10.000x Doomsday Survival

11. The Gates of Hell at the Bottom of the Ocean

A vast expanse of white clouds drifted slowly beneath the Floating City. Axel's hovering metropolis now halted exactly above the single most lethal point on Earth. The Pacific Vortex. The ocean waters swirling violently down below formed a colossal black hole perfectly prepared to swallow absolutely anything.

Yet Axel Edward could not care less about the extreme weather. He sat leaning casually in the captain's chair of a pitch-black Combat Submarine shaped exactly like a futuristic manta ray. This vessel was not built by humanity. It was an absolute, flawless clone of the armada technology from The Reapers he had just recently obliterated.

"Depth is exactly four thousand meters, Boss. Water pressure is normal, energy shields remain fully stable," Seraphina reported. The Sky Queen adapted flawlessly to piloting a high-tier submarine. To her, diving deep underwater or flying high in the sky felt exactly the same when operating plasma jet engines.

Right beside Seraphina, Lieutenant Maya stared at the holographic radar screen with a deeply furrowed brow. "Master Axel, the sheer number of life signals below us is completely illogical. It is not thousands, but millions. They are swarming around a single specific coordinate."

"Excellent," Axel smiled casually, crossing his legs. "The greater the numbers, the more contribution points I can harvest. Valerie, are the main weapons ready?"

Valerie, seated in the gunner's chair, nodded firmly. Her index finger already rested securely on the trigger of the underwater plasma cannon. "Ready to fire, Boss. My finger has been itching to burn something for a while now."

The combat submarine continued its steady descent, piercing straight through the eternal darkness of the ocean floor. Sunlight had long since vanished. The absolute only source of illumination came directly from the submarine's massive searchlights.

Finally, at a crushing depth of seven thousand meters, a blindingly bright blue light emerged from the absolute bottom of the oceanic trench.

"There it is," Axel muttered. He leaned his body forward.

At the very bottom of the vast trench, a gargantuan stone gate stood tall. Its height reached a staggering five hundred meters, covered entirely in ancient carvings radiating a highly dense blue energy. The gate hung half-open, actively generating an energy vortex that caused the surrounding water to literally boil. That was the Abyssal Gate.

However, the massive gate was not the only thing that made the scene absolutely horrifying.

Surrounding the giant gate, the ocean was utterly infested with highly disgusting creatures. Millions of aquatic zombies, designated as Mutant Mermen, swam circling the gate exactly like a massive school of piranhas. Their bloated, deathly pale bodies featured webbing between razor-sharp, clawed fingers. Their glowing red eyes stared blankly toward the blinding blue light.

"Good grief, their faces are absolutely hideous," Valerie commented with a tone of pure disgust, watching them through the external monitor screen.

"Land zombies already stink bad enough. I cannot even imagine zombies that have been soaking in seawater for months," Axel chuckled softly. "Maya, analyze their combat strength."

Maya's fingers flew rapidly across her tactical tablet. "The vast majority are Level 2 and Level 3 Mutants. They are incredibly fast underwater, and their skin is heavily coated in scales as hard as lightweight steel. If we are attacked by millions of them simultaneously, this ship's energy shield will only hold for approximately ten minutes."

"In that case, we are not going to wait for them to attack," Axel issued the command. "Valerie, clear the landing zone. Seraphina, maneuver this ship directly in front of that gate."

"Understood!" Seraphina and Valerie shouted in perfect unison.

The combat submarine instantly shot forward. Valerie pulled the trigger. Two thick beams of searing hot blue plasma light blasted from the nose of the ship, slicing cleanly through the seawater and slamming brutally into the horde of Mutant Mermen right in front of them.

BAM! BAM!

The seawater exploded instantly. Hundreds of aquatic zombies were scorched completely, turning into black ash that dissolved directly into the water. The continuous ringing of the system inside Axel's head immediately began chiming relentlessly.

[Ding! 45 Level 2 Water Zombies killed. Contribution Points +90.]
[Ding! 112 Level 3 Water Zombies killed. Contribution Points +336.]

"Keep firing, Valerie. Pave a clear highway straight through for us," Axel ordered in deep satisfaction.

The Mutant Mermen, fully realizing the ship's presence, instantly flew into a violent rage. Millions of them abruptly changed direction, swimming exactly like torpedoes straight toward Axel's submarine. Their jaws stretched incredibly wide open, showcasing rows of razor-sharp, shark-like teeth.

However, incredibly strangely, right before the millions of aquatic zombies could collide with the ship, they abruptly stopped dead in their tracks.

Seraphina slammed on the submarine's brakes forcefully. "Boss! Something is not right. They are falling back."

Axel stared at the external monitor screen. She was absolutely correct. The millions of savage zombies were suddenly swimming away, actively parting their massive formation as if making way for something infinitely more terrifying. The glowing red eyes of the Mutant Mermen were no longer focused on Axel's submarine. They were all staring directly into the dark abyss directly beneath the gate.

"Maya?" Axel called out softly.

Maya's face instantly turned deathly pale. Her hands trembled violently as she pointed at the radar screen, which had suddenly begun flashing a blinding bright red. A high-pitched emergency alarm blared deafeningly, completely filling the submarine cabin.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Master Axel! A gargantuan energy signal has been detected directly beneath us! The size is. Oh my God, the size is massively larger than The Reapers' flagship!" Maya screamed in absolute panic.

The ocean floor abruptly cracked wide open. Thick mud and sea sand blasted upward, completely obscuring the vision of the submarine's searchlights. The water surrounding them spun violently into a highly lethal vortex, causing the advanced submarine to lurch heavily.

"Hold the steering wheel steady, Seraphina!" Valerie barked, desperately trying to aim her cannons through the thick mud.

Before Seraphina could even stabilize the ship, a colossal black shadow shot upward from the absolute darkness below them.

CRASH!

A devastatingly massive impact struck. Every single crew member inside the submarine was violently thrown from their seats. The highly pressurized anti-crush glass at the front of the ship instantly shattered into thousands of tiny spiderweb cracks. The horrifying sound of thick steel screeching as it was forcefully bent echoed incredibly loudly at a depth of thousands of meters.

Axel regained his balance and stared out the cracked window. A gargantuan tentacle, measuring ten meters wide and over two hundred meters long, had just coiled tightly around their ship's hull. The tentacle was a sickly dark greenish-black, covered entirely in rotting wounds and giant suction cups dripping with highly toxic acid.

The ship's glass cracked even further. Seawater slowly began seeping into the cabin.

Anya's AI voice instantly shrieked both inside Axel's head and through the ship's internal communication system.

[Critical Warning! Level 5 Mutant: Zombie Kraken detected!]
[Ship hull integrity stands at exactly 10%!]
[Warning! The ship will implode due to extreme water pressure in exactly 30 seconds!]

Maya and Seraphina were already deathly pale, witnessing absolute death staring them right in the face. At this extreme depth, if the ship was crushed, the immense water pressure would completely pulverize their bones into a thick paste long before they could even draw another breath.

Yet right in the middle of that absolute panic, Axel merely casually brushed the dust off his clothes. He stared at the gargantuan tentacle coiling around their ship, his eyes sparkling brightly with intense excitement.

"A Level 5 Mutant, huh? Perfect. I was actually really craving some giant seafood today."