Chapter 143 Big Surprise (Part 1)

Inside the Nautilus, Christie, Romain Rolland, and Jules Verne, who rarely get together, don't discuss anything important.

Shelley is currently in the post-operative recovery period (meaning Robert has been keeping her in bed wearing thick clothes and drinking plenty of hot water). Therefore, the UN has temporarily suspended its adventure activities and is in a state of rest.

So right now, the three of them are just casually discussing their future direction, and they all still have time to do their own things.

Jules Verne was fiddling with a nautical chart, Romain Rolland was organizing the intelligence he had to see if he could sell it for a good price, and Christie was slowly reading a book.

—And there's Defoe here eating cake, but he's just like Verne, following him wherever he goes, so don't worry about him.

Suddenly, Christie looked up at Verne and said, "By the way, Verne, could you please go to Yokohama now?"

Verne was taken aback, and although he didn't refuse, he seemed very puzzled: "Why go back to Yokohama now?"

As he spoke, Verne had already steered the Nautilus toward Yokohama.

Christie pondered for a moment: "It's more intuitive to just look directly at it. I'll explain later... By the way, Verne, after we arrive in Yokohama, please go to the center of the skies above Yokohama as much as possible."

Jules Verne was puzzled, but a bad feeling crept in. Romain Rolland, who had been keeping his head down organizing documents, couldn't help but ask hesitantly, "Um, it can't be...?"

Although they all seemed to have guessed something, none of them dared to confirm it.

Christie nodded: "It's Vladimir's side."

Verne and Romain Rolland's expressions immediately soured.

Defoe, who was also in the captain's cabin, heard Christie's words and then suddenly realized, "Come to think of it, it seems like it's been three or four days since we last saw Vladimir!"

Because the UN had been busy with Shelley's surgery these past few days, and Vladimir always stayed in his room and refused to show himself when he was healing his own body, no one paid much attention to the fact that he hadn't appeared in front of anyone for three or four days in a row.

Romain Rolland glanced at his watch with a displeased expression: "I last saw her about three days and four hours ago outside the operating room. But I don't know if anyone else has seen her since..."

Defoe raised his hand: "I don't think so. I saw Barry muttering yesterday that he hadn't seen Vladimir for two days."

"If Barry hasn't seen him, then nobody has seen him. We haven't seen Vladimir for three days. It feels like something bad is going to happen."

Given Vladimir's personality—she can cause chaos on the submarine even when nothing's wrong—her three days of quiet could mean two things. Either she's reformed, or she's been holding back something big.

Moreover, based on the UN's understanding of Vladimir, the second possibility is highly likely.

Just as everyone in the captain's cabin was discussing the matter, the door was suddenly kicked open violently.

The protagonist of the conversation—Vladimir—stood wearily in the doorway, yet couldn't contain his excitement: "Verne! Can we go to Yokohama?"

The captain's cabin was quiet for a moment. No one spoke to Vladimir; instead, they stared intently at the "ball of light" that Vladimir was holding.

It was a ball of light, about one or two sizes larger than a regular apple, shimmering with a soft glow similar to that Vladimir emitted when using his special abilities, and it was held securely in Vladimir's hand.

But everyone in the captain's cabin broke out in a cold sweat when they saw the ball of light.

Verne immediately focused on the radar, concentrating all his attention on activating "Deep Sea Roaming" to ensure he could react immediately to any problems.

In short, that ball of light was Vladimir's "Lolita." Only, it was a "Lolita" that Vladimir held in his hands but hadn't yet used.

According to Vladimir himself, the feeling when "Lolita" was released was that something emerged from her hand and covered something else. Once that thing was completely covered, "Lolita" was successfully released.

Then one day, after drinking too much juice, Vladimir had a sudden thought. What would happen if she kept releasing "Lolita" but didn't use it?

Then, Vladimir, who was really bored, actually tried it. And when she used it continuously but without a target, this light would gather in her hands.

After throwing the ball of light, Vladimir discovered that a large area centered on the point of contact had been "Lolitaized".

Vladimir realized: This is just a charged attack.

This ability didn't change anything for Vladimir; it just meant that her antics in Russia became more covert.

However, the one she has now is really bad in terms of size!

To put it simply, the last time Vladimir covered an entire town with "Lolita," he used a ball of light about the size of a one-yuan coin.

The one Vladimir is holding now is probably a size bigger than an apple.

If this were to erupt inside the Nautilus, there's a high probability that the Nautilus would immediately become an inflatable toy, and everyone present would temporarily lose their superpowers.

They're underwater right now! If that ball of light were to fall, it would mean total annihilation!

Aside from Exupéry and Dante, who should survive, the rest of us can achieve what the Joint Major Crimes Unit hasn't.

Romain Rolland immediately rushed forward to support Vladimir's hand, preventing her from accidentally throwing the ball of light away: "Vladimir, how long did it take you to make this!?"

At this moment, Defoe also rushed to Vladimir's side and grabbed her arm, ready to teleport Vladimir to Defoe Island if there was any unusual movement.

Vladimir looked very tired and was only keeping himself awake with sheer excitement: "I don't know! Maybe three days?"

Perhaps due to the many setbacks he suffered in Yokohama, not only encountering a group of people with differing ideologies (Mori Ougai) but also suffering disfigurement there, Vladimir's extreme dissatisfaction drove him to endure three days of continuously releasing his supernatural abilities, resulting in this enormous creature.

At that moment, Defoe saw Verne's throat move. Defoe felt that Verne probably wanted to curse but refrained from doing so because of the formalities.

Christie was the calmest of them all; she even had time to pick up her teacup and take a sip: "Roland, you take Vladimir to the hatch first."

Once they arrived in Yokohama, they opened the door and had Vladimir throw the ball of light out.

Romain Rolland immediately nodded, picked up the somewhat unconscious Vladimir, and ran non-stop toward the Nautilus's exit.

Verne, not daring to be overconfident, manipulated the ocean and the air, rushing towards Yokohama at more than ten times the speed of sound.

We were already at sea not too far from Yokohama, and it took about six minutes for Yokohama to come into view.

Verne executed two perfect Rattlesnake maneuvers in succession, navigating two bends to reach the skies above Yokohama, before smashing open the Nautilus's hatch with an almost brutal, slamming motion.

Romain Rolland knew they had reached their destination and the door was open when he heard a careful metallic sound from inside the hatch. He pushed the hatch open and led Vladimir outside.

Because Vladimir was still sleepily holding the ball of light, Romain Rolland didn't dare to frighten or provoke her, so he could only pinch her face and shake it.

"Vladimir, we've arrived in Yokohama!"

Vladimir shook his head, momentarily clearing his mind: "What, we're here already!?"

It felt like she only spent a minute or two looking for Verne, how did she get there so quickly?

"Christie had already sent Verne flying towards Yokohama before you arrived, and it's been six minutes already!" Romain Rolland looked at the ball of light in Vladimir's hand, feeling anxious and frustrated. "Hurry up and throw that ball of light out!"

Vladimir rubbed his eyes and looked down twice to make sure it was Yokohama (the unreconstructed ruins were easy to spot) before he felt relieved enough to throw the ball of light out.

Verne and Defoe stood on the observation deck, watching the ball of light fall, and breathed a sigh of relief. But as they watched the ball of light gradually descend towards the ground, cold sweat still broke out on both of them.

Defoe swallowed hard: "Verne, let's run."

If Yokohama realizes what's going on, he might not be able to escape.

Verne wiped away a cold sweat and nodded: "Let's run."

Romain Rolland dragged the unconscious Vladimir back into the Nautilus, quickly closed the hatch, and said over the radio, "We'd better hurry, the air defense forces might be here soon."

Without a word, Verne started the Nautilus once again.

Then, the Nautilus, which had only been there for less than a minute, disappeared again, leaving the people of Yokohama completely bewildered.

What are these people doing suddenly running over here? Are they here to admire the scenery?