Chapter 658 - 409: Fleet Annihilation (Part 2)

Sonar is a detection device constructed using the propagation and reflection characteristics of sound waves in liquids. It can detect the properties of underwater targets such as location, shape, and movement direction.

At this moment, the sonar screen displayed countless points of light. They were so dense, fused together, forming an unbroken curtain of light.

The captain couldn’t believe his eyes and asked in shock, "How is such a magnitude possible... Is there a malfunction with the equipment?!"

Sonar operator: "No... I checked, there is no malfunction with the equipment..."

Captain: "What are these things?"

"According to the feedback data, judging from the shape displayed, it seems..." The sonar operator could hardly believe what he was about to say, his voice low like a whisper, "It seems to be people."

The captain almost burst into laughter out of rage: "We’re a submarine unit, and we’re currently more than 500 meters below the sea surface. What kind of frogmen can dive to this depth?!"

The sonar operator looked bewildered: "I... I don’t know..."

The captain pressed on: "Is it possible they are Prosthetic Implanters equipped with deep-diving modules?"

Sonar operator: "Huh? At this magnitude?"

After speaking, he glanced again at the curtain of light on the sonar display.

The captain realized his idea was naive.

The sonar had now detected thousands of individuals.

The deep-diving modules are expensive, not very effective, and have limited applications, only used in small-scale special operations at most.

Producing thousands at once? Absolutely impossible.

"These are... wait... these people are getting closer to us! So fast! How can they be so fast?" The sonar operator suddenly screamed.

The captain saw the warning interface fill with red indicators, and cold sweat started to flow, immediately shouting: "Fire torpedoes immediately! Intercept them!"

The submarine opened the weapon bay, and several torpedoes, trailing white wakes, shot toward the dense humanoids.

"Boom boom boom—" The torpedo explosions triggered shockwaves, causing the submarine to tremble up and down, but no one had the mind to care about such things; the crew kept their eyes fixed on the instruments.

The powerful torpedoes worked, and the curtain of light on the detector nearly disappeared, leaving only sporadic dots stationary.

It seemed... they had been exterminated.

However, just as everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief, with no warning at all, all detection equipment roared with noise, first appearing as a line at the edge of the screen, then transforming into a plane, rushing toward the submarine like a torrential flood.

Surrounded by the screams of companions and the alarm sound of the instruments, the captain’s pupils lost focus, muttering only: "Oh God..."

...

The flagship "Cangming" was waiting for information from the reconnaissance submarines, but what they ultimately received was just a scream and a trembling "God", then they lost contact.

Seconds later, a series of surging water columns rose from the distant sea surface, with the roaring tides crashing against the surrounding vessels, causing the hulls to shake violently.

These were shockwaves produced by the consecutive destruction and explosions of the submarines.

All ships, whether on decks or in command cabins, fell into dead silence; the instrument displays showed all submarines that sent enemy alerts had lost contact.

But they didn’t even know what the enemy was.

In the command room of the Cangming, the first mate asked with a pale face: "Captain, what should we do?"

The captain silently lit a cigarette, a strictly prohibited act during wartime. He took a deep puff and said in a low voice: "You know what? Throughout my service career, I’ve never feared storms, rain, or giant waves..."

"Because these things are visible, tangible, and as long as you know what you’re facing, there’s nothing to fear."

"What I fear most is what’s below the surface."

"Underwater imaging technology has always been immature. Various underwater detection devices can only tell there’s something there, but often can’t identify what it is."

"Unseen, ungraspable, and intangible, in time, it leads to panic, which is the start of collapse..."

At this moment, a crew member reported in a panicked voice: "A large number of unidentified objects are approaching underwater! Too many! They’re everywhere! The number can’t be counted!"

The captain extinguished the unfinished cigarette, exhaled the smoke from his lungs, and walked alone to the observation window.

Looking around, the surrounding sea was pitch black.

This was not its original color but a gigantic shadow formed by countless underwater entities growing near the surface, extending to the farthest edge of the horizon, unattainable.

Looking at this scene, the captain, like a general at a dead end, no longer stood straight, but his eyes remained filled with a soldier’s fighting spirit. He ordered with the loudest voice of his life: "All ships, release deep water bombs! Anti-submarine aircraft take off, attack freely!"

"Boom boom boom boom boom—" As each fleet began to drop deep water bombs, fire broke out continuously underwater, followed by water columns soaring to the sky, waves shook the hull left and right, and those less experienced sailors couldn’t even stand steadily.

Yet, even though all fleets attacked with full force, they seemed unable to deter the underwater entities.

"Boom!" Suddenly, a massive explosion occurred at the bottom of the "Bipolar", the wing escort of the fleet, the 4200-ton destroyer broke into two like a snapped stick, sinking forever into the sea in a spark of sympathetic explosions.

Observers on other vessels screamed across communication channels: "The... Bipolar was sunk! Repeat! The Bipolar was sunk!"

"Boom!" Following quickly, another missile frigate, the "Ye Wu", experienced a bottom explosion, the 6000-ton warship tilted and sank into the sea, causing a soaring white wave.

The officers and soldiers of each fleet were about to go mad.

What in the world are the things underwater?!

Anti-submarine aircraft launched from the carrier joined the battle, releasing numerous guided torpedoes and deep water bombs that exploded continuously underwater, further intensifying the shake of each fleet, and some sailors were so dizzy they couldn’t straighten up and vomited.

But no matter how the fleet counterattacked, it was all in vain.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Flames erupted continuously from each warship, smoke spread over the sea like Death God’s black claws.

In less than an hour, the Inland Sea Fleet had already lost dozens of warships, but they still hadn’t unveiled the true face of the enemy.

Amidst the chaos on communication frequencies, sailors in the middle of the sea zone suddenly felt a flash before their eyes, vision disappeared in intense white light for several seconds.

When their sight returned, their hearts sank into an abyss of despair.

In the center of the combat array, the largest warship exploded, flames soared, illuminating the surrounding sea, like a giant flower of fire blooming on the sea.

The hull deformed and shattered under the explosion’s impact, billowing smoke enveloped the once-magnificent ship, flames rapidly spread along the deck, burning everything flammable.

Fuel in the engine room contacted flames, triggering even more violent secondary explosions, the entire hull gradually crumbled in the inferno, the air filled with a stinging tar and smoke smell.

Desperate soldiers on deck ran and shouted, attempting to extinguish the spreading flames, but their efforts were so insignificant, tiny bodies consecutively engulfed by flames.

After a violent explosion, the command tower collapsed, crashing onto the deck with countless sparks and debris, the entire ship’s outline blurred in the fiery glow, like a dying giant beast struggling in agony, sinking underwater.

Fuel leaking from the hull ignited, burning fiercely on the sea, tainting the water into a murky mess, countless tiny fragments, and wreckage drifting in the water.

Finally, as the hull was completely submerged, it was eternally buried in the deep sea.

The flagship of the Inland Sea Fleet, the pride of the World Government Navy, the "Cangming", has sunk.