a vent, the bottom... is their lair!" Chen Hai gestured. He left two team members to guard the fork, and he, with the remaining seven, silently crept down the lower passage like civet cats.

The human voices became clearer, mixed with crude curses and the smell of cheap alcohol. At the end of the passage, a rusty iron door, wrapped with thick iron chains, was ajar, and dim yellow light seeped through the crack. Chen Hai pressed against the cold wall, adjusting the low-light night vision device on his helmet. Inside the door was a relatively open space, seemingly a converted abandoned underground pump room. About seven or eight armed individuals were either sitting or lying down, their weapons casually placed beside them. Something was cooking on a makeshift stove. On the wall hung a few blurry photos and a ferocious shark pattern painted with red paint—that was the Black Tide Fleet's symbol! Scarface indeed had connections with pirates!

Scarface himself was not here.

"Squad A, prepare flashbangs! Squad B, breach with me! Prioritize control! Take them alive!" Chen Hai quickly assigned tasks through tactical hand signals.

Two team members silently crept to the door and rolled two cylindrical flashbangs through the crack!

"Fire in the hole!"

Boom! Boom!

Two not-so-intense but extremely piercing explosions, accompanied by a sudden burst of strong light, detonated in the small underground space! The unprepared armed individuals immediately let out terrified screams, covering their eyes and ears, instantly losing their ability to resist!

"Go! Go! Go!" Chen Hai roared, kicking open the iron door, and was the first to rush in!

"Don't move! Drop your weapons!"

"Get down! Everyone get down!"

The "Blades" squad descended like divine soldiers! With precise rifle butt strikes and grappling moves, in just over ten seconds, all enemies in the room were subdued! Not a single person had a chance to pick up a weapon to resist!

"Tell me! Where is Scarface?!" Chen Hai grabbed a small leader, whose eyes and nose were streaming from the bright light, and pressed a cold gun muzzle against his forehead.

"Up... upstairs... the innermost office... there's... a secret passage..." The small leader, scared out of his wits, stammered, pointing to a small door with a torn curtain on the other side of the pump room.

"Watch them!" Chen Hai threw the prisoner to a team member and, with two elites, rushed towards that small door!

Behind the door was a narrow staircase leading upward. At the end of the staircase was a thick wooden door. Inside, Scarface's furious roar and... the static noise of a radio could be vaguely heard!

"Damn it! Why haven't those three useless bastards, Scar Strong and his men, reported back yet?! Radio! Radio! Calling One-Eyed Jack! Respond if you hear me! Damn it! Those soldiers are on to the factory area! We need support! Support!... Damn it! The signal is jammed!"

It was Scarface! He was trying to contact the pirates!

"Breach the door!" Chen Hai made an immediate decision! A team member immediately placed plastic explosives on the door lock!

Boom!

With a muffled bang, the wooden door was blown open!

"Don't move! Scarface!" Chen Hai and his two companions rushed in like fierce tigers!

The room was small, like a crude office. Scarface—a burly man with a hideous scar on his face—was standing with his back to the door, yelling into an old radio. Hearing the door being breached, he spun around abruptly, a flash of astonishment and despair in his eyes, which quickly turned into savage madness! He had no gun in his hand, but he violently overturned the table, pulled out a gleaming machete from underneath it, and howled as he lunged at Chen Hai, who was closest!

"You're asking for death!" Chen Hai's eyes turned cold. He dodged the incoming blade, then struck like lightning, grabbing Scarface's wrist that held the knife, and at the same time, delivered a brutal knee strike to Scarface's lower abdomen!

"Ugh!" Scarface bent over in pain, but his ferocity did not diminish, and his other hand wildly clawed at Chen Hai's eyes!

Bang!

The nearby team member was quick-eyed and quick-handed, smashing his rifle butt hard against Scarface's back neck! Scarface's vision went black, and his massive body crashed to the ground, quickly tied up like a dumpling.

"Target captured! Clearance complete!" Chen Hai reported into the communicator, his tone carrying a hint of relief.

Just then, the drone monitoring the factory area reported urgently: "Captain! The three targets in the factory area have completed their burial operation! They are returning the way they came! Moving very fast! It seems... they've noticed something abnormal!"

"Trying to run? Not that easy!" Lin Feng's eyes sharpened. "'Iron Rock' squad! Ambush the factory area exit! Take them down for me! Alive!"

"Coastal defense fire points! Block all exits from the residential area! Don't let a single fly get out!"

"Chen Hai! Immediately search Scarface's office! Especially his hidden items and the radio! Then lead your men to outflank the factory area from the secret passage exit! Quick!"

The entire port instantly transformed into a giant hunting ground! From the front, the "Iron Rock" squad, commanded by Gao Qiang, intensified their feint attack, with gunshots and explosions echoing, firmly attracting the attention of the remaining enemies in the residential area (who were quickly cleared out). In the direction of the factory area, Scar Strong and his two companions had just furtively emerged from a collapsed wall when they were ambushed by the long-waiting "Iron Rock" squad! After a few brief gunshots and sounds of struggle, the three were pinned to the ground.

At the same time, Chen Hai made an astonishing discovery in Scarface's office! In addition to the old radio, he also found a thick waterproof notebook in a secret compartment and... several nautical charts marked with strange symbols and coordinates! On one of the charts, the large naval base in the northeast, marked by the system as "Danger Level: Extremely High," was conspicuously circled in red! Next to it was scrawled: "Captain Jack... transaction... heavy weapons... energy source... entrance..."

"Energy source? Entrance?" Chen Hai's heart pounded. He immediately reported the discovery to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng looked at the photos of the notebook and nautical charts sent back by Chen Hai, and then combined them with the recovered tarpaulin bag buried by Scar Strong (inside which was a fist-sized, strange ore emitting a faint blue light). A clear chain emerged: Scarface was colluding with One-Eyed Jack! Scarface, using the port's location, might be providing intelligence or fencing stolen goods for the pirates. And One-Eyed Jack seemed to have designs on that abandoned naval base, and even... might know that some kind of "energy source" existed inside the base? Did that piece of ore come from there? Was it related to the poseidon's eye?

"Immediately interrogate Scarface and Scar Strong! Interrogate them separately! Focus on the naval base, the energy source, and the details of the transaction with One-Eyed Jack!" Lin Feng ordered, his eyes gleaming sharply. The danger level of that naval base was extremely high, but if there were indeed clues or even the actual "energy source" inside... risk and opportunity coexisted!

Soon, under separate, high-pressure interrogations (Scarface was tight-lipped, but Scar Strong broke down in the face of fear and evidence), fragmented information was pieced together:

Scarface indeed had contact with One-Eyed Jack; he was an onshore informant for the Black Tide Fleet, responsible for providing port intelligence and a small amount of supplies. One-Eyed Jack had been searching for powerful weapons and "stones that bring power" (Scar Strong's words). About a month ago, during an exploration, One-Eyed Jack accidentally brought back a small amount of that blue ore from a collapsed ventilation shaft on the outskirts of the naval base. He found this stone to be very special; carrying it close seemed to make people mentally excited and slightly stronger (possibly a psychological effect or radiation influence), so he treasured it, calling it "Sea God's Tears." He ordered Scarface to look for similar items near the port and promised him greater benefits (weapons, ships, or even status) if he could find more or provide a reliable path to enter the naval base. Scarface hadn't found anything until Deep Blue 01 appeared two days ago. Scarface escaped into the underground warehouse during the chaos and only then discovered this small sample in an abandoned laboratory safe. He hadn't had time to give it to Jack before being trapped in the port by Deep Blue forces. He had Scar Strong bury it, hoping to retrieve it after the situation calmed down, or to use it as leverage for joining other forces later.

As for the situation inside the naval base, both Scarface and Scar Strong were vague, only knowing that One-Eyed Jack had organized several exploratory entries, all of which resulted in heavy losses. There seemed to be extremely terrifying automated defense systems and... "man-eating monsters" (Scar Strong's exact words) inside. As for the entrance... Scar Strong only knew that One-Eyed Jack had mentioned a code name "C3 Underwater Sluice Gate," but the exact location and how to open it were known only to Jack's core confidantes.

The interrogation results confirmed Lin Feng's suspicions. There was indeed something in the naval base! That blue ore was very likely to contain energy similar to the poseidon's eye! And One-Eyed Jack, this greedy pirate leader, became the key to obtaining intelligence about the base and possible entrance information!

"One-Eyed Jack..." Lin Feng looked at the radar screen, which was already empty in the direction the pirates had fled, his eyes deep. This troublesome pirate seemed to have retreated for now, but the intelligence in his hands and the potential source of the Sea God's Tears he controlled became a must-acquire target!

"Chen Hai, strengthen vigilance in all directions of the port, especially at sea! One-Eyed Jack suffered a great loss and is still coveting the Sea God's Tears, so he will likely return! Outpost defense upgrades and patrol boat construction must be accelerated!"

"Gao Qiang, organize personnel to meticulously search the entire residential area and underground stronghold, digging out all of Scarface's hidden supplies, weapons, and intelligence! Especially any clues regarding the naval base!"

"Engineering team! Engineer Zhang! Small dry dock modification and patrol boat construction are top priorities! I want to see our boats launched as soon as possible!"

"Professor Wang! Focus on analyzing that 'Sea God's Tears' ore! I want to know its relationship with the poseidon's eye's energy and the mutation of marine life!"

With a series of commands, Shenlan Port, having cleared its internal cancer, began to advance at full speed like a battle vehicle with its engine fully revved, towards stronger defenses, a broader ocean, and deeper secrets.

On Deep Blue 01's radar screen, the icon representing the installation progress of the "Primary Deep-Sea Sonar Array" slowly lit up with resource investment. That deep, abyssal South China Sea, containing the poseidon's eye, seemed to be silently calling.

And on the distant horizon, the greedy pirates and the mysterious naval base, like two massive shadows, were slowly converging.