After becoming rich overnight, I handed over the system.

Chapter 396 Sea Abyss

The submersible suddenly changed direction, releasing a burst of fluorescent material that created a dazzling curtain of light in the water.

The pursuit boats lost their target for a moment, and one of them even crashed into a protruding seabed rock pillar.

However, the leading black submersible, which was clearly larger than the others, penetrated the light barrier and continued its pursuit.

Yu Yang could see Karl's ferocious face in the cockpit.

"He's gone mad!" Yu Yang shouted. "If this continues, we'll all die together!"

Ryan pressed the communicator: "Sea Abyss, we need 'Leviathan' support."

The communicator gave a muffled response, followed by a low-frequency sound wave that was almost beyond the range of human hearing.

But Yu Yang could "hear" it—it was a kind of summons.

The deep sea suddenly began to boil.

A colossal object rose from beneath the submersible, casting a massive shadow over the entire pursuing fleet.

Yu Yang stared wide-eyed at the creature in disbelief.

It is over 100 meters long, resembles a whale but has six pairs of luminous flippers, and its head is covered with natural armor made of bony plates.

"What on earth are you doing!" Yu Yang murmured.

“There’s so much to do,” Ryan said softly. “This is our most successful genetic recombination achievement. Codenamed ‘Leviathan,’ the guardian of the ocean.”

The behemoth let out a roar that shook the ocean, and the pursuing boats all turned and fled.

Only Carl's submersible continued forward, firing some kind of pulse weapon.

The beam struck Leviathan's side, charring it black.

Leviathan writhed in agony, its tail sweeping across Karl's submersible and sending it flying hundreds of meters into the seabed.

The explosion briefly illuminated the deep sea before being swallowed by the endless ocean.

“Karl, my son.” Ryan’s voice was tinged with barely perceptible sorrow.

The submersible continued to move toward a safe area.

Yu Yang looked at the medical pod. Cheng Hai's complexion seemed to have improved, but the mutated arm was still a shocking sight.

"Will he get better?" Yu Yang asked softly.

Ryan paused for a moment: "Physical injuries can be healed, but genetic changes are irreversible. He will forever exist between these two forms."

“Two forms,” Yu Yang suddenly thought of something, “like me?”

Ryan shook his head: "No, Yu Yang. Your transformation was designed, coded into your DNA from birth, while Cheng Hai's was a forcibly pieced-together imitation. But perhaps," he said thoughtfully, "perhaps this is the next step in evolution. Not a purely aquatic human, nor a purely terrestrial human, but a bridge that can freely traverse the two worlds."

The submersible began to ascend, and the water ahead gradually brightened.

Through the increasingly shallow seawater, Yu Yang could see a huge, semi-transparent dome structure, with buildings and lights faintly visible inside.

“Welcome to the Abyss,” Ryan said, “the last hope of mankind.”

As the submersible entered the airlock beneath the dome, Yu Yang realized that his life, his understanding, and everything about him would change from that moment on.

And Cheng Hai, no matter what he becomes, will face this new world together with him.

After the drainage process was completed, the hatch was opened.

A group of blue-skinned "new humans" stood on the platform waiting, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and awe.

Yu Yang then realized that, in their eyes, he, this "hybrid" who could freely choose his form, might be the true future.

The medical team pushed forward on a suspended stretcher and carefully removed Cheng Hai from the submersible.

To Yu Yang's surprise, Cheng Hai's eyes opened slightly at this moment.

"Old... Yu..." The voice was so weak it was almost inaudible.

Yu Yang grasped his friend's hand, the one that hadn't yet mutated: "I'm here, Cheng Hai. We're safe."

Cheng Hai's lips curled up slightly before he fell into a coma again.

The medical director, a blue-skinned woman, checked the readings: "He will survive. And his adaptability is amazing. He may become the first successful natural hybrid."

Yu Yang followed the medical team into the abyss, passing through a transparent corridor.

Sunlight filtered through the sea and the dome, casting shimmering spots of light on the ground.

In the distance, the outline of the city gradually becomes clear—not a simple floating platform, but a true underwater metropolis, a fusion of pre-civilization technology and the wisdom of new humans.

Yu Yang was excited. Was this the world of the future? But he was also confused. Was this the world that humanity truly needed?

“There are a lot of problems, aren’t there?” Ryan walked over to him.

Yu Yang nodded: "First of all, why me? Why Cheng Hai?"

“Because the world is changing,” Ryan pointed beyond the dome, “the floating city is just a stopgap measure. The real future is here, at the boundary between sea and land. We need bridges like you and Cheng Hai, people who can understand both worlds.”

They arrived at a viewing platform, where the entire abyss was laid out before them.

The city extends downwards in a spiral, with a luminous tower-like structure at its center, exactly like the one Yu Yang saw in the gene bank.

“Quantum Energy Towers,” Lane explained, “we have seven in total, distributed across the world’s oceans. That’s enough to provide clean energy for all of human civilization—if we can find a way to share it peacefully.”

Yu Yang recalled the increasingly tense resource competition in New Atlantis, and the conflicts that erupted between floating cities over a plantable platform.

"Does anyone else know about this place?"

“A minority, that’s where the danger lies.” Ryan’s expression was grave. “Karl is just the beginning. There’s more than one ‘Reaper.’ They believe that humanity should be unified by force, and a strict hierarchy should be established. They also believe that the new humans should be at the top. The old humans will gradually leave this world, and they believe that only the new humans can truly save it.”

Yu Yang didn't know what to say. Just then, an assistant from the medical team ran over and reported, "Dr. Ryan, the patient's condition is stable, but he requests to see Dr. Yu."

Yu Yang immediately rushed to the medical center.

Cheng Hai was placed in a treatment chamber filled with a special liquid, with only his face above the water.

His left arm was wrapped in a translucent biomembrane, through which the slow remodeling process inside could be seen.

"How do I look?" Cheng Hai asked weakly, his voice muffled by the liquid.

"Like seaweed that has been gnawed on and then spat out by a shark!" Yu Yang tried to joke, but his voice choked up.

Cheng Hai chuckled, then frowned in pain: "That's definitely how it feels."

He struggled to raise his right hand, pointing to his mutated left arm. "They told me it's irreversible."

Yu Yang grasped his hand: "But you survived, and that's what matters."

Cheng Hai wanted to make a joke, but then he saw something.

His gaze sharpened instantly: "Yu Yang, what did they do to you? Why are your eyes shining?"