"We can't keep going like this, we've already lost half our people," a female agent clutched the walkie-talkie tightly, her brows furrowed deeply, and said, "We must call for support, or we'll all die here."
Not a single agent behind her was unscathed; two had their limbs shot, one was stabbed in the abdomen with intestines spilling out, and another's lung was punctured, now only able to gasp for breath while waiting to die.
"Can we still not get in touch with the second squad?" the female agent asked. "What the hell happened to Tuman and the others? Why hasn't the power been restored yet?"
"The last time we got through, there was heavy gunfire on their end, the shots were so loud, we couldn't make out what he was saying."
"Gunfire? But that madman doesn't use guns. What other kind of monsters are on board this ship?"
A young agent beside her swallowed nervously and said, "It might be those drug traffickers. Tuman and the boss had said before, the Penitent Cartel is just a group of insatiable hyenas, they strongly advised against letting them on board..."
"A bunch of idiots," the female agent cursed. "Forget it, we can't count on them. Where's Amanda? Wasn't she also assigned to board the ship? Where is she?"
"No idea, we've never once gotten through to her, you know she doesn't deal with us on a regular basis."
The female agent cursed again, thought for a moment, and then said, "Alright, we have to go to the power storeroom. Without the power back on, we stand no chance against that monster."
"But going out there will kill us," an agent with an arm injury said with a face full of terror. "That guy out there is not human! A human's speed can't possibly be that fast!"
"That's just you hallucinating because of excessive fear," the female agent scoffed. "When have we field agents ever been so afraid of death?"
An older male agent said, "Although we really can't just sit here and wait for death, if we attack recklessly, we are indeed likely to suffer heavy losses. Kira, don't be too impulsive."
The agent known as Kira let out a long sigh but eventually said, "Fine, we'll wait here for a bit longer. If we're out of contact, headquarters should send someone for support soon enough, and then..."
Crack!
The ship's lights came on in an instant.
Everyone lifted their heads in shock, hope reappearing in their eyes, and Kira too was stunned by the lights that had come back on.
She grabbed the communication device at top speed and after pressing a few buttons said, "Damn it, still no signal. What kind of cursed communication jamming is this?"
Angered, Kira threw the communicator to the ground and sighed, saying, "Let's go, there's no telling when this damn ship will lose power again. While we can still see, let's find a place to treat the wounded. We can't afford to lose any more personnel on this mission."
The agents looked at the broken communicator with a mix of fear and uncertainty, but could not afford to ponder it longer. The injured agents finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They believed that their utter helplessness when being chased by the monster was primarily because there was a total blackout on the ship, without any light, and they weren't equipped with night vision gear.
Without sight, humans are almost completely stripped of their combat ability. And that maniac could obviously see, which is why they had been caught off guard and suffered heavy losses.
Those among them who were less injured didn't actually engage in hand-to-hand combat with the monster, they just got hurt from collisions or falls in the chaos because they couldn't see. Now that the lights were back on, even if they couldn't fight back, at least they could run.
Furthermore, as Kira had said, with the condition they were in, if they didn't quickly find a way to deal with their injuries, they'd be left with no choice but to wait for death. Nobody wanted that, so they unanimously decided to move while the lights were still on.
Kira led the severely diminished group of agents back to the corridor, but the lights that should have provided warmth and safety now seemed exceptionally ghastly and chilling.
Suddenly, a long shadow appeared at the end of the corridor. Everyone held their breath; in the instant the Octopus Mask appeared, they didn't even have time to grip their weapons tightly before one of the male agents had his head smashed against the wall with a thud.
Just one hit, and his brain matter painted an almost perfect flower pattern on the wall.
The agents screamed and fled, but those who were injured simply couldn't escape. Within ten seconds, they were all brutally killed, and even those who managed a few steps were quickly caught and executed on the spot.
Watching her last comrade die at the hands of the monster, the leader, the female agent Kira, had a twisted smile emerge at the corner of her mouth.
"Long time no see, Professor Shearer," Kira said from the corner where she was slumped. "Although you might not hear me, thank you for passing my regards to my old teacher Alfred, and for saying goodbye to him."
The loss of so many agents was enough to put the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a bind with their operations, both domestic and foreign. They wouldn't be able to reach out for a long time.
Facing the approaching Shearer, Kira exhaled softly, clenched the small knife in her hand, but didn't aim it at Shearer. Instead, she cut a bloodstain along her own jawline, beneath her ears, and stuffed her fingers into the gap in her flesh. She had to make a final preparation before death.
She had to remove her own face to prevent Shearer from recognizing her after killing her and coming back to his senses, since Shearer knew about her KGB identity. Under any circumstances, killing one's own comrade might cause tremendous distress to the other party, so it was better left unknown.
Just as she was about to exert a little force with her finger, the ship shook violently. Unprepared, Kira was thrown to the ground, and the knife blade flew out of her hand.
Shearer was also knocked down, his mask falling off. Both strived to struggle up but were hit by an even more violent shake, sliding from one end of the corridor to the other together.
The people in the two rooms were also slammed against one side of the wall. As they wondered if the ship was about to capsize, a roar, followed by raging waves, thundered around the cruise liner.
"Shiller!!! You despicable wretch!!!!!"
The voice was somewhat unfamiliar, and no one present had heard it before, but soon the ship stabilized and even started moving on its own.
Beihan and Bruce both came to their senses, they followed the staff corridor upwards, opened the door, looked outside, and saw a muscular man floating on the sea.
Shiller stood at the very front of the deck, seemingly having regained his senses, but it was uncertain which personality trait was controlling his body now.
"Orm." Shiller called out his name, but quickly added, "Or perhaps I should call you... Arthur?"
Sitting on his lofty wave throne, Orm's face was filled with anger and arrogance. He stood up, raising the Trident in his hand surrounded by lightning, as waves angrily roared around him.
"You damned thief, you conspired with Atlanna to steal my power!!!!!"
"You're not too shabby yourself, managing to curse me with your power, causing me to get seasick."
As Shiller spoke, the others knew it was not arrogance but rather greed.
"This is the will of the ocean." Atlanna's voice emerged from Orm's mouth, "You defied and betrayed the ocean, and this is the punishment you deserve!"
"I told you before, you don't speak for the ocean."
"You're all damned thieves!!" Unable to contain himself any longer, a massive shadow loomed behind Orm, with enormous waves rising behind him, nearly forming a massive curtain poised to engulf the city.
The location was already not far from Gotham, and since the citizens were participating in outdoor festivities, they stopped in their tracks upon witnessing the spectacle at sea, pulled out their phones to take pictures, or discussed with others around them about what kind of show this was.
"That bunch of despicable Atlanteans stole my throne! And you, along with that accursed whore, tricked me out of my power, you all deserve to die!!!!!"
"Enough, Atlanna." Another voice rang out, and everyone saw on the opposite side of the sea's massive waves, an even higher wave rose with Arthur and the Atlantean army appearing together.
"Dead king, your feud with Orin must end now, let go of Orm, withdraw your power, and don't attempt to incite war between the land and the sea with this," Arthur said sternly.
"You betrayed me!!" Atlanna's voice carried endless rage, "Orin killed all my family and took my throne!"
"But you also sank Atlantis," Arthur said to Atlanna. "You turned what was once the most glorious kingdom on land into one of seafarers. The disputes within Atlantis have nothing to do with any land dweller. I am the son of the previous Queen of Atlantis, Atlanna, and the future king of Atlantis. If you seek revenge, I am ready at any time."
"You and your mother are just as shameless." The voice of Atlanna echoed angrily, "She deceived me, she allowed a damned land dweller to steal half of my power!!!!!"
Arthur and Atlanna both looked down at Shiller on the deck.
"I believe the word 'steal' is up for debate." Shiller snapped his fingers, took a deep breath, let the gray mist restore his body and said, "As I understand it, I made a deal with Atlanna. I received power from Atlantis and ensured that some mysterious 'Dark Power' would no longer assault the ocean from Gotham."
"That's my power!!!!!"
"I was unaware of that." Shiller shook his head and continued, "Atlanna told me it was the power of Atlantis, and as a land dweller, I had no way of knowing what this power truly was."
Arthur spoke up, "From the Queen's diary, I learned that you've been lying dormant in the Mariana Trench, but constantly stirring trouble, mentally contaminating and manipulating the Atlanteans, inciting them to cause trouble and wars. She had to do this to weaken you."
Atlanna sneered in response, looking at Arthur and saying, "You understand nothing, Prince of Atlantis, you are destined to suffer the same fate as me."
"I and my brother Orin had a falling out over our attitudes towards foreigners. I believed we should enhance our interactions with them, embracing their culture, while Orin saw intermingling with foreigners as a disgrace."
"He betrayed me, killed all my wives and children. I've always wanted to take revenge, and you are his descendants; I am merely reclaiming what is mine."
"I've said it before, Atlanna, the Atlanteans have become seafarers, the era of Atlantis as a land kingdom is over. Any feud between you and Orin will be resolved by us."
"But this damned land dweller stole my power!"
The issue came full circle, and everyone understood that Arthur meant even if you had suffered injustices long ago, you should seek revenge against Orin's descendants, not fuss around in front of the land dwellers.
But Atlanna argued that with his power stolen, how could he seek revenge? First, he'd have to reclaim his power from the land dweller, wouldn't he?
Both parties were at a stalemate for a moment.
Yet, as Atlanna's gaze swept over Shiller again, he saw that brilliant smile on Shiller's face.
The next second, Atlanna was struck as if by a heavy blow.