Chapter 286

Chapter 286: Launching from the Torpedo Tube

Even though the J-15 "Dark Sabre" has officially received deployment approval, the Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Company remains alert and does not dare let down its guard. They organize elite soldiers to follow the product to the Shilang training ship, constantly monitoring its performance and conducting tests while providing correction reports.

In response to Qiu Zhengjun’s doubts, Lin Mo offered no further explanation. He simply said, “In ten days at most, I’ll bring the system over for you to test. If I’m just joking, you’ve lost nothing, right?”

Since he was there, as an avid fighter jet enthusiast, Lin Mo planned to fully explore the weapon performance of the "Dark Sabre," leaving no detail wasted. This is what a senior combat master, representing the pinnacle of battlefield strength, should do.

“Alright! I can open some ports for you, but you’ll have to find a way to get the development package. It’s not just a commercial secret, you should understand that. However, I still find it hard to believe that you can finish this system on your own in such a short time.”

Qiu Zhengjun nodded. Although he was skeptical of Lin Mo, he did not intend to refuse him, especially considering how much Lin Mo had helped speed up his work.

“Let’s continue testing then! I need to make some references too.”

“Then let’s continue. Lao Hua, Lao Tang, head to Zone 3 and retrieve the equipment we’ll need for tomorrow and the day after. While it’s still dark, let’s finish testing so we can reset everything before 5 AM.”

……

South China Sea, five thousand meters deep beneath the surface.

Manganese nodules the size of fists cover the seabed.

A huge shadow passed overhead, suddenly illuminating multiple points of light. A cold, pale light intertwined with a warm yellow glow, illuminating the nearby seabed. The densely packed manganese nodules appeared to be attracted by something, slowly lifting off from the cold, dark, silent seabed and rapidly rushing towards the enormous figure shrouded in light.

With a streamlined shape, thick limbs, sharp claws, and gigantic scaled wings, the creature slowly flapped its wings in the water, creating powerful currents that propelled its body forward. Its symmetrical body glowed with more than ten light sources comparable to small suns, as its horrifying dragon head surveyed the seabed that bore over 500 atmospheres of pressure.

In this place, each square centimeter endures over 500 kilograms of pressure; however, this has little effect on the gold giant dragon. Its massive form is nearly the size of a nuclear submarine.

Not only can it freely fly in the sky, but the gold giant dragon also moves effortlessly underwater, ignoring the immense seabed pressure, searching for all metal-rich substances just like fish in water.

This gold giant dragon spotted the hope of returning to its original size before the "large spatial forbidden spell." It began to feast, crazily consuming everything in sight, even without needing to dig for ores. Various metal deposits are everywhere in the ocean.

One cannot deny that the metal resources in this world are astoundingly rich. The countless manganese-iron nodules scattered across the seabed have left the giant dragon stuffed, not to mention the wrecks of sunken ships below the sea.

After coveting the Shilang training ship, this creature finally experienced the taste of an aircraft carrier. Although it wasn’t a brand new model but rather a heavily corroded one lying on the seabed, it was still an aircraft carrier.

On July 19, 1944, during World War II, the Japanese escort carrier "Yunying" was sunk by the American submarine "Rockfish" in the southeastern waters of the Dongsha Islands in China. Now, it was being enjoyed as a feast by the gluttonous gold giant dragon.

Similarly, the Japanese light cruiser "Daiichi," also sunk by the American submarine "Tunny" during WWII, was also swallowed by this voracious creature.

The number of military ships and civilian vessels of all sizes that sank in the South China Sea is countless, with over 2000 ancient vessels submerged in this sea route alone.

As for the numerous antiques from ships that sank before the Ming and Qing dynasties along the Maritime Silk Road, the gold giant dragon has no interest in those clay artifacts and wouldn’t touch them at all.

The "Yunying" aircraft carrier, weighing 17,830 tons, left the gold giant dragon thoroughly stuffed.

Moreover, adding the manganese nodules and other metals consumed, its body bloated to a size comparable to the famous British battleship HMS Dreadnought from World War II.

From starving to stuffed, this gold giant dragon has been so fearful of hunger that it now devours everything in sight. It does not know when it will have such an opportunity to feast again, so everything it cannot digest right away is stored within its body, operating at full throttle to digest.

The massive shadow moves actively in the depths of the South China Sea, stopping and going, searching for food, clearly enjoying the experience.

Suddenly, fluctuations in the water caught the attention of the gold giant dragon. It was not just a change in the current but seemed like some rhythmic oscillation.

It quickly retracted its shape as much as possible, turned off the LED lights on its body, and sank to the seabed, maintaining a silent state.

Before that, it had removed several "Fire Seed" modules from Lin Mo’s backpack. After all, in a technologically advanced world, it could utilize technology to keep itself on guard.

The more it learns and understands, the more it realizes how terrifying this world’s civilization is.

Even people from another world cannot bring about their own destruction along with their entire living space, while the humans of this world can easily destroy the planet seven times over.

To destroy seven times—what a terrifying world this is!

The gold giant dragon, misfortunate and sent to this world, is also lucky to have a companion from the same world providing it survival cover. Through this companion, it can gain a wealth of knowledge about this world, continually learning to adapt to the completely different human realm, gradually integrating into this social civilization.

It’s sonar!

The gold giant dragon changed its body shape and slipped into a trench, turning off some of the operating electronics that emit electromagnetic noise.

“Calling SSN-776, this is SSN-767!”

“SSN-776 received. We have entered the Dongsha Islands area and are preparing to dive. We aim to go down to 210 meters at a speed of 6 knots.”

“Okay, we’re preparing to dive to 400 meters below sea level at a speed of 6 knots!”

“Understood. I plan to activate the active sonar to scan every 10 minutes. This is a routine patrol, so be careful!”

“Got it, stay safe! We are now entering silent mode, activating passive sonar.”

Beneath the bright blue surface of the South China Sea, two enormous shadows moved slowly underwater, emitting short, special sounds at regular intervals.

At a depth of 200 meters in the ocean, often called the upper layer, the water is bright and blue. As we go from 200 to 1000 meters, the middle layer reveals dim light; the water turns a gray-blue. Below 1000 meters lies the bathypelagic zone, where complete darkness reigns.

Two attack submarines, SSN-776 Virginia-class "Hawaii" and SSN-767 Los Angeles-class "Hampton," belonging to the United States Pacific Fleet, cruise together in this gray-blue middle layer of the ocean.

“Now opening communication; everything is normal, SSN-767! There are some unique signals; it should be some type of fish or perhaps a wreck.” The "Hawaii" activated communication, boasting its AN/BQQ-10 integrated sonar system, which includes a large spherical forward/main passive array sonar, high-frequency active sonar, and wide-aperture passive array sonar, along with TB-16 and Lockheed Martin’s TB-29A towed array sonar, thus taking the primary detection role. Its long-range sonar can detect targets over several nautical miles away.

In terms of technology, the Los Angeles-class, designed and built in the 60s and 70s, uses HY-80 high-yield strength steel for its hull and possesses the greatest dive depth of US submarines. The Virginia-class, which replaces the Seawolf class, focuses more on shallow operations from sea to land, and the two submarines form a temporary fleet that balances each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Okay, I’m scanning the seabed terrain. Be careful; the Chinese nuclear submarines are nearby. They won’t detect our active sonar warnings, and by the time you spot them, their torpedoes will already be coming.”

“Are you worried about the lack of sleeping space? Poor Los Angeles-class submarines can’t guarantee everyone has their own bunk, hahahaha.”

“Quit joking around and stay alert!”

“Understood, boss!”

“Wait, what’s that? Some unusual signals—no, the terrain scan shows an anomaly at a depth of 5334 meters ahead.”

“That’s right; it’s a trench. Running a map comparison; almost done. Okay, I found it—there’s really something in that trench. It was intact 254 days ago, and now the 3D terrain scan shows changes. It appears to be a regular object, like a man-made structure. Activate the high-frequency active sonar.”

“SSN-767, please be on guard and take notes. I find no records of wrecks in this area recently. I need to confirm if it poses a threat.”

“Alright, it’s being recorded, but we don’t have weapons that can reach such depths; the ‘Sea Spear’ can only strike at a depth of 600 meters.”

“Then prepare the nuclear depth bomb for maximum depth. But first, launch an MK48 torpedo to test the waters; set the maximum detonation depth to 1200 meters. I need to collect feedback on the explosion waves. This risk must be taken; otherwise, we might end up in danger.”

“Okay, we’ll complete the launch in five minutes. We have forty minutes until we reach the target above.”

“God help us! I hope it’s not an alien spaceship. Five thousand meters deep—my goodness! That’s ten times deeper than our Los Angeles-class submarine. If the Chinese nuclear submarine is lying in wait down there, I’d rather never sleep in a bed again.”

“Cheer up! I have to remind you again; on the Hampton, we always have tight sleeping quarters. I bet you only get one week’s worth of sleep on a bed! Most of the time, you’re on the floor! Hahahaha!”

“You’re talking nonsense!”

“Shut up, you two fools! Keep this up, and I’ll tell Captain Barton to make you both scrub the outer deck.”

“Uh, yes, Captain Smith!”

“I’m sorry! I won’t mess up again! Goodness, outside deck? I’d rather be shoved into a torpedo tube and launched out!”

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll seriously think about that brilliant idea.”

“……”