The entire eastern coast of Sea Rock Island seemed to be boiling in a divine cauldron. Massive steam domes, each a hundred meters in diameter, burst through the waves. The clash of hot steam with cold air created a wall of thunderstorm clouds. In the sky, purple-red lightning snaked and exploded through the murky clouds as a storm laden with volcanic ash began to obscure the sky.

The ocean raged as if it were the end of days. Gigantic waves occasionally revealed terrifying underwater shadows. The air above the sea was thick with the stench of salt and fish. Inside the submarine base, everything trembled and quaked. The lights flickered erratically, and the cold-condensing pipes burst under the vibrations, allowing a mix of salty seawater and rust debris to flood the corridors.

All members of the Infinity and the Hawk Sea Group, gathered in the hall, had their expressions drastically changed, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"How is this possible? Has the Galan Volcano already started erupting?!"

"Wasn’t there over ten hours left?"

"What a joke, that was just the stability threshold of that device; it has nothing to do with the volcanic eruption!"

"Quick!" Chen Sixuan, now fully geared up, led the others from the truck into the hall and shouted to the Hawk Sea Group: "We need to seal all upper-level passages to prevent any Abnormal Body from penetrating through the overflow channels!"

"If we seal everything, how do we get out?" At this, Azir from the Hawk Sea Group looked bewildered and gravely said: "Our fleet is all at the outer port!"

"Azir!"

Ryan immediately interrupted him: "Follow orders. Right now, we’re in the same boat as Infinity. Surviving tonight is the only priority; nothing else matters."

Azir opened his mouth, then gritted his teeth and immediately turned to join Chen Sixuan in heading for the upper floors.

"Let’s go help too." Qian Deli, seeing the lights flicker above, looked grim and called Shu Qin, Lv Chang, and Luo Yang to join as well.

"No way!!"

Debris and dust fell from the ceiling. In the control room, the red alert lights flashed continuously. As KIKI looked at the figures on the screen, her face changed dramatically.

"The geothermal well has surpassed the safety line. We need to find a way to stop it."

"Where’s Lin Xian?" Monica asked.

"Let’s go first!" KIKI stood up decisively: "Ryuji, let’s go together."

At this moment, with no better alternative, KIKI could only call on Ryuji to attempt using physical measures to prevent the upper-level devices from being destroyed by lava.

Boom!

At that moment, a massive explosion sounded from the ground. KIKI looked up, frowning immediately, and said:

"Trouble, Viola must have encountered an attack."

A surge of scorching steam burst from the distant geothermal well’s passage. In an instant, everyone in the hall activated the protective systems of their Power Armor.

"Careful!"

"Get out of the way!!"

Seeing this, KIKI stepped forward and raised a hand to create a Telekinesis Barrier, shielding the entire control room. The white steam filled the area quickly, obscuring everyone’s vision.

Beep beep beep beep.

At that moment, many people’s Power Armor began to sound high-temperature warnings. The surging heat covered the floor and walls with a layer of boiling droplets. A tremendous seismic wave surged from underground, nearly tearing apart the entire submarine base. Corridors began collapsing and tearing apart, metal walls whimpered and screeched, and lights shattered layer by layer.

While the members of Hawk Sea Group huddled in the lower base panicked, the tremor suddenly ceased. The entire base was now a scene of crumbling ruins and devastation.

Just as KIKI, Ryan, Monica, and the others in the control room breathed a sigh of relief, the violent explosion sounds from above became deafening.

"It must be the first eruption, but it’s not even the most intense. Yet it seems we’re running out of time." Monica waved her hand through the dust in front of her eyes, looking at the remains of the geothermal device displayed on the screen, noticing the lava layer nearly reaching the base passage entrance. It wasn’t far from where Infinity was docked, so she said: "Next time, the lava from the geothermal well might flow into the base."

"What can we do!"

At this, someone from the Hawk Sea Group panicked immediately.

"If we stay here, are we just waiting to die?"

"Yeah, we’d be better off on the ship; maybe we could escape."

In panic, some male and female team members started discussing.

Under Vanessa’s Power Armor, her face was tense with furrowed brows. Though the submarine base beneath the Island seemed like a relatively safe haven, the geothermal well was right beside them. Initially, they believed that after completing the energy release plan, they could stabilize the guiding device, allowing them to momentarily not worry about the volcanic eruption.

But now it seemed they had chosen the worst path. Everyone was trapped here, and if the geothermal well fully erupted, everyone would be wiped out.

"What should we do?" Vanessa asked Ryan.

Ryan shook his head, first calming everyone’s emotions, then said to Vanessa: "Up above, the prison is already under attack, possibly by an Abnormal Body invasion. We all need to work together to support each other and stabilize the most urgent issues before anything else."

Hearing this, Vanessa nodded and immediately took action with Ryan.

At that moment, everyone felt the air grow exceedingly oppressive. Chen Sixuan, Qian Deli, and Monica’s team hurried to the upper levels from Infinity’s side, while KIKI led others into the geothermal well’s passage.

Exiting the passage, they were instantly met with a sky of searing heat and the pungent smell of sulfur, causing their heads to throb.