The warship's self-destruct mechanism required decryption to activate. Fortunately, Soros proved somewhat useful; it took him less than twenty minutes to successfully crack the code.
However, the self-destruct sequence itself needed time to initiate. While they waited, Ace unexpectedly began to show signs of waking up.
He immediately realized he was tied up and immobilized. Cautiously, he opened his eyes just a crack, peering through his lashes to observe Liang He and Soros's movements. Their attention was entirely focused on waiting for the self-destruct sequence to start. During the earlier scuffle, Liang He had conveniently thrown Ace toward the control room door, putting him as far away from them as possible.
"Emergency notification. Enemy attack. Proceed to the control room immediately!"
"Emergency notification. Enemy attack. Proceed to the control room immediately!"
"Emergency notification..."
