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

The waves on the sea finally subsided, but this did not mean the end of the danger. For Li Haotian and his team, the suddenly quiet international waters, compared to the previous raging waves, exuded a suffocating stillness.

The lifeboat drifted alone on the sea, like a withered leaf about to be swallowed by the abyss. Lin Mo slumped to the bottom of the boat, his chest heaving. The precision instruments in his arms were blackened by the seawater, but he still clutched them tightly, as if they were his last lifeline. The mysterious girl rescued from the Poseidon was still unconscious, curled up in a corner of the cabin, her breathing weak but steady. Xiao Hei lay beside the girl, its once glossy black fur now somewhat fluffy and messy, its eerie green eyes watching the horizon warily, its tail thumping restlessly on the deck.

Li Haotian sat at the stern, his hand pressed against the wound on his side. It had been simply bandaged and was no longer bleeding, but the intense pain constantly reminded him of his physical limits. His gaze was as sharp as a lone wolf searching for prey in the wilderness, looking for any sign of life in the gray sea fog.

"Is there any water left?" Lin Mo's voice was dry and hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against a table.

Su Wan sat opposite him, her face equally pale. She pulled a crumpled water bottle from deep inside her backpack and handed it to him: "Drink sparingly, this is the last one."

Li Haotian didn't turn around; his gaze was drawn to a dark shape on the horizon. It wasn't a remnant of the spectrum, nor was it an illusion. As he drew closer, the massive black outline gradually became clear—a steel hull, towering masts, and navigation lights flickering dimly in the morning light.

"There's a boat," Li Haotian said in a low voice, his tone devoid of any emotion.

The large cargo ship, named "Ocean Shipping," resembled a mobile steel fortress at sea, slowly cutting through the water. For the survivors who had been adrift at sea for hours, this should have been a godsend. But when Li Haotian saw the four large, white characters "Ocean Shipping Logistics" on the ship's hull, and then saw the crew appear on the deck as the gangway was lowered, the tension in his heart instantly tightened even more.

The crew members here don't wear uniforms like ordinary merchant sailors; most of them wear dark work clothes, and their eyes lack the casualness of those adrift at sea, instead possessing an unsettling gloom.

Just as everyone struggled to climb onto the cargo ship's deck, Li Haotian keenly noticed the strange look in the crew's eyes. It wasn't sympathy for the stranded, nor even curiosity about strangers, but a naked, scrutinizing gaze, as if appraising livestock or cargo. Especially when the unconscious girl was lifted onto the deck by Su Wan and Lin Mo, the eyes of several crew members standing in the front row gleamed, and they even made a few malicious swallowing sounds.

The first mate, a burly man with a face full of menacing features, walked up to Li Haotian. His gaze lingered for a moment on the still-dripping tactical knife at Li Haotian's waist, then he grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow by smoking: "Gentlemen, you're in luck. Few ships pass through this area. Looks like God doesn't want you to be feeding the fish."

His tone was flippant, carrying a condescending sense of condescension.

Li Haotian didn't respond to his polite words. He slightly raised his head, staring directly at the first mate with his bloodshot yet still cold eyes. His fingers lightly traced the texture of the knife hilt, feeling the rough texture on his fingertips. The first mate felt a jolt in his heart under that gaze, as if he were being stared at by some poisonous creature, and subconsciously took a half step back.

"We need to rest," Li Haotian said calmly, as if stating an unchangeable fact. "And fresh water, and a clean room."

"Of course, of course." The first mate rubbed his hands together, concealing his momentary panic. "'Ocean Logistics' values ​​humanitarianism above all else. Take the guests to cabin C down below and get them some hot food."

Watching the crew lead Su Wan and Lin Mo, carrying the girl, into the ship's interior, Li Haotian's tense muscles didn't relax at all. He noticed that while the crew seemed to be guiding them, they cleverly blocked several key escape and counterattack routes. Moreover, the ship's deck was piled high with huge cargo containers, the gaps between them dark and deep, where he could vaguely see modified searchlights and infrared monitoring devices flashing.

This is not an ordinary cargo ship; it is a mobile outpost disguised as a merchant ship.

Li Haotian took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to immediately draw his knife and slit throats. In their current situation, they were like a group of fish washed ashore; even if they noticed cats nearby, they had no ability to fight back. Lin Mo was severely dehydrated, Su Wan was exhausted, the girl's fate was unknown, and while Xiao Hei had recovered some of its strength, its previous encounter with the giant sea creature had clearly depleted its energy.

Fighting head-on now would be tantamount to suicide.

"Let's go." Li Haotian turned around, and as he passed the first mate, he paused almost imperceptibly. "Let's rest here for a bit. When we get to the port, we'll pay double."

"Sure, sure." The first mate smiled, but his eyes lingered greedily on Li Haotian's back, as if assessing the man's worth or what price this ship of "cargo" could fetch.

The air inside the cabin was stuffy and damp, filled with the smell of stale engine oil and mold. It was the unique odor of a steel behemoth that had been confined at sea for years. The room I was assigned to was at the end of the corridor, a four-person room. Although it was simple, at least it had beds and a private fan.

Once the door closed and the chaotic footsteps in the corridor faded away, the atmosphere in the room instantly became extremely tense.

Su Wan settled the girl on the lower bunk and immediately pulled a portable terminal with special waterproofing treatment from her pocket. Her fingers trembled slightly, but she typed with unusual speed and stability.

"Boss, something's not right with this ship." Su Wan's voice was low and tinged with anxiety. "I just checked their equipment. It's not a regular civilian frequency band, and their crew configuration... Although this ship is labeled as a logistics vessel, the weight distribution of the cargo in the full hold is completely unbalanced. It's more like a heavy-duty special operations vessel."

Li Haotian leaned against the door, looking through the vent in the door at the dimly lit corridor outside. After confirming that no one was listening, he turned to Su Wan and said, "Check the flight path. Where are we now? Where is this ship going?"

"Wait a moment..." Su Wan pulled up the ship's bottom-level signal. Although it was interfered with, she quickly cracked part of the navigation data thanks to her excellent skills.

A dynamic nautical chart appeared on the screen, with a red dot representing the "Ocean Cruiser" slowly moving southeast.

Li Haotian leaned closer to the screen, his brows instantly furrowing into a deep frown.

According to normal shipping routes, if they wanted to return to the nearest mainland port, they should have headed north or west. But this ship was heading straight for an area that was almost entirely blank on the map.

"What are these coordinates?" Lin Mo leaned closer and asked weakly. "It doesn't look like a port."

"It's not a port." Su Wan's voice was icy as she slid her finger across the screen, zooming in on the coordinates. "This is the edge of the 'Devil's Triangle' deep in the high seas, with no commercial shipping lanes passing through it. Moreover... according to the information I saw in the Divine Grace Trust database before, this place is marked with an abandoned oil drilling platform codenamed 'Eye of the Abyss'."

Li Haotian's pupils contracted slightly. Divine Grace and Trust, that name again. It seems the sinking of the Poseidon didn't sever all roots; these tentacles hidden in the shadows are still greedily seizing everything.

The room suddenly shook slightly; it was the vibration from the engine accelerating.

Li Haotian could feel the steel plates beneath his feet trembling in sync with the heartbeat of this steel behemoth. This wasn't the road home; it was another one-way street leading to hell.

"They have no intention of getting us ashore." Li Haotian sneered, glancing down at his watch. "Looks like our luck isn't so good; we've just escaped one trap only to fall into another."

The little black dog, who had been lying on the bed licking its fur, suddenly stopped. It raised its head, its eerie green eyes fixed on the ceiling, and let out a chilling growl.

The sound was exactly the same as the sound it made when it sensed danger on the Poseidon.

Li Haotian's expression showed little surprise, as if it were all within his expectations. He slowly bent down, pulled a spare dagger from his boot, tucked it inside his belt, and then turned to look at Su Wan and Lin Mo, his eyes burning with a flame that had never been extinguished.

"Wake everyone up and check the equipment." Li Haotian's voice was frighteningly calm. "It seems this storm is just a break."

Outside the window, the deep black seawater was torn apart by the bow of the ship, churning up white foam. The Ocean Cruiser, like a giant devourer, carrying fully armed secrets and prey that had just escaped death, plunged headlong into the deep sea filled with the unknown and death.

Tranquility is merely the prelude to slaughter.