Is the gun in the bearded man's hand still useful? Does it pose a threat to Zhou Xuan?
The answer is naturally no.
Zhou Xuan chuckled, pointing a finger at the bearded man and saying, "If it weren't for the fact that you're a submarine pilot, I'd kill you on the spot."
The bearded man couldn't understand what he was saying, but Mao Feng did, and his expression changed accordingly.
The bearded man couldn't understand the words, but he could see that Zhou Xuan wasn't afraid of his pistol at all, as if he were holding a toy gun. He immediately roared and fired a shot at Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan chuckled again, staring coldly at the bearded man.
The bearded man only heard the firing pin click after his first shot; the bullet didn't fire. He paused for a moment, then fired five or six more shots in quick succession. The firing pins clicked repeatedly, but no gunshot or bullet was fired.
The bearded man was stunned. He remembered using this pistol to shoot when he went out to sea. How come it had stopped working now?
Mao Feng instantly understood. This person indeed possessed that mysterious and unpredictable ability, having secretly and invisibly taken care of the bearded man's pistol. This was exactly the same situation as on the boat; there was no other possibility but him.
Zhou Xuan slowly pointed his finger at the bearded man. The bearded man suddenly realized what was happening and dodged, but then he suddenly felt a continuous stream of cold energy shooting out from Zhou Xuan's finger and flowing into his forehead, then spreading throughout his body. Wherever the cold energy reached, that part of his body became immobile.
This startled the bearded man, but he didn't move an inch. Zhou Xuan's fingers gently pressed against his forehead, and the chilling aura seemed like a tangible sword, about to pierce a hole in the middle of his forehead.
Zhou Xuan then sneered, "If you don't want to die, then keep driving the submarine properly. If you want to die, I won't object to executing you right now."
Faced with Zhou Xuan's cold and menacing words, the bearded man was terrified. Even though he couldn't understand a single word Zhou Xuan said, he could only nod frantically, daring not to resist any longer.
Mao Feng felt utterly hopeless, finally realizing how truly terrifying Zhou Xuan was, and any lingering hope he had vanished completely.
Zhou Xuan was only trying to scare the bearded man, intending to kill him, but he didn't actually operate the submarine. However, his expression didn't waver. He chuckled coldly and then withdrew his hand.
The moment Zhou Xuan's fingers left the bearded man, the chill in his body vanished instantly, he regained his mobility, and all his discomfort disappeared without a trace.
The sudden relief made the bearded man feel as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but at the same time, his mind was filled with fear. This person was truly terrifying. How could there be such a cold and terrifying aura emanating from his fingers? Did he have some kind of electrical device installed on his hands?
Regardless of his thoughts, the bearded man dared not disrespect Zhou Xuan again and quickly and obediently took control of the submarine. However, his eyes were still secretly glancing at the pistol that had just fallen from his hand. Although he didn't understand why no bullets had been fired, the only thing that could give him peace of mind now was that pistol.
Zhou Xuan noticed his gaze and quietly bent down to pick up the pistol.
Zhou Xuan's sudden action terrified the bearded man and Mao Feng. It felt like a bone was stuck in their throats; they were incredibly uncomfortable. They couldn't bring themselves to fire, but they were terrified that Zhou Xuan would point the gun at them and shoot.
Zhou Xuan chuckled, channeling his supernatural power to transform and absorb a section of the pistol's center. Then, with a quick twist of his hands, he broke the pistol in two without a sound.
This left Mao Feng and the bearded man speechless with shock.
They thought Zhou Xuan would threaten them with a gun, but to their surprise, he simply used his strength to break the pistol in two. This wasn't a tree branch; it was a pistol made of high-quality steel!
Mao Feng and the bearded man had seen many ruthless and skilled people, but they had never seen anyone who could break a pistol with their bare hands. They had never even seen anyone who could bend a pistol, let alone break it. Besides, this pistol was definitely not a prop brought by Zhou Xuan, but one that Zhou Xuan had personally watched closely. It was the bearded man's pistol that Zhou Xuan had picked up from the ground.
Although this move did not result in any deaths or injuries, it was still incredibly intimidating, and Mao Feng and the bearded man no longer dared to have any other thoughts.
Mao Feng urged the bearded man to turn the submarine around and head back. The bearded man dared not say anything more, immediately raised the submarine a little, turned it around in a wider area, and then headed back to the area he had searched.
Zhou Xuan wasn't entirely sure of the location of the place he had just suspected, because the copper wire was pulled at an angle. If his special ability had detected it directly, Zhou Xuan could have immediately pinpointed its location. However, since his special ability was transmitted through the copper wire, the wire was merely a transmission medium, so he couldn't be certain; he could only detect it at the other end of the wire.
However, what just happened wasn't that Zhou Xuan detected any trace of a sunken ship, but rather that when the copper core wire was dragged across the bottom of the trench, his special ability detected nothing.
Because Zhou Xuan's ability to detect things has a unique characteristic: he can detect all matter on Earth. So far, he has only encountered a few things that he cannot detect. The first is the golden meteorite from outer space that gave him his ability. The second is the Nine Dragon Cauldron and the Nine Star Pearl, which are the solar flame energy converters. The third is the flying saucer in the underground river under the skylight. All three of these objects that his ability cannot detect are confirmed to be from outside Earth's civilization.
Therefore, Zhou Xuan was certain that any object that his special ability could not detect did not belong to Earth.
When the bearded man arrived in his submarine, Zhou Xuan used his special ability to probe the copper core wire. There was a brief moment when he detected nothing. He didn't pay much attention at the time, but then it suddenly dawned on him. Although it was a very short time, those few seconds when he detected nothing seemed strange. His ability could detect even soil and rocks, yet in that brief moment, he detected nothing at all. Reflecting on it, Zhou Xuan realized something was amiss. Those few seconds when he couldn't detect anything—rocks, soil, fish, or water—were something to consider.
As the submarine returned, Zhou Xuan used all his special abilities to probe along the copper core wire, sensing the situation at the bottom of the trench from the other end of the wire.
Although invisible and intangible, the scene on the seabed was clearly displayed in Zhou Xuan's mind wherever the copper core wire passed. Mao Feng would occasionally secretly observe Zhou Xuan and see him tilting his head in thought, as if he were listening to something.
In fact, Zhou Xuan wasn't listening to anything or pondering anything; he was simply using his special ability to probe at full power and hadn't paid attention to his facial expressions.
The submarine moved very slowly, taking about four or five minutes to travel only seven or eight hundred meters.
Suddenly, Zhou Xuan's body trembled, startling Mao Feng and the bearded man.
Zhou Xuan trembled not because he was afraid, but because his supernatural ability suddenly stopped detecting anything in an instant, as if the other end of the copper wire was floating in space, a vacuum without a trace of air.
In that instant, Zhou Xuan immediately realized that something was really wrong with this location. Even if the other end of the copper wire didn't touch the sea, it should still be able to detect the seawater, right?
In that instant, Zhou Xuan couldn't even detect the most basic seawater.
"Stop! Stop right now!" Zhou Xuan said immediately after a moment of stunned silence. The bearded man, quick-witted as ever, stopped the submarine without needing Mao Feng's translation.
After the submarine came to a stop, Zhou Xuan used his special ability to detect the diagonal span of the copper wire outside the submarine, estimated the distance, and then said, "Mao Feng, have him turn the submarine around and advance about fifteen meters."
Mao Feng translated for the bearded man with a surprised expression, but he was also very puzzled, wondering what Zhou Xuan was up to.
The bearded man was also acting strangely, but at this moment he dared not argue with Zhou Xuan anymore. He did whatever Mao Feng said, turned the submarine around, and then drove about fifteen meters before stopping and looking at Zhou Xuan again.
Zhou Xuan nodded, then added, "From this spot, slowly descend."
Mao Feng pressed his hand down, indicating something. The bearded man immediately understood and slowly lowered the submarine. At this position, the trench was about 20 meters wide, not narrow, but the depth was about 1,300 meters. So, as they continued to descend, the bearded man slowed down the descent and stopped when the submarine reached a depth of about 1,500 meters.
The bearded man then spoke to Mao Feng, who, not daring to be negligent, quickly translated for Zhou Xuan: "Mr. Hu, he said the submarine's diving limit is 1,500 meters. It can't dive any further; it would be dangerous."
He didn't need to say it aloud; Zhou Xuan and Mao Feng both understood that submarines have a limit at the beginning of their design and testing. Once this limit is exceeded, the submarine will reach the critical point where it cannot withstand underwater pressure.
Mao Feng glanced at the radar screen, which showed that the underwater depth at this location was still over a thousand meters. He shook his head and said, "Mr. Hu, do you see anything different about this place? The submarine also has detection instruments, and this location shows that there are no shipwrecks or other suspicious objects more than a thousand meters below the surface."
Zhou Xuan remained silent, focusing his attention on probing the depth beneath the submarine. The distance beneath the submarine was not as indicated by the radar on the submarine; there was still a depth of over a thousand meters. Under his special ability, at a point approximately two hundred meters deep, nothing was detected.
In other words, at a depth of 200 meters below the submarine, just as he had detected at the other end of the copper wire, there was nothing there, not even seawater.