SES Chapter 59 Part 1

Chapter 59

A massive clamshell spun open and came hurtling toward them. Mu Dai’s mind went completely blank—she felt as if even the air had been sliced in half.

Luo Ren felt as though an icicle had pierced straight through the top of his skull, frozen his throat, and driven itself deep into his heart. His first instinct was to reach for his gun, but his hand came up empty.

This wasn’t the Philippines. He didn’t have his trusty Uzi on him.

Just then, Mu Dai suddenly let go of the rope and dropped.

Her fall and the shell’s ascent overlapped by the slimmest margin of time. The clamshell shot past her body, grazing her as it flew upward, and snapped the rope clean off.

Mu Dai crashed back down into the little wooden boat, while the old clam continued its powerful trajectory, arcing through the air before plunging into the water with a splash.

The entire process took only a few seconds, but Luo Ren felt like his heart had stopped beating entirely.

He was overcome with relief. Mu Dai’s quick reflexes had far exceeded his expectations.

And now he realized—the old clam couldn’t fly. It had only leapt using the momentum of its movements, like a fish breaching the surface.

Mu Dai climbed back up from the boat’s cabin in a daze.

Yan Hongsand screamed, “Mu Dai, hurry! Row over here!”

Luo Ren quickly untied a length of rope from the boat railing, looped a wrench through one end, spun it overhead a few times, then hurled it toward Yiwansan’s boat.

Luckily, they had planned. The boats weren’t too far apart, and with a bit of effort, they could rig another rope to pull Mu Dai closer.

With a loud clang, the wrench hooked securely onto the other boat’s railing. Yiwansan and Cao Yanhua rushed to tie it down, fumbling in panic. That’s when Cao Yanhua suddenly noticed something.

“Hey… do you feel that?” he asked, face pale.

Yiwansan nodded. He felt it too.

The boat was shaking from underneath. And the vibrations were coming from multiple directions.

After a two-second pause, a chill shot down Cao Yanhua’s spine as he whispered, “Is it… cutting through our boat?”

Yiwansan snapped to attention, waving frantically at Luo Ren and shouting at the top of his lungs, “Luo Ren! Start the engine! It’s cutting the boat—cutting the boat!”

The fishing boat they’d rented from the local fishermen was big, sure—but it was far from a warship. It was slow and minimally equipped. The hull was reinforced with metal, but it wasn’t solid steel. The underside and sides were full of vulnerable spots.

And if the vibrations were coming from multiple directions, that meant the clam was testing for weak points.

Yiwansan dashed into the cabin, trying to start the engine. It coughed to life, and he barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before—

Clang. Clang. Clunk.

The engine died.

Great. Was this what they meant by “dead before the battle even begins”? They hadn’t even started fighting and already one boat was down.

Yiwansan’s mind raced through dozens of scenarios.

They were too far from shore. If both boats broke down in the middle of the sea, they’d be sitting ducks.

He rushed back onto the deck and shouted across the water, “Our boat’s dead! You guys go! Go now! Find a way—we can’t lose both boats!”

Before he could finish, a loud, grinding whirl filled the air—the clam had surfaced again and was spiraling along the boat’s hull.

Waves surged around them, rocking Mu Dai’s small boat. She paddled furiously, trying to reach the rope, but the sea’s current was stronger than her efforts. She was drifting farther away.

Cao Yanhua’s scalp tingled. “Is it… is it trying to cut our boat in half?”

But the hull was wood reinforced with iron—it was slowing the clam’s progress.

That’s when Luo Ren had an idea. He glanced at Mu Dai. Good—she was far enough from both boats.

He dashed to the railing, untied the same rope he’d thrown earlier, and tossed the end to Yan Hongsand. “Tie yourself to the boat. As tight as you can. Get Yiwansan and Cao Yanhua to do the same!”

Then he signaled to Mu Dai in the distance: “Get back! Don’t come any closer!”

He ran into the cabin, and moments later, the boat engine roared to life. Luo Ren turned the boat sharply, aligning it at a 90-degree angle to Yiwansan’s, then began reversing at full speed.

Cao Yanhua didn’t quite understand what Yan Hongsand was ordering them to do, but he tied himself down with the ship’s rope anyway, securing it to the strongest point he could find. The shaking from below continued, and bits of iron and wood began flying into the air.

He asked Yiwansan, “What’s Luo Ren doing?!”

Yiwansan had a hunch.

Luo Ren was going to… ram the boat!

How do you stop a high-speed rotating gear? The average person might jam a steel rod into it to stop or at least slow it down.

Same principle here. The clam’s spiral attack was terrifying, yes, but it could still be disrupted by external force. Just like the first time, when Mu Dai covered it with a blanket.

Now that its shell was embedded in the boat, its speed was noticeably reduced.

If they could strike from the other side at just the right moment, they might be able to bring its rotation to a halt.

With its shell wide open, this was the best chance to pry the vicious scroll loose!

Yiwansan gripped the rope tightly and grabbed the railing for support.

In the distance, Luo Ren’s boat finished its reverse maneuver, then accelerated toward them.

Cao Yanhua shut his eyes tight and shrieked, “I don’t wanna die!”

He was exactly the type who’d scream in a horror movie before the ghost even showed up—scaring his friends worse than the ghost ever could.

The force of impact was immense. Yiwansan clenched his teeth, bracing for what felt like annihilation…

But at the last second, Luo Ren veered slightly, turning a direct hit into a sideswipe.