48: The raging sea! The roar of the "Abyss Fortress"!

Sixteen hours, in the ticking countdown of death, flashed by in an instant.

When the first pale ray of dawn barely pierced the heavy, lead-grey clouds, the distant sea shadow was no longer a calm curve, but a slowly rising wall of death, made of grotesque steel, covering the entire horizon.

The Ark’s Purification Tide main fleet had arrived!

Four Abyss Fortress-class battlecruisers stood at the very front of the fleet like moving steel mountains. Their massive hulls far surpassed the Deep Blue Blade, with rugged and menacing lines, and thick, sloped armor gleaming with an ominous dark grey matte finish. Huge, multi-barreled turrets, like the fangs of a giant beast, were raised high, their muzzles glowing with a heart-stopping energy—not traditional gunpowder, but the halo of some high-energy particle acceleration! The towering superstructure was densely packed with various radars, sensors, and electronic warfare arrays, like the cold compound eyes of a giant beast. Their mere presence exuded a suffocating aura of destruction.

Around them, more than twenty frigates and destroyers of various types guarded like a pack of wolves, anti-air missile launchers standing like a forest. In the sky, dense swarms of carrier-based fighter jets and attack drones, like migrating birds of death, obscured the already dim sky. Underwater, invisible sonar pulses, like dense fishing nets, swept repeatedly across the sea area in front of the Deep Blue Fortress.

Inside the Deep Blue Fortress Command Center, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron. On the huge screens, the silhouettes of the enemy fleet were clearly visible, magnified by long-range optical observation scopes. The cold metallic sheen and the poised muzzles delivered the most direct visual impact.

“Report! Abyss Fortress-class main guns are nearing peak charge! Target… locking onto our coastal defense core positions—the Eagle’s Beak Cliff Missile Base and the Iron Rock Coastal Artillery Group!” The radar Commander’s voice was slightly hoarse.

“Report! Enemy electronic jamming intensity continues to rise! Long-range fire control accuracy down 30%!”

“Report! Enemy carrier-based aircraft group is beginning to advance! Target is suspected to be our anti-air radar positions!”

“They’re here!” Lin Feng’s eyes were as sharp as blades. “Coastal defense forces! Fire in sequence according to the pre-planned scheme! Maximum range, saturation attack! Disrupt their formation! Anti-air forces! Prioritize intercepting enemy aircraft! Protect the radar!”

“Yes, Commander!”

The moment the command was given, the Deep Blue Fortress, like a sleeping giant beast, suddenly bared its fangs!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Rumble—!!!

First to roar were the heavy rocket artillery positions deployed deep within the island! Countless rockets, trailing long plumes of fire, tore through the air like an angry rain of fire, screaming shrilly as they crossed the vast sea and slammed into the Ark fleet’s vanguard destroyer group! Immediately after, the electromagnetic railgun arrays deployed on the near-shore high ground emitted a low hum, and dense metal projectiles, with astonishing initial velocity, formed a deadly storm of steel, sweeping towards the enemy ships!

The Ark fleet reacted immediately! The vanguard destroyer group launched a volley of anti-air missiles to intercept the rockets! The close-in weapon systems fired wildly, weaving a curtain of fire to intercept the electromagnetic railgun projectiles! Countless fireballs and metal fragments exploded in the air above the sea, like blossoming fireworks of death! Several Ark destroyers that couldn't dodge in time were directly hit by rockets and electromagnetic railguns, catching fire and spewing thick smoke!

However, this was just the appetizer.

The main guns of the four Abyss Fortress-class ships finally completed their final charge! The high-energy particle acceleration light within their massive muzzles was blindingly intense!

“Fire!” Following the Ark fleet Commander’s cold command.

Whum—Boom!!!!!!

There was no deafening roar of traditional artillery, but instead a low, heart-stopping hum of energy, as if space itself was being torn apart! Four immensely thick, destructively eerie blue high-energy particle beams, like whips of divine punishment, instantly crossed tens of nautical miles, accurately striking the areas where the Eagle’s Beak Cliff Missile Base and the Iron Rock Coastal Artillery Group were located!

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!!

An indescribably terrifying explosion! The hit mountains seemed to be violently struck by an invisible giant hammer! The mountain body instantly cracked, melted, and vaporized! The missile launchers, radar stations, gun emplacements, and bunkers deployed on them… were completely obliterated like sandcastles! Blinding light and a huge mushroom cloud rising connected heaven and earth! The shockwave, carrying rocks and flames, swept across several kilometers around! The entire Deep Blue Fortress violently shook under this terrifying blow!

“Eagle’s Beak Cliff position… lost contact!”

“Iron Rock artillery group… completely annihilated!”

Reports filled with sobs and despair came through the communication channel.

Just one volley! The Ark’s ultimate battleships had destroyed the Deep Blue Fortress’s two most powerful coastal defense core strongpoints! The enormous disparity in strength was starkly displayed before everyone!

“Damn it!” Chen Hai slammed his fist on the control panel, his eyes bloodshot.

Lin Feng’s face was ashen, but his eyes remained terrifyingly calm: “Anti-air forces! Don’t panic! Continue to intercept enemy aircraft! Remaining coastal defense firepower, concentrate on attacking enemy escort ships! Deplete their anti-air capabilities!”

“Yes, Commander!”

The battle in the sky was equally fierce. The Ark’s carrier-based aircraft, like moths to a flame, braved the Deep Blue Fortress’s dense anti-air missiles and close-in weapon system fire, frantically dropping precision-guided bombs and launching anti-radiation missiles, targeting the remaining anti-air radars and command nodes. Fighter jets were constantly shot down in mid-air, and anti-air positions were continuously destroyed, with fire and thick smoke billowing over the base.

Just as the coastal and aerial battles raged, and the Deep Blue defense line was under immense pressure, deep beneath the sea, two silent hunters were quietly approaching those four moving steel mountains.

“sea shadow, hidden dragon, report your positions,” Gao Qiang’s calm voice echoed in the encrypted channel.

“sea shadow has reached designated ambush point A, depth 400 meters, target Abyss Fortress #1 acoustic signature clearly locked.”

“hidden dragon has reached designated ambush point B, depth 380 meters, target Abyss Fortress #2 locked. Silent state good, undetected.”

Gao Qiang looked at the four huge, slowly moving light points on the sonar screen, like giant whales, and took a deep breath: “Very good. Both submersibles in coordination, targets: Abyss Fortress #1 and #2! Abyssal Piercer torpedoes, set depth to attack the junction of their propellers and rudders! Immediately after firing, maneuver to maximum depth and disengage! Absolutely no prolonged engagement! Understand?”

“Understood!”

“Understood!”

“Fire!”

Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!

Four slender Abyssal Piercer heavy intelligent torpedoes silently slid out of the torpedo tubes of the sea shadow and hidden dragon, activating their silent propulsion mode. Like four deadly deep-sea vipers, they shot towards their respective targets at extremely high speed and with perfect stealth!

The Ark fleet’s anti-submarine forces were not to be underestimated. Almost simultaneously with the torpedo launch!

“Report! Passive sonar detected faint torpedo entry sound! Bearing XXX, depth XXX! Quantity four! Targets… Targets Abyss Fortress #1 and #2!” The sonar Commander of Abyss Fortress #1 let out a terrified shriek!

“Anti-torpedo interception system activated! Depth charges launched! Decoy flares released!” the Captain roared.

Dense depth charges were launched into the water, and decoy flares released huge noise clouds.

However, the Abyssal Piercer torpedoes’ intelligent anti-jamming capabilities far exceeded expectations! As if alive, they skillfully evaded the explosion shockwaves of the depth charges, penetrated the interference cloud, and remained locked onto the massive propellers!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!

Four dull yet violent explosions occurred almost simultaneously beneath the sterns of Abyss Fortress #1 and #2! The immense impact caused both behemoths to violently shudder! Alarms shrieked inside the ships!

“Report! Port propulsion shaft severely damaged! Power down 60%!”

“Report! Rudder jammed! Loss of steering control!”

“Report! Massive flooding in the stern! Damage control teams deploying urgently!”

Abyss Fortress #1 and #2 instantly lost most of their maneuverability, like limping giants, spinning painfully on the sea surface! Their destructive main guns also temporarily lost their accurate firing capability due to the ships’ unstable posture!

“Well done!” Zhao Tiezhu, on the Iron Rock, saw this scene through his binoculars and punched the air in excitement! His ‘Arrowhead’ squad was currently using their mobility and the stealth of new anechoic tiles to skirmish with the Ark’s escort destroyers on the periphery, tying up some of their firepower. Seeing the main enemy ships damaged now boosted their morale even further!

“sea shadow, hidden dragon! Disengage immediately! Repeat, disengage immediately!” Gao Qiang showed no joy, only the calmness and vigilance of a completed mission. He knew that the enemy’s furious counterattack was imminent!

Sure enough, the anti-submarine forces of the remaining two Abyss Fortress (No. 3 and No. 4) and numerous escort ships, as if a hornet’s nest had been stirred, instantly poured countless depth charges, anti-submarine rockets, and torpedoes into the areas where the submarines might be present! Explosions flashed continuously in the deep sea!

On the bridge of the Deep Blue Blade, Lin Feng looked at the damaged markers for Abyss Fortress #1 and #2 on the screen, and the signals of sea shadow and hidden dragon successfully disengaging, his tense nerves relaxing slightly. Gao Qiang’s surprise attack had successfully crippled half of the enemy’s core firepower!

However, the crisis was far from over! The main guns of Abyss Fortress #3 and #4, after a brief adjustment, began charging again! The eerie blue light, like the gaze of death, this time seemed to simultaneously lock onto the Deep Blue Fortress’s core command area, and… the Iron Rock, patrolling in the nearshore waters!

“Report! Abyss Fortress #3 and #4 main guns locked! Targets… include our Command Center and the Iron Rock!” The radar Commander’s warning voice carried despair.

Zhao Tiezhu also felt the palpable lock of death, his hair standing on end! He looked towards the Command Center on shore, a flicker of grim determination in his eyes.

Lin Feng’s gaze was fixed on the two steel fortresses about to unleash destructive energy, then swept to the energy reading on the electronic sandbox, representing the status of the bio-geothermal energy core prototype, which had climbed to a dangerous critical point. Dr. Su Qing’s voice came through the encrypted line, with a hint of madness: “Commander! The core can ‘burn’ now! But it can only last for ten seconds! After ten seconds, it will inevitably overload and collapse! Target selection?”

Was it to go all-in, using this precious ten-second energy burst to try and destroy an Abyss Fortress? Or to use it to build a powerful energy shield to protect the Command Center and the Iron Rock?

Time, at this moment, seemed to freeze. Every second determined the life and death of countless people.

Lin Feng’s finger hovered over the red button representing the final decision. His gaze finally fell on the electronic sandbox, on the blue light point representing the Deep Blue Fortress’s core, representing countless fighting soldiers, and representing the hope for the future.

“Su Qing…” Lin Feng’s voice was low and firm, like clashing steel:

“Activate ‘Life Barrier’ protocol!”

“Energy core overload output! Target: cover the airspace over the Command Center and the Iron Rock!”

“Maximum power! For ten seconds!”

“The fate of the Deep Blue Fortress lies within these ten seconds!”