82: Chapter 81 It's watching us—

Lin Su also chimed in with a smile, "That's right, Chief Zheng, you should relax a bit. You haven't closed your eyes since the Beast Tide started; if you keep pushing yourself like this, your body won't be able to take it."

Zheng Yuanshan did not respond, his gaze still locked on the nautical chart. However, his tightly furrowed brows had indeed relaxed slightly compared to a few hours ago.

The atmosphere in the command cabin grew increasingly relaxed. Some were already using their smart terminals to estimate the total merit points earned tonight, some were excitedly discussing the distribution plan for post-battle treasure chests, and others were joking about holding a victory banquet on the ship once the Beast Tide ended.

Director Zhou Ming even had an orderly open another bottle of champagne and pour a glass for everyone.

"Come, come, a second glass!" He raised his glass, his face flushed with excitement. "This glass is a toast to our Yanhuang Civilization—united in heart, invincible under heaven!"

"To Yanhuang!"

"Cheers!"

Laughter, the clinking of glasses, and chatter intertwined, and the entire command cabin was filled with the joy of imminent victory.

Then—

"Beep—Beep—Beep!!!"

In everyone's minds, and on the projection of the highest-level Magic Sea Compass in the center, a shrill, piercing red-dot alarm signifying extreme danger sounded simultaneously.

The sound was so ear-splitting it felt as if it would tear one's soul apart.

Lin Su's hand, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air.

The smile still lingered on her lips, but her gaze had frozen.

Director Zhou Ming was opening his mouth to say something, but his voice cut off abruptly, as if someone had seized him by the throat.

Sun Zheng's finger hung over the smart terminal, motionless.

Chief Inspector Lao Chen still had a smile on his face, but the corners of his mouth had begun to twitch slightly.

Everyone seemed as if they had been hit with a freezing spell, remaining in their positions from the previous second, completely still.

Only Zheng Yuanshan snapped his head up, and in those eyes that had always been as steady as a reef, two terrifying beams of sharp light suddenly burst forth.

The air in the command cabin seemed to have been sucked dry.

No one spoke; no one breathed.

Dazed, they turned their heads and looked at the sea directly ahead through the massive bulletproof portholes of the command cabin and the live front-line footage displayed on the large screen.

The surface of the sea began to change.

It wasn't ordinary waves, nor the kind of spray from a sea beast surfacing—it was a slow, heavy, eerie bulge, as if the entire ocean were lifting upward.

First, a rift appeared on the surface. Not a rift in the waves, but the seawater parting to both sides, revealing a pitch-black abyss beneath.

Then, a black dorsal ridge, with a surface area comparable to a football field, silently pierced through the sea surface.

The ridge was covered in bone armor of unknown thickness, its surface riddled with honeycomb-like pores resembling volcanic rock. From each pore emanated a dark red, pulsating glow—as if the pores of some ancient behemoth were breathing.

Immediately after, rows of "pillars" slowly rose from the ridge.

No, not pillars.

They were bone spikes.