“I won’t deny the purpose and means of the Raiders. We are indeed bound by the ‘Mainline Strategy.’ To complete this objective, we kill, we steal… but that’s not our fault!”
Wu Xiaomi’s voice was clear and firm.
“So far, everything we have done follows the instructions of the ‘Strategy Objective.’ It is not driven by our own subjective motives, but because we are coerced.”
“Moreover, according to statistics, none of the Strategy Objectives assigned to Raiders have ever violated ethics or morality.”
“We have been ordered to fight the Beastmask Bandits, to oppose Mirror Night, to confront Evil Spirits… Raiders in other regions are the same.
Every time, the Strategy Objective requires us to help the upright and kindhearted local residents, to maintain local security and peace!”
“Although, we don’t know why the existence behind the ‘Strategy’ can foresee crimes. Nor do we understand exactly where ‘it’ stands, or why it helps or controls us…”
“But everyone! Please understand! Raiders in our region come with goodwill!”
“We are homeless, but we also have our own morals and bottom line!”
“What you really need to be wary of and investigate is the ‘Strategy’ that drives our actions, the entity behind the White Space! If anyone truly has ill intentions toward the Prohibited Law World… it’s not us!
We are friends! We are supposed to be on the same side!”
……
The wind was strong.
And so were the waves.
Heavy waves pounded against the pier’s seawall, splashing out sharp droplets like bullets.
[Ah Lei: No. 1 Harbor is normal.]
[Huang Xiao: No. 2 Harbor is normal.]
Feisi City had two major cargo ports, and now all the ships obediently dropped anchor, hiding in the docking area.
The wind and waves were too fierce, and with the lighthouse broken, no one dared to venture out to sea.
Yet, no new ships had appeared on the sea surface for several hours.
“Logically, cargo ships passing by encountering such storms would dock at the nearest harbor. This is very unreasonable.”
“Yes, very unreasonable, as if — all ships beyond the visible horizon were swallowed by some giant maw in the sea.”
“Wait… look! There’s a ship! A new one just appeared!”
A new one?
There really was!
On the horizon, a small fishing boat swayed in the wind and rain.
Its sail was broken, and it was driven by spiritual energy, a dim glow wildly spurting from the stern’s thruster, spraying a dozen meters of light halo.
It looked like it was running from something.
The boat twisted left and right, riding the crests of the waves, racing for its life.
“Huh? You guys check with the binoculars…”
Ah Lei’s expression was strange.
Because through the binoculars’ dual view, the stern clearly showed a familiar figure.
“Pfft… Han Nuo?”
At this moment, Han Nuo’s clothes were tattered, lips pale and cracked.
He leaned dazedly on the boat’s thruster, numbly stuffing piece after piece of energy cores inside to provide propulsion.
The thruster was overloaded and smoking, but he refused to stop, as if if he did, something terrible would happen.
“This guy, couldn’t be trying to escape by sea route, only to run headlong into a mission trap, right?” Ah Lei laughed wildly.
Serves him right!
Serves him right!
Heaven has eyes, hahaha—
Seeming to notice Ah Lei and the others, Han Nuo opened his mouth from afar.
Judging by the mouth shape, he was saying:
“Help!”
“If I were Kang Jie, maybe I would have saved him. But unfortunately, I’m not.” Ah Lei stood on shore, gloating, holding a skewer of grilled gluten and waving at Han Nuo.
“Stay away from the coast!” Han Nuo shouted.
His voice was scattered by the wind, but fortunately, he had joined the Team Channel.
That weak voice finally reached everyone’s ears.
“Stay away from the coast! Muliang, seafood bites!”
Seafood bites?
Before Han Nuo could reach the shore, a sudden scream came from tourists resting on the beach.
He had been filming a tide-hunting video, catching small crustaceans and recording the process. Because it was like a treasure hunt, it was quite popular.
But just now—
He had just picked up a hermit crab.
“Pfit!”
His finger snapped off at the base.
Obviously, this was not the strength a hermit crab should have.
“Ahhhhh—”
Pain like a knife tearing at his flesh shot from the broken finger.
The tide-hunting blogger instinctively wanted to run, but when he looked down, his scalp tingled and his mind went blank.
From the golden sand, countless sea snails and shrimps crawled out.
Those tiny sea snails were insignificant, but when they climbed onto the man’s feet, he felt as if millions of tiny teeth were gnawing him.
He hurriedly pulled them off, only to see that under those slimy snail feet, the acid had already corroded to the bone.
The mucus of these sea snails was actually a strong acid!
“What the hell! Help—”
The man shouted, running away from the shore.
But the sea snails had already spread across the entire beach.
Terrifying acid mucus covered the whole stretch of sand.
Ah Lei could only watch as the man shrank smaller and smaller.
His legs had been carbonized and melted, then his upper body…
The sea snails swarmed over him, greedily gnawing at his liquefied bones.
“Splatter—”
A flock of dark clouds drifted over the sea, but as they drew closer, everyone saw clearly.
Those weren’t clouds.
They were seabirds.
Their heads had rotted away to the brain, yet their cloacae still discharged.
“Zzzz—”
“Damn!” Ah Lei blankly watched a bird dropping land on a dockworker’s head, instantly melting a large hole.
What kind of disaster is this?! How should we report it, how describe it?
“Boom—”
Amidst the loud noise, Han Nuo steered the fishing boat straight toward the shore, ignoring the grounding and using the thruster at full power.
The Ark Members jumped down at top speed.
Even these hardened men used to life and death were shaken to the core, trembling all over.
“What on earth happened in the sea?!”
“Sea? Ha, you still call it sea? It’s a Strong Acid Pool!”
A surge of blue liquid surged from the distant sea.
There were still swimmers in the water, but when they touched that green stream, their bodies instantly melted into bloody water.
“This is not scientific!” Ah Lei wailed. “The whole sea is like this? Or only this area? Did you see any other tentacled ladies?”
“No, but I guess this acid mass might be alive.”
“Living strong acid?!”
“Hmm… I’ve estimated its size,” Han Nuo panted as he ran, “It’s bigger than the entire Feisi City!”
……
“In the days to come, Raiders will still act according to the White Space’s orders!”
At the center of the trial, the youth in the Sin Cage stood under the spotlight, speaking with resolute conviction.
“At the same time, we will abide by our moral bottom line, firmly defending the rights of every citizen, even if you regard us as enemies.”
After Wu Xiaomi finished speaking, she lifted her chin openly and proudly.
In the courtroom, the Judge and Clerks whispered among themselves.
Finally,
They shook their heads.
“I’m sorry, I understand your actions are understandable, but you do not belong to the Prohibited Law. We cannot trust you.
For safety reasons, we have decided—from today onward, Feisi City will officially issue a Proclamation of Wanted Order, banning any Raiders from appearing in Feisi City and arresting any encountered Raiders.
Now, I hereby sentence—”
“Ah—” “Ehh ahhh—Help!”
Just as the gavel was about to fall,
A chorus of screams erupted from outside the court, relentless and overwhelming.