With a dark expression, Tang Xiu swiftly tapped on the virtual keyboard in front of the console of the Subaquatic Corvette. The submarine cruised quickly for a few kilometers before it sank to the depths of the sea. Its power suddenly increased, and it cruised at the speed of lightning towards the pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p hundreds of nautical miles away.
The hundreds of nautical miles only took a few minutes for the Subaquatic Corvette to travel, yet the battle on the s.h.i.+ps had become more intense than ever. The French ability users had been unleas.h.i.+ng various powers and victory was faintly leaning to their side.
"GO AWAY!"
The situation of the stocky man, however, was different. Although his men had killed or struck heavy losses to the members of the Tang Family"s 1st and 2nd Guardian squads, he was gradually struggling under the attacks of the two experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall. He was now facing a crisis in which he could meet his maker or be severely injured at any time.
The other two experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall were now protecting Tang Guosheng and Tang Min. They didn"t suffer any injuries, yet seeing how their family"s most elite experts kept dying or were severely injured one after another, their hearts had dropped.
****
Ten thousand meters away.
Atop the roof of the cargo s.h.i.+p the French ability users used to board, Dorot was standing with his hands folded behind his back and eyes sparkling as he watched the gradually weakening Tang Family. He nodded and slowly said, "Those French ability users are still seriously difficult to deal with. Back when France was still gathering ability users, they spent quite a huge investment to train them, and it seems like it has paid off. The Chinese may have those four experts, but two of them are left to protect some people—they don"t dare to move casually. From the looks of the battle, it won"t be long before most of those Chinese experts are killed or are seriously injured. But those French ability users won"t end up better. The final outcome will be a situation where both sides suffer great losses."
The belle chuckled and said, "Killing each other and dying! The harder they fight, the easier it will be when we act, don"t you think? Well, the Chinese have a common saying: a sandpiper tussles with a clam, but the fisherman catches both. We should be that fisherman, don"t you think?"
Dorot glanced at the beauty and indifferently said, "Quite unexpected of you. I never thought that you"d have so much knowledge of Chinese culture. So what next? You planning on organizing some punitive expedition to the East or something?"
The belle rolled her eyes and snapped, "I"m not tired of living happily yet. Why on Earth should I organize some Orient punitive expedition, huh? Besides, it"s not yet time for the ability users to stand at the peak of humanity, to begin with. Ordinary guns may not pose a threat to us, but what about more powerful weapons? Especially… the secret weapons of all countries, the laser guns."
Dorot"s expression became a lot more serious. He nodded and said, "The exploration conducted by various countries to the various vestiges has caused a gradual progression in their science and technology research, making them more powerful and dominant. The laser guns, with their faster firing speed, longer range, and terrifying might, have now become the secret weapon of various countries. They are indeed able to threaten us."
The belle was not as intelligent as Dorot, so she s.h.i.+fted her sight to the distance and said, "Well, let"s not entertain ourselves with such fancy thoughts, shall we? Let"s just watch and wait for them to destroy each other! Perhaps there is some good stuff from the three-star vestige that can benefit us as ability users."
"I don"t mind giving you some if we get any," replied Dorot in a deep voice, "But if we don"t get any, the conditions we"ve agreed on can"t be changed."
"Got it!"
****
It the vast sea, except for the scenes of slaughter on the several liners and the scenes around them, the surface of the sea farther away was much calmer.
However, unnoticed by all parties involved, the Subaquatic Corvette had appeared under the pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p. Inside the cabin, Tang Xiu"s hands tapped on the virtual keyboard, inputting a series of instructions quickly. He then looked at Cheng Xuemei and said, "You stay here. Xiaoxue and I will go to the rescue. Do remember, do not tamper with any of the control devices in this Subaquatic Corvette. The AI has been protected with my fingerprints and retina scans; no one but me can control it. If you try to, you"ll be attacked by the hidden weapons in the pilothouse."
"How about I join the battle and rescue…?" Cheng Xuemei nodded, yet still asked.
Tang Xiu headed to the cabin hatch while interrupting her, "You"re still on a mission, so you can"t appear in front of anyone else for a while. Also, you haven"t yet been able to fully control your power. The current you going with us now will not help us; it would just be a burden. Just obey and stay here!"
Cheng Xuemei was a bit embarra.s.sed, but she still nodded without arguing back. She knew that Tang Xiu was telling the truth—she wouldn"t be able to help and might actually be a burden with her current ability.
As the hatch of the Subaquatic Corvette was opened, an energy s.h.i.+eld layer activated half a meter towards the outside, blocking the great pressure from the sea. Tang Xiu and Gu Xiaoxue then flashed out from the energy s.h.i.+eld and the cabin hatch automatically closed. The deep sea was very dark, and they cruised upward against the enormous pressure of the sea to surface.
"KILL THOSE FOUR!"
Three Water Elementalists manipulated a surging water prison on the deck to trap four members of the Tang Family"s 2nd Guardian squad. Ice arrows were condensed from seawater and easily penetrated the water wall, shooting powerfully at the four people inside.
One of the four members of the 2nd Guardian squad covered his bleeding left arm. Despite the bulging veins on his forehead and the frantic killing intent in his eyes, he had no way to break out of the water prison, so he could only leave the other three to dodge the sharp ice arrows while they tried to help him resist the barrage of them.
"Don"t worry about me. You all just find a way to break out!" shouted the man.
Puff…
Just as his voice fell, an ice arrow shot the abdomen of a middle-aged man who protected him, sending him flying a few meters backward, blood splas.h.i.+ng out as he heavily fell to the floor.
The four people instantly fell into deep despair. They were completely aware that it was nearly impossible to break out of the water prison with their power alone. Even if they did, they would still have to face a constant barrage of attacks from the enemy without any means to strike back.
Whoos.h.!.+
A lightning-fast silhouette streaked up to the sky near the edge of the nearby s.h.i.+p. A blinding sword light flashed down, slas.h.i.+ng the waists of the three French ability users without them noticing.
A longsword was dancing in the air around Tang Xiu. After killing three ability users in a flash, he didn"t stop at all as his speedy figure appeared again near the other two.
"Die…"
The sword light flashed again. Even though the two ability users noticed Tang Xiu a step before, they could only hurriedly set up a defensive measure, causing them to still be turned into dozens of pieces by the violet sword light.
At the other side.
The moment Gu Xiaoxue rushed out of the seawater, the water on her body instantly evaporated. Her white dress fluttered as layers of sword mirages that looked like silvery streams of light flashed down from the Ninth Heaven, demolis.h.i.+ng the two French ability users in a flash. At the moment that their flesh and blood splashed in the air, she rushed through the mist of blood and seemingly launched a hefty punch on the back of a French ability user.
"EVERYONE BE CAREFUL!"
The stocky man, who was being besieged by the two experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall, was on the verge of collapsing. He had been heavily injured, and now that he suddenly found two new killing G.o.ds appear, his spirit chilled over.
At the door to the liner cabin, Tang Guosheng and Tang Min, who were being protected by the two experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall, were immediately overjoyed. They clearly saw the figure of a newly arrived person. In particular, Tang Guosheng was overjoyed. All of his worries and his restlessness vanished after finding that the new powerhouse turned out to be his grandson, Tang Xiu.
"KILL THESE b.a.s.t.a.r.dS, XIU"ER!"
Tang Xiu smiled in response to Tang Guosheng. His figure kept flas.h.i.+ng, and each time he launched a strike, an ability user was either killed or severely wounded.
"You two don"t need to protect us anymore," blurted Tang Guosheng. "Move with Xiu"er and kill these French ability users as fast as you can."
The experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall exchanged glances and tacitly nodded, then quickly hurled toward the nearest ability users. They used to be powerhouses who survived from seas of blood and piles of corpses. With their abundant experience, they were still vigilantly surveying the situation in the surroundings while slaughtering the French ability users. They then immediately retreated from combat to fend off the attacks from ability users who attempt to kill Tang Guosheng and Tang Min.
The flow of battle, which once seemed like the Tang Family greatly weakening, ultimately turned into a one-sided ma.s.sacre due to the sudden appearance of Tang Xiu and Gu Xiaoxue. The French ability users were now unable to fight back.
Finally, the bulky Frenchman realized that victory was no longer possible for his side, so he went all out to force the two experts of the Everlasting Feast Hall to draw back at the cost of two b.l.o.o.d.y wounds. He then sped away toward the speedboat hung on the side hull of the s.h.i.+p.
"Leaving? Dream on!"
The longsword crisscrossed. The two men joined hands and simultaneously slapped their sword"s hilt. The two longswords streaked forward like shooting stars and pierced the back of the stocky man in the blink of an eye.
BAM…
The powerful man fell into despair as he felt his heart pierced. His lifeforce and strength quickly dissipated while regrets now filled his heart. It was greed that drove him to s.n.a.t.c.h the treasures of the three-star vestige from the Chinese, and that greed had become the very reason he ended up with a tragic death here.
"RUN!"
The complexion of another Water Elementalist was that of complete disaster. He could only watch helplessly as his leader was killed, causing his fighting spirit to flush down the drain. After screaming, he fled to the distance in a flash and jumped into the water where the Tang Family"s experts couldn"t chase him.
The less than 20 remaining French ability users looked desperate. Their abilities were not of the water attribute, making it very difficult for them to survive in the vast sea.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Having lost the will to fight, except for the nearly ten ability users who jumped into the sea in an attempt to escape as fast as possible, everyone was slaughtered in just half a minute.
At this moment, the deck of the two liners was painted with blood. Many dead bodies were badly mangled, making it a very miserable scene to behold. Tang Xiu then quickly came to the front of Tang Guosheng and inquired, "How can you be here, Grandpa?"
Tang Guosheng was in an excellent mood at the moment. Although the Tang Family lost a lot of their elite experts, his grandson was safe and sound, making him feel greatly relaxed as he answered, "Why else if not because of you?"