When the mountain-like sea beasts once again surrounded the fleet, almost everyone felt despair. Although twenty more comrades were lost yesterday, the biggest blow to morale was the loss of a destroyer. In contrast, among the sea beasts, only the Great White Shark had been injured; the other two sea beasts were unharmed, almost as if they were at full strength.
Thus, many placed their hopes on reinforcements, believing that once the reinforcements arrived, the current crisis could be somewhat resolved.
At this moment, soldiers were still whispering prayers: "The people from the Bureau of Supernatural Abilities are all seasoned warriors. With their support, they will surely be able to defeat these sea beasts. I heard Lord Fengshen has also arrived; Lord Fengshen must have a way."
Some ability users from the Chosen Bureau overheard this, and their faces felt somewhat embarrassed. Praising other ability users in front of them was like slapping their own faces!
However, the people from the Chosen Bureau also knew that it was useless to show off at this moment. The truth was, they desperately needed support. Otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to preserve themselves, let alone salvage the meteorite.
The fleet's ammunition was severely depleted. The fighter jets that had taken off yesterday had also consumed a lot of fuel and ammunition, and the ship's energy consumption was particularly severe. At this time, the ship's propellers were entangled with plastic, making it impossible to move. In such a situation, they could only request help from others.
On the cruiser, they were urgently contacting reinforcements. "How much longer until you arrive? The situation here is extremely dangerous!"
"Two more hours. You must hold on for at least two hours. Then, leave the battlefield to us!" the final answer came through the intercom.
With two more hours until reinforcements arrived, the Chosen Bureau and the fleet had to hold on. After receiving this answer, the commander finally breathed a sigh of relief. If it were only two hours, they could still manage.
However, at this very moment, the three sea beasts began their attack simultaneously, and all of them started using their abilities. The sea turtle approached the ships unhurriedly. The destroyers could only continuously fire shells to prevent the sea turtle from getting closer. Unfortunately, after a full day of consumption, the ships' ammunition was insufficient, and their firepower was noticeably less fierce than yesterday.
The squid's tactic remained as cunning as before: it first sprayed a cloud of ink to obscure its form, then dived again. After using its ability, it attacked with strong acid. The strong acid enveloped the hull of a destroyer and began to corrode it.
If the battle were fought on land, let alone three sea beasts, even thirty sea beasts would be no match. These sea beasts could not be opponents of humans. But now the battlefield was at sea, and humans' weakness was obvious. At sea, once the ships were lost, there was no foothold. Therefore, the squid's tactic was the most vicious: as long as the ships were destroyed one by one, humans would have no place to stand, and the scales of victory would completely tilt towards the sea beasts.
As for the Great White Shark, it stopped disguising itself. It also began to use its ability. Suddenly, a lot of plastic appeared in the surrounding seawater. This plastic condensed into a large hand and began to grab at the ship's deck.
Upon seeing this, the people from the Chosen Bureau immediately realized that the Great White Shark's ability was indeed the manipulation of plastic!
Previously, no one's ability was the manipulation of plastic. For such man-made objects, it seemed that abilities would not favor them. But now, the facts were before them, and everyone could only believe what they saw: the Great White Shark could manipulate plastic.
Gong Changfa took out his walkie-talkie and shouted, "Members of the Chosen Bureau, it's time to act! Lin Xi, use your ability to cover the ship's hull; we can't let the ship be corroded!"
The situation was dire. The only hope of survival was to hold on for two hours until the reinforcements arrived. To persevere, the ability users could no longer hold back; they had to reveal all their trump cards!
Gong Changfa was unsure himself. Although they had many ability users, many of their abilities were not suitable for combat. Even those few suitable for combat might not be able to display their full strength at sea. Therefore, Gong Changfa did not dare to have too many expectations for the upcoming battle.
The Great White Shark controlled the plastic particles in the seawater to condense into a palm and swept across the ships. The Great White Shark was also greedy, and its primary target was the cruiser. The cruiser had hundreds of soldiers; if it could sweep them off, these soldiers would most likely perish.
"Swish," the plastic hand, five to six meters thick, swept across the cruiser. Even fighter jets could not withstand such an attack; they were swept off the deck on the spot.
However, Gong Changfa charged forward at this moment and punched the center of the plastic hand, shouting, "Chaos and Disorder!"
"Splash..." Gong Changfa, such a tiny figure, rushed forward, seemingly unable to block the plastic hand. But as soon as Gong Changfa came into contact with the plastic, he instantly unleashed his ability. His ability was called Particle Rampage, and its destructive power was extremely strong. The once solid and massive plastic hand instantly began to melt, turning the plastic into liquid that flowed continuously on the deck, unable to condense again.
The principle behind Gong Changfa's move was simple. Since the object controlled by the Great White Shark was plastic, his attack had to target the properties of plastic. Plastic is a polymer with many chemical bonds connecting the molecules, which is why plastic is so strong. However, as long as his ability disrupted these chemical bonds, these plastic molecules would not be able to combine, eventually turning into liquid.
When Gong Changfa displayed this ability, those who saw it were amazed, never expecting that their own ability users possessed such powerful abilities.
"So powerful! It turns out our ability users can also fight," many soldiers muttered to themselves upon witnessing this.
Seeing that their captain had also unleashed his ability, Zhu Kai no longer cared about anything else. He immediately climbed to the ship's mast, where there was a basket, usually occupied by observers. Now, he occupied it.
"Rampage Wave!" Zhu Kai also began to use his ability. He could release waves of electricity with a rampaging effect around him. The waves could penetrate the ship's hull, and as long as they were within a certain range, humans would be affected.
The moment Zhu Kai unleashed his ability, the soldiers and ability users on the cruiser were affected by the electric waves. Their eyes turned bloodshot, and they felt an inexplicable sense of frenzy, which in turn acted upon their bodies, enhancing their strength and speed.
Gong Changfa also felt the influence of these waves. He felt an inexhaustible surge of strength throughout his body, and his thoughts became slightly chaotic: "Zhu Kai, well done! Now, with me on the ship, these sea beasts' abilities cannot harm the vessel!"
Zhu Kai's ability could not only affect humans but also ability users. Those affected by the electric waves would become frenzied, but correspondingly, their rationality would be affected, their strength and speed would be enhanced, while their thinking ability would be weakened. At this moment, the fleet could not escape, and they had no other option but to fight to the death. Therefore, Zhu Kai unleashed this ability.
The range of the electric waves released by Zhu Kai was also very small, only affecting a surrounding area. Thus, apart from the people on the cruiser, those on other ships were completely unaffected, as the electric waves could not reach that far.
Lin Xi's stamina had recovered after a night's rest. Coincidentally, the squid was hiding beneath her ship and using its ability. The seawater around the destroyer instantly became acidic, forcing Lin Xi to act. There were all sorts of ions in the seawater; as long as she could form a gel, she could protect the ship's hull from damage.
"Nie Yuying, come and grab the rope. If you see danger, pull me up immediately!" Lin Xi said to the man beside her.
After speaking, Lin Xi tied a rope around herself and handed the other end to Nie Yuying. His ability was muscle enhancement, exactly the same as Jiang Kui's ability. It was not very useful in naval combat, but his strength was guaranteed. By handing the rope to him, as long as danger was detected, Lin Xi could be pulled up at any time.
Nie Yuying grabbed the rope, wound it around his hands twice to ensure it wouldn't slip, and then said, "Alright, don't worry. I'll hold on tight. You go ahead!"
With her companion's assurance, Lin Xi said no more and jumped into the seawater. The moment she touched the water surface, she immediately began to use her ability, "Become!"
Lin Xi punched the seawater, and countless ions instantly formed a gel. However, the gel dissipated in an instant, and Lin Xi fell straight into the sea.
"Help me!" Lin Xi did not expect such a situation. Her ability, which had always worked, had failed in an instant. In her haste, she could only call for help.
If the process of using her ability had gone smoothly, Lin Xi should have landed on the gel, just like yesterday. But Lin Xi did not expect her ability to fail; the gel had vanished in an instant, and she had fallen into the water.
Nie Yuying dared not delay. He grabbed the rope and pulled upwards with all his might, pulling Lin Xi back onto the ship. Soldiers brought a bucket of clean water and said, "Quick, rinse yourself off! Don't let the acid corrode your skin!"
Lin Xi was quite concerned about her appearance. If her face were ruined by the acid, it would be too tragic. So, Lin Xi grabbed the bucket and poured it over her head, washing away all the acid.
"I didn't expect my ability to fail. I can't condense colloid around the ship," Lin Xi said with a grim expression.
Nie Yuying thought for a moment and said, "This might be due to the acidity. The seawater around the ship is now all acidic. In this environment, colloid cannot form, and even if it did, it would be dissolved."
"Then what do we do now? Are we just going to watch the ship beneath our feet be corroded?" Lin Xi asked urgently.
Nie Yuying shook his head, indicating his inability to help.
The ship's artillery fire suddenly became sparse. The shells were almost depleted. Seizing this opportunity, the sea turtle suddenly accelerated and charged towards a destroyer.
"Thud," the sea turtle hit a destroyer, emitting a dull sound. Feeling such a violent vibration, the soldiers on the ship could barely stand steady.
The destroyer tilted. Helplessly, the captain ordered the use of electric shock to make the sea turtle move away.
The situation had become even more dire. There were not many shells left, while the sea beasts had suffered almost no damage. Many people present had fallen into despair, including many from the Chosen Bureau.
Not all ability users were as powerful as Gong Changfa. Many ability users were only physically enhanced and could not even control other substances. Being threatened by their lives at sea, they had no place to escape, and these people immediately became pessimistic.
"We were deceived by Gong Changfa. He talked about gaining fame and respect from the world after salvaging the meteorite. He can protect himself, but what about us now?" The ability users began to complain. They had thought of going to sea to earn merit, but now it seemed that earning merit was out of the question, and even their own safety was not guaranteed. It was a case of losing the wife and the soldiers too!
The captains knew that the current artillery shells could no longer pose a threat to these giant sea beasts. The sea turtle had strong regenerative abilities, and it had exposed its shell earlier solely to consume artillery shells; its objective had been achieved. The Great White Shark was extremely fast underwater, and underwater missiles could not hit it. As for the squid underwater, as soon as it detected a missile locking onto it, it would immediately dive into the deep water. Once the missile lost its target, it would resurface.
It could be said that in naval combat, the fleet's advantage had been completely lost.
"All ships, activate high-voltage electricity to prevent the sea beasts from approaching!" the commander responded to the situation.
The ships quickly complied, placing high-voltage coils in the water and then powering them up. Now, they could only hope that the electrified seawater would prevent the giant sea beasts from approaching. As for the subsequent battle, it would likely rely on the ability users.