novelaction Chapter 793: Whereabouts unknown, hoping for a turnaround
Chapter 793: Whereabouts unknown, hoping for a turnaround
The salty sea breeze, carrying a pungent burnt smell, violently poured into everyone's mouth and nose.
On the coastline of Ningchang County, the once peaceful fishing village has long since turned into a charred ruin.
The Night Watch's logistics department personnel, wearing white survey uniforms, shuttled among the ruins.
Yellow cordons were drawn up, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
On the beach not far away, Baili Pangpang stared intently at the dark sea surging in the distance.
The pair of eyes that were usually narrowed into slits were now wide open and filled with terrifying bloodshot.
Beside him, Cao Yuwei clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from excessive force, and was as silent as a volcano about to erupt.
Jiang Shiyi and another team member lowered their heads, their shoulders trembling slightly, and silent sadness enveloped them.
Time has never been so torturous.
Every second was like a blunt knife, cutting repeatedly on their tense nerves.
Finally, a black dot appeared on the horizon, and the roar of the diesel engine came from far away.
A speedboat belonging to the Daxia Deep Sea Search and Rescue Team came through the waves.
Baili Pangpang stood up straight suddenly, his heart seemed to be grasped by an invisible big hand and almost stopped beating.
The people next to him also raised their heads in unison, all eyes focused on the ship that was getting closer and closer.
The speedboat docked and a dark-skinned, sturdy search and rescue team leader jumped off the boat, his trouser legs soaked with sea water.
He took off his hat and shook his head with a heavy face before Baili Pangpang could speak.
"We...we searched the entire 20-nautical-mile area around the explosion center."
"The sonar and life detector scanned three times..."
The captain's voice was hoarse and dry.
"Not even a single piece of the wreckage of the Mist was found, let alone anyone. Nothing at all."
Nothing...nothing?
These four words were like a ruthless hammer, hitting everyone's heart hard.
The blood color on Baili Pangpang's face instantly faded away, turning as pale as paper.
His tall body swayed, as if all his strength had been drained away.
He staggered back two steps and fell down on the cold sand.
The flame of hope was completely extinguished by the cold sea water.
There was no wreckage or bodies to be found. In an explosion of that magnitude,
It only means one result - no body is left, along with the strange cruise ship.
Completely wiped out from this world.
Qiye...Old Wu...Jialan...
Baili Pangpang's lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a word.
A bone-chilling chill rushed from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.
Despair, like a huge wave in the deep sea, swallowed him up in an instant.
Cao Yuwei punched the reef beside him fiercely, and the hard rock cracked open.
Blood flowed through his fingers, but he didn't feel any pain.
Dead silence.
Apart from the never-ending sound of waves, the entire coastline fell into a suffocating silence.
Just when the atmosphere of despair was so thick that it could not be dissolved,
A burst of hurried and messy footsteps came from behind, breaking the silence.
Everyone subconsciously looked back.
I saw a figure stumbling out from the ruins.
His hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and his white research coat was stained with dirt and oil.
His eye sockets were sunken and his dark circles were so thick that it looked like he hadn't slept for days and nights.
He ran, breathing heavily and looking in a miserable state.
"An...An Qingyu?" Baili Pangpang was stunned and didn't react for a moment.
The others also looked stunned and surprised.
Why is An Qingyu here?
Shouldn't he be in charge of the overall situation at headquarters?
His appearance is like a light that suddenly lights up in the dark night.
This made everyone feel an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
However, this expectation was soon replaced by greater doubts.
Why is he like this?
Something happened at headquarters?
An Qingyu ran closer, holding his knees and panting violently for a few times.
He didn't even have time to greet everyone.
He raised his bloodshot eyes and asked anxiously, "How is it? Have you found them? Where are Qiye and the others?"
There was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice.
Seeing his anxious look, the little flame that everyone had just ignited quickly dimmed again.
Baili Pangpang opened his mouth, but Cao Yuwei finally spoke for him.
The voice was so low that it seemed as if water could drip out of it: "The search and rescue team... found nothing."
An Qingyu's body visibly stiffened.
He slowly stood up and glanced at the pale-faced Baili Pangpang.
Then I looked at the silent rescue ship in the distance.
Finally, his sight fixed on the boundless black sea.
Everyone thought he would fall into the same despair as them.
But unexpectedly,
After a brief silence, An Qingyu's furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
Far from despairing, a strange light flashed in his eyes.
"Didn't find it?" He asked the search and rescue captain again as if to confirm.
"Yes, Minister An, nothing." The captain answered affirmatively.
"Good... Great!" An Qingyu slapped his thigh, a look of relief on his face.
"If they haven't found anything, it means they are still alive!"
This sentence stunned everyone present.
Baili Pangpang looked up blankly at An Qingyu, his eyes full of confusion.
He even suspected that this guy had gone crazy and started talking nonsense.
"An Qingyu, you...what did you say?"
"I say, the probability of them being alive is very high!"
An Qingyu's tone was firm and decisive. He walked quickly to the front of the crowd and analyzed the situation at a very fast speed.
"What kind of explosion do you think that was? A 'Catastrophe' level forbidden object self-destructing!"
"In that kind of energy core, let alone a human, even an aircraft carrier would be vaporized instantly!"
"If they really died in the explosion, even if we can't find a complete body,"
"We can definitely find biological tissue remains and DNA fragments,"
"Or the torn metal of the Mist!"
"You should have faith in the search and rescue team's skills. If they have it, they'll definitely find it!"
His words were like a bolt of lightning, splitting the chaos in everyone's minds.
Yeah...why are they all stuck in the mindset of "can't find = no body left"?
An Qingyu continued without pausing, "The current situation is, there is nothing!"
"A sea so clean it looks like it was erased from the world with an eraser! Is this normal?"
“This is exactly the most abnormal thing!”
"This means that at the moment the forbidden object exploded, they were not at the core of the explosion at all!"
"Qiye has 'Moment', the 'Mist' can travel through space, and Wu Hen..."
An Qingyu paused and took a deep breath. "That guy has many more tricks than we imagined."
"They were capable enough to disengage in the split second before the explosion."
"So, the fact that there are no traces is not evidence that they were blown to pieces, but rather the best proof that they successfully escaped!"
The speech is clear, logical and powerful!
It was like a shot of cardiac stimulant, suddenly injected into everyone's heart!
A light rekindled in Baili Pangpang's originally empty eyes.
He suddenly got up from the beach, and the paleness on his face was replaced by a flush of excitement.
Cao Yuwei's clenched fists slowly loosened, and the deathly look in his eyes was replaced by incredible surprise.
Yes! Why didn’t they think of it?
A gap was torn in the dam of despair, and the tide of hope surged in.
The dark cloud called "death" that hangs over everyone's head,
It seemed as if An Qingyu's words had blown some of the light away, revealing a faint but extremely precious light.
They are still alive.
This idea grew wildly in everyone's mind.
They must still be alive!
However, the vast, bottomless sea was still surging before his eyes, like a giant beast waiting to devour its prey.
The biting cold wind blowing on their faces reminded them that even if the most optimistic guesses were correct, new problems would arise.
They escaped the explosion, and then what?
Where can they go in this vast ocean?
The night was as dark as ink, covering the scorched land.
The bonfire in the search area flickered, reflecting the lingering fatigue and disappointment on everyone's face.
Every last inch of suspicious land was searched, but there was still no trace of Wu Hen and Lin Qiye.
It was as if those two living people had just disappeared into thin air.
In the dead silence, Baili Pangpang jumped up from the ground.
He slammed his fist into his palm, and his heavy breathing broke the frozen air: "No! We can't keep waiting like this!"
"If we can't find it in such a small area, let's expand the scope tenfold, a hundredfold!"
"I just don't believe that two living people can fly and hide in the ground!"
His voice was filled with resentment and brute force, but everyone understood that this was just a powerless outburst.
This area is already the limit of their current capabilities. Expanding it further would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Just when everyone's emotions were about to slide to the bottom of the valley,
An Qingyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his head, and a gleam of determination flashed in his clear eyes.
"The fat man is right, but it's not about expanding the scope."
His voice was not loud, but it hit everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
"Let's go back! Back to Shangjing headquarters!"
Everyone was stunned.
"Go back?" someone asked subconsciously.
"Yes, go back!"
An Qingyu said decisively, his eyes sweeping over everyone present, his logic clear and his tone unquestionable,
"Even if we search for a year, there may not be any results."
"Their disappearance was so strange that it was definitely not an ordinary incident."
"Headquarters has the most advanced intelligence network, the most powerful perceivers, and even...someone who can peek into fate!"
"Wasting time here is the greatest irresponsibility to them!"
These words were like enlightenment, instantly waking everyone up.
Yes!
They are running around here like headless flies, how could they forget that there is the entire "Night Watch" organization behind them!
An Qingyu's decision is undoubtedly the most rational and efficient choice at the moment!
"go!"
"Listen to the captain!"
"Return to headquarters!"