#362 - Black Manta's Target

"Everyone prepare to disembark from the submarines."

Black Manta issued the order over the team's communication channel. The six submarines stopped in an orderly fashion behind a reef approximately six hundred meters from the pyramid structure.

The bottom hatches of the six submarines opened one after another. Each small submarine carried two people. The entire underwater team, including Black Manta, numbered twelve. This ghostly team quietly approached their target.

Black Manta, leading the team, stopped behind the last reef. Beyond this point was an unobstructed seabed, with the Aquaman's lighting equipment constantly sweeping the area.

'Disperse.' Black Manta issued the command through the communication device. The symbol for dispersal appeared on all team members' helmets simultaneously.

Although Black Manta and his team were wearing equipment upgraded by the Illuminati, they were still human after all, and could not compare to the Aquaman, who treated the deep-sea water pressure as nothing. Even the slightest damage to their armor could cost them their lives.

"Team B, are the decoy charges in place?" Black Manta contacted the other team.

"Report, installed and ready for use, Captain."

"Very good." Black Manta quietly observed the Aquaman's patrol force. "Team A, report status."

"Report, Team A is in position and ready to move at any time."

Black Manta nodded and connected to both communication channels, saying, "3, 2, 1, begin."

"Boom!"

As Black Manta's voice fell, a muffled sound suddenly rang out. The impact of the explosion created a huge wave on the seabed, even disrupting the formation of the Aquaman's guard force near the pyramid structure.

"Clang!"

Using the grappling hooks on their equipment, Black Manta and his team clung tightly to the reef like starfish, ensuring no one was exposed.

"What's going on!" The guard captain calmed the seahorse beneath him, controlling it to swim out of the group, wanting to see clearly what had happened.

"Report, it seems there was an explosion not far away." A guard with slightly higher rank stepped forward to explain to the captain.

"Which area did the explosion occur in?"

"Based on the distance, it was probably in the minefield."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, the guard captain's brain began to work rapidly. The minefield ahead was the ambush they were guarding and had set up. There should be no life activity in that area, meaning it was very likely that intruders had arrived.

"Vice-Captain, you take one team to stay behind, and I'll take the other team to check the situation."

The guard captain waved his hand. Pulling on the reins, his long-time battle partner beneath him immediately understood, whinnied, and charged out. A team followed closely behind the guard captain, as if they had rehearsed it beforehand.

"Yes!"

Although the captain could no longer hear him, the vice-captain still responded dutifully.

As the team led by the captain disappeared into the darkness, the seabed once again fell into darkness.

"Increase vigilance, continue patrolling!" The vice-captain turned and issued orders to the remaining team members. At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Whoosh!"

A sharp sound cut through the water. The vice-captain immediately turned his head, and a sharp harpoon was only a body's length away from him. In this moment of life and death, his mount reacted.

Just like when he first tamed the warhorse, the old companion beneath him suddenly became violent and threw him off. However, unlike the first time, this time his old companion could no longer look at him with angry eyes.

The harpoon dug into the seahorse's neck. A headless seahorse slowly floated down, and scarlet blood instantly exploded, the bloody mist obscuring the view ahead.

"No!" The vice-captain roared. He raised the weapon in his hand, his bloodshot eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.

"Everyone prepare for battle!"

In fact, without the vice-captain's command, the well-trained soldiers had already lined up and raised the weapons in their hands. Thanks to the special underwater environment, as long as the Aquaman's soldiers lined up, they could monitor 360 degrees without blind spots.

"Swoosh!"

A sound distorted by the water came. Two scarlet beams of light pierced through the blood mist and shot straight at the guard team.

The soldiers, who were already prepared, pulled the triggers in their hands the moment they saw the beams of light. The two beams of light collided head-on.

"Boom!"

The explosion caused by the collision of the two energies blew away the blood mist in the water, and Black Manta's figure appeared before all the guards.

"It's Black Manta!" Although the vice-captain hated him to the core, he still had his wits about him and knew that the enemy in front of them was not someone they could handle. He chose to contact the departing guard captain and Atlantis immediately, wanting to get reinforcements.

"Attack!"

With a wave of Black Manta's hand, the A team, who had been lying in ambush, stood up one after another. They moved in pairs, one of them holding something like a rocket launcher. As they pulled the triggers, cone-shaped shells shot towards the guards in the center of the encirclement.

"Scatter!" The vice-captain ordered loudly. A guard grabbed his hand, wanting to take the mountless captain away, but his plan was ultimately doomed to fail.

"Bang!"

The cone-shaped shells suddenly exploded, turning into large nets. These suddenly appearing fishing nets blocked all the guards' escape routes.

As the dust settled, Black Manta no longer looked at the wailing and bloody mist behind him and turned to swim towards the pyramid structure. At the same time, he issued orders to his subordinates.

"Kill them."

Ignoring the screams and blood mist behind him, Black Manta took the lead and arrived in front of the building's door. The first thing he saw was the lock on the door. Normally, Black Manta should be looking for the key at this time, but Black Manta was not the kind of person to follow the rules.

Increasing the output of the visor on his helmet, two thick rays far exceeding the previous ones burst out from his visor, scorching the door in front of him.

As the temperature continued to rise, the sturdy door was burned red-hot, and a person-high hole was cut out by him.

Kicking the door, without Black Manta giving the order, the A team, who had dealt with the guard team, entered in an orderly fashion. After all his subordinates had entered, Black Manta went in.

Turning on the searchlight on his combat suit, the first thing Black Manta saw was his target: a piece of meat preserved in a huge transparent glass jar. There were many tentacles on that piece of meat, but they seemed to have lost their activity and were all limp in the jar.

Facing the seemingly dead target, Black Manta was not disappointed at all. On the contrary, this was the best. All he needed was the DNA of the piece of meat in front of him. The harmless state in front of him was the best, saving him the effort of snatching food from the tiger's mouth.

"Move."