Chapter 447

The geothermal magma well before him churned abnormally, a massive positioning device standing like a divine needle stabilizing the sea, and seeing the scorching magma below, it was hard not to link this place with the underwater volcano Ryan had described.

Lin Xian even wondered at first if this device might be directly related to the underwater volcano's anomalies.

"Kiki, according to the Phoenix Society's timeline, how long would it take for the expansion of Star Abyss No. 8 to cover Haiyan Island?"

Inside the scorching geothermal cavern, Lin Xian leaned against one corner of the positioning device, conducting a mechanical scan, when suddenly he remembered something.

Kiki floated in midair and replied at once: "For Haiyan Island, it would take nine days and eighteen hours. Calculating from now, this shouldn't be a threat, right?"

Lin Xian fell silent for a moment. All the data before setting sail had been pre-calculated; his thoughts were unsettled, trying to find something connected to the countdown he'd seen, but Kiki's words made it seem unrelated.

"Lin Xian, are you experiencing something?"

Kiki deactivated her nanosuit and regarded Lin Xian with sharp insight. "Did Chen Yanxiu do something to you before? Why did you suddenly pass out?"

Lin Xian also deactivated his powered armor, exhaled deeply, and said:

"I don't know what he did, but I seem to have experienced the same situation as the strange radio broadcast."

Kiki's eyes widened in shock: "What? You were teleported to another space again?"

Lin Xian shook his head: "No, it's only similar—both involve forbidden objects. My consciousness was pulled by flickering bullets, as if I saw something in the universe, and then… a countdown appeared before my eyes."

Scanning the Deep-3 Nuclear Thermal Positioning Device was a massive task; fully understanding its structure would take at least seven to eight hours, but Lin Xian had no intention of sleeping. Now that Kiki had brought it up, he decided to tell her everything.

"A countdown?!"

"Yes. I've been studying it for a while—the time left is roughly thirty-four hours. I don't know what it means, or who placed it in my vision, but it doesn't seem like a good omen. Also… do you remember the thousand-ton metal die we picked up at Taku Deepwater Port? I noticed its number faces keep flipping uncontrollably. I kept an eye on it, and whether it's coincidence or not, the four digits I saw match the countdown: 34: 4. Damn it…"

Kiki's expression changed slightly. She swiftly drifted closer, pressing her face near Lin Xian's, her large eyes fixed on his. After a moment, she said:

"I see nothing unusual. Are you certain it's inside your eyes?"

Lin Xian shrugged: "Either in my eyes or in my brain—it's not a fleeting hallucination."

"I understand." Kiki frowned, crossing her arms in thought. "Given your nature, you'd never treat any coincidence as mere coincidence, right?"

Lin Xian nodded.

"Yes."

"Then do you know how often the metal die flips?" Kiki asked suddenly.

Lin Xian froze—he'd never considered that question. "I didn't pay attention. I just checked whenever I remembered. The intervals weren't consistent. I only noticed the numbers because they happened to match."

"That's strange," Kiki said at once. "Why don't you take it out? I'll keep watch for you."

"Why?"

Kiki tilted her head. "When you get the next number, check if it syncs with your countdown. If it does, we discuss it together. If it doesn't, maybe they're two separate events. At least then you've eliminated one variable, right?"

Lin Xian's mind cleared instantly. He looked at Kiki. "Hey, that's smart. I've been fixated on the countdown—so many weird things happening, I've gotten confused."

He immediately used a magnetic mechanical arm to retrieve the metal die. Kiki instantly used telekinesis to take it. As they both stared, they saw the die's number had already changed.

Last time it was 4. Now, it was 6.

"6."

Kiki looked at Lin Xian, and Lin Xian looked at the countdown in his vision.