Chapter 25
Absolute darkness.
There was also a roar. It didn't come from outside, but from within his skull, the reverberation of blood rushing and pounding, and the vibration of his heart beating like crazy in its dying state.
It was cold. The rough metal felt against his cheek. And there was a thick, sickening smell of smoke and blood.
Gu Jing's consciousness was like a broken ship in a storm, repeatedly thrown into the deep sea by huge waves, and then struggling to float up a little light.
He moved his fingers, and a sharp pain exploded from his shoulder, making him take a deep breath and wake up completely.
All I could see was pitch black, with only a faint, almost extinguished red light in the distance, which might be the indicator light of a broken instrument.
He's still in the air duct.
The explosions seemed to have stopped, or rather, shifted. The ship no longer shook violently, but the unsettling, subtle groaning of metal was still omnipresent, a reminder that the steel behemoth was slowly dying.
Silence. A silence that was almost terrifying enveloped him.
Qin Yu...
This name was like a bolt of lightning that split his chaotic brain!
He tried to sit up suddenly, but it agitated countless wounds all over his body. The pain made his eyes go black, and he coughed violently. His mouth was full of the rusty taste of blood.
He forced himself to stay calm, moved his body with difficulty, and groped in the narrow space.
Empty.
There was no one around him.
There was only the cold, rough pipe wall and a thick layer of debris and dust of unknown origin.
Qin Yu is missing.
Was he pushed out? Or...
A huge panic instantly grabbed his throat, more suffocating than the previous hail of bullets.
How could he have lost him?!
Just when despair was about to consume him completely, his fingertips suddenly touched a cold, hard, small metal object.
It's that tiny communicator! It fell out of my ear at some point and landed here.
He seemed to have grasped the last straw and tremblingly put it back into his ears.
There was a dead rustling sound.
No calm commands from 739, no murmur of a firefight, nothing.
It’s over…
Just when his heart sank to the bottom——
[Zizi...Mr. Gu...zizi...can you hear me?]
An extremely faint, intermittent voice, mixed with severe interference noise, suddenly sounded! It was 739!
Gu Jing's heart suddenly jumped! It almost jumped out of his throat!
"Yes! I can hear you!" He lowered his voice, his voice trembling uncontrollably as he responded eagerly, "Where are you? How is he?!"
[Safe for now... On the ground floor... Near the spare lifeboat cabin... Zip... Brother Yu is in a very bad condition... Loss of blood... Infection... Needs... Urgent treatment... Zip...]
739's voice was intermittent and his breathing was unstable. It was obvious that he was injured or in an extremely difficult environment.
Gu Jing's heart tightened: "I came to find you! How do I get there?!"
[No… Don't move…] 739's voice suddenly became urgent. [The passage… Most of it is destroyed… or… blocked… Zi… They're… searching… If you come out… you'll die…]
"What should we do?! He can't die!" Gu Jing growled, his voice filled with tears and ruthlessness that he himself didn't even realize.
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, with only the crackling noise of electricity, as if someone was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle or evaluation.
After a long while, 739's voice rang out again, even weaker, yet filled with a desperate determination:
[There is a... way... but the risk... is extremely...]
"explain!"
[Medical ship...main database...physical backup core...is in your...nearby area...power compartment...next door...safe isolation chamber...zzz...blow it up...]
Gu Jing's pupils shrank suddenly: "Blow up the database?"
[Yes...] 739 panted. [All... customer information... transaction records... money laundering routes... Qin Zhengfeng's... vitals... are all there... Once completely destroyed... not only would it severely injure him... but the resulting... chain reaction of explosions and chaos... would also cover... our evacuation... Zi... This is... the only way... to divert most of the guards... and create an opportunity...]
Blow up the core of the Qin family's black empire?
Gu Jing's heart started beating wildly and his blood was rushing because of this crazy plan!
[But...] 739's voice grew heavy. [The isolation chamber... protection level... is the highest... entrance requires... a dual authorization password... and... Qin Zhengfeng's own... iris verification... breaking in by force... is nearly impossible... unless...]
"Unless what?"
[Unless... you cut into the power module's main cooling duct... from the outside...] 739 said with difficulty, [There's the risk of... leaking... ultra-high temperature radiation from the reactor core... and... the risk of a secondary explosion... That... that would be... suicide...]
Suicide mission.
Use his life to exchange for Qin Yu's chance of survival.
All that was left in the communicator was the noisy sound of electricity and each other's heavy and suppressed breathing.
Gu Jing leaned against the cold pipe wall and closed his eyes.
In the darkness, the unfinished words "Believe..." in his father's recording, Qin Yu's paranoid whisper in the rain, the blood-stained arm still protecting him in the ruins, and the broken words "Don't be afraid... I'm here..." before he passed out... Countless images flashed by like fragments.
Who to believe?
Believe in this crazy plan? Believe in that madman who is still unfathomable?
Or do you still believe in this only opportunity that you have paid for with your life?
He had no time to hesitate.
Gu Jing slowly opened his eyes. All the panic, fear, and struggle in his eyes subsided at this moment, transforming into an extremely cold and calm madness.
"Tell me the specific route and method." He spoke, his voice hoarse but unusually steady, without a trace of ripples.
[Mr. Gu…] There was a barely perceptible vibration in 739's voice.
"Tell me." Gu Jing repeated, his tone unquestionable, "He can't die. I said it."
There was silence on the other end of the communication for a moment. Then, 739 stopped trying to dissuade him and began to explain the infiltration route, the structure of the cooling pipes, the best location for the blasting point, and how to use a high-energy micro-explosive in a very fast but clear manner. The explosive was hidden near the maintenance node where he had discovered the communicator before. It was obviously a backup plan that Qin Yu had prepared long ago.
That madman... really has calculated everything.
After noting down all the details, Gu Jing calmly responded, "Got it. Keep the communication silent and wait for my signal."
[…Understood. Take care.] 739's voice finally said, then cut off the communication.
Absolute silence fell again.
Gu Jing groped in the dark and followed 739's instructions. Sure enough, he found a matchbox-sized, cold, hard piece of metal in an extremely hidden groove in the wall of a nearby pipe.
He gripped the tiny explosive tightly, feeling the destructive power within it at his fingertips.
Without hesitation, he crawled again in the dark, stuffy and dangerous pipe in the direction indicated by 739.
Every step he took touched his wound, and every breath he took carried a burning pain and the smell of radioactive dust. But he seemed to feel no pain, all his will focused on one goal - get to that location and blow it up!
The surrounding temperature began to rise noticeably. The air became scalding hot, carrying a strange, sweet, and fishy smell. The pipe walls were even hot to the touch.
He was approaching the power bay area.
Based on his memory and the description of the 739, he found the external maintenance entrance to the main cooling duct. The grille had been deformed and loosened by the explosion.
He pried open the grille with force, and an indescribable stream of hot air with a strong radiation burning sensation suddenly rushed towards him! It almost suffocated him!
Inside the pipe, a dark red light can be seen faintly. That is the deadly radiation leaking from the reactor core!
Going in is like stepping into purgatory.
Gu Jing didn't hesitate at all.
He took a deep breath of the scorching air that burned his lungs, took off his already tattered coat, covered his head and face with the unknown condensation water in the pipe, and then went in without hesitation!
The heat instantly enveloped him! His skin felt like it was being burned by a branding iron! Breathing became extremely difficult! His eyes stung and tears welled up!
He gritted his teeth and, relying on his strong willpower, moved bit by bit towards the explosion point in his memory in the narrow, scalding tube filled with deadly radiation!
It felt like a century had passed.
He finally reached the estimated location. The heat and radiation intensity here were almost beyond the human body's endurance limit! He felt his skin groaning and his consciousness began to blur.
Can't fall down!
He took out the micro explosive with trembling hands and, following the method 739 had given him, attached it to a specific structural weak point on the inner wall of the pipe.
Set the detonation time - five minutes.
It was enough for him to get as far away as possible, but it also meant that he had to stay in this purgatory for another five long minutes and find a relatively safe shelter before the explosion.
He gave the explosives one last check and began the arduous retracement.
Every second is torture.
The high temperature, radiation, lack of oxygen, and the pain from wounds all over his body almost destroyed his mind.
He could only rely on the crazy and stubborn thought in his mind to support himself - Qin Yu cannot die! He promised!
Finally, he climbed out of the deadly cooling pipe and rolled back into the relatively "cool" ventilation duct, coughing violently and vomiting bloody gastric juice.
Time is running out!
He struggled to crawl forward, looking for a relatively solid support point marked on the structural diagram in his memory.
One minute left!
He huddled in a corner where a metal structure intersected, his hands clutching his head.
Thirty seconds!
Ten seconds!
five……
"boom!!!!!!!"
A loud bang that was far more terrifying and closer to any previous explosion suddenly erupted from deep under his feet!
The entire ship let out an unprecedented, tearing scream! The huge shock wave was like a real hammer, smashing hard into the corner where Gu Jing was hiding!
He felt like his bones were about to shatter! His eardrums instantly went deaf! His vision went black, and a mouthful of blood spurted out!
The flames and shock waves of the explosion raged wildly along the pipe! The section of the pipe he was in began to twist violently and collapse!
The world spun and shattered before his eyes, plunging into complete darkness...
…
I don’t know how long it took.
Consciousness seemed to be struggling to emerge from the deep sea.
Gu Jing opened his eyes with difficulty.
The scene before him was a shambles. The pipe had been completely deformed, a massive hole blasted open, revealing the twisted bulkhead and flickering flames. Thick smoke and dust filled the air, the air hot and thin.
He is still alive.
He moved, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart, but there seemed to be no fatal new injuries.
The database... exploded?
He struggled to the edge of the gap and looked out—
The area outside, which was supposed to be a safe isolation cabin, had now become a huge hole, emitting black smoke and flames! Twisted metal, charred cables, and flying scraps of paper... you could vaguely see the remains of some computer servers!
Success! He succeeded!
A huge feeling of ecstasy and exhaustion came at the same time!
Almost at the same time!
The entire ship's alarm blared once again! But this time, it was no longer a manhunt for them, but a top-level disaster alert and abandon ship alarm!
Attention everyone! Proceed to the lifeboat bay immediately! Repeat! Evacuate immediately!
[Core data area suffered a devastating blow! Power system out of control! Hull structure severely damaged! Evacuate immediately!]
Panicked shouts came from the radio.
Chaos! An unprecedented chaos has begun!
The guards no longer had time to search, the instinct of survival overwhelmed everything!
Chance!
Gu Jing struggled to stand up and staggered out along the gap that was blown open.
The corridor outside was in a mess, the lights flickered, and there were people running for their lives everywhere. The sounds of crying, screaming, and banging were endless.
No one paid attention to him, a man covered in blood and in a miserable state.
Following his memory, he stumbled towards the lifeboat compartment on the lower level.
Along the way, he saw people scrambling frantically for seats on the lifeboats, some even resorting to physical violence. The ugliness of human nature was fully exposed in this apocalyptic environment.
He had no time to think about anything else, he only had one thought in his mind - to find Qin Yu!
Finally, he saw the hatch marked with the lifeboat symbol!
There was chaos at the door, crowded with people trying to escape.
Gu Jing anxiously looked for 739 or Qin Yu.
No! Not anywhere!
Did they not arrive in time? Or was there an accident?
Just when he was about to despair——
"Mr. Gu! This way!"
A low, familiar voice came from a nearby storage room where life-saving equipment was stored!
It’s 739!
Gu Jing rushed over and pushed open the half-closed door!
In the utility room, 739 half-knelt on the ground, bloodstained and pale, but his eyes remained sharp. Beside him, Qin Yu lay on a simple stretcher, still unconscious, his face as white as paper, but his chest rose and fell faintly, and he seemed to have been given a simple emergency bandage.
They are still alive!
Gu Jing's legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees, but 739 held him up.
"Hurry! There's no time!" 739 said hurriedly, glancing at the increasingly uncontrolled crowd outside and the constant explosions coming from the ship's hull. "We have to leave immediately! Brother Yu needs surgery immediately!"
The two men worked together to lift the stretcher and blend into the crowd that was frantically rushing towards the lifeboat.
In the chaos, they squeezed onto a lifeboat that was about to be released full.
The lifeboat fell into the dark and cold sea, quickly moving away from the medical ship that was constantly exploding, tilting, and slowly sinking into the dark abyss.
The sea breeze is cold, carrying the breath of freedom and blood.
Gu Jing slumped in the lifeboat, looking at the huge fireball and thick smoke in the distance, watching the purgatory that swallowed countless sins and ambitions slowly disappear below the sea level.
He lowered his head, looked at Qin Yu's pale but still handsome face on the stretcher beside him, reached out his hand, and gently held his cold fingers.
A feeling of exhaustion and immense fatigue washed over him.
But he knew it wasn't over yet.
Qin Zhengfeng will not let them go.
This escape, paid for with madness and blood, was just the beginning of another more brutal war.
The lifeboat bumped forward on the dark sea, heading towards an unknown and dangerous future.
Gu Jing held Qin Yu's hand tightly, raised his eyes, and looked at the deep and boundless darkness in the distance where the sea and the sky met.
There was a silence in his eyes, yet a burning coldness with a certain flame of determination.
He survived.
They survived.
Well, it's time for someone to pay the price.
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