Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 235 Tadpole Detector, the Last Hope of the Whole Village! (Please Subscribe)
"Report: We have broken free from the entanglement and are approaching the designated coordinates."

"Okay, get ready to deploy!"

Inside the command center, the oppressive atmosphere eased slightly, but no one dared to completely relax.

The Type 022 missile boat carried the hopes of the pioneering team. This decommissioned equipment had taken a lot of effort from the pioneering team, and it was disassembled and then reassembled in another world.

Modifying and assembling such a large machine is not something that can be done quickly.

Current explorations of the forbidden area on land have failed in bizarre ways; the unmanned equipment sent out either mysteriously disappears or crashes into an invisible gravity wall, resulting in direct damage.

If you venture 5 kilometers into the forbidden area, it will become a dead end.

This made the pioneering team very anxious.

If in the future we are likely to have to fight against the dwarves, elves, and the undead Scourge, and even humans might get involved, then we must identify the problems in this forbidden area as soon as possible.

At least ensure that this is a deadly place where no one lives.

Otherwise, this battlefield of ancient giants would be like a man-eating tiger lying beside your bed, ready to breathe on you at any moment.

Previously, in order to explore the forbidden area, humans surveyed and mapped the area, confirming that this region, with a diameter of 80 kilometers and an interior area of ​​70 kilometers, was a dangerous zone.

Of the countless probes that humans have deployed there, only a narrow strip of oceanic continental shelf fault zone surrounding the Devil's Sea has captured signals of the aggregation of living organisms.

Logically speaking, these places where life gathers are often areas with weak fortifications or even gaps in defense.

Entering the forbidden area through the ocean passage of the Devil's Sea became a new breakthrough for the pioneering team.

On the drone, watching the modified Type 022 missile boat gradually approach its designated position in the Devil's Sea, Commander Fu, staring at the main screen, calmly announced: "Begin deploying the deep-sea unmanned surface vessel."

After the massive hull of the Type 022 missile boat slowly came to a stop on the sea, a remotely controlled mechanical armor plate silently slid open in the middle of the hull, revealing a dark launch port.

A soft "plop" sound.

A small, flat-shaped, all-black submersible was simply and neatly ejected into the turbulent sea.

The propellers of the small submersible churned the water, causing it to quickly embed itself in the ocean.

Meanwhile, the Type 022 missile boat began to keep its preheated engines idling.

In an instant, the Type 022 missile boat became a floating object in the devilish waters.

This is the experience summarized by the pioneering team after exploring the area, using countless underwater vehicles and communication vehicles.

As long as you don't use propellers or other means to stir up the water in the ocean, or use active detectors like sonar to provoke others, the probability of being detected will be greatly reduced.

Of course, it's just a significant reduction.

Because the swordfish and other miscellaneous seafood near the Devil's Sea in this other world love to pierce and attack floating objects on the sea surface.

It's as if certain biological instincts are etched into their genes.

This is absolutely ridiculous!

"...Self-test passed...Deep-sea unmanned probe attitude adjustment in progress...Water entry correction...Attitude adjustment complete...Attitude normal..."

"Simultaneously activate the decoy's guiding sonar! Release special energy particle detectors... Deploy radioactive radiation detectors..."

Once the order was given, sonar guides disguised as floating marine objects were activated on the sea surface.

At the same time, some sonar decoy detectors mixed with multi-functional disposable detectors were also ejected from the missile boat.

Some emit specific invalid sound waves, while others collect and summarize sound patterns and transmit them synchronously to unmanned underwater vehicles that transmit signals via optical fibers.

Some began to calculate the detailed changes in various types of radiation energy in the vicinity.

As the sonar instrument was released, almost instantly, on the sonar image on the main screen, the dots representing life signals surged wildly towards the inducer from all directions, like iron filings attracted by a magnet.

The previously calm sea area has been turned into a boiling pot of chaos by these previously unseen schools of seafood.

These aggressive sea monsters were completely lured away by the human bait. This allowed the submersible to more easily travel into the depths of the ocean.

"Safe passage established, underwater vehicle advances..."

In one corner of the screen, a tiny dot of light representing the submarine takes advantage of the chaos to plunge into the deep sea, rapidly heading towards the core of the restricted area.

Inside the command center, you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone held their breath, their hearts pounding with the ever-changing depth numbers on the screen.

"150 meters deep, signal stable."

"At a depth of 350 meters, signal transmission is normal."

"Deep 1,350 meters, entering the five-kilometer zone!"

"Tsk tsk, the radiation levels at the bottom of the sea are quite interesting."

Looking at the multi-functional detection data transmitted back by the submersible, a marine expert wearing glasses tapped the table lightly, his face brimming with undisguised enthusiasm.

"Interesting! The peak value of this gamma-ray energy spectrum is very strange, and the radiation level in the ocean of this ancient battlefield is so high!"

"Look! The detector has broken through! It has broken through the five-kilometer range! The signal hasn't disappeared."

With a barely suppressed gasp from the command center, everyone's eyes were glued to the main screen.

The dot of light representing the submarine safely crossed the red warning line that symbolized death.

More importantly, clear underwater video signals are being transmitted back steadily!

"Haha! We did it! We finally got in!"

"I told you our custom-made submarine was fine!"

The oppressive atmosphere vanished instantly, and the technicians excitedly pumped their fists.

In the footage from the submersible, apart from the occasional small schools of otherworldly fish swimming by, the deep sea was quiet and secluded, no different from the otherworldly seabed previously detected.

"Go deeper! Explore this earthquake fault line inch by inch! If you don't find anything underground, control the ascent and see if there's anything above sea level."

"Roger! Continue inward..."

A young technician's response was cut short, his voice like that of Hakimi being choked.

Zila——!
A piercing electrical crackling sound suddenly erupted from the speaker, and on the main screen, all data streams and live feeds instantly went black—the video signal was lost!
The green indicator bar, which represented normal communication, suddenly turned a glaring blood red.

"Where's the underwater vehicle's signal?!"

"What happened? Did the wire break again?"

"Damn it, the target signal has been completely lost! Were all the biosignals detected in that godforsaken place fake? How could they suddenly disappear?"

The technical department head, who had just been beaming with pride and about to boast about the performance of his company's underwater vehicle, suddenly turned a deep purplish-red and stood there awkwardly.

A clueless intern nearby muttered under his breath, "Could this be a trap?"

The supervisor glared at him, cleared his throat, and tried to save face: "Don't panic! Everything is under control."

Those unaware of the situation looked at the technicians.

"Ahem, our underwater vehicle is designed with an autonomous return program! As long as it is not physically destroyed, or... well, not teleported to another space, theoretically it can return on its own."

Before he could finish speaking, a staff officer interrupted with a cold voice: "Theoretically speaking?"

These words were like two slaps to the face, instantly causing a fine layer of cold sweat to seep from the technical supervisor's forehead.

Beside the monitoring center, Su Mingjin rubbed her throbbing temples and sighed silently.

It's always the same; every time hope is rekindled, it's extinguished by a bucket of cold water.

"There are clearly schools of fish going in and out, so why did the submarine's signal disappear?"

"There might be something inside. Hopefully, our submarine is tough enough and we'll be lucky enough to return on its own!" a staff officer muttered to himself.

Hundreds of kilometers away, listening to everyone's stories, Brigade Commander Fu remained silent.

He walked past the crowd and went straight to a secondary screen displaying the physical status of the fiber optic cable, his eyes sharp.

At this moment, almost everyone assumes that this is yet another costly failure.

Commander Fu's calm voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Gentlemen, haven't you noticed that the fiber optic signal is off? It doesn't seem to be broken here, does it?"

Upon hearing this, the technicians on the front lines were all taken aback.

Everyone instinctively looked toward the secondary screen that Commander Fu had indicated.

The parameters above represent the fiber optic cable connection status, and everything is working perfectly!
The person who designed the submersible looked at the fiber optic signal, his tone tinged with deep confusion: "The optical time domain reflectometer did not detect any bends or breaks, and the CRC check was completely normal!"

In order to explore the forbidden underwater areas of another world, humans have equipped their underwater vehicles with the latest armored optical fibers made of high-compression and high-tensile composite materials.

Let alone water flow and pulling force, even if some extremely strong sea monsters chewed it like noodles, it would probably only be able to get it stuck between their teeth. It would take a lot of effort to break the fiber optic cable!
This thing is so thin and sturdy that it's hard for marine life to spot.

Even if they discover it, they probably won't take it seriously.

Seeing that the lines were working and the physical connections were intact, everyone became even more puzzled.

Why is the signal not being transmitted back?
A quick-thinking staff officer scratched his head: "The line isn't broken... but the optical signal commands sent by our instruments have vanished into thin air."

Commander Fu slowly turned around, looking at the meaningless static on the main screen, and said slowly and deliberately, "So, our underwater vehicle hasn't lost contact. It just entered a place that might isolate information, but not electronic signals! So... that place should theoretically be safe?"

"Then let's wait for any good news to come back from over there."

Waiting is undoubtedly a very long process...

It's like sending a message to your crush, asking if she's eaten or slept, and waiting a long time for a reply.

It's very anxiety-inducing.

However, if you have 20 girls you like, and you send similar messages to them all at the same time, they might have a chance to reply to you.

Even if only one person replies to your message, you won't be bored tonight.

Of course, if the pioneering team had twenty breakthrough points, they wouldn't have focused so much on spending so much money and equipment to infiltrate from the Devil's Sea.

Fifteen minutes later, in the deathly silent command center, a sonar operator abruptly ripped off his headset, his face ashen, and exclaimed, "Brigadier Fu! Something's happened!"

His voice was shrill with panic, instantly stirring up a huge wave of reactions.

"Sonar detected a large-scale biological signal backflow! Target... near that forbidden area of ​​the ancient battlefield ruins."

On the large screen, the dense red dots representing the fish from the other world seemed to know their way around, changing direction from all directions like waves of blood-red tide, surging back towards the center of the Devil's Sea.

"The decoy signals have all disappeared!"

"Damn it, everything we deployed at such a great distance has been destroyed."

"Damn it, these beasts just came back after taking advantage of us?"

"It wasn't that they ate them all up; it's that there are other monsters deeper in the Devil's Sea. These guys went into the territory of other sea monsters, many of them were killed, and they escaped back."

"The Type 022 missile boat... uh, their position... it seems they've surrounded the Type 022!"

In one corner of the screen, the lone green dot representing the Type 022 missile boat is still in a safe state, but the passive detector has already detected a large number of flashing red dots near the missile boat.

These red dots are so dense that they seem to wrap around the missile ship in layers, like a net, completely impenetrable.

"We've deployed quite a few decoys nearby; that should attract some, right?"

"That's tough. These fish just went through a bloody battle. There are even more powerful sea monsters in the depths of the Devil's Sea! I'm worried that our bait won't be able to attract these guys anymore."

"That shouldn't be the case, right?"

"Anyway, our missiles are probably going to be surrounded and destroyed." A technician rubbed his temples, looking troubled.

"Over 100 million for dumplings, the filling must be really expensive," someone nearby remarked with a wry smile.

Everyone knew that at this moment, in order to remain concealed, the Type 022 missile boat's engines were almost completely shut down, making it resemble a harmless piece of driftwood.

But once it starts its propellers, the sound it makes in the ocean is like a special female food delivery person delivering takeout to your door, instantly attracting the most frantic demands from men in their early twenties!
Although the propellers of military missile ships have been reinforced, the mechanical structure will definitely become a vulnerable propeller when attacked by a dense swarm of fish.

Some cornerstones can even destroy propellers with a suicidal impact.

At that time, even if military ships are made entirely of military steel, they will be no different from hard-shelled nuts in the face of an almost endless number of sea monsters.

Hope once again rested entirely on that fiber optic cable, which, though sturdy, appeared to everyone as thin as a thread and could be snapped at any moment.

Fate seems to think tonight's joke wasn't big enough.

More excitement is on its way!
Just twenty minutes after the submersible lost contact, an uncontrollable scream pierced everyone's eardrums.

"Fiber optic cable... the fiber optic signal was pulled... Holy crap... it's broken!"

hum!
Everyone's brain felt like it had been hit by a heavy hammer.

Commander Fu turned around abruptly and stared intently at the secondary screen that displayed the physical status of the optical cable.

The green notification character that had previously represented the last hope, which had not been returned, flashed without warning.

Immediately, it turned into a glaring red.

CRC check failed!

The optical time domain reflectometer reading has returned to zero!

Fiber optic cable physical connection – interrupted!
"Hold!"

I don't know who broke down, but then mumbled that word.

The entire frontline command center seemed to have been drained of all air, leaving only a solemn and deathly silence.

In the rear command center, Su Mingjin's tense back finally relaxed.

She sighed silently, and that sigh carried away the last vestige of hope.

She stood up and calmly said to Commander Man beside her, "Commander Man, I'm going to handle other tasks. Tell everyone not to rush, and to continue preparing for the next exploration! The organization can wait!"

Her tone was devoid of complaint or resentment; it was simply the professional calm of someone who had completed a formality.

"Hmm." Commander Man frowned, nodded, and watched her leave.

After Su Mingjin left, Brigade Commander Man picked up his communicator and dialed Brigade Commander Fu directly. "Old Fu," his voice was a little hoarse, "don't push yourself too hard. It's just some equipment. As long as everyone's alright, that's all that matters. It's just one failure. Let's learn from this experience and try again next time."

"I just feel uneasy. All those preparations are going to go down the drain. We clearly saw that all the various detectors we used with cages detected many schools of fish passing through the Devil's Sea and venturing into that ancient battlefield forbidden area."

The restricted area, which is circular and spans several tens of kilometers, is the area that the reclamation team focuses on.

With the discovery of what appeared to be Space Marines, large quantities of gold nuggets that could only be smelted in the Industrial Age, and some rare metal warehouses, humanity became even more convinced of this hypothesis.

Under this premise, Su Mingjin ordered the mobilization of human resources and scientific research resources to intensify exploration.

After expending a large amount of detection equipment, including drones of varying value probing the undergrowth, humans have determined that this forbidden area deep within the Devil's Ocean contains narrow paths that can be traversed by life.

To explore this road, humans deployed multi-functional detectors carrying cages, expending considerable resources to create a map of the terrain.

We spent so many resources this time, hoping to uncover some important clues.

But judging from the current situation, they are definitely going to suffer a crushing defeat!
"Prepare to release the backup decoy, let 022 come back first."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.

"Let's wait a little longer." Brigade Commander Fu's voice was soft, but unusually stubborn. "I have faith in our scientists' automatic return technology... The AI ​​models of those equipment have undergone a lot of training... Let's give it a little more time."

“…Alright.” Commander Man didn’t try to persuade him any further. “I’m going out for a smoke. Let me know as soon as you have any news.”

The frontline command center, hundreds of kilometers away.

Commander Fu hung up the phone, then rubbed his cigarette, resisting the urge to light it, and looked at the glaring red fracture mark on the big screen, feeling a tightness in his chest.

He took a few deep breaths, forcibly suppressing his surging emotions, and turned to look at the group of dejected researchers behind him.

Frustration and self-doubt were written on the faces of young people and those who were no longer young.

"Comrades!"

Commander Fu's voice wasn't loud, but it made everyone look up.

"As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success! Don't be discouraged. This time we failed, but it's not a complete loss!"

He pointed to the black screen and said, "Our underwater vehicle held out in that godforsaken place for a full twenty minutes! What does that mean? That's an unprecedented record!"

Everyone looked at Brigade Commander Fu, eager to see what he would say.

"The submarine's fiber optic cable broke after existing for more than twenty minutes. Doesn't that prove we were on the right track?"

"Perhaps deep in the ocean, there is something that was not attracted by our bait, and then our probe happened to be in their territory and was destroyed by them."

Many researchers have shown a marked improvement in their mental state.

Some scientists pursed their lips, wondering what if something inside collapsed and attacked them.

Based on current testing and further exploration, what humanity can confirm is that the forbidden area does not appear to be a completely life-restricted zone.

You can touch the complex marine life nearby.

Some animals absolutely love it here!
If what Commander Fu said is true, then they may need to readjust their detection equipment.

For example, we could create some biomimetic devices that can navigate in the deep sea and deploy them there for exploration.

As the researchers were lost in thought, Brigade Commander Fu continued, "Our equipment is top-notch! We just... had a bit of bad luck."

"Comrades, write down the data and thoroughly analyze all the problems we've encountered! I refuse to believe that with so many of our brains, we can't even get through to them!"

His words were like a shot in the arm, warming up the icy atmosphere.

The previously dejected crowd gradually regained a glimmer of light in their eyes.

Commander Fu refrained from speaking further, and after seeing the oppressive atmosphere in the command center ease slightly, he nodded in satisfaction.

Everyone's mood was noticeably less icy than it had been at the beginning.

The young researchers exchanged glances, silently returned to their workstations, and began retrieving the data records from the last twenty minutes.

Although we lost, the brigade commander was right, we can't let this defeat happen, can we?

Their mission was research, to summarize experiences, and to prepare for the next one. Of course, that's necessary!

Just then, a soldier in the corner who was responsible for monitoring global energy fluctuations adjusted his headphones and stared uncertainly at the secondary screen in front of him that was almost forgotten by everyone.

What it showed was a macroscopic energy distribution map of the entire Devil's Sea, and at this moment, most of the area was a deep blue representing deathly stillness.

"Brigade...Brigade Commander...No, gentlemen..." His voice wasn't loud, but it trembled slightly, even he couldn't believe it. "What is that?"

His voice sounded particularly abrupt in the command center, where you could hear a pin drop.

Commander Fu, who was about to leave, frowned and looked in the direction of the sound.

On the huge blue screen, a tiny green dot, the size of a pinhead, suddenly flickered at the coordinates representing the core area of ​​the forbidden zone.

It disappeared in just a moment.

It was so fast it was almost an illusion, or like the noise produced by an overloaded instrument.

"Xiao Wang, don't overreact. It might be data redundancy," a senior technician said without looking up, his fingers still typing on the keyboard, trying to salvage even a single byte of cache from the broken physical connection.

The soldier's face turned bright red, and he wanted to say something, but the light spot never appeared again.

He was about to apologize when a line of small white characters suddenly appeared in the center of the screen.

[The autonomous return signal of the "Tadpole-07" sub-detector has been detected... Signal source: Restricted area.]

Signal strength: -185dBm, extremely weak.

hum!
If the fiber optic cable outage was a blow to the head, then this line of text was no less than a shove of ice-cold cola down everyone's throat.

Tadpole is the name of the small probe, and it is also Plan B for this underwater fault-tolerant mission.

After penetrating deep into the restricted area, the main submersible will release dozens of miniature detectors, each about the size of a basketball held by the chicken, like tadpoles scattering seeds. These detectors are equipped with basic detection and autonomous return capabilities.

If the main submersible is a dumpling, then these miniature detectors are the vinegar sauce for seasoning.

I thought they'd taken all the dumpling filling, pot and all, but to my surprise, they even provided a spoonful of vinegar sauce for everyone to enjoy.

"Fuck me!"

The scientist who had been slumped in his chair suddenly sprang up like he had a spring in his backside, rushed to the secondary screen in three quick steps, stared intently at the small print, and his lips trembled with excitement.

"Tadpole detector? Holy crap, the tadpole detector is back!"

"We're back! The autonomous return procedure has been activated!"

The tadpole detector is an ultra-small, distributed detection instrument carried inside the submersible to ensure a high tolerance for detection errors.

These creatures are very small and have limited functions; their main purpose is to work in conjunction with larger underwater vehicles to conduct nearby exploration and mapping.

Among the fault-tolerant solutions designed by humans is a function that, if a large deep-sea probe is damaged, the tadpole probe carried on board will return along the original route.

Originally, no one had high hopes for this, but unexpectedly, it actually came back!

The technician next to him, who was known for his quirky remarks, slapped his thigh and laughed: "I knew it! With over a hundred million dumplings, we should at least get a taste of vinegar!"

"Stop joking!" a white-haired professor shouted, his usual refined demeanor completely gone.

After catching his breath, he pointed to the red dot on the main screen.

"The tadpole's propulsion system can only support three hours of flight time because it was designed for survivability, so its speed is very slow. It's currently positioned right on the customs group's route! We estimate we'll make contact in about an hour. Everyone, think of a solution quickly!"

Tadpole detectors have many advantages, such as being durable and extremely quiet.

However, its drawbacks are also relatively short. Because it is battery powered and has a very small size, and some storage modules need to be added, some functions are severely limited.

Everyone felt a chill; the flame of hope that had just been ignited was instantly doused with cold water.

That tiny "Tadpole-07" is less noticeable than a sesame seed falling into a rice jar among the sea monsters, but it is equally fragile.

If this thing is discovered by a curious sea monster, and then it ensnares or attacks, their scientific research mission will be a complete failure.

"Quick! Lock onto the signal source! Calculate its return trajectory! Decoy, yes, keep dropping decoys..."

The entire command center instantly turned into a vegetable market.

Commander Fu strode to the screen, his chest heaving. He didn't speak, but a terrifying light rekindled in his bloodshot eyes.

"Order! Our backup motorboats and Nine Sky drones carrying backup decoys, activate them. Lure them to the appropriate area and eliminate them at all costs!"

"This time, we're going to make a huge fuss!"

"Yes!"

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers in each unit began to get busy.

The soldiers near the shore began activating the unmanned modules of the backup decoy motorboats that had been prepared but not yet used, and then quickly started them up.

With a wingspan of 25 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 16 tons, and a maximum payload of 6 tons, the Jiujiu airdrop transport drone, capable of carrying a decoy payload of nearly four tons, also began to launch and head towards the designated area.

Soon, on the large screen, several areas far from the 022 missile boat, blue cursors representing decoys suddenly lit up, emitting strong energy fluctuations.

Soon after, the school of fish that had been lingering near the Type 022 missile boat became agitated.

First, a few red dots broke away from the main force and rushed towards the decoy.

"If the bait isn't enough, increase the amount of bait and also throw in some simulated decoy grenades."

As the power of the decoys released by humans is increased again, decoy grenades that can be detected by the seawater as fish attacking are also activated.

The sea monster horde, which had been in a state of stagnation and inaction, has started to move again.

One, ten, a hundred...

Brigade Commander Fu stared intently at the screen, his brow furrowed: "This won't do. We're not attracting enough. We have to resort to attack!"

Brigade Commander Fu issued the order: "Have the mines department prepare to conduct some explosive cleanup of the nearby waters, starting from the furthest point and moving closer!"

"Won't this stir up a hornet's nest?"

Previously, the soldiers had tried using mines and similar devices to destroy some highly aggressive marine creatures.

But there are too many monsters in the sea.

The pioneering team's industrial production capacity was insufficient to completely destroy the seafood populations near the sea area. They could only deal with some of the more aggressive marine life in the Devil's Sea by first luring them in and then detonating them in a concentrated manner.

After each explosion, the blood and flesh of the dead seafood attract more small schools of fish, or predators, to share the feast.

Putting aside the cost-effectiveness of killing seafood, the chaos caused by the gathering of marine life alone is enough to give anyone a headache.

"We don't have enough time, and we can't wait!" Brigade Commander Fu shook his head, his face turning very pale from speaking so forcefully.

The entire command center fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.

"The bizarre winds in the Devil's Sea will appear in less than two hours! At that time, let alone recovery, it will be a question whether the Type 022 missile boat can even stay in place! The tadpole detector's battery will also be completely used up."

His eyes were fixed on the slowly moving red dot on the screen, his voice hoarse but carrying an undeniable determination.

"We can't use helicopters for recovery either; those things are too noisy and will attract the monsters that are sunk in the deep sea. Our only safe recovery platform right now is 022! We must create a safe recovery window for it at all costs!"

These words caused a chill to run down everyone's spines.

The most terrifying thing in this sea area is never the small fish and shrimp that can be seen on the surface, but the large groups of octopuses lurking in the nearby area.

These giant octopuses, which have already demonstrated their aggressiveness and destructiveness in Long Lake, are jokingly referred to by insiders as the super octopus group with an extremely strong sense of territory.

They move out in large groups, and their tentacles, which are tens of meters long, can even drag a small ship into the deep sea.

Using a large-scale explosion to clear the shipping lanes is tantamount to provoking the Kree family to go clubbing.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded and immediately began to take action.

"All units deploy mines... coordinates XXX to XXX, three rounds of saturation blasting! Order the Nine Sky UAVs to carry heavy depth charges and muddy the water in that area!"

"Yes!"

The order must be issued swiftly; there is no room for hesitation at this moment, or it would be a crime!

The operator's fingers left afterimages on the keyboard, and commands were transformed into data streams, transmitted to distant combat units.

Soon, the combat personnel at the Ice River Base, who were already in a state of combat readiness, sped up their work.

On the main screen, white dots representing heavy mines, like invitations from the Grim Reaper, are precisely dropped by drones into the areas where sea monsters are most concentrated.

The next second, on the screen, the red area representing life signals suddenly burst open with ripples of water...

The energy reading of the underwater shock wave instantly spiked, and large areas of red dots on the screen vanished as if they had been roughly wiped away by an invisible hand.

However, this brief clearing only brought about even more frantic chaos.

The blood and flesh at the epicenter of the explosion instantly stained the seawater red, and the red dots in the surrounding waters, like mad dogs that had smelled blood, surged even more violently toward that death feast.

All around, numerous red dots representing marine life lit up from a greater distance, several times more than before!
The entire sea area has completely boiled over!

"Report! A giant swarm of organisms has been detected at the canyon break off 1,000 meters to port! They are rising! At an extremely high speed!" the sonar operator quickly reported.

The temperature in the command center dropped to freezing.

In one corner of the screen, shadows, each larger than all the previous red dots combined, were slowly rising from the abyss, rushing towards the school of fish that were attacking each other, and the sonar detectors that humans had activated...

"It's the Kelpie family... These guys really couldn't hold back."

In the heart of this infernal realm of flesh, explosions, and madness, the giant octopus also begins to descend into a state of carnage.

Although the swordfish and giant rock schools fought fiercely, the arrival of large numbers of giant octopuses triggered even more devastating attacks in the ocean.

Meanwhile, the green cursor, "Tadpole-07," representing humanity's hope for this exploration, is steadily and slowly sailing toward the location of the 022 missile boat.

"Hurry up! We're only 300 meters away!" a scientist shouted excitedly as he looked at the screen.

"Report! A huge shadow has been spotted beneath the hull of the Type 022 missile boat!"

The communications soldier's exclamation extinguished the newly ignited flame of hope, leaving it once again enveloped by a chilling aura.

(End of this chapter)