Chapter 135: A Glimmer of Vitality

Jiang Huan was dragged close to the sea beast. The massive turtle shell resembled a towering dome, completely enveloping her and cutting off every trace of light.

Nor could she see any of her teammates, as they were currently engaged in fierce combat with other sea beasts and had no way to offer timely assistance.

After a sharp screech pierced through the comms, order was quickly restored as the commander directed everyone to continue luring the creature away.

Jiang Huan closed her eyes for a moment, then abruptly let go.

As the flexible tube retracted, her reflex was to grab something else to substitute for her arm, preventing the creature from making direct contact with her body.

Thus, a baseball bat she hadn't used in a long time was dragged by the tube in place of Jiang Huan's arm.

After being pulled along for a short distance, Jiang Huan quickly released her grip, taking advantage of the moment to pull out a repeating crossbow and fire rapidly.

Underwater resistance made it impossible to shoot with the same precision as on land, but fortunately, items from her mystery boxes were always top-tier. Miraculously, Jiang Huan's bolts managed to wedge firmly into the crevices of the colossal turtle shell.

At the same time, the creature lashed out with more flexible tubes—several of them this time. Jiang Huan had no time to process how many tentacles were lunging toward her.

Suddenly, she thought of something she had almost never touched since winning it in the lottery.

Tons of salmon!

Jiang Huan immediately released massive piles of salmon meat.

Thud.

Plop.

Whoosh.

Every single tentacle missed its target, and as they retracted, each one was tightly wrapped around a huge chunk of fish.

Whether the sea beast was actually capable of thought remained unclear, but it paused abruptly, freezing its movements in confusion. Then, its enormous, perpetually hidden eyes twisted into an extremely bizarre angle to survey where the salmon had suddenly appeared from.

Jiang Huan thought to herself, "You've really lucked out. This is fresh fish meat completely free of radiation and toxins. I haven't even gotten to eat it twice myself."

Releasing at least a thousand pounds of salmon in the first batch had bought Jiang Huan a brief window of breathing room. She pulled out a few bombs she had previously unboxed, used a dagger to slice open gasps in the large blocks of fish meat, and wedged the explosives deep inside.

Then, as the flexible tubes resumed their attack, she hurled another full ton of fish meat into the water.

Among them, several large chunks were rigged with explosives.

Time was too tight to stuff a bomb into every single piece of meat.

Jiang Huan dove downward swiftly, plunging deeper into the dark abyss.

At that exact moment, the sea beast overhead twisted violently, churning the murky blue water into chaos.

Over the comms, her teammates cried out in alarm, "It's injured!"

Wu Bing immediately issued a command, "Scrap the lure plan! Fall back immediately and resume the attack. Strike while it's vulnerable!"

"Copy that!" Resolute replies rang out one after another. Jiang Huan even thought she heard Wu Bing mention that the other beast had also been injured and they were launching the final offensive.

Jiang Huan knew for certain that Xie Chongzhou must have pulled something off.

Well done, partner.

Jiang Huan kicked her legs, propelling her body slowly upward.

When she finally emerged back into her teammates' field of vision, she was greeted with an immediate, ecstatic reaction: "Jiang Huan! Jiang Huan isn't dead, she's still alive!"

"Oh god, her suit isn't even torn."

"Jiang Huan, welcome back! The current order is to attack. Go to the surface and retrieve the underwater explosive ordnance!"

Jiang Huan complied instantly. Dragging a sixty-to-seventy-pound underwater torpedo launcher, she reached her teammates. Together, the three of them aimed at the heavily bleeding area of the disaster-class sea beast and fired three consecutive explosive fish-torpedoes. The payloads were designed like shrapnel mines, shattering upon impact and embedding their razor-sharp fragments deep into the creature's tender flesh.

The colossal sea beast thrashed wildly, turning the already murky water into an even thicker soup of brine and blood.

Following orders, everyone retreated several dozen meters, floating on the surface in tense anticipation of the outcome.

The bloodiest patch of water remained eerily still for a long time. A teammate mustered the courage to drop an underwater surveillance probe, lowering it deeper via a steel cable. After carefully examining the ultra-high-definition feed, Wu Bing gave the order: "Logistics team, move in. All combat personnel, fall back."

She then announced, "This disaster-class sea beast has lost its lethal capability. The logistics team is sufficient to handle the cleanup. Congratulations, everyone. This combat mission has been brilliantly completed. And I have more good news—the other one is also in its death throes. Both sea beasts have been eradicated by your hands. You are the strongest."

Someone let out a cheer, followed by a teammate tearfully choking out the name of their fallen captain.

With the first person sobbing, more voices joined in, chanting the name of the heroic captain.

And the name of the teammate who had acted as human bait.

Wu Bing fell silent for a moment before promising that the best medical resources would be deployed to treat them.

There was little time to dwell on grief. Everyone boarded the boats, returned to base, and went through thorough disinfection protocols before shedding their combat suits.

Jiang Huan scrubbed herself fiercely, though the foul, fishy stench still seemed to linger around her. Still, she had already grown used to it.

Before she could rest for long, another piece of news arrived: both disaster-class sea beasts had been completely annihilated, and the emergency safety nets had been successfully secured.

Naturally, Jiang Huan was glad, but another piece of news kept her from feeling truly happy.

Xie Chongzhou had been caught in the beast's coils, his combat suit torn underwater, and he had been urgently evacuated to the capital for treatment.

Jiang Huan wanted to demand answers, but she couldn't expose Xie Chongzhou's unique physical constitution. All she could do was silently pray to the heavens for him, hoping he would return safely.

The next day, Wu Bing held a briefing. After undergoing health evaluations, Jiang Huan and several other teammates were classified as high-level operatives. They would begin learning more advanced techniques and would soon be dispatched to the Level 5 combat islands.

The radiation there was intense—so severe that personnel had to ingest anti-radiation pills every two days, receive chemical injections upon entering the water, and undergo daily decontamination.

Naturally, the sea beasts inhabiting those waters were incomparable to the ones from the lower levels, with multiple disaster-class specimens dwelling there.

Jiang Huan would be trained in the usage of entirely new weaponry there.

Feeling somewhat hesitant and shaken, she retreated into her spatial dimension. Looking at her hundred thousand accumulated points, she decided to spend them all on large mystery boxes.

A flash of golden light swept past, and the contents were freshly unveiled.

[Fifty tons of crab legs.] It was hard to tell whether this was a jackpot or a bizarre troll item.

[Explosive wolf-fang club, featuring eighteen transformation modes, a powerhouse for close-range combat.]

[Advanced mortar, equipped with sixty shells.] This weapon would automatically self-destruct after use, but each shell possessed the destructive power of a miniature nuclear bomb.

Jiang Huan was exceptionally pleased with the last two items.

As these three boxes were opened, the exchange chimney once again displayed the familiar prompt asking whether she wished to upgrade.

Jiang Huan clicked upgrade directly. But this time, that scoundrel of a spatial system actually deducted fifty thousand points in one go!

Fifty thousand!

Jiang Huan was dumbfounded.

It had never worked like this before!

Fifty thousand points! In the early days, how much blood, sweat, and toil had it taken her to accumulate that much trade value in gold and silver?!

Yet, she had no time to mourn her lost points.

The unboxing continued, and this time, the yields were extraordinary.

[Advanced repair serum x50.]

[Biochemical ozone membrane x1.]

[Anti-radiation injection x12.]

Jiang Huan swallowed hard, unable to hide her greed. The advanced repair serum consisted of fifty potion-like vials capable of instantly reviving someone from complete kidney failure, while drinking two boxes could restore fibrotic lungs back to normal.

The ozone membrane, once applied to the face like a facial mask, enabled unrestricted breathing underwater.

As for the final item—the anti-radiation injection—a single shot could maintain complete radiation clearance for ten days!

The more she looked at these items, the stranger she felt.

Yes, these supplies were immensely overpowered.

They looked like the loot of a ridiculously lucky player.

Yet, when she had opened boxes previously, the drops had been completely random and devoid of purpose.

Why, this time around, had the items precisely matched what she secretly desired and needed most?

Could it be because her previous system upgrades hadn't been high enough?