245: Chapter 245 Hidden Dangers in the Chassis, Materials That Hinder Supply

As soon as Song Changming finished speaking, the master control room instantly fell silent, with only the humming of a dozen mainframe cooling fans audible.

Old Zhou stood to the side with his mouth agape, all the color drained from his face. His legs went weak, and he had to grip the edge of Lu Chen's desk tightly to keep from collapsing.

Lu Chen stood up, ignoring the frantically flashing tablet in Song Changming's hand, and tucked the plastic lighter from the desk into his black jacket pocket.

"Go to the site."

Lu Chen strode toward the door.

Wei Jianguo grabbed a few blueprints from the workbench and ran out, following closely behind Old Zhou and Song Changming.

The group hurried through the underground corridor.

The heavy, dust-free airtight doors slid open to the sides.

A cold, white, intense light shone down. In the center of the massive underground circular foundation pit, that inverted triangular, pure black chassis was suspended in mid-air.

Previously, it had hovered perfectly steady and silent, but now, everything had changed.

On the outermost edge of the chassis, a deep blue light band was flashing irregularly. The surrounding air was visibly distorted, and the standing water on the ground was being pulled upward by an invisible force, forming a dozen thin water columns that were instantly torn into mist as soon as they flew into the air.

"Stop, don't get any closer."

Wei Jianguo reached out and grabbed Old Zhou by the back of his collar.

Old Zhou's legs were already weak, and with that tug, he almost sat down in a puddle of muddy water.

"Boss, the gravitational field ahead is unstable. If you go in, your internal organs will be instantly crushed."

Wei Jianguo pointed ahead.

Lu Chen stopped outside the yellow caution tape, pulled out his lighter to light a cigarette, and gazed at the massive chassis suspended in mid-air.

"Old Song, report the specific data."

Lu Chen exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Song Changming wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his fingers frantically tapping on the reading device.

"Yesterday, to withstand that super tsunami, the chassis's outer armor matrix overloaded and absorbed 30 billion tons of kinetic energy. The excess energy forced the levitation engines to full capacity."

Song Changming pointed at the outermost ring of the chassis.

"The gravitational field is overloaded. The original titanium alloy keel cannot withstand such high-frequency anti-gravity wave oscillations. Starting two hours ago, micro-cracks appeared on the edge of the keel, and flaw detection data shows that these cracks are spreading inward."

Lu Chen watched those flashing blue lights.

"How much time is left?"

"Seventy-two hours."

Song Changming's throat felt dry.

"Within three days, if we don't use materials to perform magnetic confinement and completely seal the gravitational field at the edge, this chassis will disintegrate in mid-air, and Jiangcheng will be detonated."

Wei Jianguo slammed a large iron drum nearby, producing a dull thud.

"This is bullshit! When we built this chassis, we used the absolute top-tier aerospace titanium alloy composite materials. This already represents the highest standard of our Earth's basic metallurgy."

Wei Jianguo's eyes were bloodshot.

Da Biao had entered at some point and stood behind and to the side of Lu Chen.

"Old Wei, stop just throwing a temper tantrum. If something is broken, fix it. Whatever material is missing, I'll take my men to get it."

Da Biao shouted at the top of his lungs.

"It's not as simple as you think."

Wei Jianguo threw the blueprints in his hand onto the ground.

"This is a high-dimensional physical architecture. Ordinary materials can't hold it. If you put conventional metal in, it will be pulverized by the anti-gravity waves in three seconds."

Lu Chen pointed at Wei Jianguo with the fingers holding his cigarette.

"There's always a way. Report the solution."

Wei Jianguo swallowed hard and pulled out a tactical data terminal.

"I just ran over 70,000 material formulas on the supercomputer; synthesis is absolutely impossible. The only thing that can achieve this level of strength and possesses perfect magnetic confinement properties is a natural mineral: Extreme Pressure Soft Gold."

Wei Jianguo looked up.

"Location."

Lu Chen's tone was calm.

"Mariana Trench, the deepest part—Challenger Deep, at a depth of 11,000 meters."

The people who had run down with them were all stunned.

The little bit of color that had just returned to Old Zhou's face vanished again.

"Old Wei, are you crazy? The seabed at 11,000 meters? The water pressure there can crush a nuclear submarine into a metal pancake."

"Except for that place, you won't find another piece in the whole world."

Wei Jianguo stared fixedly at the screen.

"And the content is extremely low."

Song Changming continued.

"Calculating for a full wrap around the chassis's perimeter, we need to excavate at least 50 tons of raw ore. Currently, such an operation is impossible in the history of deep-sea salvage worldwide."

The atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Going to the seabed at 11,000 meters to excavate 50 tons of unknown ore completely exceeded the limits of common sense.

Lu Chen took the last drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt into the puddle nearby, extinguishing the flame.

"Da Biao."

Lu Chen called out.

"Boss, I'm here."

Da Biao took a big step forward, his dark blue bones clicking and creaking.

"Have the genetic drugs for those 2,000 brothers been administered?"

Lu Chen didn't ask about logistics or technology; he cut straight to the most violent core aspect.

"They've all been administered. All 2,000 men are currently in the open space behind the cafeteria, tearing steel plates apart with their bare hands for fun."

Da Biao grinned, completely disregarding the trench.

"Notify Zhang Qiang."

Lu Chen stared fixedly at the chassis in mid-air.

"Tell the technical department to stop what they're doing and work through the night to refit the three viper one nuclear submarines with high-pressure-resistant titanium alloy hulls. All your Exoskeletons must have their underwater closed-circuit breathing systems completely remade."

Wei Jianguo became anxious.

"Boss, are you really going to send people down? The water pressure down there is too high; the Exoskeleton's movable joints could easily be crushed and jammed."

"Two thousand Death Squad Soldiers who have been administered the high-level genetic drug."

Lu Chen turned his head coldly.

"The hardness of their bones now far exceeds the scrap metal you tinker with in your lab. The water pressure that mechs can't withstand, they will withstand with their own bodies."

Lu Chen gave the order without a hint of hesitation.

"Old Zhou, prepare all the underwater operation supplies. Old Song, input the exploration spectral frequency of the Extreme Pressure Soft Gold into Da Biao's tactical helmet. Three hours from now, we depart for the Number Zero Naval Port."

"Understood."

Old Zhou and Song Changming replied in unison.

Da Biao clenched his fists, the veins on his chest bulging.

"Rest assured, Boss. Even if it's 11,000 meters down, or even if I have to dig into the eighteenth level of hell, I'll bring back what you need."

Just then, a harsh crackle of static suddenly blared from the broadcast speakers next to the underground foundation pit, and the sound of Wu Dong frantically typing on a keyboard echoed through the speakers across the entire site.

"Boss, you're down there, right?"

Wu Dong's voice was extremely tense.

Lu Chen walked to the communication microphone on the wall and pressed the red talk button.

"Speak."

"I just hacked into The Pentagon's top-secret satellite scheduling network."

Wu Dong spoke extremely fast.

"Get to the point."

"That sea area around the Mariana Trench has been blockaded."

Wu Dong slammed the enter key, and a giant holographic projection wall next to the underground foundation pit automatically lit up.

A clear, real-time satellite overhead view appeared. On the azure Pacific Ocean, over forty red cursor icons representing large surface warships lit up, densely packed. The cursors formed an absolute ring-shaped grid, tightly locked directly above the Mariana Trench.

Da Biao took one look at the screen and spat on the ground.

"Just a few broken ships; it's not like I haven't dismantled them in Southeast Asia before. We'll just ram and sink them."

"Brother Biao, this time it's completely different."

Wu Dong's throat felt dry.

"This isn't the 7th Fleet's conventional military; this is a hidden trump card that Freemasons have kept in the dark."

Wu Dong pulled up several high-precision zoomed-in photos. In the images, these warships didn't have the traditional gray paint; the entire hull was a pure black, streamlined shape, and no conventional radar antennas or artillery barrels could be seen on the decks.

"The Deep Sea Poseidon Fleet," Wu Dong read the name, "an independent strategic strike force jointly controlled by the six great elders of Freemasons. After the Sakura Country bunkers collapsed and the Wall Street accounts were wiped out, they've brought out all their assets."

Wei Jianguo pushed up the glasses that had slid down to the bridge of his nose and leaned in to stare intensely at the screen.

"There's no conventional fire-control radar. Those long, narrow slits on the edge of the hull are high-energy laser matrix emission ports."

"Do they know the chassis is in trouble?"

Lu Chen looked at the microphone expressionlessly.

"Not entirely sure, but they used a supercomputer to intercept our energy waveforms in low Earth orbit."

Wu Dong was panting heavily.

"They calculated that we need a high-dimensional material capable of confining an extremely high gravitational field. The only place in the world that can produce this stuff is there, and they rushed ahead of us to occupy the territory."

Old Zhou stood there, trembling all over.

"Boss, the moment we show our heads, we'll be sliced into sashimi by their lasers."

Da Biao grabbed a piece of rebar as thick as a wrist nearby and crushed it into a U-shaped iron ring with his bare hands.

"Daring to cut off our lifeline—Boss, I'll take the brothers and go smash their iron shells right now."

"Brother Biao, did you understand?"

Wu Dong shouted over the channel.

"Lasers can burn titanium alloy to ash in three seconds. Hand-to-hand combat is useless."

The foundation pit fell completely silent. The deep blue light of the chassis in mid-air was flashing faster and faster. The countdown waited for no one. To advance meant a death struggle against Freemasons' top-tier pure energy fleet; to retreat meant the entire city of Jiangcheng would be buried along with the chassis.

Lu Chen leaned against the iron control console, pulled out another double happiness cigarette, and bit it in his mouth. The lighter flame flared up, and he took a deep drag, the thick smoke he exhaled slowly obscuring the glaring red cursors on the screen.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Lu Chen to make a decision.

Lu Chen held his cigarette, his eyes cold.

"Old Wu."

Lu Chen spoke.

"Here."

"Send a message to the East Sea Fleet."

Lu Chen's tone was surprisingly calm.

Wu Dong was stunned.

"Boss, are you asking the Old Chief to send troops to help? That would mean World War III."

"Who asked for their help?"

Lu Chen flicked off half the cigarette ash.

"Notify them: within three days, no military ships are allowed to approach that international water area, lest they get splattered with blood."

Lu Chen straightened up and pressed the communication button firmly.

"Old Song."

Lu Chen turned his head.

"Tell Zhang Qiang to have viper one, two, and three submarines fully loaded with high-dimensional micro-nuclear torpedoes, and prepare to set sail."

"Surface forced breakthrough?"

Wei Jianguo's face turned pale.

"We can't withstand the laser grid."

Lu Chen pulled the corners of his mouth into a cold arc.

"They're casting the net, we're setting the trap."