Early the next morning.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
The mist over the sea had yet to dissipate.
Clang!
The last massive steel plate was thrown into the President's cargo hold.
The Tattooed Arm Man collapsed onto the deck like a puddle of mud, his tongue lolling out, too exhausted to even breathe.
Beside him, Glasses Man wasn't faring much better. His hands were covered in blood blisters, and one of his glasses' arms was broken, hastily wrapped with tape.
The entire night.
Apart from the tireless T-X robot, the three humans had been working like wind-up mules.
Without a moment's rest.
The once massive sunken cargo ship now stood alone in the sea, stripped down to its bare keel.
Like bones picked clean by a school of piranhas.
"It's... it's done..." the Tattooed Arm Man wheezed, his throat sounding like a pair of bellows.
He stared at the mountain of supplies piled in the hold, his eyes filled with both fear and greed.
But he didn't dare move a finger.
Because the dark muzzle of the cannon above them followed the ship's sway, fixed unwaveringly on them.
Li Ruobing leaned against a nearby container, gripping an iron shovel tightly.
Her work clothes were soaked through, clinging to her body.
Even at the brink of exhaustion, she remained vigilant.
On this man's ship, letting her guard down meant death.
The automatic door on the second deck slid open.
Qin Yu stepped out.
He wore clean, dry tactical gear, holding a tablet in his hand, looking refreshed and energetic.
A stark contrast to the three below, who looked like they'd crawled out of a refugee camp.
"Captain!" Li Ruobing forced herself to stand straight, calling out.
Qin Yu didn't look at her.
His gaze swept over the skeletal remains of the sunken ship, and he nodded in satisfaction.
"Good efficiency."
He swiped his finger across the tablet, tallying the gains from the night.
Last night's haul had been a windfall.
Three thousand tons of steel.
Five hundred jin of rare metals.
Countless amounts of various fuels, canned goods, and fabrics.
Most importantly, he had salvaged several core power components.
"System," Qin Yu called silently in his mind.
"Open the base construction panel."
A blue screen, visible only to him, unfolded before his eyes.
[Current Base: (Steel Fortress Prototype)]
[Current Area: 800 square meters]
[Sufficient materials available. Proceed with expansion?]
Seeing the word "Sufficient," Qin Yu's lips curved into a faint smile.
Since there were enough materials.
There was no need to be stingy.
Facing the impending cold wave and beast tide, while the President was sturdy, its current space was still too small.
If surrounded by a large-scale sea beast attack, there would be no room to maneuver.
"Expand," Qin Yu tapped the screen.
"Target area: 1,000 square meters."
"Level upgrade: three stories."
"Confirm."
The moment the command was issued.
The entire sea seemed to tremble.
Hum—!!!
A deep, resonant mechanical roar emanated from within the President.
Then.
A scene that Li Ruobing and the other two would never forget unfolded before their eyes.
The already colossal steel battleship began to "grow."
Yes, grow.
Armor plates on both sides of the hull automatically split open, with countless thick metal pipes extending out like blood vessels.
The steel materials in the backpack transformed into streams of light, devoured by the system, and then reassembled.
Clank, clank, clank—
The piercing sound of metal grinding echoed through the skies.
The bow extended forward, becoming sharper and more menacing.
The hull widened on both sides, and the waterline deepened.
The original single deck rapidly elongated, now resembling a small football field.
But the most exaggerated transformation was the superstructure.
The originally two-story pilot house was forcibly raised by countless mechanical arms, adding a third level.
A circular, fully enclosed observation and command tower took shape.
Heavy blast shields rose around it.
"Holy... shit..."
Tattooed Arm Man lay on the ground, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
His jaw hung open, and he even forgot to breathe.
Is this shipbuilding?
This is a damn miracle!
They had been struggling, hammering and nailing just to piece together a few wooden planks.
And this guy is playing Minecraft?
One-click generation?
Glasses Man was so terrified he collapsed onto the ground, his glasses shattering completely.
"What... what kind of technology is this?"
"Is he an alien?"
"This kind of technology... doesn't exist on Blue Star!"
Li Ruobing stared intently at the figure standing high above.
Her expression shifted from shock to deep reverence.
She had thought that handing over the Grade A treasure might earn her some status.
But now it seemed...
He didn't need such trivial things at all.
In this man's hands, the ship felt alive.
A few minutes later.
The roaring ceased.
A brand-new, even more massive steel behemoth rested silently on the sea surface.
Fifty meters long, twenty meters wide.
Total area: one thousand square meters.
Its entire body was pitch black, radiating a cold metallic sheen.
The three-story command tower stood like a crown at the top, overlooking the entire sea.
If the previous "President" was a heavy tank,
Then now, it was a mobile fortress on the sea.
Qin Yu stood before the floor-to-ceiling window in the three-story command tower.
His field of vision was infinitely broader than before.
The feeling of absolute control grew even stronger.
"Now this is more like it."
He patted the solid handrail.
The previous sense of crowding had completely vanished.
Now, there was even enough space to race horses on the deck.
Ding!
A familiar prompt sounded in his mind.
[Daily draw has been refreshed.]
[Draw immediately?]
Qin Yu's eyes lit up.
A new day, a new surprise.
The base had been upgraded; the firepower needed to keep up.
Relying solely on the water cannon and plasma cannon was fine for dealing with large sea beasts.
But against dense swarms of smaller beast tides, they could easily be overwhelmed.
"Draw."
Qin Yu didn't hesitate.
The roulette wheel spun rapidly.
A few seconds later, the pointer landed on a golden slot.
[Congratulations, Host! Obtained Grade A Weapon Pack!]
[Acquired: Grade A · "Storm" Six-Barreled Heavy Close-In Weapon System Turret x 10!]
[Includes: Armor-Piercing Incendiary Rounds x 100,000!]
Qin Yu's breathing quickened slightly.
Close-in weapon systems!
This was a specialized weapon system designed for intercepting missiles and suicide speedboats on warships.
With an extremely rapid rate of fire and devastating firepower.
It was known as the "Metal Storm."
Ten units!
If all of them were deployed, there would be no blind spots within 360 degrees around the ship.
Forget sea monsters.
Not even a fly could get through.
"Extract."
"Deploy."
Qin Yu tapped his fingers rapidly.
On the system's holographic projection, he quickly planned the positions for all ten machine gun turrets.
Two at the bow, two at the stern.
Three on each side of the hull.
Crossfire coverage enveloping the entire ship.
The next second.
On the main deck.
The Tattooed Arm Man, who had been about to get up and slack off, suddenly felt the deck vibrate beneath his feet.
"Zzz—"
Less than two meters away from him.
A steel plate suddenly flipped over.
A half-person-high steel cylinder rose up.
Immediately after.
Six thick gun barrels rotated into view, gleaming with an icy blue light.
Behind the gun body, thick ammunition belts extended down below the deck.
"Holy shit!!!"
The Tattooed Arm Man let out a strange cry, scrambling backward in panic.
This thing was less than half a meter from his head!
If it had rotated just now, his head would have been turned into pulp.
"Clack-clack-clack—"
Not just near him.
Along the entire ship's perimeter, ten identical steel killers rose simultaneously.
Their muzzles lifted in perfect unison, performing self-checks.
The synchronized mechanical sounds sent chills down everyone's spine.
Li Ruobing stood in place, watching this sudden ring of "porcupines."
The last trace of resistance in her heart was completely extinguished.
How could they possibly fight this?
With this kind of firepower configuration, even an aircraft carrier battle group would probably be stripped of its defenses.
Qin Yu stood on the third level, speaking calmly through the loudspeaker:
"Don't make a fuss."
"That's just to give you some added security."
"As long as you don't run around, they won't accidentally discharge."
His voice carried down.
The Tattooed Arm Man and Glasses Man clung to each other, trembling.
Some fucking security!
These were clearly ten executioner's blades hanging over their heads!
Qin Yu paid no more attention to these terrified laborers.
He turned and went downstairs, walking straight onto the deck.
In his hand was the "Frost Armor" that Li Ruobing had surrendered last night.
He walked up to Li Ruobing.
She immediately lowered her head, not daring to meet Qin Yu's eyes.
"You said before that this was obtained from some underwater ruins?"
Qin Yu played with the bead in his hand as he asked.
Li Ruobing nodded, her voice somewhat strained:
"Y...yes."
"Where exactly?"
Qin Yu's voice was calm, but carried an undeniable pressure.
Li Ruobing froze.
She looked up sharply at Qin Yu.
"You...you're going there?"
"What?"
Qin Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Is that not allowed?"
"N...no..."
Li Ruobing grew anxious.
"That place is very dangerous!"
"Extremely dangerous!"
"Last time when our teams prepared to explore together
we only circled the periphery and lost half our personnel."
"It's in the deep sea zone, the water pressure alone can crush a person."
"And there are many...many indescribable things there."
As she spoke, a flicker of fear passed through Li Ruobing's eyes.
Clearly, her previous experience had left deep psychological scars.
"And the cold front is coming soon."
"The monsters there will become more aggressive."
"Going now would be suicide!"
She genuinely didn't want Qin Yu to throw his life away.
After all, her life was now tied to this ship.
If Qin Yu died, she'd end up feeding the fish too.
Qin Yu chuckled lightly.
"Suicide?"
He pointed at the ten newly installed six-barrel machine gun turrets around them.
Then gestured toward the massive main cannon above their heads.
"Do you think I'm going to die,"
"or going shopping?"
Li Ruobing was left speechless.
Looking at all the heavy firepower on this ship,
she suddenly felt those so-called deep-sea monsters didn't seem so terrifying after all.
In front of this man,
the word "fear" seemed redundant.
"Coordinates."
Qin Yu didn't bother with pleasantries, simply extending his hand.
Li Ruobing sighed.
Since she couldn't stop him, she could only pray this pervert was as ridiculously strong as he appeared.
She pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment from her inner pocket -
a nautical chart she'd obtained at great personal risk.
"Here."
Li Ruobing pointed to a location marked with a red circle on the chart.
"About thirty nautical miles from here."
"Inside a fissure in an underwater canyon."
Qin Yu took the chart, glanced at it briefly,
then tossed it directly to Yao Xue beside him.
"Input navigation."
"Target locked."
"Full speed ahead."
Yao Xue caught the chart without another word, turning toward the bridge.
"Acknowledged."
As the command was given,
the President's newly installed Adaptive Hybrid Propulsion System churned out massive white waves.
The enormous ship began turning,
cutting through the waves like a sharp blade
as it headed toward the unknown darkness of the deep sea area.
"Um..."
Glasses Man gathered his courage and approached timidly.
"Boss... where... where are we going?"
"To find you all some new entertainment."
Qin Yu stood at the bow, facing the sea breeze.
Excitement glittered in his eyes.
Underwater Ruins?
A place that could produce A-grade treasures definitely held more than just this armor.
Since he intended to build the strongest naval base,
such places were natural armories.
It would be a shame not to empty them out
with this newly upgraded thousand-square-meter ship.
"T-X."
Qin Yu called out to the air.
"Bzzt."
The silver robot instantly appeared behind him.
"Activate deep dive mode."
"Prepare for acquisition."
"We're going to do some fishing at the seabed."
The robot's red eyes flashed twice.
"Command confirmed."
Listening to this dialogue filled with violent aesthetics,
Li Ruobing could only offer a helpless bitter smile.
She gazed at the profound ocean in the distance,
silently praying in her heart.
She hoped those underwater "natives"
hadn't eaten breakfast yet.
Or...
hoped they could take a beating.
After all,
what was coming this time
was an unreasonable robber
with a ship full of unreasonable artillery.