Chapter 722.2: Oh, It's Me, Hehe

As the beam swept through the sea, a vast underwater settlement soon emerged before everyone's eyes.

Tail, Roshan, and over a dozen strength type players of the Jungle Corps involuntarily widened their eyes.

It was a small city standing upon the ocean floor! Transparent dome structures resembling giant light bulbs enclosed metallic frameworks. Pipelines connected one dome to another, spreading outward from a massive central dome like a giant web.

The entire settlement resembled an enormous set of building blocks.

Countless airtight modules were stacked into a three-dimensional city. Brilliantly colored corals surrounded the settlement, giving it an almost magical appearance in the depths of the sea. It was difficult to imagine that such a place had been built after the end of the Prosperity Era.

Not only were the players captivated. Even the submarine crew gazed upon their hometown with nostalgic expressions. None of them had returned home in four months.

Chen Jianhong narrowed his eyes. A trace of longing entered his voice when he finally spoke again. "You came at the wrong time. Four months ago, the view was even more beautiful. See that central dome? That's Coral City's plaza. When the four giant fluorescent screens there lit up simultaneously, their light would illuminate the entire dome and even shine all the way to the ocean surface."

Trying to imagine the scene, Roshan swallowed unconsciously. A fuzzy "giao" eventually escaped her mouth.

Tail was equally awestruck. "Even more incredible..."

After thinking for a moment, Sisi suddenly had an idea. "What if we connected the nuclear submarine's reactor to the settlement's power grid? Would that bring the city back online?"

Chen Jianhong was stunned for a second before laughing helplessly. "If only it were that simple..."

The submarine's reactor had been specifically designed for submarine use. Leaving aside whether such a thing was technically possible, even if it worked, there would undoubtedly be all sorts of compatibility issues.

Hearing his answer, Sisi reluctantly abandoned the idea of sneaking into the new map ahead of schedule. "Alright. I was just asking."

Maybe the doggy developer still hadn't finished designing this map.

Just as they were talking, the sonar system suddenly detected unusual noises coming from Coral City's direction.

It wasn’t just one source either, but there were several. And they were rapidly converging toward the submarine.

Chen Jianhong quickly strode to the control console. Looking at the sonar readings, his expression changed immediately. "Something's happening near Coral City!"

The moment those words were spoken, the previously bored Prone Model instantly became excited. "Are they federation submarines?"

Several Jungle Corps players nearby also looked eager for action.

"No... judging by the outlines, they're humanoid. Their surfaces appear covered in scale-like material." Locking onto one of the contacts, Chen Jianhong tapped the screen.

The camera zoomed in and the image enlarged.

The moment the blue-skinned creature appeared on the monitor, shocked exclamations erupted throughout the bridge. "Mutant Humans!"

Chen Jianhong's expression became increasingly grave. After a moment of thought, he spoke. "... These guys probably slipped in while the Federation Navy was distracted by the chaos."

A crewman swallowed nervously. "Should we turn off the spotlight?"

Before Chen Jianhong could issue the order, Prone Model interrupted. "No need. Just keep the spotlight pointed at them. Those guys hate light, especially underwater. You keep moving forward. Leave the rest to us!"

With that, he slapped Captain Chen on the shoulder and strode toward the hatch.

"Brothers! Mutant Humans are our there, time to farm some loot!"

"Awoooo!"

The Jungle Corps players erupted into excited cheers.

Under the stunned gazes of the NPC crew, they charged toward the exit.

Tail tried to join them. Fortunately, Roshan had anticipated it and grabbed her immediately.

"Tail, calm down. We didn't bring diving gear. The moment we go outside, we'll probably die." After soothing the agitated Tail, Sisi turned toward Chen Jianhong. "The Jungle Corps will buy us time. Let's use the opportunity to push through."

Chen Jianhong nodded. However, concern remained written across his face. The sonar estimated at least 400 to 500 enemies.

He couldn’t help but ask, "Will they be alright?"

A smile appeared on Sisi's face. "Don't worry. These fools fought those guys earlier today. This number won't be a problem."

Seeing her confidence, Chen Jianhong finally relaxed. He looked at the crewman operating the controls and gave the order. "Set course for Shelter 70, full speed ahead!"

...

As the Dolphin pushed its engines to maximum output and sped in a straight line toward Shelter 70, the aquatic Mutant Humans stationed around Coral City quickly noticed the enormous intruder entering their territory.

"Kraaa!"

A mutant priest let out a threatening roar, summoning a group of scale-covered underlings behind him as they grabbed their weapons and charged toward the submarine.

While their flesh-and-blood bodies had proven somewhat powerless against Federation destroyers equipped with integrated search-and-destroy capabilities, they still posed a certain threat to an unarmed cargo submarine like the Dolphin.

The thermite bombs, improvised explosives, and other crude weapons in their hands were more than capable of causing damage.

Just as the fish-men rushed toward the dazzling beam of the spotlight, dozens of slender water trails suddenly shot toward them like a swarm of locusts.

The dozen or so Mutant Humans at the very front of the group were instantly riddled with holes and they hurriedly stopped their advance in panic.

Squinting through the blinding spotlight, they looked toward the nearby reef formation.

19 gigantic iron crabs stood there, their long and thick gun barrels aimed directly at them.

Looking through the cockpit viewport at the terror written across those mutant faces, Prone Model gripped the controls with both hands and revealed a ferocious grin. "Your opponent is me, you little bastards! Say hi to your granddaddy!"

He still hadn't had his fill from the previous battle. He had only managed to chop up a dozen fishmen before the Goblin Corps' aircraft stole all his kills.

Now they were in the central region of the Southern Seas, far beyond the operational range of any allies. No one would interfere this time.

However, the moment his boastful declaration left his mouth, teasing voices immediately came through the communication channel.

"Old Demon, if you don't add a 'we' to that sentence, it sounds like you're the little bastard."

"Hahahahaha!"

The laughter echoed through the channel.

Realizing his mistake, Prone Model's old face turned red. "Fuck! You're the one who talks too much!"

He muted the offender, but during their brief exchange, the Emperor Crabs that had emerged from the submarine's forward hatch had already clashed with the scale-covered Mutant Humans.

Some crafty Mutant Humans attempted to bypass the battle and intercept the submarine, but every single one was caught by a 19mm harpoon round and blown apart, often leaving only half a body behind.

The terrifying firepower was enough to make even Mutant Humans shudder.

Yet these enemies were clearly different from the ones the players had encountered before. They did not panic after suffering initial casualties. Apparently realizing that they could never reach the submarine without first dealing with the iron crabs, they roared and changed direction, circling around behind the players to avoid the spotlight shining directly into their eyes.

The battle erupted instantly.

Chainsaws whirled and harpoons flew. The deep sea became a storm of blood and carnage.

Mutant Humans died one after another. Shocking amounts of blood poured into the water, staining the entire area red. Yet despite that, the 19 Jungle Corps emperor crabs found themselves under an unusual amount of pressure.

These Mutant Humans were completely different from the previous ones! Instead of charging mindlessly forward with harpoons, they employed tactics and attempted to divide and encircle the players.

"Everyone be careful! These aren't like the ones that attacked the underwater pipe!"

"What's the differ..." Before the player could finish speaking, sparks erupted from his armor.

A violent secondary explosion followed. Large clouds of bubbles burst outward as the armor was reduced to scrap metal.

A Mutant Human stood nearby holding a long launch tube over its shoulder. Looking at the destroyed iron structure, it let out a hoarse, guttural laugh.

Moments earlier, it had launched a miniature torpedo from that tube. The projectile had pierced the crab's armor. Judging from the scale of the explosion, it had likely detonated the ammunition storage.

"Doggy Egg!" a nearby player roared in grief and rage.

Swinging his chainsaw, he charged forward. Amid the mutant's panicked shrieks, he cleaved it cleanly in half.

Seeing the casualty indicator appear on the squad list, Prone Model's heart sank slightly.

Less than five minutes into the engagement and they had already suffered a casualty.

There were hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Mutant Humans ahead of them, and they had no support available. The battle would likely be even harder than they had imagined.

Yet despite that realization, there was not a trace of fear on his face. Instead, his lust for battle blazed in his eyes.

Compared to mindless fodder standing around waiting to be slaughtered, an evenly matched opponent was far more interesting.

"Come on!" He slammed the rudder pedal, dodging a torpedo streaking in from the side. Spinning around, he swung his chainsaw and cut a mutant attempting to attach thermite to his back cleanly in two.

Driven by survival instinct, he was becoming increasingly proficient at operating the machine. At that moment, he truly felt like a giant crab. Even though he wasn't controlling it through a neural interface.

With bloodlust surging through him, Prone Model let out an excited roar, "Show me everything you've got! Let's see what else you bastards can do!"

Through layers of armor and the vast ocean, the passionate battle cry could only be heard by himself.

Yet even without hearing the shouting, the crew inside the submarine could see the brutality of the battle through the camera feeds. Watching one armored suit after another explode beneath the spotlight, the crew fell silent.

Chen Jianhong gulped. Unable to help himself, he looked toward Sisi. "Are they really going to be okay?"

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