Chapter 2

The research vessel's cabins were distributed as three below and seven above, with the deck located on the fourth level.

The restaurant, boarding hall, and work area were all located on this level.

The crowd, who had just been enjoying the view on the deck, hurriedly squeezed into the boarding hall.

Although this was Li Youyi’s first time facing such an emergency, he displayed extraordinary psychological quality, remaining calm in the face of danger. He sent all the research team members into the cabin door before being the last to leave the deck and locking the door tightly.

In just these two short minutes, the purple-black bear-like creature had crossed three or four kilometers of ice field and arrived beneath the Long Ji.

"Whoosh—"

It leaped.

Its huge and robust body jumped onto the ship's side, several meters high, and landed heavily on the deck with a bang.

The floor of the boarding hall trembled.

Observing from close range, its entire body was covered in long hair, like wearing a purple-black iron coat, and its eyes were larger than a human fist, a purplish-red color. Its teeth were sharp, like saw blades.

Its facial features were already trending toward human-like.

Even through the thick, specially made glass, one could feel its ferocity; even Li Youyi felt a chill in his heart.

Fortunately, the cabin windows were small, so there was no need to worry about it breaking in.

"Boom!"

The bear-like creature rushed out suddenly, colliding with the cabin door that had just been closed. The entire boarding hall rattled, and the specially made glass developed numerous cracks.

Many research team members screamed.

The boarding hall was in chaos; some took the stairs, others took the elevator, fleeing to the higher cabins.

The cabin doors of the Long Ji polar research vessel, for the sake of cold protection and wind pressure resistance, used alloy materials and a multi-layered design. Even though the purple-black bear-like creature had immense strength, it couldn't break through directly.

But Li Youyi noticed that the ship's structure around the cabin door was deforming.

It was only a matter of time before it was smashed open.

"Move everything you can use and block the cabin door," Li Youyi shouted.

The boarding hall was noisy and chaotic; everyone just wanted to escape this most dangerous area as quickly as possible, and no one responded to him.

The cabinets and equipment on the research vessel were designed to be wave-proof and were fixed in place.

Li Youyi had just managed to dismantle a storage cabinet in the boarding hall and was preparing to push it over to block the cabin door when he heard Xie Jin, who had just arrived, shout: "What are you doing?"

Xie Jin and seven security team members had arrived in the boarding hall with stun guns, protective shields, tear gas, and other weapons.

They were tall and robust, with firm and sharp eyes; they were elites selected through layers of screening.

"Is he trying to dismantle the ship?" someone joked with a laugh.

"It's just a bear, scared like this?"

"Boom!"

The purple-black bear-like creature slammed into it for the fourth time, and the area around the cabin door was severely deformed, showing signs of tearing.

The deafening sound was like a cannonball hitting the hull.

The eight security team members, including Xie Jin, saw the behemoth outside the window, and even though they were elites, they were scared pale, feeling suffocated and terrified.

It was as if they were suffering from bloodline suppression.

What kind of bear was this?

It was practically a prehistoric monster, huge and ferocious, completely beyond cognition. If this were filmed and reported...

"Click!"

The sound of a shutter rang out inappropriately in the boarding hall.

The short student who liked to recite poetry and tell myths hadn't fled; he was taking pictures by the window.

Facing the crowd's gaze, he awkwardly put away his camera and explained: "I study ecology and environmental biology. This is definitely a new species that has never existed on Earth; it's a true, earth-shattering discovery. With this discovery, our polar expedition will surely shock the whole country... the whole world..."

"Boom!"

The fifth impact arrived, and the hull around the cabin door made a sound of breaking and tearing, with the largest crack reaching the width of a palm.

Cold air poured in, and everyone in the boarding hall was horrified.

"I'll help you push."

The short student shivered, quickly ran to Li Youyi's side, and together with him, pushed the storage cabinet to the cabin door to block it.

But this was clearly not enough.

Xie Jin had already reacted and quickly ordered all security team members to dismantle and move cabinets and tables and chairs.

This bear-like creature was practically mutated by nuclear radiation; it was not something the weapons in their hands could counter. Once it rushed in, everyone on the research vessel would just be its meat and food.

"Rumble!"

The sound of propellers rang out outside.

While the bear-like creature was hitting the cabin door, the helicopter had been pushed out of the hangar.

At this moment, the helicopter was hovering in mid-air, and Zhao Meng, wearing sunglasses and holding a rifle, was aiming at the purple-black bear-like creature.

"So there’s an American-style net launcher on the ship; we're steady now, a false alarm." The short student relaxed and cheered.

The bear-like creature on the deck was very intelligent; sensing danger, its entire body hair stood up like foot-long steel needles. It stood on its hind legs and roared at the helicopter in the distance.

The sound was even greater than a lion or tiger, high-pitched like a thunderclap.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out, and the bear-like creature was hit in the head.

Before the crowd on the ship could cheer, the bear-like creature’s even angrier roar echoed across the ice field. It tore off a metal implement from the research vessel and threw it into the air, wanting to smash the helicopter down.

Fortunately, the helicopter pulled up a step earlier, avoiding it by a hair's breadth.

The place where the bear-like creature’s head was hit was oozing blood, but it was not a major issue, only suffering some minor injuries.

"A rifle can't even penetrate its skull; is it still a carbon-based life form?" The short student’s scalp went numb, his legs trembling uncontrollably, losing the confidence he had just had in the American-style net launcher.

Li Youyi showed a worried expression; this bear-like creature had high intelligence and counter-attack capability. Once the helicopter was hit, the consequences would be unimaginable.

His senior brother was on the helicopter.

Li Youyi looked around, discovered the weapons on Xie Jin and the others, and said urgently: "Why haven't you used the tear gas yet?"

Without waiting for an answer, he had already snatched one from Xie Jin, opened it, and threw it out through the crack in the cabin door.

In an instant, thick smoke billowed outside.

Although Xie Jin was unhappy, he knew the situation was critical and couldn't vent, so he just ordered everyone with a dark face to use all the tear gas.

On the helicopter, Zhao Meng was also angry, pulling the trigger continuously.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

The bear-like creature had already suffered, knew the power of the bullets, no longer used its body to take them head-on, and dodged quickly.

It could sprint for three or four kilometers at a cheetah's fastest speed, so its reaction speed for jumping and dodging was naturally very agile.

Fortunately, Zhao Meng’s marksmanship was excellent, and with the interference of the tear gas, he successfully drove it away from the research vessel before the two magazines were empty.

Li Youyi rushed to the helipad at the first opportunity to help Zhao Meng and the others push the helicopter back into the hangar.

"It hasn't left; it's observing from a distance and may launch a second attack at any time."

Zhao Meng’s face was extremely ugly.

The Long Ji was a research vessel, and the ammunition it carried was quite limited; there were only three bullets left in the magazine.

"Now we can only rely on the heavens! I saw dark clouds and strong winds in the distance while in the air; a blizzard is coming."

Zhao Meng reminded Li Youyi to stay safe before heading to the bridge to discuss borrowing guns with the Captain.

There was still a shotgun in the 705 Laboratory.

But whether it could cause damage to that bear-like creature, Zhao Meng had no idea at all.

The bridge was located on the tenth level of the ship, which was also the highest level of the entire research vessel.

When Zhao Meng entered the bridge, the Captain, Gao Xin, the Second Mate, Xie Tianshu, and five research group leaders, including Professor Xu, were already gathered inside.

The atmosphere was very heavy.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the electronic nautical chart and the seabed monitoring system screen in front of them.

The screen showed a 3D image of marine life beneath the ship.

Just look.

A marine creature even larger than the Long Ji was accompanying the research vessel slowly in the water a hundred meters below, following the direction of its travel.

It must have been two hundred meters long and had nine thick tentacles.

It was unimaginable what kind of strong undercurrents such a giant could stir up while moving underwater.

"A mutated bear-like creature just appeared, and now another one comes from the seabed. How can there be such huge life forms on Earth?"

Everyone on the bridge was shocked.

"Could it be a giant squid?"

"This is many times larger than a giant squid!"

"The largest known marine creature, the blue whale, is only thirty-some meters long and weighs nearly two hundred tons. But in front of it, it's like a newborn baby; I think this deep-sea giant weighs at least ten thousand tons."

Professor Xu was a biology expert. He straightened his glasses, stared at the screen, and shook his head: "Look, all nine of its tentacles have a human-like head. Its torso is like a giant ox. It's too incredible; it's definitely another new species that has never existed on Earth."

"That is the Nine Infants."

At the door of the bridge, an old man wearing a navy blue Zhongshan suit appeared.

He was the person in charge of the 705 Laboratory.

No one knew his name; they all called him Director Yang.

"Nine Infants?"

Professor Xu had never heard of such a creature.

Director Yang walked into the bridge, stood in front of the screen, and said in a low voice: "The Nine Infants is a fierce beast from myths and legends, recorded in the 'Huainanzi'. It is said to be active in the North Sea, its cry sounds like a baby's wailing, it has nine heads, eats people on sight, and can spray water and spit fire. But I didn't expect it to be this huge."

Just as a research group leader was about to reprimand him for "not talking science, but theology."

Director Yang bowed deeply to everyone and apologized: "I am sorry, everyone! These fierce beasts are very likely attracted by that thing in the 705 Laboratory. I apologize for bringing everyone into danger."

Zhao Meng was a straightforward person and had long been holding back a belly of fire: "What exactly are you researching in the 705 Laboratory? You must give everyone an explanation today."

Captain Gao Xin clearly knew some inside information and looked at Director Yang: "The situation is already very dangerous; both land and sea are being watched by abnormal fierce beasts, and no one knows what we will face next. I think we must tell them the truth."

Director Yang nodded: "Everyone, let's go to the 705 Laboratory together... you will see at a glance."

Li Youyi returned to his cabin and took out a four-foot-long ancient sword from a wooden box under his bed.

It felt heavy in his hand, with an ebony scabbard.

He drew the sword half a foot, revealing the brass-like sword body inside. Li Youyi knew very well that this sword was definitely not cast from brass; it was the second greatest treasure of the Chan Sect, after the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never seen the old sect leader polish it, but it was always sharp and never had any rust.

The Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish was the token of the sect leader, and in his view, it only had symbolic significance.

The true number one divine weapon of the Chan Sect had to be this Yellow Dragon Sword.

He sheathed the sword.

Li Youyi carried the sword downstairs and arrived at the boarding hall.

Although Zhao Meng told him he didn't need to think of himself as a member of the security team, since he had enjoyed the treatment of a security team member, it was impossible to hide when danger arrived.

How long could he hide? When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.

The cabin door of the boarding hall had been blocked tightly by boxes, cabinets, and tables and chairs.

Most of the security team members were guarding here, holding various weapons, ready for battle.

Seeing Li Youyi walk down the stairs, they all showed surprise in their eyes.

"This university student has some guts and responsibility!" For the first time in over a month, they gave a positive evaluation in their hearts.

The light dimmed, and the sky was gloomy.

A blizzard was coming.

Outside the broken cabin windows, the wind turned from a whisper to a roar, then swept across the entire ice field.

(End of chapter)