10: A tragic victory! The fall of a hero!

"Woo—woo—woo—!"

The piercing anti-submarine alarm, like the death knell, instantly shattered the port's brief tranquility! Deep Blue 01's massive hull began to turn sharply to evade, its stern carving a huge white wake as its engines roared.

"Target bearing: 185! Distance: 12 kilometers! Depth: 150 meters! Speed: 42 knots! Still ascending!" The sonar operator's voice was distorted by extreme tension, each number like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of everyone on the bridge. On the radar screen, the massive red dot representing the Leviathan Larva was approaching at a desperate speed!

Five times the size of a "Razor Barracuda"! What did this mean? It meant it might possess the power to destroy small ships! It meant its impact was enough to tear Deep Blue 01's underwater hull! It meant its terrifying fangs and claws could shred steel like paper!

"Torpedo tubes stand by! Set attack depth: 100 meters! Passive acoustic homing mode! Double shot salvo!" Lin Feng's voice was like ice, issuing decisive orders. Against such a fast-approaching underwater behemoth, active sonar-guided torpedoes might not react in time; passive acoustic homing, locking onto its own noise, was the faster option.

"Depth charge launchers stand by! Set depth: 80 meters! Cover target'sgo ahead route!" Deputy Captain Gao Qiang added. Although depth charges were less accurate than torpedoes, their wide coverage made them an effective means against large unidentified underwater targets.

"Yes! Torpedo room stand by! Depth charge launchers stand by!" The weapons officer's voice was equally tense.

Boom! Boom!

On both sides of the hull, the heavy torpedo tube covers opened. Accompanied by the roar of compressed air, two 533mm heavy anti-submarine torpedoes, like shells from a cannon, plunged into the inky sea, their stern propellers spinning at high speed, trailing fine bubble wakes, and speeding towards the target locked by sonar! They would rely on passive sonar to track the terrifying noise emitted by the behemoth itself!

Immediately after, the depth charge launchers at the stern also emitted a dull roar! Several heavy depth charges were launched, arcing into the sea ahead of the target, quickly sinking to the predetermined depth.

The entire attack process was smooth and seamless, with Deep Blue 01's anti-submarine system demonstrating formidable power. However, Lin Feng's heart did not relax in the slightest. Facing this unprecedented deep-sea behemoth, whether conventional weapons would be effective was a complete unknown!

"Target accelerating! Depth 100 meters! Speed... 45 knots! It's charging at us! Torpedoes locked! Tracking!" The sonar operator's voice carried a hint of hope.

On the bridge, everyone held their breath, staring intently at the sonar screen. The green dots representing the torpedoes were rapidly approaching the massive red dot!

Rumble! Rumble!

Two dull sounds, like muffled thunder exploding underwater, came through the sonar! That was the torpedoes hitting!

"Hit! Confirmed hit!" The sonar operator shouted excitedly.

However, before the cheers could even erupt, the sonar operator's face instantly turned pale: "Target... target not gone! Signal strength weakened... but still moving at high speed! Depth 80 meters! Speed... speed not decreased! It broke through the depth charge interception zone! Distance... only 5 kilometers left!"

"What?!" Lin Feng and Gao Qiang's expressions changed simultaneously! Two heavy torpedoes hit directly, yet failed to kill it?! This monster's defense was terrifyingly strong?!

"Hard to port! Full speed evasion! CIWS! Lock on the surface! Prepare for impact!" Lin Feng roared hoarsely. The ten-thousand-ton behemoth began to turn at an almostlimit angle amidst the frantic roar of its engines!

But it was already too late!

Boom—!!!!

A dull, extreme roar, as if the entire ocean was groaning, resounded! Deep Blue 01's massive hull was struck hard, as if by an invisible ten-thousand-ton hammer! The violent vibration made everyone on the bridge lose their footing! Instrument screens flickered wildly! Alarm bells were deafening!

"Report! Port midship underwater hull suffered a violent impact! Armor deformed! Suspected... suspected flooding!" The damage control center's report was filled with panic.

"Sonar... sonar lost target! Target signal disappeared... No! It's under our hull! It's under the hull!" The sonar operator's voice was filled with despair.

Bottom collision! This was the most deadly attack method for submarines and underwater behemoths! They would use sharp dorsal fins or impacts to tear through the weakest part of the underwater hull!

"Depth charges! Depth charge proximity fuses! Detonate immediately!" Lin Feng's eyes were bloodshot!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The depth charges set in the sea around Deep Blue 01 were emergency detonated! Huge water columns shot up around the warship! The violent underwater shockwaves slammed into the hull like heavy hammers! And also slammed into the terrifying behemoth clinging to the bottom of the ship!

"Woo—!!!"

A sharp shriek, painful and utterly enraged, pierced through the thick seawater and steel hull, clearly reaching everyone's ears! The sound was filled with primal savagery and madness!

"Target surfacing! Target is surfacing!" The sonar operator shrieked.

On the sea surface in front of the bridge, less than a hundred meters from Deep Blue 01's port side, the seawater churned violently as if boiling! A terrifying, suffocatingly massive black shadow slowly broke through the surface, raising its hideous head!

What kind of monster was that!

The portion exposed above the water alone was over ten meters long! Covered in thick, dark, metallic-lustered scales or carapace, it was riddled with barnacles and scars. Its head was massive and ugly, shaped like a deep-sea anglerfish magnified countless times, yet with the heavy feel of a crocodile. A gigantic mouth, almost capable of swallowing a small car, was filled with dagger-like pale fangs, each glinting with deadly cold light! On its head, several bone spikes, like giant spears, stood tall, one of them still impaled with a fragment of a depth charge! Most chilling were its eyes—huge, murky, filled with pure, destructive malice! At this moment, these eyes were firmly locked onto Deep Blue 01!

"My God..." Someone on the bridge let out an unconscious groan. This had already exceeded their understanding of marine life! This was a demon from the abyss!

"Fire! All weapons! Free fire! Hit it!" Lin Feng's voice was like a wounded beast! Fear was replaced by a stronger rage and fighting spirit! This monster must die!

Buzz—!!!

The 1130 CIWS was the first to react! Its terrifying "metal storm" instantly poured out! Thousands of 30mm armor-piercing incendiary rounds, like a roaring fire dragon, savagely lashed out at the behemoth's massive body exposed above the water!

Clang, clang, clang! Thud, thud, thud!

The dense sounds of impact and dull thuds of bullets hitting flesh merged into one! The behemoth's tough scales and armor sparked, and debris flew everywhere! Some relatively weaker parts were torn open, and thick, dark green blood gushed out! The intense pain made the monster shriek even more hideously!

"Main gun! High-explosive rounds! Aim for the head! Fire!" Gao Qiang roared!

Boom—!!!

The 130mm main gun roared again! The huge shell, with a deathly shriek, accurately slammed into the side of the behemoth's ugly head!

Rumble—!!!

A massive fireball, mixed with flesh, shattered bone, and carapace fragments, violently exploded! The behemoth's head was violently twisted, half its face a bloody mess, one massive eye completely burst! Its colossal body thrashed painfully in the seawater, stirring up monstrous waves!

"Effective! Continue!" Lin Feng's spirits lifted!

However, this terrifying injury was not fatal; instead, it completely enraged this deep-sea behemoth! Its one remaining eye erupted with insane ferocity! It slammed its massive tail on the sea surface, and its colossal body, like a torpedo, charged again towards Deep Blue 01! This time, its target was... the stern! The vulnerable propellers and rudder!

"Evade! Hard to starboard! Full speed!" Lin Feng urgently shouted! But how easy was it for a ten-thousand-ton behemoth to turn?

Just as the hideous maw was about to bite into Deep Blue 01's propulsion system!

At this critical moment!

From the direction of the shore outpost, a streak of light trailing an orange-red exhaust, like a meteor, streaked across the night sky, accurately shooting towards the behemoth's open mouth!

Boom—!!!

It was a man-portable anti-tank rocket launcher! It was the Marines on shore! Under Chen Hai's command, they seized the opportunity and fired the rocket at the instant the behemoth opened its giant mouth!

The rocket violently exploded inside the behemoth's oral cavity! A huge flash of fire erupted from deep within its throat!

"Woooooah—!!!"

An unprecedented wail, filled with extreme pain, echoed through the sky! The behemoth's massive body, as if its spine had been removed, suddenly stiffened! It frantically thrashed its huge head, dark green blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spraying from its blown-apart mouth and throat! Its charge instantly disintegrated, and its massive body began to violently convulse and roll in the seawater!

"Good opportunity! Torpedoes! Tubes 3, 4! Active acoustic homing mode! Aim for the wound! Fire!" Lin Feng seized this fleeting tactical advantage!

Boom! Boom!

Another two heavy torpedoes entered the water! This time, trailing active sonar's detection beams, like sharks smelling blood, they precisely drilled towards the connection between the behemoth's head and neck, which had been severely wounded by the rocket!

Boom! Boom!

Two explosions, more muffled and more deadly than before, came from underwater! The giant beast's massive body suddenly arched upwards, then, like a deflated ball, crashed back into the sea with a roar!

Dark green blood gushed like a fountain from the huge wounds on its head and neck, rapidly staining a large area of the sea red!

Its remaining eye lost its luster, and its massive body twitched unconsciously in the seawater, gradually losing its vitality…

The terrifying Leviathan Larva was finally killed!

The bridge was dead silent, then erupted into suppressed cheers of survival! Everyone's face was covered in sweat, exhaustion, and incredible excitement.

A pyrrhic victory!

"Report damages!" Lin Feng's voice was a little hoarse.

"Port side underwater hull moderately damaged! Multiple compartments flooded! Damage control teams are working at full capacity to seal them! Power system intact! Weapon system… some 1130 CIWS circuits are damaged due to severe vibration, currently being repaired!" The damage control center's report was relatively timely.

"Shore outpost! Report your situation!" Lin Feng immediately asked.

"Outpost intact! No casualties! Captain Chen and his team did a great job!" The officer in charge of shore communications replied excitedly.

Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze falling on the giant beast's corpse floating on the sea like a small island, still feeling a lingering fear.

If it weren't for that crucial rocket from the Marines on shore… the consequences would have been unimaginable!

"Immediately organize a salvage team! Bring heavy cutting tools! Target: the giant beast's corpse! Extract samples! Especially its blood, carapace, bones, and any possible organ tissues! Be careful! There may be unknown toxins or radiation!" Lin Feng ordered.

The monster's corpse itself held immense research value and potential resources (the system had hinted at the value of deep-sea biological materials)!

"Engineering team! Repair the hull damage! Prioritize power and buoyancy! Engine room crew, check the fuel lines! Ensure fuel delivery is not affected!" Lin Feng continued to deploy.

However, shortly after the orders were given.

The Chief Engineer's terrified voice came through the communicator: "Reporting, Captain! The port side fuel line… was ruptured by the impact just now! Fuel… fuel is leaking! It has already flowed into the damaged compartments! Extremely dangerous!"

"What?!" Lin Feng's heart sank instantly! Fuel leak?! After just experiencing a major battle, with the hull still breached, this was simply adding insult to injury!

Once it encountered an open flame… the entire ship could detonate!

"Immediately close the port side fuel tank valves! Damage control team! Bring explosion-proof tools! Work at full capacity to stop the leak! Clean up the spilled fuel! Hurry!" Lin Feng's voice carried an unprecedented urgency!

He immediately rushed to the side wing of the bridge, looking towards the ship's port side.

Sure enough, near the waterline, dark black heavy oil was gushing from the damaged pipes and hull cracks, polluting the nearby seawater, and more fatally, it was flowing through the breaches into the flooded compartments below!

The danger level instantly soared to the highest!

"Chen Hai! Shore engineering team! Immediately draw manpower! Bring sealing materials and explosion-proof pumps! Board the ship to assist with sealing!" Lin Feng shouted towards the shore.

A new rescue battle, a race against time and death, began again inside Deep Blue 01, which had just endured the giant beast's attack!

Damage control team members, wearing heavy protective suits, enduring the pungent smell of fuel and the danger of flooding, worked frantically to repair in the narrow, tilted compartments.

The engineering team from shore also arrived quickly to assist.

Just as the leak sealing work was proceeding intensely.

Suddenly!

"Watch out! Sparks!" an engineer, who was cutting a deformed pipe to try and seal it, screamed in terror!

His plasma cutting torch, due to the ship's vibration, accidentally scraped a metal protrusion!

Sizzle—!

A blinding electric arc spark suddenly ignited! Instantly igniting the oil-gas mixture pervasive in the air!

Boom—!!!

A muffled explosion rang out in a compartment on the lower port side! Violent flames, like a fire dragon, instantly spewed from the damaged pipe opening and cracks!

The scorching hot air blast violently threw several nearby damage control team members away!

"Fire! Put out the fire!" Screaming shouts and alarms instantly echoed throughout the entire area!

"Old Li! Little Zhang!" Chen Hai, who had just rushed in with the support team, saw the hellish scene before him, his eyes bloodshot!

He saw the figures of his comrades engulfed in flames!

"High-pressure water cannons! Foam fire extinguishers! Quick!" Lin Feng watched the fire situation on the monitor from the bridge, his heart sinking to rock bottom!

The brave damage control team members and the supporting engineering team, enduring the scorching heat and thick smoke, holding high-pressure water guns and fire extinguishers, rushed fearlessly into the fire!

High-pressure water jets and fire extinguishing foam sprayed violently onto the burning fuel!

However, fuel fires are extremely difficult to extinguish! Not only was the fire not controlled, but due to the impact of the water, the burning fuel spread with the water, igniting more areas!

Thick smoke billowed, and flames raged!

The entire lower port side was engulfed in fire! Injured team members were constantly being dragged out, their screams endless!

"No! The fire is too big! Spreading too fast! We must abandon the compartments and seal them!" The experienced damage control team leader yelled in a hoarse voice, his face blackened by smoke, his arm burned.

Abandoning compartments and sealing them? This meant sacrificing multiple compartments on the entire lower port side! The loss would be immense! But if they didn't do this, the fire would become uncontrollable and could eventually spread to the ammunition depot or power compartment, with unimaginable consequences!

"Captain! A decision must be made!" Gao Qiang looked at Lin Feng, his eyes bloodshot.

Lin Feng looked at the raging flames on the monitor and the figures struggling in the inferno, his heart twisted with pain.

Every compartment was a part of Deep Blue 01; every soldier was his brother!

But he had no choice!

"Order…" Lin Feng's voice was incredibly difficult, "Port side lower A-07 to A-12 compartments… abandon and seal! Close all fireproof bulkheads! Inject high-pressure carbon dioxide! Execute immediately!"

"Yes!" The damage control team leader, with tears in his eyes, gave this cruel order.

The heavy fireproof bulkheads crashed down under the action of hydraulic devices! Isolating the inferno from the rest of the ship!

Subsequently, high-pressure carbon dioxide gas was injected into the sealed compartments, attempting to suffocate the flames.

The fire was finally contained within the sealed area.

But the cost was heavy.

When the fire was finally extinguished (mainly due to fuel burning out and suffocation), and the compartment doors were reopened, it was a charred, ruined mess inside.

Three brave damage control team members and one supporting engineering team member remained forever in that inferno.

They were: veteran Li Jianguo, new recruit Zhang Wei who had only been enlisted for a year, Engineer Wang from the engine room, and… Engineer Liu, a core member of the shore engineering team.

On cold stretchers, bodies covered with white sheets were carried out.

The surviving damage control team members and engineering team members, their faces stained with oil and tears, stood silently on both sides of the passage, saluting solemnly.

The atmosphere on the ship was as heavy as lead.

Lin Feng stood on the bridge, watching his comrades being carried away, looking at the breach near the port side waterline that was still seeping oil and smoking, looking at the giant beast's corpse floating on the sea, looking at the outpost still under construction in the distance… a huge sense of fatigue and sorrow welled up in his heart.

Was this a victory? Yes.

They killed the terrifying deep-sea giant beast and saved the warship and the outpost.

But this victory was a pyrrhic victory, bought with blood and lives!

Ding!

Mission: Clear and Expand - Emergency Event (Repel the Leviathan Larva) completed!

Obtained: Energy/Points +2000 (including kill reward)

Obtained: Deep Sea Giant Beast "Leviathan Larva" remains (high-value biological material)

Obtained: "Primary Biological Material Analysis Laboratory" blueprint x 1

Obtained: Skill Book [Basic Hull Structure Reinforcement (Passive)] x 1 (learnable)

Obtained: Special Talent [Damage Control Expert · Zhang Meng (Loyalty 85%)] x 1 (automatically joined, having performed outstandingly in battle)

Hint: The deep-sea giant beast's remains contain unknown energy and genetic information, with extremely high analysis value.

Its appearance may have a direct connection with the poseidon's eye.

The system's reward notification rang out coldly, but at this moment, it could not dilute the sadness pervading the ship.

Lin Feng silently walked to the edge of the deck, looking at the blood-stained seawater, looking in the direction where the sacrificed comrades were carried away, slowly and solemnly raising his right hand.

Behind him, Gao Qiang, the bridge officers, Chen Hai, Zhang Defu, Zhao Tiezhu from the shore outpost… everyone from Deep Blue 01 and Shenlan Port, no matter where they were, stood silently, facing the direction the fallen had departed, saluting solemnly.

The sea breeze whimpered, the waves murmured, as if also bidding farewell to the fallen heroes.

The Deep Blue flag, on the warship's mast, on the outpost's flagpole, in the blood-stained sea breeze, still stubbornly fluttered.

This flag was steel, it was belief, and even more… it was the future guarded by lives!