108: Chapter 108: Let me show you how to dismantle a sea mine
Those things flashing with red light were just lying there on the seabed ten thousand meters deep.
Through the footage transmitted back by "Deep Dive No. 1," everyone in the Command Center could clearly see what they were.
"It's the R country's 'viper' smart mine!" A staff officer with a naval background recognized it at a glance, his voice full of anger. "Those bastards! How did they manage to deploy this thing in such deep water?!"
"This 'viper' thing, once it senses a large piece of metal approaching, will attach itself and explode. The power is enough that even conventional submarines can't withstand it!"
"What are they trying to do? They want to destroy our foundation!"
The Command Center immediately erupted, everyone furious.
This was no longer a probe; this was aiming for war!
"Contact the East Sea Fleet immediately! Lodge a stern protest with the R country's fleet!" a general roared.
"Protest?" Director Zhao Lixin snorted coldly and shook his head. "It's useless. Those guys will definitely play dumb now, claiming they 'lost' it accidentally while conducting 'scientific research.' We don't have direct evidence, so we won't be able to explain it clearly on the international stage."
"Then what should we do? Just watch?"
Everyone's eyes gathered on Jiang Ning once again.
Jiang Ning still had no expression on her face, but the atmosphere in the room grew even colder.
She had long anticipated that the other side would try to trip them up, but she hadn't expected them to be this direct and this shameless.
"What's there to panic about?" As soon as she spoke, the noisy Command Center instantly went quiet.
She pointed at the mines on the screen and asked the naval staff officer, "Does this thing have any other tricks besides attaching itself and exploding?"
"Report, Engineer Jiang! No. The 'viper' is designed for close-range detonation to achieve maximum armor-piercing effect; it has no long-range attack capability."
"Have you calculated how much power one has?"
"Yes! The explosive yield of each one is approximately 500 kilograms of TNT. Our foundation shield can withstand three to four exploding at once, but if there are any more than that..."
"That's enough." Jiang Ning cut him off.
She turned her head and contacted the pilot of "Deep Dive No. 1" directly through the communication system.
"Master Zhang, listen to my command. Now, control your submersible, take the foundation module, and slowly press it over those three mines on the left."
"What?!"
Once this order came out, it wasn't just the pilot, Master Zhang, who was stunned; everyone in the Command Center was dumbfounded.
"Engineer Jiang! That won't do! It's too dangerous!"
"Exactly! Those are mines! If we actively move toward them, aren't we just throwing our lives away?"
"If the shield doesn't hold, the thousands of tons of foundation, along with our best submersible, will all be finished! We can't afford that loss!"
Voices of opposition rose one after another.
Only Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo and Professor Chen exchanged glances without speaking. They had worked with Jiang Ning the longest and understood her best.
Engineer Jiang never did things she wasn't sure about. If she was doing this, she definitely had her reasons.
"Execute the order." Jiang Ning didn't explain; she just repeated it. There was a power in her voice that made it impossible for people to refute.
There was silence on the other end of the communicator for a few seconds.
"…Yes! Chief Engineer Jiang! I will execute!"
Pilot Master Zhang gritted his teeth and agreed.
Although he didn't understand either, he chose to trust this young Chief Engineer who had created countless miracles.
Everyone stared at the screen as the massive submersible really did drag the foundation module, slowly moving toward those few mines flashing with red light.
Everyone's heart was in their throat.
...
On the high seas outside the restricted navigation zone.
Inside the Command Center of the R country's scientific research ship, the "child of the ocean," the atmosphere was quite relaxed.
Captain Ito Hirobumi was holding a cup of sake, leisurely watching the large screen in front of him. On the screen was the footage transmitted back from the ten-thousand-meter deep sea.
"Report, Captain! The Xia country's big guy has reached its position." An operator reported.
"Oh?" Ito Hirobumi leaned in closer, watching the massive steel monster on the screen, his eyes full of greed and jealousy. "Truly an amazing thing. Too bad it's about to turn into a pile of scrap metal."
"How are our 'vipers' doing?" he asked with a smile.
"Perfect, Excellency! All twelve 'vipers' we deployed have been activated. As long as they dare to install their foundation, it will be blown to pieces instantly!"
"Well done!" Ito Hirobumi nodded with satisfaction. "The superiors gave a death order this time. We absolutely cannot let the Xia country people touch that sleeping 'dragon vein' right under our noses. That belongs to the future of our Great R Empire!"
He took a sip of sake, wearing an expression that suggested this matter was in the bag.
"Have the 'Black Tide' unit get ready. Once the Xia country people fail their first attempt and their morale plummets, that will be the best time for us to make our entrance."
"Hai!"
Just then, an operator staring at the screen suddenly called out.
"Captain, Excellency! Look! The Xia country's submersible, it... it's moving!"
"Moving? What do they want to do? Want to bypass it?" Ito Hirobumi glanced at the screen dismissively.
The next second, the smile on his face froze.
He saw that the Xia country's massive object, far from bypassing the mines, was acting as if it were blind, charging straight toward the first group of mines they had deployed, actively colliding with them!
"Baka! Are they crazy?!"
Ito Hirobumi's sake cup smashed onto the floor with a "clatter," and he stared fixedly at the screen.
Not just him, but every R country person in the entire Command Center held their breath and widened their eyes, watching this hellish scene.
They couldn't figure out why the Xia country people would want to commit suicide.
But in their hearts, a wave of wild joy surged simultaneously!
"Detonate! Detonate! Detonate it for me!" A young officer couldn't help but shout in excitement.
It was as if they had already seen the scene of that steel monster being torn apart in the flames.
However, the explosion they wanted to see simply didn't happen.
Ten thousand meters deep on the seabed, just at the moment the massive foundation module was about to touch those few mines.
A layer of pale blue light membrane suddenly emerged from the surface of the foundation module, instantly enveloping those three mines.
The red lights on those three mines flashed frantically, as if they were about to detonate, but all of their energy was completely absorbed and isolated by that thin layer of light membrane.
Then, under the stunned gaze of all the R country people.
Those three mines, just like a cigarette butt being snuffed out, flashed with red light once and then went out completely.
Immediately after, several robotic arms extended from the bottom of the foundation module and, like picking up trash, clamped those three disabled mines and casually tossed them into an open recovery bay nearby.
The entire process was smooth, flowing, and terrifyingly quiet.
In the R country's Command Center, there was dead silence.
Everyone's faces were filled with disbelief.
"This... what is going on?" Ito Hirobumi's voice was trembling. "Our 'vipers'... why didn't they explode?!"
No one could answer him.
They only saw that on the screen, the Xia country's massive object, after "finishing picking up the trash," was once again moving unhurriedly toward the next group of mines using the same method.