Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

In the poorer areas of the western city, low-ceilinged shacks were crammed together, and the air was filled with the smell of fish.

Xu Tiande, accompanied by two bodyguards, moved through the narrow, damp alleyways. He was dressed in civilian clothes, but the fierce aura he exuded, as if he had been through many battles, still caused the beggars and vagrants along the way to give way.

"This godforsaken place, even I feel unlucky just coming in." Following the intelligence, Xu Tiande stopped in front of a half-collapsed shack.

The shack was pitch black, with only the old man's heavy breathing coming from inside.

"Old Fishbladder!" Xu Tiande called out, "Come out here for a second! The garrison commander has something to ask you!"

There was no movement inside.

Xu Tiande frowned and parted the tattered straw curtain. In the dim light, he could see a gaunt old man with a wrinkled face, huddled in a tattered quilt in the corner, shivering.

"Sir...Sir..." The old man was so frightened he could barely speak, "This old man...this old man has already stopped going to sea..."

"Who asked you if you went to sea?" Xu Tiande said. "A girl named Su Xuanji asked you to go to the garrison headquarters."

Upon hearing the name "Su Xuanji," Old Fishbladder's cloudy old eyes narrowed sharply. Far from being afraid, he struggled to stand up: "It's...it's Miss Su? She's back? She's still alive?"

"Nonsense! They're smarter than monkeys!" Xu Tiande said. "Hurry up and pack your things, come with me!"

Old Fishbladder silently put on his patched fish-skin coat, grabbed a boat pole, and followed Xu Tiande out of the shack.

The garrison commander's residence, study.

Old Fishbladder was brought in. He was hunched over, timidly looking at Lin Feng.

"So you're Old Fish Bladder?" Lin Feng turned around, his voice steady and without any official airs.

"It is indeed I, an old man." The old man bowed and glanced at Lin Feng's expression.

"Three years ago, you took a girl surnamed Su on a boat to Broken Soul Reef?" Lin Feng went straight to the point.

Old Fishbladder trembled, raised his head, and a trace of fear flashed in his cloudy eyes: "Sir... this happened three years ago, how could you..."

"I'm only asking you, have you been there?" Lin Feng's gaze was piercing.

"...Yes." Old Fishbladder replied dejectedly, "That was Miss Su's father, Master Su. They gave me ten taels of silver and told me to moor the boat outside the reef while they went into the cave to check. I waited outside for a whole day and night before they came out. Master Su looked very unwell, as did Miss Su... They never contacted me again after that."

"How do we get into the underwater cave at Broken Soul Reef?" Lin Feng pressed. "Su Xuanji said the cave entrance only appears when the high tide recedes on the third and eighteenth of the lunar month?"

"That's right." The old fish bladder seemed to perk up when this was mentioned; it was his means of survival.

"That hellhole, Soul-Shattering Reef, is usually full of whirlpools; any ship that goes in will be destroyed. The cave entrance is only revealed during the two hours when the tide is at its lowest. But that's not enough."

He paused, then gestured to indicate the location: "The opening is three zhang underwater. Even if it were exposed, people wouldn't be able to breathe. We need a 'sinkhole'."

"A caisson?"

"It's just a large, upside-down wooden barrel, not sealed at the bottom, covered with tanned cowhide, with a small ventilation hole. People hide inside the barrel and descend using the air inside. Once they reach the entrance, they crawl out," Old Fishbladder explained, clearly quite skilled in this rudimentary method of diving.

Lin Feng and Bai Xiaohe exchanged a glance. This method sounded primitive, but in the absence of sophisticated equipment, it might be the only way.

"What's in that cave?" Lin Feng continued to ask.

Old Fishbladder shuddered and waved his hands repeatedly, "This old man doesn't know. Master Su won't let me in, and I don't want to go in either!"

"Besides you, who else knows how to get into that cave?" Lin Feng asked the most crucial question.

Old Fishbladder answered quickly this time: "That's it. Once you go in, you can't get out. Miss Su's father... I don't think he ever mentioned it again."

Lin Feng was silent for a moment, then took out a small piece of silver from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pointed to the paper and pen on the table: "Draw the route to Broken Soul Reef, the tide times, the method of making the caisson, and the marks you saw at the cave entrance. If you draw it correctly, the silver is yours. You won't have to suffer in this slum anymore; the garrison will arrange a leisurely job for you."

Old Fishbladder looked at the silver ingot, then at Lin Feng's face, and kowtowed heavily: "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! I'll draw it right away! I'll draw it right away!"

He leaned shakily over the table and began to draw. His hands, calloused from years of work, moved with remarkable steadiness as he drew nautical charts and markings.

Lin Feng stood behind him, watching the blueprints gradually take shape. On the blueprint, Broken Soul Reef resembled a monster with its jaws wide open, and the underwater cavern was the monster's throat.

Bai Xiaohe suddenly whispered, "Commander, Miss Su has woken up and says she wants to see you."

Lin Feng nodded and said to the old fish maw, "Give the painting to Miss Bai when you're done."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the backyard.

The room was filled with the strong smell of medicine. She sat leaning against the headboard, her face still pale, but her eyes had regained their usual clarity. Seeing Lin Feng enter, she stirred slightly, trying to sit up.

"Don't move." Lin Feng pressed her down and pulled over a chair to sit down. "We've found the old fish bladder. He said we need to use the 'sinking box' to get to Soul Reef."

A hint of surprise flashed in Su Xuanji's eyes, which quickly turned into understanding: "We found him after all. My father used the same method back then. However..." She frowned, "There are water-powered traps set up by the Ling family in that cave. The caisson can only solve the problem of entering the water; it's still very dangerous once inside the cave."

She pointed to the low table beside the bed, on which lay a folded piece of parchment.

Lin Feng unfolded it, revealing a complex diagram of a mechanism. The diagram depicted a massive waterwheel connected by countless levers and sluice gates.

"This is a sketch of the mechanism design drawn from memory," Su Xuanji said in a low voice. "Once the water flow sensor is triggered, the waterwheel will turn, and all the gates in the cave will simultaneously fall. To get through, we must find the main switch, or..."

"Or what?"

"Or someone might take your place." Su Xuanji looked at Lin Feng with a complicated expression. "General Lin, you shouldn't get involved in this mess anymore. Leave the matter of the fragments to Linglong Pavilion. Or, let me handle it."

Lin Feng looked at her pale face and shook his head.

"Your current task is to recover from your injuries." He put away the parchment, his tone leaving no room for argument. "As for the mechanism..."

He stood up, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"The cities I've slaughtered are far more complex than this cave."

After saying that, he strode out of the room.

Outside the door, Bai Xiaohe was waiting for him. She held the nautical chart drawn by the old fish maw in her hand.

"Commander, General Xu is at the training ground. He said he wants to accompany you to Broken Soul Reef to dig out the third fragment by hand."

Lin Feng took the nautical chart.

"Alright. We'll depart in three days."

The day before departure.

The rear courtyard of the garrison.

Su Xuanji leaned against the headboard as she watched Lin Feng unfold the sea chart and mechanical sketches drawn by the old fish maw beside the bed.

"Soul-Severing Reef, Water Eye Cave..." Su Xuanji traced the menacing vortex mark on the map with her fingertips. "The Ling family has been running this place for three generations. It must be a dead end. Ordinary swords and blades will probably be unable to break through this predicament."

Lin Feng nodded, pointing to the "waterwheel linkage" structure marked on the diagram: "The key mechanism is in the middle layer of the water vein. To break the deadlock, we can't force our way in; we have to cut off its power source."

"Cut off its power?" Bai Xiaohe stood by the door, sword in hand, her eyes scanning the blueprints. "How do you cut iron underwater?"

"Use this." Lin Feng pulled out something resembling a grappling hook from his pocket.

"Old Fishbladder said there's an undercurrent at the cave entrance. Once inside, one person needs to use this to anchor themselves, while another dives into the middle level to disable its mechanisms. The rest of the people will stay outside to provide support and guard against the remnants of the Ling family and the Shadowless Pavilion."

His gaze swept over Bai Xiaohe: "Xiaohe, you're the best swimmer. I'll leave the task of infiltrating the middle level to you."

Bai Xiaohe nodded emphatically, without any hesitation.