43: Deterrence and Deal! The Shadow of Coral City!

Gao Qiang's cold and precise countdown was like an invisible noose tightening around the necks of the three hai nu-class destroyers.

"Nine..."

There was a deathly silence on the public channel. Only the sound of seawater lapping against the hulls and, presumably, the heavy, suppressed breathing from the bridges of the three hai nu-class ships could be heard.

"Eight..."

On the Iron Rock's bridge, Zhao Tiezhu's tightly clenched fists were slick with sweat. He stared intently at the radar screen, watching the light dots representing the three enemy ships. If there was any unusual movement from the enemy's missile launchers, or even a slight change in the fire control radar's lock-on warning, he would immediately order a counterattack! At the same time, he was also prepared for the enemy's furious retaliation once the sea shadow was exposed.

"Seven..."

The lead hai nu-class ship's fire control radar signal showed an extremely subtle, unstable fluctuation. This minute change was captured by the Iron Rock's sensitive electronic warfare system.

"Six..."

"Report! Enemy lead ship... fire control radar lock-on disengaged!" The radar officer's voice was filled with an almost unbelievable ecstasy!

Immediately after, the Raging Waves's lock-on warning also disappeared!

Finally, at the edge of the interference cloud in front of the Claw, that feeling of being targeted, like a thorn in one's back, suddenly vanished!

"Five..." Gao Qiang's countdown remained steady, like a drumbeat of doom.

"Turn! Turn quickly!" On the public channel, the Ark Commander's voice finally came through, a roar filled with alarm, anger, and a hint of tremor, "All fleet! Emergency hard to port! Maximum combat speed! Disengage! Quick!"

The three menacing hai nu-class destroyers, like cats with their tails stepped on, abruptly tilted their massive hulls on the sea surface, carving out three huge and clumsy white wakes. They turned their bows at almost maximum speed, fleeing wildly in the direction they came from! Their main guns drooped, missile launchers hastily closed, no longer showing any of their former arrogant demeanor.

"Four... Three..." Gao Qiang's voice seemed to carry a hint of imperceptible mockery, but the countdown did not stop.

It wasn't until the three enemy ships became three rapidly receding light dots on the radar screen, completely out of the torpedo's effective range, that Gao Qiang's voice finally dropped: "...Zero. Target disengaged. sea shadow maintain silence, continue escort."

Then, communication ceased.

"Phew..." Zhao Tiezhu exhaled a long, heavy breath, feeling the uniform on his back soaked with cold sweat. He wiped his face and looked at his adjutant, who also had a look of having escaped death, then suddenly burst into a boisterous laugh: "Hahahaha! Satisfying! Gao Qiang, that kid, he's a damn genius! The Ark's bastards, they must have wet their pants!"

A long-suppressed cheer and applause erupted on the bridge. Those suffocating five minutes and the final ten-second countdown felt like a trip to the gates of hell!

"Report, Captain! Harvest and Hope have safely entered Coral City port's identification zone! The Port Authority... the Port Authority has sent a new guidance signal, allowing us to dock..." The communications officer's expression was a bit strange.

Zhao Tiezhu sneered: "Hmph! Fair-weather friends! Didn't they tell us to get lost just now? Now that they see the Ark has fled, they've changed their tune? Tell them, the Deep Blue Fleet operates by the rules. We'll pay every cent of the docking and management fees. But also tell them to keep their eyes peeled and not try any tricks!"

An imminent crisis of destruction ended with the sea shadow's astonishing deterrence and the Ark Fleet's humiliating retreat. The Deep Blue Fleet's flag, in an even more assertive and mysterious posture, now flew over Coral City.

---

Coral City Port. Rather than a city, it was a massive, chaotic floating city built upon a huge natural atoll and several grounded, sunken super cruise ships and oil tankers. Rusty steel frameworks connected to crude wooden piers, and the towering superstructures of the cruise ships had been converted into hotels, exchanges, and even casinos, while the lower cabins became warehouses and slums. The air was filled with the smell of the sea, cheap fuel, cooking food, and a faint, almost imperceptible scent of decay. All kinds of people moved through it: well-dressed merchants, dark-skinned sailors, fierce-eyed mercenaries, ragged porters, and many more shadowy figures with flickering gazes hidden in the corners.

Zhao Tiezhu, leading a crack squad of Marines, escorted the first batch of sample goods onto this deformed maritime metropolis. The port supervisor, Harvey, a slick-haired, shrewd-eyed middle-agedFat Man, responsible for the reception, had already put on an obsequious smile, a stark contrast to his previous coldness in communication.

"Ah! Esteemed Captain Zhao! Welcome! A warm welcome to Coral City! You and your fleet are truly... truly invincible! Even the Ark's hunting squadron was intimidated by your presence! Please, come in! Please, come in!" Harvey bowed and scraped, attempting to shake Zhao Tiezhu's hand.

Zhao Tiezhu expressionlessly avoided his hand, his voice stiff: "Supervisor Harvey, let's skip the pleasantries. We're here to do business. The list is here. How much of what we need can you provide? And at what price?" He handed over an encrypted data pad.

Harvey took the data pad, quickly scanned it, and his smile froze for a moment before becoming even brighter, though a hint of greed and calculation flickered in his eyes: "Oh! Rare earths, high-purity fuel, synthetic starch matrix... and superconducting materials? Tsk tsk, Captain Zhao, everything you want is in high demand! Especially in these times... As for the price..."

The ensuing negotiation was a war without smoke. Harvey tried his best to raise prices, plead poverty, and hint at risks, attempting to extract maximum profit. Zhao Tiezhu, however, refused to budge. Behind him was the Deep Blue Fleet's military deterrence and the exclusive advantage of the Ark's top-tier technology derivatives (precision weapon components and high-efficiency batteries) he held. The negotiation reached an impasse at one point.

"Supervisor Harvey," Zhao Tiezhu lost his patience, tapping his finger heavily on the table, producing a dull thud, "My fleet is still out there, and I don't have time to haggle with you. I'll make one final offer. If it's acceptable, we sign the contract, unload, and load immediately. If not..." He stood up, making to leave, "We'll turn around and go try our luck at 'Freeport' or 'New Sydney'. I believe there will always be people who recognize value."

The fat on Harvey's face jiggled. He had personally witnessed the Ark Fleet being scared away! Moreover, the samples brought by the Deep Blue Fleet, their craftsmanship far surpassed the common goods circulating on the market and were definitely hot commodities! If this big fish got away, and the higher-ups blamed him...

"Wait! Captain Zhao! Don't be so hasty!" Harvey quickly put on a smile, "Deals are always made through negotiation! We'll go with your price! But... you see, our port hasn't been very peaceful lately, and security pressure is high... Could you perhaps increase the quota for those... ah... defensive weapon components? The price is negotiable!"

Ultimately, a trade agreement relatively favorable to the Deep Blue Fleet was reached. The two merchant ships began the frantic process of unloading and loading. Zhao Tiezhu left some personnel to guard the cargo and ships, while he, accompanied by a few team members and led by a slick guide sent by Harvey, began to "tour" the port, which was in fact to gather information.

Chaotic, prosperous, dangerous. This was Zhao Tiezhu's most intuitive impression of Coral City. In the open-air market piled with various goods, he saw precious medicines casually displayed on the ground for sale, and also saw emaciated children rummaging for food in garbage heaps. In the dilapidated cruise ship cabin with a "Black Stone Bar" sign, under deafening music, mercenaries drank cheap liquor, showing off their scars and weapons, the air filled with the smell of sweat, blood, and cheap perfume. In a corner, several malicious gazes, like venomous snakes, swept over Zhao Tiezhu and his team members.

"Hey, new faces? From the Deep Blue Fleet?" A burly, bear-like mercenary leader with a scar on his face blocked Zhao Tiezhu's path with a drink in hand, grinning to reveal a mouth full of yellow teeth, "I heard you guys were pretty impressive out there just now? Scared the Ark's puppies into pissing themselves?"

Zhao Tiezhu stopped, looking at him coldly: "Something wrong?"

"Nothing much," Scarface took a step closer, reeking of alcohol, "Just wanted to ask, brother, that... that 'big black fish' of yours that can hide under a hai nu-class, is it for sale? Or... could a brother borrow it to play with for a couple of days? The price, well, we can talk!" The mercenaries behind him also gathered around, their eyes unfriendly.

The surrounding noise seemed to quiet down a bit, and many gazes focused on them, with expressions of schadenfreude or curiosity. Clearly, the news of the Deep Blue Fleet possessing a powerful submarine had already spread throughout the port.

The Marines behind Zhao Tiezhu already had their hands on the grips of their pistols. Zhao Tiezhu, however, suddenly smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, but his eyes were as cold as knives: "Want to play with our 'big black fish'? Sure." He pointed to the turbulent sea outside the port, "Go wait in the sea. When it surfaces, you can talk to it."

Scarface's smile froze on his face, then turned ferocious: "Are you messing with me?"

"Messing with you?" The smile on Zhao Tiezhu's face vanished instantly, and a chilling aura forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood erupted, instantly overpowering the bar'sclamor. He took a step forward, almost face-to-face with Scarface, his voice not loud, but it boomed in the other man's ear like muffled thunder: "When I was risking my life with the Ark's warships, you were still playing in the mud! Looking for a fight? I'll grant your wish right now! Let's see if your bones are harder, or my bullets!"

Scarface and the mercenaries behind him were so startled by this sudden, terrifying aura that they all took a step back, their faces pale. The onlookers were even more silent.

"Get out!" Zhao Tiezhu growled, like a thunderclap.

Scarface's expression shifted, but in the end, he didn't dare to act, and slinked away with his subordinates into the crowd.

This small incident made Zhao Tiezhu more deeply aware of the port's dangers. Their every move was exposed to countless eyes. Wealth, military power, secrets... all were deadly temptations here.

The transaction continued for two days under high alert. When the huge cargo holds of the Harvest and Hope were filled with rare minerals, barrels of fuel, and sealed food matrices, Zhao Tiezhu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process was convoluted and the cost was not small (they paid with a lot of weapon components and batteries), the strategic objectives were basically achieved!

However, on the eve of the fleet's scheduled departure, the slick guide, stealthily avoiding the guards, found Zhao Tiezhu, who was inspecting the loading on the Iron Rock.

"Captain... Captain Zhao," the guide's face was pale, his voice extremely low, his eyes darting around in terror, "There's... there's news! About the Ark! They... they lost a lot of face this time, and they won't let it go! I... I overheard Supervisor Harvey talking to a mysterious person... The Ark might... have set a bigger trap on your return route! They mentioned... typhoon!"

"typhoon?" Zhao Tiezhu's eyes narrowed, "Explain clearly!"

"I don't know the specifics! But... but Supervisor Harvey was very scared, saying it was one of the Ark's ultimate naval weapons! Very terrifying! It's... near the Devil's Triangle sea area that you'll have to pass through on your way back!" After saying this, the guide, like a startled rabbit, turned and ran, instantly disappearing into the dark ship's corridor.

typhoon? Ultimate naval weapon? Devil's Triangle sea area?

Zhao Tiezhu's heart sank. The return journey, he feared, would be even more perilous than the inbound one!

He immediately connected to the encrypted communication with the sea shadow and base: "Gao Qiang! Commander! Our transaction is complete, but we received an urgent warning! The Ark might be using an ultimate weapon codenamed 'typhoon' to ambush us in the Devil's Triangle sea area on our return! Requesting instructions!"

Lin Feng's calm and cold voice quickly came through: "Received. typhoon... Intelligence is urgently verifying. The fleet will depart as planned, maintain maximum alert! sea shadow, expand your reconnaissance range, focus on searching the Devil's Triangle area! Remember, what you are bringing back is not just supplies, but the future of Deep Blue! Safety first, if you encounter an irresistible enemy... you are permitted to abandon cargo and withdraw! The Deep Blue Fleet is ready to rendezvous at any time!"

Carrying heavy supplies and even heavier intelligence, along with a massive shadow named "typhoon," the "Coral Route" fleet, under the complex gaze of countless eyes in Coral City, once again weighed anchor and set sail towards the perilous return journey. The true test, perhaps, had only just begun.