"Anying, step back a bit. The tide will rise soon, and once it does, the seawater will get past your knees."

"No worries. Actually, I'm not that cold, so having the seawater splash me here should be safer. By the way, don't stray too far. Make sure we can board the boat as soon as it arrives."

"Alright, I got it."

Ye Chen heard this and frowned slightly. Although Anying said so, he felt that everything wasn't as simple as it seemed.

He turned to look at the dark little island.

Because it was still 5 AM, the island wasn't fully lit yet.

He just felt an endless terror continuously spreading outward.

Finally, after waiting for about 40 minutes, suddenly, Anying excitedly stood up and ran forward a few steps.

He swiftly waved his hand in the direction of the boat.

Ye Chen saw that two speedboats were indeed approaching from a distance.

As expected of speedboats, from the moment they appeared, it took them just two or three minutes to reach closer.

"Quick, put the stuff up and let's go."

Suddenly, Anying turned around, grabbed a suitcase, and ran toward the speedboat.

Although Ye Chen didn't know what was happening, seeing Anying in such a hurry suggested that something was up, so he hurriedly pulled Lin Yaru and jumped onto the speedboat.

"Captain, hurry, set off now."

Anying shouted loudly, and finally, the speedboat's driver just nodded, turned the direction, and sped toward the shore.

Just after leaving for a few minutes, suddenly, the speedboat shook, and they heard a deafening sound.

Then, Ye Chen looked in the direction of the noise and saw a plume of white smoke rising around the small island.

"What's going on?"

With a terrified expression, he looked up at Anying.

Anying didn't answer but glanced at the time.

"Heh, just as I calculated; there was indeed an explosion at this moment."

"What did you say? An explosion? What's going on? Did you already suspect something earlier?"

"Yes, I did see it. Initially, I didn't think it was a bomb, but when I entered that underground space, I realized it was a timed bomb. By the time we discovered it, there really wasn't much time left before it exploded, so I hurriedly pulled you all to the shore."

"A timed bomb? When was it placed?"

"I'm not sure, but based on the device and its general condition, I'd guess it was probably placed last night—or the night before—taking advantage of low tide to enter the cave and bury it beneath."

"But why place it in the cave? Couldn't they just put it on the island directly for more impact?"

"Firstly, placing it on the island would likely have been detected by my monitoring equipment, so they chose the isolated cave."

"So, placing it there avoids detection by your equipment, is that what you mean?"

"Exactly. Plus, if it were on the island, it might not entirely destroy it, but now that it's in the underground space, the island is practically obliterated and will cease to exist."

As Ye Chen spoke, he glanced in that direction. The thick smoke had already started to disperse, but he could vaguely feel that the island seemed to be slowly being covered by the seawater.

Indeed, as they got closer, the island truly was gone, and Lin Yaru, who witnessed it all, still hadn't recovered from the shock.

"Who are these people, clearly trying to obliterate us by letting the boat slip away and stranding us on the island to be blown up, leaving us to sink into the ocean?"

"Yes, that's exactly it. If I hadn't discovered the timed bomb in that iron box back then, we'd likely have been caught off guard at daylight and unable to escape."

"That was so risky, Anying. If it weren't for you, who knows what would've happened. So they've been tailing us, worried we might uncover where they hid people back then?"

"But they probably didn't expect us to find it and retrieve the bomb from there. It looked like their actions were done in secret, but it was entirely under our control."

"It was so dangerous. I didn't expect them to go to such lengths to kill us."

"If that's the case, I suspect we've touched their core interests, and if we discovered something, it might cause them direct harm."

"In that case, my dad, wouldn't his situation become extremely dangerous?"

Suddenly, Lin Yaru seemed to realize something and rushed over.

She analyzed the situation carefully, thinking that if no one knew he was still alive, his situation might indeed be safe.

But if these people found out he wasn't dead, his situation would become perilous.

This is real-time.