51: Chapter 51 The embassy spent 6.6 million!

A white contrail tore through the sky.

It smashed straight down.

The sound was sharp but brief; there was no terrifying sonic boom of it tearing through the atmosphere.

"Rocket," Li Li blurted out.

Jiang Rumu instinctively took half a step back. Li Li held one arm horizontally in front of her, blocking her.

The two of them stared at the sea surface simultaneously.

Three seconds.

Boom—

Two nautical miles away, a splash of orange water exploded on the sea surface.

It wasn't an earth-shattering explosion, but a precise, restrained strike. The water column shot up about twenty meters high and quickly collapsed.

On the drone's remote control screen, the image shook violently for two seconds.

After stabilizing—

Above the submarine's conning tower, a thick, gray-white smoke emerged.

There was a black hole less than a meter in diameter on the metal hull. The edges were curled outward and burned red-hot.

It didn't sink.

No secondary explosion.

The yield was just enough to open a hole in the hull, but not enough to send it to the seabed.

Li Li stared at the screen.

"So accurate."

Jiang Rumu also understood. "They don't want to sink it."

"Right. They want it alive."

Li Li turned the remote control screen toward the livestream camera.

The chat was completely out of control.

[It blew up!!! It blew up!!!]

[I saw a rocket hit a submarine with my own eyes!!!]

[Package received! The Prince did not deceive me!!!]

[Fahd: Dear, your package has been delivered, please give a five-star review♡]

The number of online viewers jumped from 15 million.

30 million. 50 million.

The server started dropping frames crazily. The image froze twice, then stubbornly held on.

He maneuvered the drone again, lowered the altitude, and circled to the side of the submarine.

The image on the remote control screen was brutally clear.

The Israel flag on the front of the conning tower had been half-sliced off by shrapnel. The remaining half hung limply in the sea breeze, its edges charred black.

The submarine began to tilt.

An extremely slow, irreversible tilt.

Gray-white smoke poured continuously from the breach, and seawater flowed into the hull through the crack.

"It's taking on water," Li Li stared at the screen. "It won't last long."

Someone in the chat was spamming Persian characters of Israel.

One. Two. Three.

Then—

[This user has been banned]

[This user has been banned]

[This user has been banned]

Clean and efficient. Cleared in three seconds.

[Super moderator, well done!!!]

[Squid person: I just want to say one sentence—Super mod: No need.]

[Suggest the super mod applies for the army; their hand speed is faster than the air defense system.]

Another forty seconds passed.

A large amount of white foam surged from both sides of the submarine. The ballast tanks were draining.

The entire hull surfaced rapidly.

Splash—

The "Dolphin-III" class conventional submarine broke completely out of the sea.

The gray metal body was fully exposed under the Persian Gulf sun. The breach on the conning tower was still smoking, and the torpedo tube covers on the forward deck were tightly closed, showing no aggressive posture.

It was tilted about fifteen degrees.

A dead fish.

[It surfaced!!! The Squid surfaced!!!]

[Ten million people acting as shore-based radar, one rocket to close the net, fishing law enforcement a huge success!!!]

[The world's first livestream room to broadcast hitting a submarine! It's gone down in history, brothers!!!]

The number of online viewers exceeded 70 million.

The changes on the sea surface happened faster than Li Li had expected.

Less than a minute after the submarine surfaced, three white wakes appeared on the left side of the sea—Ala Country Navy high-speed patrol boats, orange-and-white painted, with 12.7mm heavy machine guns mounted on the bows, closing in a triangular formation.

On the right side, two helicopters swept past at low altitude.

On the shore, four armored personnel carriers drove one after another onto the beach access road.

The submarine's conning tower hatch opened.

A person in a deep blue military uniform crawled out. Both hands were raised high above their head, clutching a white cloth.

The second. The third.

Israel soldiers climbed out one by one, lining up on the slippery forward deck. All of them had their hands raised above their heads.

No resistance. Not a single one.

Ala Country speedboats came alongside. Soldiers jumped onto the deck, searching them one by one and securing them with zip ties. Twelve minutes later, all crew members were transferred and taken away.

Li Li retracted the drone. The propellers slowed down. The four arms folded. It was stuffed back into the hard shell case.

The number of online viewers in the livestream room froze at 80.43 million.

He had just closed the case when his phone vibrated so hard it almost jumped out of his pocket.

Not a text message.

It was a donation notification.

A golden banner rolled across the top of the screen—

**[Embassy of Ala Country in China gifted Supreme Salute × 1000]**

The chat was flooded with golden special effects. Fireworks, streamers, crowns—the entire livestream screen was covered for a full eight minutes.

After the effects dissipated, Li Li looked down at the donation details.

Supreme Salute, unit price 6,660 yuan.

One thousand of them.

6.6 million.

His finger paused on the screen for two seconds.

He looked up.

Jiang Rumu stood beside him, her phone screen facing him. She had seen it too.

Li Li rotated his left wrist.

Fahd's message followed immediately.

"This is the royal family's reward. You discovered the submarine and prevented a possible torpedo attack. Less than one million US dollars, not much."

Li Li stared at the words "not much" for three seconds. Locked the screen.

He looked at the livestream camera.

[6.6 million????]

[The embassy came down to gift personally?? What level of treatment is this???]

[Brother Li is worth a whole coastal defense system on his own! It's worth the price!]

Li Li cleared his throat.

"Everyone."

The chat slowed down. 80 million people were waiting for him to speak.

"I won't touch this money."

He paused for a beat.

"Later, I'll come up with a plan to donate it all. Fifteen people died at Water World today. It's not appropriate to use this money to enjoy myself."

The livestream room was silent for two seconds.

The chat changed color. It was no longer exclamation marks and question marks. One by one, they floated up quietly.

[Good.]

[Brother Li, I'm impressed.]

[This is what you call decent.]

Jiang Rumu stood outside the camera frame.

When he said these words, there was no element of performance. No emotional manipulation, no pausing, not waiting for the chat to react.

He finished and that was it.

Just like when he was able to push up the hundreds of pounds of slide wreckage underwater.

Using strength, but not showing off.

Li Li turned off the livestream.

"That's it for today, see you in Abu Dhabi tomorrow."

Black screen. 80 million people dispersed.

He put his phone in his pocket and turned around.

Jiang Rumu stood three steps away. The sea breeze blew loose hair onto her cheeks, and she didn't brush it away.

"Li Li."

"Hmm."

"6.6 million, you just said you didn't want it, and that's it?"

"It's not my money."

"You were the one who discovered the submarine."

"Discovery is one thing, but I wasn't the one who hit the submarine." He rotated his wrist. "I'm just the one holding the binoculars."

He paused.

"Besides, this shouldn't be our war."

Jiang Rumu didn't respond.

She stared at him for five seconds.

Lowered her head.

"Let's go." Li Li picked up the hard shell case and walked toward the living room. "You need to change the dressing on your shoulder."

Jiang Rumu followed him.

There was still that precise half-meter between the two of them.

The sea breeze blew over from the Persian Gulf, carrying the salty fishiness after the smoke had cleared.

She turned her head and glanced at the hand he was using to carry the case.

Then she withdrew her gaze.

After walking a few steps, her hand moved at her side.

It didn't reach out.

It curled back.

The glass door of the Burj Al Arab balcony reflected the silhouettes of the two people walking side by side.

The door opened, and cold air rushed toward them.

Li Li strode into the hall.

A line of blue text suddenly jumped on his left wrist.

[System Prompt: New side quest triggered—]

[Side Quest: Banquet Outfit. Quest Description: Choose a gown for Jiang Rumu for the Abu Dhabi royal banquet. Reward: ???]

[System Comment: You don't even want 6.6 million, surely you're willing to buy a woman a dress, right?]

Li Li's steps faltered.

Behind him, Jiang Rumu almost bumped into his back.

"What's wrong?"

Li Li pulled his sleeve down to cover the line of text.

"It's nothing."

He rotated his wrist.

"Do you have anything to wear for the banquet?"

Jiang Rumu was stunned for a moment. "I checked when I came; there's no formal gown in my suitcase, and the team didn't prepare one."

"Hmm."

Li Li continued walking forward.

"Then accompany me to the mall tomorrow."

Jiang Rumu's steps paused for half a beat.

When she followed, the toes inside her slippers curled and relaxed, relaxed and curled.