The fishing rafts in North America had completely fallen apart. Originally meant for banquets, they were not sturdy to begin with. Now, smashed by a giant plastic arm, they disintegrated. The esper abilities users on the sea could only grab scattered bamboo and wood to keep themselves afloat, managing not to fall into the water.
However, even without falling into the water, it was not over. The great white shark was clearly hungry. Although the esper abilities users looked small, not much larger than fish, their bodies contained a lot of energy, enough to fill its stomach.
The great white shark searched for prey on the sea. Once it found its prey, it would directly swallow it in one gulp. Sharks have very strong digestive capabilities. Scientists once found fabric scraps, plastic bottles, and even helmets in the stomachs of sharks. No one knew how the helmets were eaten, but there was no doubt that sharks possessed immense digestive power. Once something entered their mouths, it would most likely be digested.
Tom, while having his men intercept the approaching great white shark, also rescued the esper abilities users who had fallen into the water. He managed to get over a dozen esper abilities users onto the ship. The fishing rafts were destroyed, so the group had to stay on the European "Big Cake" ship.
At this moment, Tom felt a sense of loss and unease, but he couldn't show it. He was the leader of the North American esper abilities users. If he panicked, his subordinates would panic even more.
"Now, our only hope is the Chinese fleet. Our North American fleet has already left. I curse these disloyal fellows! It would be best if we boarded the Chinese fleet. Once we have a place to land, we can leave!" Tom said loudly to his subordinates.
The esper abilities users, having just experienced falling into the water and the shark attack, were still shaken. They didn't react to General Tom's next plan at all.
However, the European esper abilities users thought this idea was good and spoke in agreement:
"That's right! As long as we can board the Chinese fleet, we can leave. Even if we go to China, our European planes can come to China to pick us up!"
"But, the other fleets have all fled. Clearly, they couldn't withstand the fierce attacks of the sea beasts. Can the Chinese fleet hold on for two days?"
"Yes, the other fleets ran away early. Why didn't the Chinese fleet leave early and instead wait for two more days?"
"I believe the Chinese commander has his reasons. Besides, besides trusting that the Chinese fleet will appear in the southern part of the Silent Sea in two days, do we have any other options?"
The crowd chattered noisily, returning to the Silent Sea. Night was about to fall, and looking at the time, it was already seven o'clock.
The Chinese fleet was still sailing slowly outside the Divine Realm. The sonar was always active, but sometimes the sonar would malfunction. In some sea areas, sea beasts could be seen, but the sonar couldn't detect them.
The staff officer speculated: "There must be some esper abilities among the sea beasts that can block ultrasonic waves, which is why the sonar frequently fails to detect the sea beasts' positions. And these sea beasts are taking advantage of this opportunity to suddenly surround us. But who organized this operation?"
The commander sat in the command room, a cup of strong tea brewed beside him. He drank his tea and quietly pondered, while also constantly listening to outside news.
The staff officer entered the command room and said, "We are sailing slowly, and the sea beasts have no intention of attacking. Taking advantage of this rare moment of peace, Captain, you should rest."
The captain gently shook his head, took a sip of tea, and said, "I am waiting for news, waiting for news from headquarters! I always feel that the sea beasts are surrounding us with one gap left open to stretch the battle line and harass us continuously. I don't believe the fleets of other powers have left this sea area completely unharmed!"
The staff officer also sat down and said, "I think the sea beasts are fighting over the meteorites. We know the importance of meteorites, and perhaps the sea beasts also know their importance, which is why they are driving us away. The reason they left an escape route is to avoid fighting for too long!"
The captain did not reply but sat quietly, occasionally taking a sip of strong tea. His brow was furrowed. Now, the lives of over two thousand people were in his hands. He had to make every judgment correctly to have a chance to bring his soldiers back. If his guess was wrong, they would all be truly finished.
"Captain, headquarters has sent a message!" After waiting for two hours, a communications soldier delivered the news.
"Read it!" The captain sat in his seat, the cup of strong tea in his hand trembling slightly. He bore a great responsibility, and the immense pressure made him feel suffocated.
The communications soldier quickly said, "Headquarters has sent a message that the fleets of North America, Europe, India, and Russia have successively encountered sea beast attacks. A total of thirty-three ships have been sunk, and now, half of the large ships are under attack!"
Upon hearing this news, the captain finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his judgment was correct. The sea beasts would not leave a gap for no reason. These fleets that fled the vicinity of the Divine Realm too early had instead fallen into the sea beasts' trap. If they had united and fought earlier, perhaps the losses would not have been so heavy.
"My judgment is correct. The sea beasts do not intend to let anyone go. Therefore, rushing to leave here will inevitably lead to subsequent attacks by the sea beasts," the captain said slowly.
"But, if the other fleets are annihilated, we will still follow in their footsteps, Captain. We have walked into a dead end!" The staff officer was very pessimistic. Their fleet's actions were slow, and although it seemed they had avoided the sea beasts' ambush, it was only a delay of two days. Once the sea beasts dealt with the other fleets, they would focus all their attention on them, and it would still be a dead end.
"To be born from death! Opportunity is hidden in this desperate situation!" the captain said slowly.
The staff officer quickly asked, "What do you mean? Where is the way to survive?"
The captain said, "I don't know the way to survive yet, but I believe it will appear. Trust me and execute my orders."
A night passed. After dawn, all four fleets at sea lost contact. Satellites scanned the sea surface but could only see numerous shipwrecks appearing on the water. The four fleets that abandoned the esper abilities users and fled were all annihilated. The ocean had never been humanity's territory, and the sea beasts had given humanity a harsh lesson: the ocean was not a place for you to sail freely.
Currently, only the Chinese fleet remained outside the Divine Realm, which was the hope of almost all esper abilities users. If all the fleets were sunk, the esper abilities users in the Divine Realm would lose their supply of materials and a place to land, and would die without a burial place.
Under these circumstances, Silinova voluntarily approached Tom on the "Big Cake" ship. She brought no one with her, only arriving in a small boat without even bodyguards.
The North American and European esper abilities users immediately wanted to act. This was an enemy commander, and capturing her would be a great achievement.
However, Silinova said at this moment: "I am not here to fight you, but to cooperate with you. I think there is some misunderstanding between us, and this misunderstanding is not entirely impossible to resolve!"
Tom also spoke: "You've come. I also think the misunderstanding between us is quite deep."
There are no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies in the world. This saying seems to have been said by Churchill. Since there are no eternal friends, nor eternal enemies, then there is only one thing that can exist eternally, and that is eternal interest!
The world bustles, all for profit; the world jostles, all for profit.
Interest drives people's hearts. For the sake of interest, people can fight and kill, or they can put aside deep-seated hatred and cooperate.
After Silinova sat down, she first said, "I have already asked the Indian esper abilities users. They said that the white man they caught earlier was thrown onto the ship by someone else, meaning it was a frame-up. Your subordinate was not captured by us."
Silinova brought up the past again but pointed the finger at someone else.
Tom also nodded and took out a piece of paper from his body, saying, "This was given to me by Andorf. It is said that someone specifically delivered this letter."
Andorf could no longer avoid this matter and had to brace himself and say, "That's right, someone threw this onto our ship under the cover of night. Their speed underwater was very fast, and we didn't know who did it."
"Now, the situation is very clear. Our conflict was instigated by someone else," Silinova said with a smile.
Tom also understood her meaning. The battle between the two sides was originally for the benefit of the meteorites, and what was lacking was a fuse. The white man who was tortured to death by the Indian man became that fuse, and finally, the battle exploded like gunpowder, escalating further!
Now, Silinova's initiative to explain this misunderstanding was actually a desire to cooperate.
"I agree. It is because of the instigation of villains that things have become this way. I suggest we cooperate and be extremely vigilant against those who play tricks behind our backs!" Tom also said quickly.
The two sides then shook hands, and their cooperation was established. Although they did not explicitly state who they needed to guard against in the future, everyone knew clearly. Besides the Chinese esper abilities users who had not made a move, who else was there to guard against?
Silinova and Tom both considered that their forces had suffered heavy losses due to the battles of the past few days. If a conflict occurred, they would not be a match for the Chinese esper abilities users. Therefore, they ultimately chose to cooperate. After all, they would be boarding the Chinese fleet in one day, and without sufficient strength, they would not be qualified to board.
If they were rejected by the Chinese fleet when boarding, esper abilities users lacking sufficient strength would certainly not be able to board. To survive, the two sides with deep-seated hatred could only cooperate.
Silinova came alone into the enemy's camp and, with just a few words, resolved the misunderstanding and facilitated cooperation. Both sides were very happy. Then, the Russian "Big Ice Block" also approached the "Big Cake" ship, and the two sides stayed in the same sea area, appearing very close.
When the ferry appeared in this sea area, the people on board almost had their eyeballs pop out. Just two days ago, these two groups were fighting to the death, as if they would fight until only one person was left standing. But now, these people appeared so intimate, which was truly unbelievable.
Tom and Silinova stood together, truly a match made in heaven, and the esper abilities users on both sides were chatting and laughing.
Shen Feng looked at this scene, couldn't help but turn his head and look at Gong Changfa, saying, "It seems our previous instigation has been exposed. Now that these two groups have merged, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? Who cares about them!" Gong Changfa said dismissively, "Don't look at how they are chatting and laughing now, but dozens of esper abilities users died before. This is a deep hatred, right? I don't believe they can cooperate intimately. They must be putting on a show for us!"
"That makes sense!" Shen Feng thought about it carefully and felt it was correct. More than forty esper abilities users had died before. Such great hatred could not be easily put aside. Although their alliance seemed too sudden, they must have been wary of each other.
Qin Ke Wei leaned on the railing and looked carefully for a moment, saying, "These people are sitting quite distinctly!"
Following the train of thought of the two, Qin Ke Wei observed and discovered an anomaly. The union between North America and Russia was too sudden. Although the two sides seemed to have buried the hatchet, their seating arrangements betrayed everything! The two factions sat on their respective sides, clearly not truly cooperating. To describe it in one word, it was a superficial harmony!