Chapter 54 Following, the essence, full power, a true man never looks back...

"Sir? When did you arrive?" Fu Ze waved at the camera that was rotating on its own in the corner of the ceiling.

From another speaker, Yuan Jianxing replied calmly, "Around the time when people are saying, 'Another bomb? Can't we have something new?'"

Fu Ze silently turned his head away, secretly glad that he didn't have the habit of talking to himself.

Otherwise, Yuan Jianxing might have overheard his inner monologue.

That was truly... incredibly embarrassing.

Perhaps because the camera's resolution was too poor, Yuan Jianxing didn't notice Fu Ze's unusual little thoughts.

After observing the driver's cab with the camera, he immediately gave the order: "Remove the red and green buttons on the left side of the control panel and short-circuit them together. This way, I can remotely terminate the autopilot program."

Clearly, without Fu Ze needing to explain further, Yuan Jianxing had already thoroughly analyzed the current situation.

"Be careful, the wire carries 12V of voltage."

Actually, it wouldn't matter if Yuan Jianxing didn't remind him of this; even direct contact with this level of voltage would only cause slight numbness.

But he still gave that suggestion.

Having identified his target, Fu Ze acted swiftly, immediately pulling out insulated gloves from the toolbox beside him and getting to work.

Dealing with smart people after forming a united front is so easy and simple.

With the cooperation of the two, the cruise ship finally lifted the deliberately locked operating restrictions and exited autopilot mode.

However, in order not to alert the enemy, Yuan Jianxing continued to steer the cruise ship at its original speed.

According to radar calculations, the cruise ship will leave the AI ​​monitoring range of Daraa Port in five minutes.

Meanwhile, the surveillance footage showed that the countdown for the bomb planted in the ship's hull had reached five and a half minutes.

Clearly, all of this was planned.

"According to regulations, regardless of model, every cruise ship should be equipped with a standard non-powered lifeboat."

Yuan Jianxing's voice sounded somewhat rational to the point of being cold after being processed by electricity, but the content he said was as bright as a blazing fire, making Fu Ze feel quite comfortable.

However, after recalling the situation, Fu Ze realized that he couldn't remember seeing any lifeboats or related markings anywhere...

The next second, Yuan Jianxing's voice came from the loudspeakers in the corridor.

"You're going to head to the back of the cruise ship now. If you don't know the way, just follow me."

Once again, Fu Ze deeply appreciated Yuan Jianxing's reliability.

As Fu Ze moved around, Yuan Jianxing's voice also moved conveniently between different pieces of equipment.

"At this distance, it is impossible to return to Daraa Port solely by manpower."

"But given the current situation, no one will come to rescue you."

Although Fu Ze's breathing was a little rapid as he raced against time, he still managed to squeeze in a sentence from Yuan Jianxing's incessant chatter: "Isn't it bad to be so self-deprecating?"

Hara Mihoshi on the radio: ...

His gaze had already shifted to the next device, so he couldn't see Fu Ze's expression at that moment.

However, he could perfectly conjure up a face in his mind that was both mischievous and charming.

Does this person even know what the situation is? How can he still have such an out-of-place energy?

Fortunately, Yuan Jianxing has always been the one who can best distinguish between priorities and make decisive decisions.

So he simply ignored Fu Ze's teasing and calmly continued, "But at this speed, any unpowered lifeboat would just be torn to pieces by the turbine. So I will have the cruise ship slow down and turn in the opposite direction once you have everything ready."

In this way, based on action and reaction forces, Fu Ze and the lifeboat he was in would be pushed away before being swept into the vortex.

He pulled the lifeboat out of the cabinet and pulled open the automatic inflation valve, finally giving Fu Ze a chance to catch his breath after running all the way.

He looked up at the camera that Yuan Jianxing was using and smiled slightly, "Sir, you're like a system in a novel right now. Although you can't directly help because you don't have a physical body, you can still provide your host with all sorts of important information to help them overcome difficulties."

Thousands of meters away, on the other side, Yuan Jianxing frowned slightly as he watched Fu Ze, whose face was pale from the cold due to the lack of equipment when he went into the water earlier.

Despite being in a dangerous situation, this person seemed completely unafraid.

Or is he actually using these inappropriate topics to relieve his emotions and cover up his nervousness?

It should be the latter...

"Do these novels describe what the system will do if the host disobeys?" Yuan Jianxing, slightly moved, responded to Fu Ze's joke in a rare moment.

Caught off guard by this sudden favor, Fu Ze paused for a moment before tentatively answering, "Uh, electric shock punishment?"

"I prefer it medium-well."

Fu Ze: ...

This man really doesn't hold grudges.

-

The lifeboats on the cruise ship are all of the highest quality and inflate very quickly.

In just the time it took for Fu Ze and Yuan Jianxing to exchange two sentences, the small cube that was originally folded up had completely expanded.

This time, without needing Yuan Jianxing's guidance, Fu Ze quickly tied the grappling hook to both ends of the lifeboat and lowered it to the same height as the deck.

However, just as he was planning to climb into the lifeboat as the two of them had agreed beforehand and embark on an adventure comparable to "The Old Man and the Sea", Hara Kensei suddenly said, "Wait a minute, just to be safe, I've found you a power source."

As soon as he finished speaking, the faint sound of hard metal colliding with the wooden floor could be heard.

The next second, Icarus, who had been abandoned on the ship just like Fu Ze, strode over, pushed open the door, and quickly moved over.

Because of the previous corrective action, one of its power legs was replaced with a heavy robotic arm, so it now has to move around in a very awkward way, which is quite pitiful.

As they passed by Fu Ze, Icarus shoved the remote control into Fu Ze's hand.

Yuan Jianxing explained simply, "Icarus is remotely controlled by me. You can just pretend to have the remote control on your end. After all, we can't just let them discover that Icarus is acting on its own."

Fu Ze agreed wholeheartedly and tentatively imitated the engineer's actions by pushing the joystick on the remote control.

With his push, Icarus, who was raising his body to climb into the lifeboat, tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Fu Ze immediately hung the remote control on his body and squatted down to try to flip Icarus back.

But before he could even touch Icarus, the other man stretched out a leg and hooked it onto the railing, then deftly flipped himself back upside down.

If the timing and setting weren't both off, Fu Ze would definitely have given this acrobatic performance a round of applause.

The moment Icarus regained its footing, it turned the camera on its back horizontally and then tilted it upwards slightly, staring directly at Fu Ze.

Despite knowing that Yuan Jianxing was in Dala Port at the moment, Fu Ze still sensed a hint of anger from the camera with the colorful hydrophobic coating.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Fu Ze squatted down, picked up Icarus, and put him in the lifeboat, explaining in a low voice, "Sorry, you said you were just pretending, so I assumed you had already removed the battery."

Yuan Jianxing did want to reprimand Fu Ze, but the other party surprisingly apologized, so he couldn't say what he originally wanted to say.

"Icarus itself doesn't have a speaker, so from now on, I'll send the information to the screen on the remote control." Always as clear-headed as ever, Hara Misaki continued to relay the next steps over the cruise ship's public address system, making the most of every second.

"In short, all actions must prioritize your safety. If necessary, you can bypass me and operate Icarus directly."

Fu Ze understood.

It turns out that this was the reason why Yuan Jianxing didn't remove the batteries or disable the control permissions of the remote control before giving it to him to pretend to use.

He responded seriously and then reached out to pull the cable.

As the ropes piled up beside them wore out and the pulleys rolled rapidly, the orange-yellow lifeboat swiftly descended to the deep, inky sea.

Although the cruise ship had begun to stop as planned, its speed was still quite astonishing.

At least for Fu Ze and the lifeboat he was in, the turbulent current flowing beneath them was no less dangerous than an avalanche plunging down a thousand-meter cliff in terms of temperature, speed, and even the degree of danger.

While bending over to reduce wind resistance and lower his center of gravity, Fu Ze gripped the rope buckle tightly, ready to respond to Yuan Jianxing's commands at any time.

Now is the time.

The moment those four words appeared on the remote control screen, Fu Ze suddenly pulled the rope buckle.

The lifeboat, which had been tethered to the hull and bobbing up and down on the sea like a dolphin, suddenly lost all traction and slid rapidly backward.

Almost simultaneously, Icarus, who was next to Fu Ze, leaped into the sea, grabbing a rope attached to a lifeboat.

With a series of loud gears turning and meshing, the cruise ship, which had been moving in a straight line since its start, suddenly veered away from Fuze.

The waves at the stern then swirled outwards, crashing down on the lifeboat where Fu Ze was, like a wall of force.

However, the lifeboat that Fu Ze was in was pulled back by the eddies created by the engine.

Just as the combined attack from the wall of water and the vortex was about to engulf Fu Ze and the lifeboat he was in, a powerful dragging force came from the bow of the lifeboat, almost grazing the edge and pulling Fu Ze out of the tumbling sea.

Wiping the water droplets from his face, Fu Ze looked toward the source of the power.

Icarus's silvery-white form appeared powerful and agile against the backdrop of the ocean currents, like a kingfish that had defeated all its rivals and newly become the leader of its kind.

Just as Yuan Jianxing had planned and calculated, the massive cruise ship and the lifeboats, which looked like tiny boats in comparison, eventually drew two arcs in opposite directions and drifted further and further away.

As the traction from the cruise ship's vortex gradually disappeared, Fu Ze finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he can now drive the original star, or rather, the Icarus, back to Port Dara.

Just then, the remote control screen lit up.

There's new information from Hara Mihoshi:

It's windy at night, and since you're wet, try to lie in a sheltered area to reduce your surface area exposed to heat.

Fu Ze wanted to reply with something like, "Thank you for your concern, leader."

No matter how hard he searched, the remote control in his hand didn't have a single input function.

Suddenly, Fu Ze had a flash of inspiration and reached out to press one of the joysticks.

Suddenly, the camera on Icarus's body, which was originally facing forward, rose out of the water and swung 180 degrees vertically, looking at Fu Ze in a slightly comical pose.

Fu Ze then perfectly positioned himself to make a heart shape with his hands, bending four fingers and raising his thumbs towards the camera.

Seemingly stunned by Fu Ze's performance, the camera remained in place for a few seconds before awkwardly turning back.

Fu Ze suddenly realized that, in Yuan Jianxing's view, had he just gestured a spade?

Oh well, Yuan Jianxing is so smart, he'll definitely figure it out and correct it on his own.

Just as the camera turned back, a muffled thunderous sound erupted from the direction of the cruise ship.

Clearly, the countdown timer for the explosives previously placed in the ship's hull had reached zero.

Fu Ze suddenly thought of the movie plot of a hero saving a damsel in distress after escaping death, and then he thought of the romantic idea that "a real man never looks back at an explosion."

But Fu Ze had already accepted the fact that he was incompatible with romance and would never become a director in this lifetime, so he still turned around and looked up.

Do you even understand the importance of being pragmatic? Be pragmatic!

As expected, the cruise ship, whose hull had been pierced by a stray bullet, began to slowly sink.

Facing the howling sea wind, Fu Ze couldn't help but close his eyes for a moment.

But when he opened his eyes again, the cruise ship, which had been slowly sinking, seemed to have been sped up and shrunk a bit.

Something's not right!

Fu Ze suddenly stood up on the yacht.

This time, no matter how the sea breeze blew in his face, he didn't blink again.

The next second, the cruise ship suddenly sank as if a section of it had been eaten by a sea monster.

At the same time, the screen of the remote control next to Fu Ze's feet suddenly lit up.

However, this time it wasn't activated by the green information from the original star.

Instead, it was a sentence so bright red it was almost blinding—

[Warning! Operating power is about to reach full capacity!]

In other words, the surrounding seawater, along with the lifeboat and Icarus, is being sucked back at high speed!

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Author's Note: One problem after another! Stay alive, Fu Xiaozhe! [crying emoji]