Chapter 150: Haiyang Ningjing Hao Reappears

"What did you say? Say it again!"

Secretary of State Johnston's plump face flushed with congestion, and he stared intently at the rushing operations officer.

"Report, sir!" the operations officer forced down his fear and repeated, "The third patrol fleet's Jingti Hao sent an emergency transmission! They... they spotted the Haiyang Ningjing Hao on the route! The cruise ship is broadcasting a distress signal!"

"Haiyang Ningjing Hao"?

After confirming there was no mistake, everyone was stunned.

A second ago they were mocking the Federation's pretentious generals; now the arrogant smiles on their faces were completely frozen.

That ship?

The one that should have been "hit by a torpedo," sunk to the Atlantic floor, becoming the perfect sacrificial spark for the war?

The ghost ship they sent people to search for days, yet found not a single wreck, causing the whole framing scheme to fail?

How could it still exist?

It's still broadcasting a distress signal, damn it?!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Johnston's reason, after a brief blank, was replaced by fury; he paced the conference room like an enraged hippo.

"Something we don't know must have happened there!"

The Four-star General, who earlier wore a disdainful expression, now had a face so grave it seemed it could drip water.

He sprang to his feet, slamming the coffee cup in his hand hard onto the table.

"That ship didn't sink! Damn it! The forged torpedo wreck we used to frame the Sand Nation is still on it!"

"If the Sand Nation finds it first... or any third party discovers it..."

The consequences would be unimaginable!

The North American Union's carefully crafted war pretext would instantly become a world‑shocking scandal! They would become the world's laughingstock!

"Order Jingti Hao!" the General's roar echoed in the conference room, laden with unquestionable murderous intent.

"At any cost, get me aboard that ship!"

"Find out exactly what happened up there! Retrieve all evidence, especially that damned torpedo fragment! Not a single screw may be left behind!"

A command steeped in death and destruction traveled thousands of kilometers, reaching the deep Atlantic.

On Jingti Hao's patrol ship bridge, the atmosphere was oppressively tense.

"The target is three nautical miles ahead, sir," the Radar operator said with a hint of tremor, "The signal source is very clear, but..."

The captain raised his binoculars, brow tightly knit.

Ahead, an extremely abnormal dense fog shrouded the sea.

The fog was so thick it resembled a gray wall, tinting the daylight with a dusk hue.

The sea surface was weirdly calm, without a ripple, like a massive black glass.

On the advanced Radar screen, Haiyang Ningjing Hao's massive outline was clearly visible.

But to the naked eye, within the dense fog, there was only a vague, massive black silhouette.

It floated there silently, without lights or horn, like a dormant giant beast at the Abyss's entrance, exuding an ominous aura.

"Seal Commando 'Ghost' squad ready, requesting insertion!"

"Action approved."

Two Black Hawk helicopters whipped up gale force winds, cautiously approaching the massive black mass.

The hatch opened, and twelve fully‑armed special forces troops, following fast‑ropes like agile spiders, swiftly descended onto the cruise ship's slick Jiabǎn.

"Ghost team leader calling Jingti Hao, we have boarded, over."

Captain Chui Tou gave a hand signal, and the troops immediately formed a combat formation, barrels pointing outward.

On the Jiabǎn, there was no one.

On a lounge chair by the pool, an open magazine lay.

On the outdoor bar's table, several half‑drunk glasses of champagne sat, their bubbles long gone.

Everything remained as it had been when tourists fled hastily days ago; time here seemed paused.

The air was filled with a cold, sharp salty sea scent.

Mixed in was a faint, lingering odor, like the rot left after a seafood market closed without cleaning.

"Chui Tou" frowned, his face beneath the combat helmet full of vigilance.

"Maintain maximum alert! Teams of three, cross‑cover as you advance!"

"Alpha Squad, you go to the Chuangzhang Shi, locate the navigation recorder! Beta Squad, follow me to the lower engine room, retrieve the target!"

"Remember, leave no trace!"

"Copy that!"

The cold metal door was forced open.

The squad formally entered the interior of the death cruise ship.

The lavish central hall unfolded before everyone's eyes.

The massive crystal chandelier had gone out, leaving only a few red emergency lights flickering in the corners, bathing the hall in a dim, blood‑red glow.

The carpet beneath was soaked with seawater, soft underfoot, emitting a "puff‑chuff" sound.

Everything was eerily quiet, only the heavy breathing of the troops and the faint clatter of equipment.

Suddenly.

"Zila—"

From the overhead speaker, a sudden shrill electric crackle blared!

Immediately, the emergency lights began to flash wildly, flickering on and off, stretching and distorting the troops' shadows on the wall into clawed silhouettes.

"What's happening?!" a troop nervously raised his gun.

"Hold steady! Might be a short circuit!" Chui Tou barked low.

"Before his words even finished."

"That harsh electric hum disappeared."

"In its place came a piece of music."

"A waltz, stretched infinitely and severely detuned, drifted softly from the speakers."

"The melody was slow and viscous, each note dragging a long tail, as if it came from another world through a thick layer of water, filled with an indescribable Weird sorrow."

"Everyone felt a tingling on their scalp."

"\"Damn, this place is really fucking cursed! \" Beta Squad's demolition man Fatty muttered low, gripping his shotgun."

"\"Shut up! Concentrate! \""

"Chui Tou ordered, while sweeping every corner of the hall with his Tactical Flashlight."

"A young squad member named \"Feng Niao\" held his gun, nervously scanning the surroundings, sweat already soaking his forehead."

"His Tactical Flashlight beam instinctively swept toward the Second Floor's circular Corridor."

"The light column moved swiftly through the darkness."

"Suddenly."

"His movement suddenly stiffened."

"The flashlight's beam also locked rigidly at a spot on the Second Floor."

"\"Captain...... \""

"Feng Niao's voice was hoarse and trembling, laced with extreme terror."

"\"You see...... there...... \""

"Chui Tou and the other members immediately looked along his beam's direction."

"There, on the Second Floor's circular Corridor,"

"amid the flickering red emergency lights and the intersecting flashlight beams,"

"a woman in a tattered evening dress stood with her back to them, motionless beside the railing."

"Her long hair was wet and loose, covering her profile."

"She stood there quietly, as if she had been standing for a century."