Shifty was so pissed off at Cecil that Mo Chen could hear her slamming the table through the comms—bang bang—and just before hanging up, she didn't forget to shout "Pervert!" followed by a loud clang as the call disconnected.
Mo Chen was helpless.
Collateral damage from someone else's fire.
And besides, it wasn't like he had brought it up.
Even if he had to find someone to get pregnant, there was no way in hell he'd ever lay a hand on an underage girl.
His gaze drifted over to Cecil, who was still fiddling with her tablet. She noticed his glance and immediately put the device down.
"Commander, while you are indeed my type, I'm sorry—getting pregnant isn't on my agenda right now."
Mo Chen: "..."
Who the hell was even talking about that?!
He was speechless.
So instead, he asked the question that was actually on his mind.
"The location of the mother whale?"
Cecil tapped her keyboard and typed something in. A map instantly appeared on the tablet's screen.
Mo Chen's vision far surpassed that of ordinary humans, and he could see the details clearly.
What shocked him, though, was that the map looked really familiar.
No, not just familiar—it was a map of China.
The shapes of the continents, the positioning of the islands, the flow of the mountains and rivers… it had changed slightly, but overall, it was practically identical to the world he remembered.
No way… could this really be Earth? Or perhaps a parallel universe version of Earth?
Mo Chen didn't know.
And now wasn't the time to think about it.
Cecil projected the map and pointed her slender finger at a spot in the East China Sea.
"Unlike other Tyrant-class Raptures, Mother Whale doesn't have its own lair or territory. It doesn't stay in one place—it moves around like a bus. Its behavior is similar to migratory animals. The last sighting was in this body of water."
Mo Chen studied the map and quickly calculated the distance.
Fifteen hundred kilometers.
Not exactly close.
It was a bit closer to the Ark—about twelve hundred kilometers from there.
Twelve hundred kilometers… not far, but not exactly nearby either. Even with a plane, it would take several hours to get there.
And more importantly, the mother whale was supposed to fly.
Bringing down a flying Rapture of that size wouldn't be easy.
He voiced his concerns.
"Who told you the mother whale flies?" Cecil asked, surprising him.
Mo Chen answered honestly, "The game did. Is that wrong?"
Cecil sighed, clearly irritated by the question.
"The mother whale is, first and foremost, a whale. Whales live in the ocean."
"So it swims?" Mo Chen blinked.
That… didn't seem right.
In the game, the mother whale clearly flew.
And he'd even seen mother whale-type Raptures before—floating in the air.
Cecil crossed her arms and stared at him like he was an idiot.
"Many Raptures are indeed capable of flying to the sky now, but this mother whale is an earlier model and doesn't have semi-permanent power, meaning it can't sustain flight in the air," Cecil explained.
After listening to Cecil, Mo Chen understood that this mother whale was from decades ago, a model that lacked the ability to float.
"However, don't let your guard down," Cecil said seriously. "Even though it's an older model, it was created during the intense war with humanity. Because of this, it's heavily armed and much stronger than typical Tyrant-class Raptures."
"Please take it seriously; I don't want to see you next time in a body bag. Oh, and the mother whale can consume human tissue. I might be overthinking," she added.
Mo Chen felt a little uncomfortable.
From Cecil's words, he realized this mother whale wasn't like the one he knew, but a more primitive model. Its hunting grounds weren't the sky but the ocean, and it had powerful armament.
If the mother whale was in the sky, its broad field of vision, combined with high-powered radar, would easily detect it, even from high altitudes.
But in the ocean, locating the mother whale would be extremely difficult.
Sea water is a conductor, and when electromagnetic waves from radar hit seawater, most of the energy gets absorbed. This greatly limits the distance the radar waves can travel.
In comparison to sound waves, electromagnetic waves decay much faster in seawater, reducing radar detection range. On top of that, radar can be affected by complex weather conditions like sea winds, fog, currents, and ice.
Trying to find the mother whale in the vast ocean would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Even with today's advanced technology, they use towed radar for detection.
Mo Chen sighed in frustration. He couldn't just build a detection ship to find the mother whale, especially since he lacked the technology to do so.
Wait a minute.
Mo Chen suddenly remembered something.
In the original game, it seemed like the Ark had a ship, the "Admire" battleship. Not only was it equipped with powerful weaponry and armor, but more importantly, it had advanced reconnaissance equipment capable of detecting sea areas up to 100 kilometers away.
If he could get his hands on that ship, finding the mother whale might actually be possible.
Just as he was thinking about this, Mo Chen received a message and stepped aside to check his phone.
The message read:
"Commander, did you miss me? (☆▽☆)"
The sender was Sin.
Mo Chen didn't hesitate and quickly replied, "No."
This Sin was the one who had been caught by Mo Chen at the forward base for inciting a rebellion among the Raptures. Now, she had allied with Mo Chen.
Sin: "Commander, you're so cold! o(≧口≦)o"
Mo Chen: "…"
Sin: "But I think I like you more. (p≧w≦q)"
Mo Chen: "Cut the nonsense. Speak straight."
He didn't trust a single word when it came to Sin expressing feelings.
However, when it came to intelligence, he had no worries. If Sin dared to deceive him, she wouldn't have a second chance.
Not because he was cruel, but because that was his bottom line.
Sin: "The Heavenly Ascension' faction is planning to attack the 'Admire' battleship soon, probably this week. During the weekend banquet, there will be a fundraising ceremony for the 'Admire' battleship, and key Ark officials will be participating."