West of Saint-Michel Mountain, a strait that's somewhat narrow relative to the sea leads through to the English Channel if one continues straight.
In the midst of the chase, the hands of the clock crossed past eight in the evening; the sun was long gone, and all navigators on the sea relied on radar or lights to set their positions and observe their way forward.
The speedboat that Rupert and his group were on had only a few basic red flashing lights. When the man with the butt-chin turned the boat around to rush back, it took a while for Luo An and his group to notice.
"Shit!"
Reesi, at the helm, got a huge scare, thinking about the consequences of two high-speed speedboats colliding, she subconsciously slowed down the speedboat and started to veer off course.
But the speedboat that Rupert and his group were on seemed to be aiming right at them, turning their bow as soon as Reesi turned theirs, still charging straight at them!
"Damn it!"
"Fu-k Down!"
Conrad and Evelyn's brows jumped at the sight; though they could swim, swimming in the sea was a whole different story from swimming in a pool or lake.
The dark sea under the night sky, devoid of light, brought an indescribable psychological pressure to everyone.
A collision between the two speedboats is bound to cause an explosion, and anyone surviving the blast would end up in the sea, facing hypothermia, sharks, and attacks from other survivors, all of which were deadly situations.
Luo An understood these things as well, so when he saw Reesi turning the steering wheel and the other boat turning too, he immediately stood up, jumped to the driver's seat, overtook the wheel, and shouted:
"Reesi! Go sit in the back! Everyone hold on tight!"
"Understood!"
Reesi trusted Luo An implicitly, immediately jumped to a back seat, and used a rope to tie herself to the chair.
Conrad and Evelyn had their doubts, but now was not the time for questioning and could only follow suit with the rope.
Unlike Reesi, Luo An didn't continue to veer off or accelerate after grabbing the wheel; instead, he gradually decreased the speed of the speedboat, drifting slowly forward.
Boom—
Splash—
As the speedboat with Rupert and his group drew nearer, the irritable roaring of the engine and the sound of waves splitting gradually filled the ears of Luo An and the others.
As the red lights of the oncoming speedboat grew larger in their field of view, Reesi took a deep breath and closed her eyes, Evelyn's face turned increasingly pale, and Conrad's breathing became more rapid:
"Group Leader Greenwood, we can dodge now!"
Luo An held tightly onto the steering wheel, eyes slightly narrowed:
"Don't rush."
One second... two seconds... three seconds passed in the blink of an eye, and as the red light grew larger and larger, Conrad's face became extremely grim as he shouted loudly:
"Group Leader Greenwood! We..."
Boom!
Splash—
Before Conrad could finish shouting, Luo An fiercely turned the steering wheel, started the speedboat, shifted into gear, and slammed the throttle; the engine roared, and the speedboat instantly charged to the left of them!
At the moment Luo An's speedboat switched directions, Rupert and his group's speedboat also didn't hesitate to begin turning, and the two speedboats, moving at high speed, visibly closed in rapidly with a trajectory that seemed destined to collide!
Evelyn's face turned increasingly pale, Reesi tightly closed her eyes and refused to open them, Conrad's eyelids twitched with heavy breathing, but unlike them, noticing the other yacht indeed turning, Luo An's lips curled up in an immediate smile.
Just when the distance between the two speedboats was less than three hundred meters, Luo An suddenly put the speedboat into neutral to slow it down, then turned the wheel full starboard and changed direction again.
Rupert's group's yacht was going too fast; it would inevitably tip over if they forced a direction change at this point, so they could only opt to continue moving straight forward.
Boom!
Boom——
Under high-speed travel, the two yachts passed by each other at extremely close range, with Luo An dodging everywhere except for the stern, which was heavily collided.
The speedboat carrying Luo An and his people became uncontrollable and spun around, but overall, it was not severely damaged.
Rupert and his group's boat was going too fast; any slight mistake could be magnified. The moment the sterns collided, this boat immediately became uncontrollable and flew up from the sea surface, flipping over to the right side.
At the same time, the De Republic's speedboat behind them had also closed the distance during Luo An's slowdown, with the five special agents on board raising their weapons, turning off the safety, and beginning to aim at Luo An and his three companions.
Before they could catch up entirely to Luo An's group, a speedboat flying obliquely across the sea surface suddenly appeared before them.
"???"
The pupils of the special agents on the De Republic's speedboat constricted, and without the time to jump off, Rupert and his group's yacht came smashing down onto their speedboat from mid-air.
Boom!
The two speedboats collided with a thunderous crash that was deafening, and even amidst the humming of the boat engines running, Luo An could still hear it distinctly.
"Oh, God."
Conrad and Evelyn, who had a near brush with death, instantly breathed a long sigh of relief, while Reesi silently wiped away the sweat on her forehead, then gave Luo An a thumbs up:
"Luo An, great jo..."
Boom——
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Reesi could finish her sentence, the next second a more deafening and terrifying sound of explosions erupted, with a burst of orange flames shoot into the sky, instantly lighting up this area of the ocean.
Pieces of debris engulfed in flames then descended from the sky like a rain of fire, falling onto the sea surface, some quickly disappearing and sinking into the ocean, but many remained floating on the surface, like a cluster of lights illuminating this small patch of sea.
"What the F-ck?"
"Jesus!"
Seeing the raging fire and wreckage of the two speedboats on the sea behind them, Evelyn and Reesi covered their mouths in shock, while Conrad's brow furrowed tightly:
"What happened? Did the people from De Republic plant a bomb on the boat?"
Reesi and Evelyn exchanged looks, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.
All three could tell that the collision of the two speedboats, even with gasoline leakage catching fire, could not have caused an explosion of this scale. The only possibility was that there was an explosive item on the speedboat.
Behind the three, Luo An, with his eyes slightly narrowed, watched the flames nearby and after a few seconds of silence, took out a bottle of [Stamina Potion] and a [Water-breathing Potion] and swiftly drank them while the three were not paying attention, then handed over his heavy arms to Reesi, saying:
"Wait for me here, I'm going to check the sea."
Plunge——
As soon as Luo An finished speaking, without waiting for a response from Reesi, he dived straight into the sea.
With the help of the [Stamina Potion] and [Water-breathing Potion], Luo An did not surface for air after entering the ocean, and went straight towards the explosion site underwater with high speed.
The blazing flames on the surface of the sea lit up a small area of the ocean, and as he approached slowly, Luo An saw several floating human bodies, and using "Emotional Perception" in his mind, he realized they were all without any signs of life.
After a few seconds of silent sensing, Luo An took a deep breath and once again submerged below the ocean surface.
On the other side, seeing Luo An jump into the ocean and disappear in the blink of an eye, Reesi was instantly filled with nervousness and concern. She quickly walked towards the steering position of the speedboat, saying while walking:
"Luo An must have gone to the seabed at the explosion site, let's go there and wait for him..."
Snap!
Reesi's words failed to finish abruptly as a gun was pressed against the back of her head:
"Agent Reesi, we should have faith in Group Leader Greenwood, don't you think?"