When Chu Zhaoyan returned to the Shen family, she was the only one missing from the dinner table. Shen Xin had also returned from the military camp, having specifically requested and been granted leave. With Shen Feng absent, the Shen family was otherwise reunited.
This was the first time Shen Xin and He Liping had met Chang Jianyiyi. Although they had video chatted before, it was always through a screen. Now, meeting Chang Jianyiyi at home and learning she was their daughter-in-law, they were very happy.
He Liping and Shen Xin were constantly asking about Chang Jianyiyi's well-being. Chang Jianyiyi responded gently, answering her father-in-law and mother-in-law's questions with grace.
Chu Zhaoyan, however, seemed preoccupied. During dinner, she was often silent.
He Liping mistook Chu Zhaoyan's quietness for feeling neglected. She quickly served Chu Zhaoyan more food, saying, "Zhaoyan, eat more. It's rare for you to visit. You can't lose weight. Thank you for bringing so many gifts."
Chu Zhaoyan snapped back to attention and smiled in response.
In reality, Chu Zhaoyan wasn't bothered by the amount of attention she and Chang Jianyiyi received. She was actually thinking about Yu Renshu. Although she had decided not to tell Shen Feng about Yu Renshu's situation, upon further reflection, she felt it wasn't appropriate to keep it from him indefinitely. Chu Zhaoyan was thus deliberating on how to proceed.
Unbeknownst to her, Chu Zhaoyan's brief silence led to a misunderstanding, with He Liping misinterpreting it as her own neglect of Chu Zhaoyan.
At this moment, Chang Jianyiyi took out a small box from her person and handed it to Shen Xin. She said softly, "Dad, Mom, and Sister, these are gifts from Shen Feng and me. With the chaos of the world upon us, we don't know when we'll resolve the crisis and restore peace. The best we can do is enhance your abilities to survive the crisis. Inside are three ability-enhancing serums. Please don't make a fuss about it. Take them quietly. Once you become ability users, you'll have the means to resist danger."
After speaking, Chang Jianyiyi prepared to open the box.
However, Shen Yu quickly held Chang Jianyiyi's hand and then gave her mother a meaningful glance. He Liping understood and stood up to draw the curtains.
The Shen family actually lived in a four-story building. Although it was only four stories high, it felt quite spacious for the three of them. It seemed they were living in a noisy environment, but Shen Yu had already noticed that their home was being watched.
Chang Jianyiyi saw Shen Yu's actions and immediately reacted, lowering her voice and asking, "Are you in great danger now? If so, why don't you come with us to Yuzhou? Once we're in Yuzhou, there will be no danger!"
Shen Yu said in a low voice, "It's alright. We're just being monitored. As long as we're careful, it's fine. Going to Yuzhou might not be safer than now because Yuzhou actually lacks resources and food. Life in Rongcheng is quite good in comparison."
Hearing Shen Yu's words, Chu Zhaoyan couldn't help but ask, "Sister, what are you insisting on? Staying in Rongcheng might not be a good thing. If you come with us to Yuzhou, everything will be fine."
Chang Jianyiyi also nodded in agreement, indicating that Chu Zhaoyan was right.
Shen Yu shook her head helplessly, not answering. However, He Liping explained, "This is for safety reasons. Rongcheng is very safe right now. Even if we're being monitored, there's no real danger. Besides, your sister is waiting to marry Xiao Sheng. He's currently on a mission in the north and should be back in a few months. If you go to Yuzhou, marriage and such might be out of the question!"
Chang Jianyiyi sighed helplessly, while Chu Zhaoyan asked, "Then why don't you two elders come to Yuzhou with us? That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Shen Xin said gravely, "We actually wish for the family to be reunited, but we also have to consider the happiness of our two children. Shen Feng is a boy and is used to living outside. Shen Yu has never left Rongcheng, and we need to take care of her. Let's forget about this for now. When the opportunity arises in the future, our family will go to Yuzhou."
The conversation fell silent at this point. Previously, Shen Yu had not intended to go to Jiangyang because she felt Rongcheng was dangerous. But now, she couldn't go to Yuzhou because of Xiao Sheng. She was patiently waiting for Xiao Sheng to return to Rongcheng so they could get married.
It was a coincidence that Shen Feng found his happiness in Jiangyang, while Shen Yu's happiness lay in staying in Rongcheng. These were their respective choices. In the midst of the apocalypse, the inability of a family to stay together was also a form of helplessness.
...
Meanwhile, two broad warships departed from Qiongzhou Island, entering the Pacific Ocean via the South China Sea. The news that extraterrestrial elements originated from meteorites was still being suppressed. Apart from a select few, the general public was unaware of the source of these extraterrestrial elements.
Upon learning that the abilities of ability users came from meteorites, the YanJing headquarters immediately made a decision: first, to seal off the information. Li Keyi, who had successfully separated extraterrestrial elements, was absolutely not to leave YanJing casually. All other informed individuals were required to sign confidentiality agreements. Even Shen Feng was not allowed to speak carelessly.
Next, the headquarters initiated new actions. Since abilities originated from meteorites, the first priority was to salvage the meteorites from the sea! If they could obtain the meteorites, then ability users could be produced in abundance. It only took two grams of extraterrestrial elements to create an ability user, and the meteorite that fell into the Pacific Ocean was twenty meters in diameter. Such a large meteorite could even be used to create an army of ability users.
Of course, with so many countries on Earth and only one meteorite, whoever obtained the meteorite first would possess the most immense power.
It was precisely for this reason that the headquarters secretly dispatched troops to the Pacific Ocean to salvage the meteorite.
The meteorite's impact point was in the southern Pacific Ocean, in the deep sea, with no islands nearby. It was roughly located in the southwestern Pacific Basin. There was no land in the vicinity, and very few ships passed through this area before. It could be considered the most secluded region on Earth.
The long journey from Qiongzhou to the South Pacific, across the vast ocean, could only be spent on a ship.
As the Northern Hemisphere was about to enter summer, the arrival of summer meant drastic changes in maritime climate. One moment it could be clear skies, and the next, dark clouds would gather, followed by thunder and lightning. Even colossal warships appeared insignificant in the face of sea storms.
A week after the warships left Qiongzhou, satellites suddenly detected numerous colossal entities at sea. If they were whales tens of meters long, the observers would not have been so surprised. However, the satellites observed giant monsters hundreds of meters long, and not just one. Previously, satellites had been observing the land situation because zombies were the most direct threat. But now, as satellites began observing the Pacific Ocean, they immediately spotted many monsters.
Even the longest mutated snakes on land were only fifty meters long. Even the Dragon King, frequently sighted in the Yangtze River, was observed by survivors to be only seventy meters long. However, in the sea, mutated beasts hundreds of meters long were frequently found, and sometimes even giant monsters a thousand meters long. Even dinosaurs were not this large.
At this moment, someone in the laboratory recalled what Shen Feng had conveyed from the Corpse King: there were more terrifying monsters in the ocean!
Now, someone could finally understand the Corpse King's words before his death. It turned out that there were indeed such terrifying monsters in the ocean, their colossal bodies comparable to warships.
When some commanders heard this news, they were stunned and murmured, "If such massive monsters attacked the land, wouldn't it be impossible to resist?"
Fortunately, researchers provided an answer that bolstered everyone's confidence: "Don't worry. The larger the creature, the less likely it is to leave the ocean. Because the larger their bodies, the more exaggerated their weight becomes. Once on land, their own weight would crush them. Only in the ocean, with boundless seawater supporting them, can they survive!"
The commanders were finally relieved to hear this. As long as these behemoths couldn't come ashore, everything would be fine.
However, the commanders then became worried. Although these ocean monsters couldn't come ashore, what about the warships in the ocean? What about the soldiers on the warships? If the soldiers encountered these monsters, they would likely have no ability to fight back!
With this thought, the commanders couldn't sit still and immediately sent messages from YanJing to the warships, "During navigation, always pay close attention to the surrounding sea conditions. Report immediately if there is any danger!"
The soldiers were also very cautious, turning on sonar to constantly monitor the surrounding sea conditions. Even if an ordinary whale passed by, they had to track its movements. The unknown was always the most terrifying. Without knowing the true nature of the monsters, there was no way to deal with them.
In ancient times, both in the East and the West, the ocean was greatly feared. Especially in the West, many maps depicted monstrous figures in unknown waters. The fundamental reason for this was the vastness of the ocean. Seventy percent of the Earth's surface was sea, while land was the scarcer part.
The number of creatures in the ocean far exceeded that on land. Now that all life on Earth had mutated, it would be strange if there were no mutated beasts in the ocean.
Yet, from the day the zombie outbreak occurred until now, nearly a year had passed, and people had paid little attention to the ocean. No one had ever considered what it would be like if all the animals in the sea began to mutate.
At this moment, people were horrified to discover that the ocean had become unfamiliar. They didn't know what the ocean had become over the past year!
The soldiers on the warships carefully observed everything. They could handle storms; at most, they would just sway. But they had no idea what the sea monsters looked like. If they were hundreds of meters long, wouldn't they be even larger than the monsters in Ultraman?
As a result, ten days into their journey, sonar detected a behemoth approaching in the ocean. They immediately notified YanJing, and the soldiers prepared for battle.
Warships were very fast at sea. Although they couldn't compare to high-speed trains, on the vast ocean, besides birds like swifts, there were almost no creatures that could surpass them.
However, one of the warships' sonar detected a monster rapidly approaching. Its body was enormous, over three hundred meters long. It was impossible to tell what kind of animal it was that had mutated. The only certainty was that the warship had been targeted by this monster.
The warships were only a hundred meters apart, traveling one after another. Now that the rear warship had detected danger, the front warship immediately intended to provide support. The cannons on the warships were opened one after another, ready to deliver a head-on blow to any monster hidden in the sea!
The monster moved quickly underwater. Even though the warship was sailing at full speed, it was still slowly approaching the warship from underwater. It was daytime, and soldiers on the deck looked down, seeing a massive shadow approaching the warship from below the water. The surrounding seawater was churning, waves rising and falling, and the entire sea surface seemed to boil.
At this moment, the monster had not yet revealed itself, but the soldiers were already panicking. No one knew what the underwater monster was, but judging by its immense size alone, it was definitely not to be trifled with!
"Fire torpedoes to stop this monster from approaching," the captain shouted loudly, directing his soldiers in combat. He appeared calm, but in reality, he had no idea how the upcoming battle would unfold. Previous combat objectives had been other warships, but now, facing a behemoth from the ocean, it was a battle they had never imagined.