Chapter 450: Energy Drain

"Captain Lin."

Ryan observed Lin Xian, and he knew that if Lin Xian, as a Sword Bearer, had survived a direct confrontation with people from Shengcheng inside the submarine base, then everything Lin Xian said needed to be weighed carefully.

"What did you learn from Shengcheng?"

Lin Xian countered: "I was going to ask you—how did you find out about the Ganlan Volcano?"

Ryan shrugged: "While we were monitoring Uniqa-1, we noticed the creature would approach the underwater volcanic group for some kind of feeding 'activity.' After investigation, we found its movements accelerated Ganlan Volcano's activity. So the base personnel assumed the creature was seeking energy from beneath the seabed—that's all."

"Then what about that taboo object you mentioned that can control volcanoes?" Kiki asked.

"He's talking about the Geothermal Core Heater," Lin Xian said now. "That device acts as bait to attract higher-tier weird entities toward Uniqa-1. The Foundation's goal was probably to study a Shijieji biological entity—so if that device shuts down..."

"Then the Great Ocean God will act on its own and strike Ganlan Volcano!" Xiang Ningjing spoke up.

"Exactly."

Ryan said: "Based on the Foundation's past experience, when the density of higher-tier weird entities in this sea area reaches a critical threshold, the creature appears. Now that the Foundation has withdrawn and only Shengcheng's forces remain, I see this as a perfect opportunity."

Lin Xian understood: "But you didn't expect the creature to appear early because of Shengcheng's decoy—and to show up on the west coast, far from Lidao and the volcanic group—dragging you into it, and you ended up with nothing."

Ryan sighed helplessly: "I thought you'd clash with Shengcheng yesterday. Our Falcon Sea Group was ready to assist. If we'd taken out Shengcheng's outpost on Lidao together, this plan might've gone smoothly."

"Hide in the submarine base, wait for the Great Ocean God to hunt, then grab a big haul before pulling out?"

Lin Xian nodded: "That does sound reasonable."

"You've got guts," Kiki crossed her arms. "Now that you know it's the Great Ocean God, are you still planning to do it?"

Ryan rubbed his forehead, smiling bitterly: "The Foundation's secrecy is too high. I always assumed it was some S-class entity."

Hearing Ryan's information, Lin Xian confirmed his earlier suspicion—yet he hadn't expected the device to trigger a chain reaction.

"Captain Lin," Ryan, seeing Lin Xian's furrowed brow, couldn't help asking: "You just said there's less than 24 hours—what does that mean?"

"The geothermal well's stability has reached a danger threshold. I checked the monitoring center's logs. According to their technical standards, if it isn't shut down within 24 hours, energy overload will occur—and the entire submarine base might be lost."

After speaking, Lin Xian glanced at Ryan. He'd already decided to leave. He now understood the situation at Haiyan Island and Ganlan Volcano. His next step was to retrieve Viola, locate the orbital node, and directly take the Skytrain on a risky leap.

In the meantime, he could let the convoy scour the base for supplies. He could also take the nuclear-powered submarine as raw material for consumption.

As for the Neptune, Lin Xian had no time to repair someone else's aircraft carrier. If it was a propulsion issue, it'd take him at least half a day—no point risking it.

Ryan, hearing Lin Xian, sharply pulled down his sunglasses: "What!?"

"Impossible?" Erica's face turned pale: "We retrieved data from the base's control conduits—the device was supposed to need at least three more days before reaching its cooling cycle!?"

Gedi spoke up: "Could it be related to yesterday's events?"

"Probably," Vanessa frowned. "Geothermal activity has accelerated..."

"Oh my God, are we all going to die?" Azir, a tall man, exclaimed in shock.

Lin Xian, seeing their reactions, frowned: "Twenty-four hours isn't enough for you to evacuate this sea area?"

Ryan looked at Lin Xian, his tone shifting: "Captain Lin, you probably don't know—after Uniqa-1 entered active status, the entire hundreds-of-kilometers radius around here became dangerous. Even inside our submarine base, we had to maintain silence. Within this period, escaping this sea area is impossible. Even a floating city would be shot down by atmospheric entities gathering here. No human can survive and flee during this phase. The only safe option is to dock at Haiyan Island and wait for the storm to pass!"

Kiki immediately said: "But Ganlan Volcano is about to erupt—Haiyan Island might be submerged entirely. How do you hide from that?"

"Our original plan was to leave only after Uniqa-1 completes its hunt," Gedi crossed his arms, face grim. "If the device can't hold out until Uniqa-1 finishes, we're in trouble."

"Correct," Ryan said gravely. "If that device is shut down, the sea creature will immediately go berserk and flee—and Uniqa-1 will surely activate. Ganlan Volcano will erupt prematurely. This entire sea area will become a hell. The resulting mega-tsunami could flood coastal regions across Asia and the Pacific..."