Chapter 134: Calamity-Class Sea Beast

After landing, Jiang Huan felt a bit dizzy. This type of special-ops style business trip was truly not something an ordinary person could easily adapt to.

Seeing her fragile state, Wu Bing teased her, "They say your guy's love can soothe pain. You should go find him; perhaps his love can also cure dizziness."

Jiang Huan twitched the corner of her mouth, and she actually went to find Xie Congzhou. However, she didn't go to ask for help or act coquettish; she simply told him that the old man was doing quite well.

Xie Congzhou, however, gripped her wrist and slowly channeled a bit of energy into her.

Jiang Huan's pupils contracted. It was shock. It was also astonishment. These two words used together were not redundant, because she felt a stream of energy spreading from her wrist throughout her limbs and bones, and then—her whole body felt comfortable.

The dizziness was gone. Even her fatigue had dissipated.

Her first reaction was to hold his hand back and earnestly instruct him: "Xie Congzhou, I’m only telling you this because I consider you my best partner. You must remember, do not use this ability on others casually; otherwise, your kindness will surely bring disaster upon you!"

Looking at Jiang Huan as she earnestly lectured him, Xie Congzhou was reminded in that instant of fields of dandelions, newborn kittens, two furry birds cuddling, and other such scenes from nature. He wanted to look more, and he felt a restless urge.

He tried hard to keep his hands from touching her head. "I know. Except for extending the old man’s life once, you are the first."

*You are the first.*

The lethality of this sentence was undoubtedly great. Jiang Huan, caught off guard by being hit in the face with this "first," subconsciously replied, "Besides my younger brother, you are also the first person to whom I’ve provided so many supplies without a single complaint."

The words landed with impact.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Alarm! Alarm!" and ran past them quickly. The atmosphere between the two was instantly dispelled, and they stood up to chase after the person.

"The number three fishing net has several holes! Two disaster-level sea beasts have broken through, and dozens of small red-level sea beasts have also breached the line of defense. They are already at the number five net and are currently destroying it—"

Wu Bing immediately pulled up the monitoring of the no-man's-land to check, and immediately noticed something was wrong. "This isn't right... Notify all members: intercept the small sea beasts first. The elite team will come with me to lure away those two disaster-level beasts. Do not engage the disaster-level beasts head-on; for the red-level beasts, focus on expulsion and luring them away."

Seeing their flight paths and the consistency of their targets, Wu Bing couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Could it be that the sea beasts had begun to act in groups and had developed a common language? Or perhaps their intelligence had increased, and a commander had emerged?

If that were true, the already difficult-to-deal-with sea beasts would become a nightmare for all front-line soldiers. No, it would become a nightmare for humanity itself. Imagine, if they really evolved like this, who knew if they might eventually evolve into a species that didn't need to stay in the water for long periods?

In an instant, the entire island was mobilized. Jiang Huan was assigned to the expulsion group. This time, she saw members from other islands; everyone wore the same uniform, though the badges differed slightly, representing different maritime regions. Whether they were new faces or old, no one had time to greet anyone else; they went straight into battle.

Listening to the commander through her earpiece, Jiang Huan coordinated with her teammates to divert the attention of the massive disaster-level sea beast. It was a sea turtle roughly the size of a whale. Its massive body meant it was relatively slow and couldn't sprint, but its shell was extremely hard; fish couldn't even leave a scratch on it.

The massive sea beast was not agile in its swimming, but a single sweep of its limbs could create a massive whirlpool of suction. If one got too close, it was easy to be dragged toward it. Then, from its shell, soft tubes—like those of a lamprey—would suddenly extend and lash out. Once they detached, they would leave at least a circular, gaping hole in one's body. A disaster-level sea beast had countless such tubes, making it impossible to attack.

Jiang Huan had watched with her own eyes as two team-leader-level soldiers got too close while trying to distract the beast and were easily stripped of an arm. Even then, they kept their mission firmly in mind, put on spare oxygen masks, and moved toward the damaged net, determined to lure the beasts back to their original territory.

Jiang Huan was almost frozen in place, unable to move. She had heard countless stories of martyrs since childhood, and the media repeatedly broadcasted the deeds of heroes, but never before had it been so clear, striking her heart like a heavy hammer.

*Heroes!* She had seen with her own eyes what a hero was.

Jiang Huan forced back the tears that were welling up. She couldn't drop the ball at a time like this; she couldn't afford extra emotions. This was a battlefield!

Jiang Huan struggled to execute her assigned task underwater, meticulously and without error.

Suddenly, a soldier to her front left was hit by a soft tube. Jiang Huan subconsciously reached out and grabbed the soldier. Just as the tube was about to snap back, her dagger appeared and slashed down fiercely.

*Swoosh.* The tube retracted, but the soldier next to her had their clothing and a patch of flesh easily torn away.

Jiang Huan felt like screaming! *Die! Everyone, just die!* The feeling of helplessness and the despair of being hopeless after trying so hard almost overwhelmed her.

She had never hated her own insignificance more. Just as Jiang Huan was about to rush over to hack that sea beast to death, a change occurred. Over the earpiece came the notification from headquarters for the soldier with the damaged suit to immediately board the ship for treatment and a change of combat gear. The soldier beside her, having put on his spare oxygen mask, actually swam flexibly and gave Jiang Huan an "OK" sign. He was injured, but the severity of the wound had been reduced by more than half because of Jiang Huan’s pull and slash. Losing a layer of skin was, to him, the luckiest of fortunes.

Jiang Huan's heart eased, immediately followed by infinite fighting spirit and determination. The toughness of the Rose Dagger was incomparable. Since the comrade's injury had been significantly reduced, it proved that the attack power of the soft tubes could be diminished.

Jiang Huan regrouped and took the initiative to speak on the comms: "My partner has changed gear. I now request permission to act independently to assist other team members!"

Only two seconds later, Wu Bing's voice came over the mic: "Granted."

Jiang Huan immediately kicked her modified fins. Like a snake in the water, she swam flexibly, seizing every opportunity to strike at the sea beast's tubes. Before long, she had slashed them a dozen times, hitting the mark almost every time.

The tubes seemed to have a consciousness of their own; after being attacked by Jiang Huan a dozen times, two of them came directly for her.

"Careful!" A teammate near Jiang Huan hacked one away, but the other grabbed onto Jiang Huan's arm. With a powerful tug, Jiang Huan was pulled several meters forward.

"Jiang Huan!" The underwater surveillance was shared. Someone was watching the angle on Jiang Huan, and Wu Bing saw it too. Her heart rose into her throat.

Could it be that the team member she valued, the one who had been on a business trip in the capital with her just a few days ago, was about to be buried in the depths of the sea?