96: Casualties? None! Does paint damage count as battle damage? Will the military reimburse it?

"Whew—"

The final tongue of orange-red flame licked away into nothingness in the air.

The massive bow of the blazing flame ruthlessly smashed through the final layer of thin white fog, plunging headlong into the long-lost sunlight.

The sky had cleared.

The oppressive gray-white world was instantly replaced by a deep blue; though the sea breeze was fishy, it no longer carried that sickeningly sweet, hallucinogenic stench of rot.

On the hundreds of civilian ships following closely behind, there was a deathly silence for a full three seconds.

Immediately after, cries of survival erupted.

"The sun! It's the sun!"

"Wooo... I didn't die! I'm still alive!"

People collapsed all over the Deck, and many even stuck their butts in the air to kiss the Deck, which was covered in fish scales and dirty water, looking more affectionate than if they had seen their own fathers.

At this moment, no one mentioned jealousy of the rich, and no one dared to stare at the black warship in front with those sour, envious eyes anymore.

If someone can save your life, they are your father.

Even Feng Kun, who had been gnashing his teeth earlier, was now as docile as a quail, huddled in a corner, watching the back of the blazing flame. The jealousy in his eyes had long been washed away by fear, leaving only a devotion so intense it was as if he wanted to shatter his knees kneeling.

blazing flame main control room.

Lu Sheng leaned back in his chair, watching the sea surface outside the window that had become clear once more, the golden glow in his eyes slowly fading.

"Zhou Hai, cut the fire, save some fuel." Lu Sheng said in a flat tone, casually pulling a compressed biscuit from his pocket and unwrapping it. "Also, have Old Zhao take some men to check the outer armor and see if there are any places corroded through by acid."

"You got it!"

Zhou Hai released the firing button, looking unfulfilled. He watched the sorry state of his beloved ship on the monitor, his teeth aching with heartache. "Damn it, these jellyfish might be fragile, but they sure know how to cause destruction. Look, they've corroded our freshly applied matte black paint into this ghost of a mess; it looks like a toad."

At this moment, the blazing flame's originally imposing black coating was covered in a thick layer of green slime—the charred remains of the Ghost-Faced Jellyfish—which was still emitting a foul-smelling gray smoke.

But it only looked disheveled.

Except for that layer of slime on the surface, the ship hadn't lost even a scrap of metal.

"Be content."

Su Li, holding her Shura Blade, leaned against the doorframe and coldly added, "If we didn't have this armor, we'd be feeding the fish in the sea right now, or like those people behind us, turned into lunatics who only know how to giggle."

Time ticked by, second by second.

Half an hour later.

The fog behind them churned again, as if a giant beast were struggling within it.

"Woo——!!!"

A dull whistle sounded, carrying an air of exhaustion and tragedy.

The Zhenyuan Ship flagship finally burst out, leading the military's main fleet.

However, when this originally mighty torrent of steel appeared in everyone's field of vision, everyone's breath caught in their throats.

Miserable.

Too miserable.

The originally silver-gray frigates were pitted and scarred, the metal base visible everywhere from the corrosion, with several spots still emitting acrid white smoke.

The Deck was even more shocking.

Densely packed soldier corpses lay scattered about; some still clutched their guns tightly, but transparent stingers were embedded in the backs of their heads, and their faces wore an incredibly eerie smile.

That smile looked exceptionally chilling in the sunlight.

There was even a two-thousand-ton landing ship with a large hole in its side, listing and emitting black smoke; the hull was tilted at least fifteen degrees, clearly indicating damage to the engine room, and it had barely managed to keep up with the main fleet.

A comparison between the two.

On one side, the blazing flame, which was just a bit dirty but hadn't even lost a single screw.

On the other side, the regular military fleet that had suffered heavy losses and hull damage.

This huge contrast was like a loud slap in the face to those staff officers who had once questioned Lu Sheng's individual heroism.

"Zzz..."

The static in the communication channel finally disappeared, and Chen Yan's voice came through.

"Brother Lu..."

Chen Yan's voice was hoarse, as if he had a mouthful of gravel; even through the radio, one could hear the exhaustion. "How are... your casualties? Do you need medical support?"

Lu Sheng picked up the walkie-talkie, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Hai and the others, who were on the Deck using hoses to wash away the black ash, laughing and joking.

These guys were using shovels to scrape off the charred jellyfish remains, complaining about how stinky the stuff was while they worked.

Lu Sheng took a bite of his compressed biscuit, his tone calm to the point of being annoying.

"Casualties? None."

He paused, as if thinking seriously, then added: "Oh, right, Zhou Hai says the ship lost some paint and needs a fresh coat. Does that count as battle damage? Will the military reimburse it?"

Deathly silence.

On the other end of the communication channel, there was silence for a full ten seconds.

Only Chen Yan's heavy breathing could be heard.

In the Zhenyuan Ship command room, the veins on the back of Chen Yan's hand, which was gripping the communicator, bulged, and the several staff officers beside him were so ashamed they wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

This was the gap.

This was the civilian armed force they had previously thought couldn't shoulder a heavy responsibility?

This was fucking dimensional reduction warfare!

Chipped paint counts as battle damage? Listen to that, is that human talk?

Chen Yan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the bitterness and shock in his heart. He knew Lu Sheng was establishing his authority, and also reminding him of the "reward" he had promised earlier.

"Good... well done."

Chen Yan's voice became incomparably solemn. "This time, we owe it to the blazing flame for clearing the way; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. The paint... I'll make sure you get ten barrels of the best back home."

If they hadn't followed the path burned out by the blazing flame, this fleet of one hundred thousand people would have lost at least half in that godforsaken place.

"Major Lu, on behalf of the Jinling Fleet and these one hundred thousand survivors, I owe you a favor."

Chen Yan said this heavily, without a hint of bureaucratic tone.

"General Chen, you are too kind; it was just a mutual exchange."

Lu Sheng didn't get carried away by a few words of gratitude; he knew very well that this was just a transaction. He casually threw the walkie-talkie aside and looked at the sea surface with some regret.

What a pity, those Ghost-Faced Jellyfish were all burned to ash, not even a scrap left, and he hadn't gained any benefits.

The system panel was completely still; neither crystal cores nor spirit source points had been credited.

That was a huge loss.

However, this was just an appetizer.

The further inland they went, the higher the Rank of the monsters in the sea, especially those thick-skinned giant sea beasts—they were walking spirit source crystal core repositories.

"All fleets, listen up!"

Chen Yan's voice regained the majesty of an iron-blooded general, though this time his confidence was clearly lacking. "Target is due west, 120 kilometers away, Bull King Mountain in Hefei City! Full speed ahead! We will have our first rest stop there!"

Bull King Mountain.

That was an elevated area in Hefei City, over two hundred meters above sea level.

In this Apocalypse where most of the land was submerged, it was like an isolated island in the sea and one of the few landing points on the retreat route.

"Bull King Mountain, huh..." Lu Sheng tapped his fingertips lightly on the map.

I wonder if there are any spirit plants in this mountain, and if they can give me any surprises.

The fleet accelerated again.

But this time, the surrounding civilian ships all intentionally or unintentionally moved closer to the blazing flame, wishing they could stick to its hull, as if being closer to that black warship would keep the Grim Reaper further away.

PS: Today's update (1/5).