The whole nation: You're put to survive on a desolate planet, you'll be running an alien b

The ear-piercing sound of metal tearing instantly drowned out all the screams and wails in the hall; the sound was like a giant beast crushing bones, making one's teeth ache. The thick alloy steel plates, under some irresistible, monstrous force, rolled upwards, revealing grotesque cracks. Then, not by wind, but by icy, salty, and immensely pressurized seawater, it crashed in like a waterfall.

"puff--!"

The high-pressure water jet instantly shattered the expensive champagne tower, sending several guests flying who couldn't escape in time. They crashed into the walls like rag dolls, falling silent instantly. The once magnificent auction hall was now transformed into a steel coffin being filled with seawater. The wine and carpets that had once symbolized wealth and power rapidly rotted in the murky water, emitting a nauseating stench.

The floor tilted violently, and countless tables and chairs slid down the seawater toward the huge crack.

Li Haotian clung tightly to a pillar, the girl in his arms already pale with fright and trembling. But he didn't look at the girl; his gaze swept past the chaotic crowd, fixed on the world beyond the rift.

There, beneath the abyss, something is rising.

At first, there was only darkness, a thick darkness that seemed to devour light. Then, a gigantic tentacle covered in fine scales slowly emerged and wrapped around the bow of the cruise ship. The tentacle was as thick as a mountain range, and even the exposed portion was enough to crush this massive ship like a toy.

But what truly terrified Li Haotian was not the monster's size, but the patterns on its body.

On that slippery, black skin, ancient symbols emitting a faint blue glow were scattered. These symbols were twisted and eerie, carrying an aura of ancient savagery, and were exactly the same as the patterns on the "petrified divine skin" at the auction earlier, even more vivid and malevolent.

"What the hell is that...?" Liu Hu stumbled over, still clutching his gun tightly, but his hand was trembling violently, his knuckles white. "That thing could snap this ship in half!"

At that moment, a desperate scream echoed from the VIP room of the organizers, high on the platform. The old man who had always been high above and in control of everything was now crouching behind bulletproof glass, his face contorted with terror.

"No! Impossible! Where's the inhibitor! Inject the inhibitor into the underwater base! Quickly!" The old man roared frantically into the communicator, spitting everywhere. "This is the third stage! It shouldn't be evolving so fast! Damn it! Our beloved god... how could it go out of control!"

"Raise them?"

Li Haotian heard the few words coming from the communicator, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. It turned out that this so-called Poseidon wasn't an auction house at all, but a giant altar. They were displaying those "severed limbs" bearing divine runes and releasing special signal waves here, all to feed this thing on the seabed, attempting to cultivate it into a biological weapon they could control.

Unfortunately, those who play with fire will get burned. What they fed was not gods, but hellish demons that would devour everything.

"Click—"

Another deafening roar followed, and the ship trembled violently once more. The tentacle tightened its grip, causing the entire cruise ship to list severely. More black tentacles, like venomous snakes, surged out of the seawater, even beginning to penetrate the ventilation ducts and portholes. The tips of these tentacles were covered in suckers, each concealing a greedy mouth that was frantically devouring any living thing it encountered.

If this continues, the ship will be destroyed and everyone on board will die in just a few seconds.

Li Haotian's mind raced, his composure terrifying. Escape? No speedboat could survive against such a behemoth. Counterattack? With their light weapons, they wouldn't even scratch the monster.

The connection must be severed.

He keenly noticed that when the monster's tentacles touched the ship's hull, a beam of energy suddenly burst forth with a blinding red light from the direction of the cruise ship's main control room. That light resonated with the divine runes on the monster's body, as if the entire cruise ship were a giant converter, continuously transmitting some kind of energy to the behemoth on the seabed.

If this connection is severed, the monster might lose its target, or at least hesitate for a moment due to the interruption of its energy supply. That would be its only chance to escape.

But he was too far from the control panel, and he was also carrying a burden.

The girl seemed to sense something at that moment, and fearfully grabbed Li Haotian's sleeve, looking at him with tears in her eyes: "Save me...please..."

Li Haotian glanced down at her, his eyes filled with no pity, only a cold calculation.

When faced with a life-or-death choice, compassion is the cheapest form of burial.

"Let go."

The girl froze, not yet reacting, when Li Haotian shoved her violently behind a broken section of the ship's hull. That area was relatively stable, preventing her from being swept away by the sea or crushed by collapsing beams.

"Ah!" the girl cried out in surprise and fell to the ground.

Li Haotian didn't look at her again, turned around and roared at Liu Hu, "Hold this place! Don't let her die, and don't let her escape!"

After saying that, he drew his alloy tactical knife and, like a cheetah, used the sloping and slippery floor to sprint against the flow of people toward the source of the energy burst—the main control console.

Along the way, several tiny black tentacles tried to stop him, but were precisely severed by the blade in Li Haotian's hand. What gushed from the cuts was not blood, but a foul-smelling black viscous liquid.

The control panel was right in front of them, its red alarm lights shattered, sparks flying everywhere. Several technicians in white coats were hunched over the console, trying to salvage the out-of-control system, but when they saw Li Haotian rushing towards them, they panicked and tried to raise their guns.

"Get out of here!"

Li Haotian launched a flying kick, sending one of the people crashing into the screen; the sound of ribs shattering was clearly audible. He didn't need prisoners, nor did he need intelligence; he just needed this machine to stop.

At this point, the ship's tilt angle had exceeded thirty degrees, and Li Haotian had to grip the edge of the control panel tightly to maintain his balance. The control panel in front of him displayed the energy synchronization rate between the ship and the sea creatures—98%.

That enormous monster was almost completely swallowing the ship.

"Since you like connections, then we'll disconnect you completely."

A cold glint flashed in Li Haotian's eyes. Instead of stabbing the screen with the alloy knife in his hand, he plunged it fiercely into the core energy hub beneath the control panel.

"Sizzle—!"

A burst of blue electricity erupted instantly, traveling along the blade to Li Haotian's entire body, causing his muscles to tense and his hair to stand on end. But he gritted his teeth, gripped the hilt with both hands, and with all his might, twisted it sharply at that fatal point!

"collapse!"

A muffled cracking sound rang out, black smoke instantly billowed from the control panel, and all the indicator lights went out at the same time. The energy beam connecting the sea monster vanished in an instant, like an umbilical cord being severed.

Almost simultaneously, an angry and painful roar came from outside the ship's exterior from the sea monster.

"roar--!!!"

The sound was like a tremor from the earth's core, causing everyone's eardrums to bleed and their minds to go blank. The enormous tentacles that had been wrapped around the ship's hull convulsed violently due to the loss of energy, pounding the sea surface wildly and creating waves tens of meters high that crashed heavily onto the wrecked cruise ship.

The cruise ship was rocking violently, as if it might capsize at any moment.

At this critical moment, a black shadow leaped out from Li Haotian's shoulder.

It's Xiao Hei.

The black cat, which had been lazily perched on its owner's shoulder, suddenly grew much larger, its once palm-sized body leaving a trail of afterimages in mid-air. Instead of fleeing into the depths of the cabin, it defied the wind and waves, leaping straight out of the massive rift and hurtling towards the dark, churning sea.

It landed on a piece of floating wreckage, facing the mountain-like sea monster. Little Black lowered its body, its black fur standing on end, and a low but intimidating roar rolled from its throat.

The sound wasn't loud, but it pierced through the roar of the tsunami and clearly reached Li Haotian's ears.

Between that tiny figure and that indescribable behemoth, the air seemed to freeze. A cat was actually declaring war on a "god".