A few minutes earlier, Captain Yuan and Brother Feng, along with their entourage, arrived outside the cabin where Chu Xiaoxiao and her team were located. Two mercenaries were withdrawing their cutting tools, while four fierce-looking mercenaries flanked either side, vigilantly holding their weapons.
"Boss!" Seeing their leader approach, the mercenaries made way.
Captain Yuan nodded, glanced at the tightly shut door and the cutting marks, then turned to one of his subordinates and said, "Get to work!"
The man complied, pulling out two tear gas grenades and preparing to kick open the now barely intact hole in the door.
At that moment, a deafening explosion rocked the ship, causing it to tremble violently as though it were in an earthquake. The mercenaries were thrown off balance, with Brother Feng crashing face-first into the wall, his nose bleeding profusely as he let out a pained scream.
As the shaking subsided, Captain Yuan scrambled to his feet and roared, "What's happening? What is going on?!"
Everyone exchanged confused glances, unsure how to answer.
"Ah Ping, take two men and go check outside!" Captain Yuan, regaining his composure, barked the order.
This commotion surely indicated something had gone awry outside!
"Yes, Boss!" Ah Ping responded, hurrying out with two others.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Before the group could get far, a barrage of cannon fire erupted outside, accompanied by continuous tremors and fierce gunfire. Captain Yuan's experienced face turned pale—cannon fire?! How could there be such intense cannon fire on the sea? There must be at least twenty cannons firing at the yacht! But how could that be?
The relentless bombardment continued for about a minute before gradually ceasing. Fortunately, their location seemed untouched, but everyone remained in a state of alarm.
The overhead lights flickered and went out, with emergency lights coming on. The yacht's power system had sustained irreparable damage from the assault. The corridor was left in eerie darkness, causing another wave of unrest among the mercenaries, who were bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
However, these seasoned veterans quickly regained their composure, taking up defensive positions and maintaining heightened alertness while awaiting further instructions from their leader.
Brother Feng, clutching his bleeding nose, looked anxiously at Captain Yuan. "Captain?"
"Quiet!" Captain Yuan glared at Brother Feng with irritation.
Although the cannon fire had ceased, intermittent explosions continued. Could they be grenades?
"Captain! Captain! Help!" At that moment, a wounded mercenary staggered into the corridor from outside, covered in smoke and clearly injured. His face, however, was marked by a look of sheer terror, a sign of near mental collapse.
"Lao Liu?!" Captain Yuan quickly grabbed him by the collar.
"What's happening outside?! What about the others?"
"Ghost… ghost ship! There's a ghost ship! Ah! Help, don't come closer! Don't come closer!" The mercenary, Lao Liu, babbled incoherently, clearly in shock.
"Smack!" Captain Yuan slapped Lao Liu across the face.
"Calm down! Tell me! What exactly happened outside?" Captain Yuan demanded with a fierce glare.
Seemingly brought back to some semblance of sanity by the slap, Lao Liu stammered, "It… it's a ghost ship! It… it crashed into us! It's a wooden sailing ship, but as hard as iron, and our rockets were useless against it. And… and it has so many cannons! So many cannons! Then… then there were a bunch of little demons! Little demons that explode! They chased us, crying and exploding when they caught us. It was terrifying! Truly terrifying! All the brothers… all the brothers are dead!"
The corridor fell silent, the air thick with fear.
Captain Yuan released Lao Liu, who slumped weakly, continuing to mutter "ghost ship." He surveyed the scene; fear was evident in everyone's eyes.
Brother Feng was trembling uncontrollably, regretting his decision to join the fray. He lamented his folly in seeking out this chaos.
Captain Yuan's face darkened with rage. What was supposed to be a simple kidnapping mission had now escalated into a catastrophic situation. It seemed his entire crew outside had been wiped out, leaving his mercenary group with fewer than ten members. This level of loss was unprecedented.
Realizing the gravity of their situation, he shot a scornful glance at the shivering Brother Feng.
"Hmph! A ghost ship? Nonsense! I don't believe there's such a thing as a ghost ship in this world! Even if there were, I'd send it straight to hell! Assign two men to guard the target. The rest of you will slowly search outside. If you encounter anything suspicious, don't warn—just fire!"
The leader's calm, commanding voice provided some reassurance to the mercenaries. They exchanged glances and, following orders, six or seven mercenaries began to cover each other, turning on their tactical flashlights and cautiously moving outward. Leading the way was Ah Ping.
Outside, the sporadic explosions and screams had ceased entirely, leaving the yacht eerily quiet.
The corridor was now filled only with the mercenaries' heavy breathing and soft footsteps.
"Click!" Ah Ping stepped on something soft, freezing in place.
Sweat pouring from his brow, he shone his flashlight down to find only a silver ribbon. He exhaled in relief, cursing himself for his paranoia, and refocused on the task at hand.
Unbeknownst to him, as he passed, the silver ribbon silently transformed into a liquid-metal-like substance, slinking along the dark corner of the corridor, flowing deeper into the yacht.
"Ah Ping, what's the situation?" Captain Yuan's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie on his shoulder.
With the external fast boat destroyed by Nian Yun, the communication shield had been damaged as well, allowing normal use of communication devices.
"Reporting, Captain. Everything is normal so far!" Ah Ping replied.
"Good, stay alert and continue searching!"
"Yes, sir!"
Ah Ping ended the call and pressed on. They carefully rounded a corner, the tactical flashlight illuminating a new corridor as they remained wary of any sudden enemy appearances.
However, all the mercenaries suddenly froze.
Not because of an enemy, but because, about ten meters ahead, a line of three small figures stood in the corridor.
Under the flashlight, they could clearly see that these figures were toy robots, but their design was quite bizarre. They were covered in green, with zombie faces, prominent eyeballs, and large buck teeth, making them look particularly eerie in this environment.
One of the zombie robots was holding a small door panel, another had an old-fashioned pot lid on its head, and the third was wrapped like a mummy, all with a round object strapped to their backs.
"What… what are these things?!" Ah Ping asked, nervously aiming his submachine gun at them, his voice trembling.
"Mercenaries vs. Zombies, let the game begin!" At that moment, the three robotic figures spoke in eerie, metallic voices, then began advancing in unison, moving with a staggered zombie gait.
Mercenaries vs. Zombies?!
Ah Ping understood Chinese and, unfortunately, had played a game called *Plants vs. Zombies*! His eyes widened in horror as an ominous feeling surged within him…