# 770
Chapter 771: Sunken Dragon Pass
Mist.
Under the gray sky of Chaos, the turbulent sea roared like thunder. A刺目的金光 burst from the deep sea, rising rapidly to the surface.
As the golden light dispersed, seven figures stood atop a golden sword, floating on the churning waves.
Baili Pangpang controlled 【Yaoguang】 while surveying their surroundings:
"Qiye, where's the ship Vice Captain Wu mentioned?"
"It should be around here." Lin Qiye closed his eyes, his spiritual energy rapidly spreading outward, instantly covering several kilometers of sea.
A moment later, he opened his eyes in confusion.
"Nothing? How can that be..."
"The spot where we disembarked should be over there." Jialan looked around and pointed in a direction.
The group followed her gesture—nothing but an endless sea stretched before them.
"Maybe a 'Mystery' from the deep sea attacked and carried off or destroyed the ship," An Qingyu speculated.
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully. He reached out and beckoned in the void. Countless wisps of cloud materialized from nothingness, rolling beneath everyone's feet.
"If there's no ship, we'll have to fly back ourselves." Lin Qiye turned to the others. "Does anyone know the route back?"
"I know the general direction," Jialan said. "It might not be the exact landing spot Vice Captain Wu designated, but it will get us to Great Xia's border."
Baili Pangpang shrugged. "Doesn't matter. As long as we reach Great Xia, does it really matter where we enter?"
"Since that's settled, let's go."
Lin Qiye propelled the 【Somersault Cloud】 beneath them, carrying everyone skyward at high speed, heading in the direction Jialan had indicated!
…
Great Xia Border.
An invisible wall stood upon the sea, like a massive glass rampart, keeping the churning mist beyond Great Xia's borders.
Inside this invisible wall, on the endless sea, a colossal black steel city rose like a mountain, pressing down on the border line—a maritime fortress separating Great Xia from the mist, silently guarding the frontier.
Had Lin Qiye and the others been present, they would have been utterly shocked.
Before they left Great Xia, this had been nothing but an open sea. Not only was there no steel city, there wasn't even a patch of solid ground to stand on.
Yet in just two years, such a magnificent steel metropolis had been erected on the sea at Great Xia's border. Judging by its footprint, this steel city was at least three times the size of Cangnan City—a black pillar deeply embedded at Great Xia's border, emanating a cold, dark gleam under the sunlight.
On the outer wall of this steel city, a massive line of crimson characters was inscribed:
A-011·【沉龙】
This was Great Xia's Class-A war fortress, designation 011, codename "Sunken Dragon Pass."
At that moment, atop the steel wall of Sunken Dragon Pass, a figure wrapped in a dark red cloak held a telescope, monitoring the mist wall several kilometers away.
Suddenly, something caught his eye. His gaze narrowed.
From within the churning mist, a blurry silhouette of a ship slowly sailed across the sea. It passed through the invisible mist barrier and entered Great Xia. The silver-white hull glowed faintly in the sunlight. On the right side of the vessel, a series of numbers was written.
"This is Sunken Dragon Pass Point 6. A Great Xia-made vessel has been spotted passing through the mist wall, heading this way." The figure picked up a walkie-talkie. "The registration number is..."
"Copy that." The voice on the other end paused for a moment, as if cross-referencing something. "Confirmed. That's a Night Watch vessel. Clearance granted."
"Roger."
RUMBLE—!
On the turbulent sea, the black steel wall let out a thunderous roar. A heavy, massive gate slowly rose, admitting the vessel floating on the water into Sunken Dragon Pass.
After the ship entered Sunken Dragon Pass, the gate closed once more. The entire stretch of sea fell silent once more.
The vessel traveled along the artificial waterway until it reached Sunken Dragon Pass's mooring area. When it finally came to a stop, three figures in dark red cloaks were already waiting on the shore.
"I am Lu Qiu, former deputy captain of Great Xia Night Watch Squad 066. Please disembark and register for identity verification." A man stepped forward, addressing the vessel.
The ship floated motionlessly on the waterway. No one emerged, no one responded—deathly silence.
Lu Qiu frowned and repeated himself: "Please disembark for identity verification!"
Still, the ship showed no sign of movement.
Lu Qiu sensed something was wrong. He waved a hand, and two other Night Watch members swiftly leaped from the shore onto the deck, beginning to search the vessel.
Two minutes later, they stood on the deck with bewildered expressions.
"Brother Lu... there's no one on this ship."
"No one?" Lu Qiu was stunned. He boarded the ship himself and conducted a thorough search—confirming that the entire vessel was empty. His expression darkened.
No one on board... so how did the ship sail back to Great Xia?
He pondered in silence for a moment, then made a decision: "This ship is suspicious. Lock it in Dock 3 and send specialists to investigate. Xiao Jia, report this situation to headquarters. Do it quickly!"
"Yes!"
No one noticed that in the water's reflection beneath the hull, a figure cloaked in silver glided like a specter from within the ship into Sunken Dragon Pass, then vanished without a trace.
…
Shangjing City.
"Wu Xiangnan's ship returned to Sunken Dragon Pass with no one aboard?"
Zuo Qing heard the report and frowned.
"Yes, Commander Zuo."
Before Zuo Qing's desk, a young man with a crew cut held a folder of documents and spoke seriously: "Sunken Dragon Pass has already sent experts to investigate. After a thorough search of traces left on the ship, they collected four different fingerprints.
One fingerprint belongs to Wu Xiangnan, one belongs to Jialan, and the owners of the other two fingerprints could not be confirmed..."
"One of those should be from an Oath Society operative, but if that's the case... whose is the fourth fingerprint?" Zuo Qing contemplated. "Were there any traces of 'Mystery' activity on the ship?"
"No." The crew-cut young man hesitated, then said, "Commander Zuo, what if someone accidentally triggered the ship's autopilot system and then left? That would explain why the vessel followed our pre-programmed route back to Sunken Dragon Pass?"
Zuo Qing drummed his fingers lightly on the desk, eyes half-narrowed. "Moyu, remember this—we are the decision-makers of the Night Watch. No matter the circumstances, we must always prepare for the worst-case scenario...
Here's what we'll do. Send Guan Jin to Sunken Dragon Pass to investigate what actually happened."