50: Chapter 50 The Prince Says the Delivery is on its Way!

Li Li did not move.

His hands gripped the balcony railing tightly, his neck stretched forward.

That dark shadow on the surface of the sea was still inching forward.

The flight paths of the seagulls were chaotic.

This was definitely not a school of fish.

The live stream comments were scrolling frantically.

"Brother Li, don't just point! What exactly is it!"

"I used a magnifying glass, and it's just water!"

"Are we about to have another airstrike? My PTSD is about to kick in!"

Li Li ignored the comments.

He turned around and strode toward the room.

His pace was extremely fast, kicking up a gust of wind.

He yanked open the suitcase on the floor, pulling the zipper all the way to the end.

At the very bottom was a black hard-shell storage case.

Inside the "War Correspondent · Full Media Live Streaming Kit" rewarded by the system, there was a scout-grade folding drone.

It had been at the bottom of the case all this time.

Today, it was time for it to work.

Li Li tucked the case under one arm and stomped out the door, heading straight for the elevator.

Passing room 2005, the door happened to open.

Jiang Rumu was standing in the doorway.

She had changed into a pure black spaghetti-strap camisole, with a corner of the white gauze on her right shoulder visible.

Her hair was tied into a casual low ponytail, and the tips were still dripping water.

The two came face to face.

The air stagnated.

Only a few dozen minutes ago, the image of the T-shirt stuck on her head, the black spaghetti straps, and the large expanse of fair skin automatically replayed in both their minds.

The roots of Jiang Rumu's ears turned visibly red.

Li Li turned his head to look at the fire sprinkler on the ceiling of the hallway.

"Just now—"

"That—"

They spoke at the same time.

And choked at the same time.

They were silent for two seconds.

Li Li held out the black hard-shell case in his hand.

"There is something on the sea. I'm going to the first floor to fly a drone."

Jiang Rumu immediately took the out.

She nodded.

"I'll go with you."

The two walked side by side toward the elevator, keeping a precise half-meter distance between them.

Neither mentioned what had just happened.

They were as tacitly in sync as if they had signed a confidentiality agreement.

The first-floor sea-view balcony.

The sea breeze of the Persian Gulf, carrying a salty, fishy scent, rushed toward them.

Li Li half-squatted on the floor tiles.

He opened the case and unfolded the supports.

The propellers popped open with a "buzz."

His fingers swiped rapidly across the remote control screen to calibrate the GPS signal.

Jiang Rumu stood to his left, her left hand resting on the railing, her right arm hanging naturally due to her shoulder injury.

The number of viewers in the live stream had already exceeded ten million.

The second she entered the frame, the style of the comments changed abruptly.

"Mumu!! Does your shoulder still hurt!!"

"It's good that you're alive, wuwuwu! You scared me to death!"

"Wait, isn't she wearing that black T-shirt of Brother Li's?"

"Forget about the clothes! What exactly is Brother Li trying to film with the drone!"

Li Li pushed the throttle stick down with his thumb.

"Buzz—"

The quadcopter drone shot up from the ground.

In three seconds, it climbed to a height of fifteen meters, flying straight toward the sea area he had locked onto earlier.

The seven-inch screen on the remote control lit up, and high-frame-rate aerial footage was transmitted back in real-time.

The azure water surface spread out on the screen.

Sunlight hit the crests of the waves, shimmering like broken gold.

The comments were so anxious they were practically smoking.

"Where's the screen! Turn the screen around!"

"Brother Li, are you eating alone!"

"I'm dying of anxiety, I'm dying of anxiety!"

Li Li ignored them.

The distance value in the top right corner of the screen was jumping.

Five hundred meters.

Eight hundred meters.

One thousand two hundred.

Jiang Rumu leaned in closer, turning her body to look at the remote control screen.

The dampness from her hair tips brushed against Li Li's shoulder.

Neither of them pulled away.

On the screen, that dark shadow was getting bigger and bigger.

One thousand five hundred meters.

Jiang Rumu spoke up.

"Huh."

Li Li spoke at the same time.

"Huh."

The two looked at each other.

Jiang Rumu pointed at the screen.

"The shape of this shadow isn't right. It's too long."

In the center of the screen, beneath the azure seawater, a dark gray, long, strip-like shadow was clearly visible.

The outline was straight, and the edges were regular.

It was absolutely impossible for it to be a whale or a school of fish.

Roughly estimated, it was seventy or eighty meters long and about ten meters wide.

It was suspended less than a meter below the water's surface.

And it was still moving, silently advancing toward the Burj Al Arab.

Li Li stared at the screen.

His thumb slightly adjusted the directional stick.

The drone lowered its altitude, approaching closer.

The image magnified instantly.

A dark gray metal hull.

A streamlined conning tower.

Horizontal rudder wings vaguely visible above the water.

Li Li held the remote control level.

"A military submarine."

Jiang Rumu froze.

"What?"

"A submarine. Underwater displacement of over three thousand tons."

Li Li's voice was as flat as if he were reading off menu prices.

"It hasn't submerged to a safe depth, it's sailing right on the surface. Either the equipment is broken, or—"

He paused.

"It doesn't take Dubai's coastal defense seriously at all."

The live stream comments paused for a second.

Then they completely exploded.

"Sub! ma! rine!?"

"There's a submarine on the surface in Dubai!?"

"Please let me see the screen! Just one look!"

"What exactly did he see, ahhh!"

Ten million people were online, all looking at the side profiles of Li Li and Jiang Rumu.

The speed of the comments tripled out of anxiety.

Li Li glanced at the screen full of question marks and exclamation points.

He grabbed the remote control with one hand.

He flipped the screen to face the live stream camera.

"See for yourselves."

The aerial footage on the seven-inch screen was exposed to ten million netizens without reservation.

Azure seawater.

A dark gray metal behemoth.

Quietly lurking underwater.

The comments paused again.

Half a second later.

"Holy shit."

"There really is a fucking submarine."

"Brother Li, I'm sorry! I just scolded you for being a charlatan!"

"I was wrong, I'll kowtow to you!"

"Two nautical miles away! One meter underwater! You saw that with your naked eye!?"

"His eyes are a ruler!!!"

Apology comments flooded the screen.

Li Li ignored them.

His thumb flicked the joystick.

The drone continued to lower its altitude, circling half a turn around the shadow.

Jiang Rumu took out her phone with one hand and opened a search app.

"Which country? Are there any markings?"

The comments were also asking.

"Whose toy is this?"

"Ala Country's?"

"Does the East have deployments there?"

"Could it be... Israel's?"

Amidst the torrent of comments, a plain white comment without any special effects floated by.

ID: Retired Veteran Not Old.

"Look at the front of the submarine's conning tower, is there a white reflection?"

Li Li narrowed his eyes slightly.

His thumb adjusted the camera's focal length.

The drone descended to eight meters above the water.

A side close-up.

On the screen, at the front of the conning tower, there was indeed a small, irregular white area.

Under the refraction of the sunlight, the boundaries of the color block could be seen.

"It seems so," Li Li said in a low voice.

The comment from "Retired Veteran Not Old" followed closely behind.

"That is a Israel 'Dolphin-III' class conventional submarine. Only Israel likes to paint their flag on the front of the submarine's conning tower. Their naval regulations state that they must display identification when sailing on the surface. Other countries are desperate to paint their submarines with stealth paint, but they just have to show off their presence."

As soon as this appeared, several accounts with military blogger yellow checkmarks also popped up.

"Confirmed. Dolphin-III class, underwater displacement 3400 tons, six torpedo tubes. The main force of the Israel navy."

"This thing is swaggering into Dubai's coastal waters? Is it looking for death?"

Jiang Rumu's fingers swiped rapidly across the screen.

She pulled up an official high-definition picture of the Israel navy.

'Dolphin-III' class submarine.

Surface sailing status.

At the front of the conning tower, the Israel flag with a white background and blue stripes was clearly visible.

She pressed her phone screen against the live stream camera.

She then pointed to the real-time image on the remote control.

The marking position.

The shape.

The size ratio.

A perfect match.

"Confirmed."

Jiang Rumu's voice was cold.

"It's Israel's."

The twelve million people in the live stream were completely out of control.

The server was overwhelmed, and the video began to drop frames.

"A Israel submarine is blocking Dubai's doorstep!?"

"Yesterday they bombed Water World, today they sent a submarine!?"

"Is this for reconnaissance or to launch missiles!"

"@Ala Country Embassy @Ala Country Military"

"We've even marked the coordinates for you! Two nautical miles directly in front of the Burj Al Arab! Come and catch some fish!"

"Ten million people online acting as shore-based radar, the Israel navy couldn't have dreamed of this!"

Li Li watched the frantically scrolling comments.

He rotated his left wrist.

He lowered his head.

He continued to control the drone, keeping it hovering.

The camera was locked tight onto that submarine.

Jiang Rumu stood beside him, holding her phone up without putting it down.

The sea breeze blew her hair around, with a few stray strands sticking to her cheek.

She didn't bother with it.

The two just stood there like that.

Twelve million pairs of eyes, through a civilian drone, were staring fixedly at that military submarine.

Social media was already going crazy.

Countless people were taking screenshots and recording the screen.

They added the latitude and longitude coordinates, translated them into a dozen languages in real-time, and frantically reposted them to the outside web.

A comparison image broke 100,000 retweets on Twitter in thirty seconds.

On the left was the drone footage, on the right was the official picture.

A red circle marked the position of the flag.

The caption was just four words: "Verified Identity."

The phone in Li Li's pocket vibrated.

He took it out and looked at it.

A text message from Fahd.

In Arabic, just one word.

"Where?"

Li Li typed with one hand.

He copied and sent the precise GPS coordinates displayed on the drone's remote control directly to him.

Fahd replied in a second.

A thumbs-up emoji.

Immediately after, the top of the screen displayed "Other party is typing."

Three seconds later.

"The package has been sent."

Li Li locked the screen.

He put the phone back in his pocket.

He looked up at the Persian Gulf.

That huge gray shadow was still slowly cruising one meter below the water.

It had no idea that it was being watched from all angles by twelve million people.

And it didn't know that its coordinates had been pinpointed to six decimal places and placed on the operational big screen at the Ala Country Naval Headquarters.

Li Li leaned against the balcony railing.

His fingers rested on the control stick.

The drone hovered thirty meters directly above the submarine, as steady as Mount Tai.

Jiang Rumu put away her phone and gently moved her injured shoulder.

She turned her head to look at him.

"Just now on the 20th-floor balcony, two nautical miles away, you saw a submarine underwater with your naked eye."

"Mm."

"You are serious."

"I said, my eyes are a ruler."

Jiang Rumu paused for two seconds.

"Is there anything you can't do?"

Li Li thought for a moment.

"I don't know how to fill in an emergency contact."

Jiang Rumu's toes curled sharply inside her slippers.

She didn't respond.

She turned her head and stared fixedly at the remote control screen.

The tips of her ears were so red they were about to drip blood.

On the remote control screen, the 'Dolphin-III' was still blindly inching forward.

The number of viewers in the live stream exceeded fifteen million.

Just then, a sharp, tearing sound suddenly came from the sky above.

It wasn't the roar of a fighter jet.

It was the sonic boom produced by something rubbing against the air at a speed of several Mach.

Li Li looked up sharply.

The clouds in the southeast were forcibly torn open, leaving a white contrail.

It was smashing straight toward the Persian Gulf.