Chapter 69-A selfish wish

Chapter 69: 69-A selfish wish

The ocean around the general and his men started changing. The surface began to churn as dark shapes moved beneath the waves.

Mutated fish began appearing beneath the ruined ocean. They were massive, aggressive creatures that looked nothing like the fish that had once inhabited the seas.

Their bodies had swollen to monstrous proportions, covered in thick, scarred scales and jagged fins.

Some had rows of razor-sharp teeth crammed into oversized jaws, while others possessed strange, bony protrusions along their spines and faces.

Their eyes glowed with an unnatural, predatory hunger as they tore through the polluted waters.

They had adapted grotesquely to the new world, their bodies twisted by whatever horrors had contaminated the ocean. They were faster, stronger, and far more vicious than any ordinary sea creature.

And they weren’t afraid of humans anymore, they hunted them.

The men’s panic exploded.

"HELP!"

"GET THEM OFF ME!"

"SWIM!"

The men abandoned the submarine and swam for their lives, but there was nowhere to escape.

The water erupted around them as the mutated fish swarmed from every direction. Massive bodies tore through the waves, snapping jaws and thrashing fins sending violent splashes into the air. Their screams were quickly swallowed by the chaos.

Aymara stood motionless on the deck. She watched without a word as one survivor after another vanished beneath the churning water. Their desperate hands surfaced for only a moment before being dragged back into the depths.

The ocean around the sinking submarine slowly began to turn red. Within minutes, the men disappeared beneath the bloodstained waves.

Her face remained cold. "To each their own fate," she muttered.

This time around, she was determined to stay out of it. The hero in her died in her first life.

She held her indifferent mask and was determined to wear until it becomes a part of her. Beneath that expression, a shiver crawled down her spine.

She had seen what was beneath the ocean, what the apocalypse had created and she understood something with painful clarity.

Without her system, the ship and the defenses she had spent days building, she could have been the one in that water screaming for help.

Aymara wrapped her arms around herself for a moment. The screams faded, but they did not disappear. They lingered in her mind, tangled with the image of hands reaching through red water.

She had ordered the submarine disabled knowing what the ocean contained. She had not killed them directly, yet the distinction offered little comfort. Her decision had closed the last path to survival those men had.

For a brief moment, guilt pressed against her ribs and then she remembered the weapon aimed at the ship, Nathaniel waiting for her inside and her heart grew cold.

Mercy had not been offered to them because they had never offered it to her. "Heartless is the only way to assure I don’t go down the same way again."

Aymara closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe. The dead were gone, the living remained and Nathaniel was waiting.

She watched the last trace of the submarine disappear beneath the crimson-stained waves and then she turned toward the system.

"System, seize the submarine and integrate it into my ship."

The familiar mechanical voice rang through her mind.

[Command acknowledged.]

[Target: Abandoned Military Submarine.]

[Seizing vessel...]

[Submarine successfully captured.]

[Beginning integration into host vessel.]

A strange blue light enveloped the sinking submarine. Instead of allowing it to disappear into the depths, the system pulled it upward.

The massive vessel seemed to dissolve into countless streams of energy before being absorbed into Aymara’s ship and thar caused the entire deck to tremble.

[Integration complete.]

Aymara’s eyes widened. That was faster than she expected.

[Congratulations, Host!]

[You have successfully captured and integrated a military submarine.]

[Special Reward Unlocked!]

[Ship Upgrade: +1 Level]

[New Facility Unlocked: Indoor Fully Furnished Gym.]

Aymara blinked. "A gym?" she asked. What was the system thinking rewarding her with a gym.

After all the many hours she spent in the gym in her previous life. Maintaining the perfect weight, shape and figure in the name of keeping a man and love, the last thing she needed in this era was a gym.

[Yes, Host.]

[The facility includes strength-training equipment, cardio machines, free weights, exercise mats, stretching areas, changing rooms, showers, lockers, and an automated fitness-monitoring system.]

For the first time since the battle began, a genuine displeasure appeared on Aymara’s face.

In the apocalypse, she had secured weapons, supplies, defenses, agriculture, and an entire military submarine and now, she had a gym.

"System," she said, unable to hide her excitement, "Is it possible for me to choose my rewards next time?"

She asked knowing that leaving that choice to the system was going to give her a heart attack in the coming days.

[Host, system knows best. Trust me.]

Aymara doubted that, if Nathaniel was on the line...maybe, but herself? The system was determined to give her the opposite of everything she wants.

She exhaled slowly. Since the danger was over, she turned away from the blood-stained water. There was nothing left for her to watch and the system was annoying her so she left.

Her stomach gave a small, unmistakable growl. Aymara blinked. Hard. She looked toward the ship and then remembered the dining table.

Her lips twitched, though the smile felt fragile at first. "Right, I haven’t eaten anything since I woke up."

And she had left Nathaniel waiting and knowing him, he probably still hadn’t eaten.

Aymara turned toward the entrance. "System, dismiss the battle alert."

[Battle alert dismissed.]

The weapons retracted. The defensive systems returned to standby. The blue barrier gradually disappeared. Within minutes, the cruise ship looked peaceful again, as though nothing had happened.

Aymara adjusted her dress, smoothed her hair, and headed back inside. She had just fought an armed submarine, survived an attack that should have destroyed an ordinary ship and had taken control of their weapons.

The day was looking up already. She headed back inside and as she approached the dining room, the tension in her shoulders began to loosen.

She imagined his expression when he saw her, the questions he would ask, and the way he would probably notice that something was wrong even if she said nothing. The thought made her chest ache in a different way.

She did not want to tell him about the deaths outside and she certainly did not want him to see how close fear had come to breaking through her composure but she wanted to see him.

Aymara quickened her steps. "I hope he didn’t eat without me."

After everything that had happened, she was determined to finish the meal that had been interrupted. But beneath that innocent excuse was a selfish little hope she wasn’t even going to deny.

She wanted to eat across the table from him and see Nathaniel’s face while they shared a quiet meal as if the chaos outside their ship didn’t exist.

It was a little selfish. After all, she could have simply told him to eat without waiting for her, she had but Aymara didn’t want another meal eaten separately.

Not when she finally had the chance to sit beside the person she had once taken for granted. So she picked up her pace even more, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Please still be waiting for me, Nate."𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂