178: Chapter 178 Emerging from the Waters! A Gift for the East Sea

Lu Chen pressed the enter key on the workstation. The master control keyboard emitted a dull, crisp click.

Inside the master control room three thousand meters beneath the Pacific Ocean, the piercing alarm sounds stopped completely. The backgrounds of all the operational screens turned into a cold, eerie blue.

"Cut the hydraulic control terminals. Open the bottom panel. Give me manual control of the hatch venting!" The captain, his eyes bloodshot, roared loudly at the technical console.

The adjutant lunged toward the console, frantically pulling at the physical backup joystick on the side with both hands. The joystick was stuck in place, completely immovable.

"Sir. There is no response." The adjutant's voice trembled, changing pitch. "The system has severed all physical connections to the drive shafts. The backup gears are all locked. We cannot open the exhaust valves."

Lu Chen's calm voice continued to emanate from the microphone, echoing in the dark space: "I already said it. You are now official employees of Chenguang Factory. If you take the boss's money, you have to follow the boss's orders."

"Screw your Chenguang Factory." The white captain drew the pistol from his waist and fired three shots at the public loudspeaker on the console. The loudspeaker was riddled with three dark bullet holes, emitting a choking blue smoke.

The voice didn't stop at all. Instead, Lu Chen's voice began to ring out simultaneously from a dozen emergency alarm speakers all around.

"Wu Dong. Pump some high-pressure air into the ballast tanks." Lu Chen flicked away the cigarette ash. "Staying underwater too long leads to oxygen deprivation. Let them surface for some fresh air."

"You got it, boss." Wu Dong's hands turned into blurs on the keyboard. "Compressed air injection program connected. Forced countdown. Three. Two. One."

The submarine's massive hull emitted a violent metallic screech. High-pressure air flooded into the bottom water tanks along the pipelines.

"We are discharging water. Displacement overload." The adjutant lost his footing and fell to the floor. "Sir. The submarine is surfacing at extreme speed. This is too fast."

The captain slammed his fist hard against the metal console. His knuckles instantly split open and bled. He could only watch helplessly as the numbers on the depth gauge raced backward.

"Send them the navigation coordinates." Lu Chen walked to the large screen. "Destination: The East Sea defense line of Huaxia. Don't let them take the wrong path."

"Forced waypoints set." Wu Dong pressed enter. "Power system locked to low-frequency output. The course is locked. Direction: due east. Boss, these three big black fish are heading toward our territory."

Deep in the ocean. Three behemoths that should have been hidden without a trace were forced to cut through the icy water layers, dragged by the forced program, and burst directly through the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Water sprayed dozens of meters into the air.

New York. Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.

On the floor tiles of the intensive care unit, there were drops of black-red blood everywhere. Anderson's hands were spasming violently, clutching the black launch briefcase tightly.

The briefcase's screen suddenly flickered twice. The image was forcibly switched to a real-time satellite overhead view.

In the overhead view, three conspicuous green dots were moving rapidly across the deep blue ocean surface. Next to the dots, a line of bold English data tags was thoughtfully attached.

Target course direction: East Sea, Huaxia. Ownership: Private asset under Chenguang Holdings.

Anderson's whole body trembled violently as if electrocuted. He looked at that glaring ownership tag on the screen, the red blood vessels in his eyes almost bursting.

He had spent tens of billions of dollars on this ultimate trump card, hidden for decades. Even the nuclear weapons in the launch tubes hadn't had a chance to surface. In the blink of an eye, it had become a mobile fixed asset under the name of that Jiangcheng electronics factory. Now, he even had to throttle it himself to deliver it to the Huaxia military.

"Lu… Chen…" Anderson opened his mouth as wide as possible, a strange sound like a broken bellows emitting from deep in his throat.

A feeling of extreme frustration rushed straight up to the main blood vessels of his brain along with his shattering mental state. His entire face swelled into a terrifying purplish-blue. The artery in his neck throbbed frantically.

Only a muffled "bang" was heard exploding deep inside his cranial cavity. The main blood vessel of his brainstem was forcibly ruptured by the blood pressure.

A large amount of black blood mixed with foam gushed frantically from Anderson's nostrils and eardrums. The blood dripped down his cheeks onto the screen, completely covering those green dots.

The EKG monitor at the head of the bed emitted a piercing, continuous sound. The jumping curve on the screen instantly flattened into a straight, motionless line.

The five security guards outside the corridor heard the alarm, but none dared to push the door open to check.

This arrogant and conceited Wall Street tycoon had been angered to the point of a brainstem rupture by this frustrating dimensionality-reduction attack. He died on the cold tiles.

At the same time. Beijing. Underground air-raid shelter.

A middle-aged man sat in front of a long conference table. He was holding an enamel teacup printed with a red star.

Ten minutes ago, he had just held his nose and approved the one-hundred-billion-yuan appropriation bill sent back by Director Zhao. A full one hundred billion in spot exchange to trade for two thousand sets of iron skeletons for workers to wear. He felt his heart was bleeding.

The red secure telephone on the table suddenly rang through the air-raid shelter like crazy.

The middle-aged man grabbed the red receiver: "I am the commander-in-chief. Speak."

An extremely urgent voice from the Navy Headquarters Chief of Staff came from the other end of the line: "Sir. Something big has happened. The East Sea outpost radar detected three massive unidentified underwater targets ten minutes ago. They are approaching the defense line at high speed in a surface navigation posture."

The middle-aged man stood up abruptly. The hot water in the teacup splashed onto the top-secret documents on the table.

"What model? Are they civilian merchant ships or warships?" the middle-aged man asked sternly.

"Cannot verify. There are absolutely no international registration identification codes or transponder signals. The volume data scan is even larger than the Northern Bear's Typhoon class." The Chief of Staff's voice was tense to the extreme. "Currently, they are thirty nautical miles from the final warning line. The other party has absolutely no intention of slowing down or changing course."

A buzzing sound rang in the middle-aged man's head.

His first reaction was that this was Freemasons' mutual destruction trump card. They had lost twelve biochemical monsters in Jiangcheng, and the NASDAQ financial market had been hollowed out. Anderson had been pushed into a corner and was acting like a desperate dog, directly sending unlisted strategic weapons to flip the table and start a war.

"Immediately sound the highest air defense alert in the theater." The middle-aged man slammed his palm onto the table. "The East Sea Fleet is to weigh anchor and leave port immediately. All artillery is to be loaded. All anti-ship missiles are to lock onto these three targets. No matter who is inside. As long as they dare to cross the warning line by half a meter. Sink them all into the water for me."

"Understood. All forces will advance." The Chief of Staff hung up the secure line.

The middle-aged man's palms were covered in cold sweat. He pulled out the military walkie-talkie and tuned it directly to the highest channel frequency: "Notify the superiors. Activate the special bunker emergency plan. The situation is out of control."

...

At the edge of the East Sea defense line. It was bright daylight. The wind was strong and the waves were high on the sea.

On the deck of the East Sea Fleet's flagship. The urgent, piercing alarm sound was almost tearing through the surrounding sea breeze.

Fleet Commander Chen Dingbang was wearing a dark blue training uniform. His feet were firmly planted on the deck. He held high-magnification military binoculars, staring fixedly at the gray, misty horizon in the distance.

Eight of the most advanced guided-missile destroyers were fanned out on the sea. All close-in weapon systems and main guns were adjusted to the maximum firing elevation. Dozens of anti-ship missile silo covers were all flipped open. The dark missile tips were aimed at the east. The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like it was about to freeze.

"Target has entered visual identification range." The radar operator reported loudly. "Distance fifteen nautical miles. Radar echo is at full scale. They haven't even turned on the most basic acoustic signature camouflage system."

Chen Dingbang's brows twisted into a knot. This matter reeked of something sinister. Who would drive the most top-tier stealth strategic submarines and just float them all on the water surface like cruise ships while charging? This was an insult to the East Sea's radar system.

"Gunner. Keep the fire control radar locked tightly onto the target's bridge." Chen Dingbang ordered, gritting his teeth. "Keep your fingers on the launch buttons. Wait for my command at any time."

In the distance on the horizon, three huge, pure black metal silhouettes finally completely broke through the sea mist. They revealed a menacing and domineering hull structure.

The moment they saw the outlines clearly, all the officers gasped. They were indeed nuclear submarines. And judging by the length and size, they were larger than any of the big killers in the database. No paint markings, no national flags raised. Pure black grim reapers.

"Commander. Their engine RPM has dropped." The observer pointed forward and shouted.

Chen Dingbang raised his binoculars. He turned the focus knob to the maximum limit. He locked his gaze onto the top of the command tower of the leading submarine sailing at the very front.

Two seconds later. Chen Dingbang froze completely in place as if he had taken root. His mouth opened involuntarily.

In the high-definition view of the binoculars, there was no sign of preparation to fire on that huge submarine command tower. Four or five white sailors wearing foreign military training uniforms were tied tightly hand and foot with a bundle of steel wire, and were waving a dirty, tattered white shirt with despair and great effort. That white shirt fluttered in the sea breeze.

The scene that made Chen Dingbang feel like his worldview was shattering was still below.

On the outside of the submarine hull. Two mechanical industrial arms, originally used for cleaning seaweed and maintaining external coatings, were twisting uncoordinatedly. The ends of the mechanical arms were holding two huge red paint buckets.

The thick metal probes were dipped in red paint. They were flamboyantly painting the last few strokes on the side of the pure black, top-tier titanium alloy hull. Five huge blocky Chinese characters were blindingly red under the sunlight.

Asset of Chenguang Factory.

The sea breeze whistled across the deck. The command room fell into a deathly silence. All the officers stared at the enlarged image transmitted back on the main screen, unable to utter even a single syllable.

Chen Dingbang slowly lowered the heavy high-magnification binoculars in his hand. He swallowed hard. His rough right hand rested on the belt buckle at his waist. He turned his head and looked at the completely stunned adjutant beside him. He raised his hand to pat the adjutant on the shoulder, preparing to issue an order.