The World Watched; I Salvaged Scrap

Several kilometers away, an unimaginable shadow sprawled across the seabed. The main starship had not shattered. Like a fallen city, it was sliding soundlessly toward the trench. Hundreds of blue lights separated from its hull; one swept across him. “Hostile observation detected,” Lan-Zero said. “Disable active emissions. Remove me.” The polyhedron shrank and slipped into the mesh pouch holding Lin’s scrap bolts. The silver slab dulled, rust spreading across it as it sank. “Drone heading for you!” Han yelled. “Surface now!” Lin cut the end of his safety line and fired his thruster. A submersible marked with the logo of Hanhai Heavy Industries plunged into the water, manipulator reaching toward the fracture.