"Look... the flesh and blood on Leviathan seems... seems to be starting to rot!" Layton exclaimed.

Just as he said, not only the gaps that were hit by concentrated fire, but also other parts of the Leviathan that had not been bombarded began to gradually collapse. Large chunks of dark red flesh peeled off from the body of the giant beast, and the exposed wounds appeared gray and withered. Corrupted pus-like substances continued to flow out from every crack on the body of the giant beast.

This time, Leviathan really "slept forever"...

The entire process of Leviathan's body's death lasted for a full six hours. The majestic mountain range that stretched across the wasteland disappeared, and in its place was a black crystal skeleton that looked like a work of art.

Ke Lan always felt that it was a bit strange to use the word "artwork" to describe such things, but he couldn't find a better adjective for the time being.

Leviathan's skeleton is shaped like a whale bone, but it differs from whale bones in many details. In addition to its body size being many times larger than that of whales on Earth, the most notable feature of Leviathan's skeleton is the six pairs of large wing-shaped fins on both sides of its body.

Although Ke Lan knew that this creature once had the ability to fly in the sky, in his opinion, these six sets of fins alone could not provide the terrifying lift required by this behemoth... But with the disappearance of Leviathan's flesh tissue, this topic will most likely become one of the many unsolved mysteries on Alpha.

The rotten and dissolved flesh quickly seeped into the ground, and the originally solid and thick surface rock now looked like it was covered with a thick layer of gray-black rotten cotton wool. A warship fired a missile at the ground, but after the missile came into contact with the corroded rock, it was like it was shot into a quagmire and soon sank deeply into it. Then, a muffled sound came from underground, and along with the muffled sound, only a few bubbles of moderate size rose up...

"...How come this land has become the same as that corrupt swamp in the southern hemisphere..." The hound leaning against the porthole frowned and shook his head, "That was a dead land... Because of a meaningless pursuit, that place swallowed up 19 of my brothers alive."

"I know about the Corruption Swamp. It should have been an area similar to the rainforest on Earth tens of thousands of years ago. However, the plants growing there died in a short period of time for some unknown reason. The rotten plant bodies and the wet soil mixed together to form peat. In addition, the rainfall in that place was heavy, so such a large swamp was formed..." Ke Lan said, "But these things obviously have nothing to do with peat..."

"Whether it's peat or mud... Anyway, this big guy should be dead this time." The Hound rubbed his chin irritably. "It's really strange. How come all the crystal minerals in Leviathan's body disappeared... Only a skeleton is left that even a plasma can't destroy."

"Manstein!" The Hound suddenly turned around and shouted at Manstein, who was so frightened that he jumped up from his seat. He was stunned for several seconds before responding, "Mr. Hound... Is there something you want to ask me?"

"What percentage of the crystal ore produced by Leviathan accounts for the total output of the Ark?"

"This... the proportion is not fixed every year... if it's last year, it was about 27 percentage points..." The Hound's previous brutality against him seemed to have left a big shadow in the heart of this senior executive of the Soma Group. Now he spoke in a timid manner, fearing that a word he uttered would cause dissatisfaction on the other party again.

"Twenty-seven percent? It's that much?!" The hound's eyes widened suddenly, and Manstein was so scared that he took several steps back and fell on the chair. Then he quickly stood up.

"Yes, yes... Last year's proportion was relatively small... In normal years, it usually accounts for more than 30% of the Ark's total production..."

"Ah... if only there was a computer that could connect to the Ark's public network!" The Hound beat his chest and stamped his feet, "27% of the production! If we use all our money to buy crystal futures now, even if we discover a few ruins with huge crystal reserves this year, it will definitely not affect the rising price of crystals... Such an opportunity to make a fortune, what a pity... Alas..."

"No, there is still a chance." Ke Lan patted Hound's shoulder. "The news from Leviathan will be announced to the public at least a week to half a month later. Before that, the only people who know about it are the Ark's senior management, the First Fleet, and a few of us... If we return with the First Fleet and take action immediately after returning to the Ark, even if we can't eat the fattest pieces of meat, we can still drink the soup to our heart's content..."

Ke Lan said, turning to Manstein and smiling, "Mr. Manstein, I have a way to allow you to pay off the high-interest loans you owe as quickly as possible, and make up for the funding gap created by embezzling the consortium's public funds. Are you interested?"

"Yes! Of course I do!" Manstein said excitedly. Although his performance before this had always been very poor, which was totally unworthy of his identity as the highest person in charge of the mining base, he was not a fool. Ke Lan had said this, so he naturally understood the implied meaning.

"Well, I have a suggestion. After we go back, I will ask Miss Zofia to temporarily delay the consortium's handling of you. You can use this time as a client to help us make money... As for this method of making money, I don't need to explain it again, right?"

"I know, I know!" Manstein nodded repeatedly.

As a professional, entrusting the funds to Manstein for operation will greatly increase the profits and efficiency compared to financial laymen like Ke Lan. Manstein is one of the eyewitnesses of the Leviathan incident, and Ke Lan and others have the evidence in their hands, so there is basically no risk of leakage.

"Time is tight, but if you operate it properly, the returns are still substantial... As a commission, I can give you 10% of the profit. Of course, if there is a loss, you will have to bear all the losses."

"There will be no loss, absolutely not!" Manstein said firmly. If he could lose money in such a transaction, he might as well just jump off the deck of the Ark.

"But there is still one question." Ke Lan turned his gaze to Sakurai Nai who was standing beside him. "As a member of the Mitsui Group, you should be able to bring this news back, right?"

"…Is this any of your business?" Sakurai Na glared at Ke Lan.

"That's really none of my business, but I think Miss Sakurai will have to inconvenience you for a while and stay with us men for a while... After all, you just blatantly eavesdropped on our business secrets." Ke Lan said, giving the Hound a subtle look, and the latter secretly gave Ke Lan a thumbs up where Sakurai Na couldn't see.

The so-called business secrets were actually just an excuse, and the real purpose of Ke Lan and the others detaining Sakurai Na was to have an extra powerful bargaining chip when negotiating with the Mitsui Group.

After all, the missing Liao Zilang was most likely taken away by the Mitsui Group. Judging from the performance of Mitsuisuke and Sakurai Na, Yui and her group should not have returned to the Mitsui Group’s base on the back of Leviathan... This means that Liao Zilang is very likely... still alive.

"You... why are you like this? It's not like I wanted to hear it on purpose, it was clearly you who said it!" Sakurai Na shouted angrily.

"But the result is still the same." Ke Lan grinned at the girl, and Layton immediately put a bracelet with a detonator on Sakurai Na's wrist.

"Do you know what the consequences of doing this are?" Sakurai Na grabbed her wrist and asked harshly.

"Then what do you think we should do? Kill you now, throw your body into the swamp, and go back to the people from the Mitsui Group and say, 'We're sorry, we almost saved Miss Sakuraina, but unfortunately she died.'... What do you think of this idea?"