Chapter 719 “Crab” and “Big Fish”
Chapter 719 “Crab” and “Big Fish”
On a blue sea.
A propeller plane painted in sea blue was quietly sticking to the sea surface, rising and falling with the surging waves, like a drifting plank.
Two floats replaced the 20mm machine guns and lay under the plane like a sled. A depth charge with a pressure sensor was tightly attached to the belly of the plane, like a sharp blade hidden under the blue.
There was silence all around, only the sound of the tide.
At this moment, Feng Qing, who was lying in the cockpit with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes with a start and sat up from the seat.
Because she used too much force, her forehead almost hit the cockpit. Fortunately, she was pulled by the seat belt to avoid an accident.
With a creaking sound, the silent plane seemed to come alive again.
Almost at the same time, the standard duck voice of the corps commander Mosquito came from the communication channel.
”…The fish is hooked!”
There was a noisy electric sound in the communication channel.
The VM screen tied to his thigh also lit up at the same time, and the attack coordinates estimated based on the friendly forces’ positions and relative distances were displayed on the map.
Feng Qing took out a chocolate from his pocket and threw it into his mouth without panic. He skillfully reached out and opened the dashboard on the cockpit and started the plane’s engine.
The propeller on the nose roared, dragging the light fuselage forward against the waves.
Controlling the speed at the critical point of takeoff, Feng Qing did not rush to pull up the nose of the plane, and gently tapped the beat with his index finger holding the joystick.
The continuous sound of the tide was drowned by the roar of the more turbulent propellers, and the quiet and peaceful sea surface suddenly boiled.
Not just one –
but a full fifty!
One W-2/H maritime attack aircraft after another was like a speeding speedboat, sticking closely to the surging sea surface, and moving rapidly towards the attack coordinates shared by friendly forces…
…
The sound of the tide was boiling above the blue waves, and the waves were also surging below the blue waves.
The hoarse screams were like sweeping harpoons, driving away the fish and alien species in front. A group of monsters with blue scales were clinging to the seabed, swimming quickly towards the submarine water pipeline on the west side of the circular island.
Behind this group of mutants was a huge sea monster, which looked like a snake or a fish, a bit like a prehistoric plesiosaur.
The tail was more than ten meters long and covered with dragon scales. The protruding head was like a crocodile’s mouth, and the sharp fangs were like the blades on a chainsaw, as if they could bite off a small ship in one bite.
The local fishermen called it Laken, which was taken from a folk song circulating in the southern seas, meaning “the giant dragon in the deep sea.”
Although according to the “law of mind influence”, the mind interference device is difficult to directly control this kind of alien species with a large brain capacity, but the mind can be reduced through various means such as drugs.
For the church, this is obviously not a difficult task.
They can even turn the survivors of a province into mindless puppets, not to mention an alien species whose mind is far inferior to that of humans.
The target was approaching quickly.
One of the mutants separated from the group, swam in front of all the tribesmen at an accelerated speed, and took out a palm-sized thermite bomb from its back.
This thing was also a weapon given to them by the Torch.
After being activated, it can not only burn underwater, but even burn through steel plates hundreds of millimeters thick!
The blue-skinned guy twisted his disgusting face, laughed a crackling laugh, and then pressed the button on the bomb. A thirty-second countdown appeared on the screen.
However, at the same time, when it was less than fifty meters away from the submarine water pipeline, a faint wave of water suddenly surged to its side from the side.
Something was approaching it quickly.
Just as it realized something was wrong, it was about to react, and a sharp arrow instantly pierced its side waist, pushing it towards the sea surface with a dull explosion.
The mutant let out a hoarse and dull wail, and a large piece of bubbles instantly submerged its entire face and the gills hidden in its jaw.
Losing its balance and suffering great pain, it fluttered its hands and feet in the sea, forgetting to let go of the thermite bomb.
At this moment, the 30-second countdown just ended, and a dazzling white light wrapped in a large piece of bubbles instantly engulfed the guy.
The slowly blooming fireworks were like mandala flowers blooming on the seabed. The blue-skinned mutant army that came in a tsunami was instantly stunned by this horrifying scene.
They didn’t know what happened, and panic expressions appeared on their faces. They looked around helplessly for the source of the attack.
At this moment, not far from them, a group of iron lumps shaped like crabs were quietly lurking on the edge of a seaweed forest, and a group of thick gun barrels were already aimed at them from a distance.
If the Empire’s army was here, they would definitely be familiar with this scene.
These heavily armored iron lumps are simply carved from the same mold as the “king crab” amphibious armor that was rampaging in King Gallon Harbor!
In fact, they are the same thing.
The only difference is that the weapons hanging on the arms have been changed from two 37mm cannons to a chain saw designed for deep-sea environments and a supercavitation weapon called “Harpoon”.
The principle of this thing, as the name suggests, is to use the supercavitation principle to reduce drag. The tail is equipped with nitrate propellants, and the front end is a warhead of aluminum-magnesium powder charge. It is equivalent to a scaled-down torpedo with a caliber of 19mm. The launch device is the same as the 19mm bolt gun, which is convenient for switching ammunition after landing and continuing to pursue.
Unlike the 19mm bolt bullet, the effective killing distance of the 19mm “Harpoon” is only 200 meters, and the minimum safe distance is only 10 meters.
This combat radius is still a bit difficult to deal with some ships, but it is more than enough to deal with near-surface torpedoes and frogman troops.
Although the Alliance’s arsenal was thinking about underwater weapons for the first time, after receiving technical support from the survivors of Coral City, the Giant Stone Military Industry quickly solved several of the problems and installed this thing on the Alliance’s “King Crab”.
This is the first actual combat of the “Harpoon”.
So far, the effect is quite good…
Looking at the “fireworks” falling to the seabed in the distance, and the group of restless monsters behind, the hard-working model lying on the “king crab” grinned.
”I didn’t expect that our jungle corps would one day work part-time as a navy.”
The voice of a teammate came from the communication channel.
”In a sense, the kelp forest can also be considered a jungle.”
”666!”
”It doesn’t matter, the opponents are all mutants anyway.”
There is no need to hold back against these beasts.
They should go to hell to repent——
”Hit and it works! Fire freely!”
A string of bubbles came out of the crab shell, and the hardworking man operated the king crab to move forward, “Don’t let our fish get away!”
There were enthusiastic responses from the communication channel.
”Received!”
”Ahhh!”
As the attack order was issued, a total of 22 “king crabs” opened fire at the same time, launching underwater flares according to the target source detected by the sonar.
A dazzling white light bloomed near the group of aquatic mutants, instantly lighting up the dark waters into daylight.
The aquatic mutants, who had already adapted to the darkness around them, screamed and raised their arms to block their eyes from being stung.
At the same time, a series of “harpoon” bullets dragging bubbles shuttled freely under the light, harvesting fresh lives like the scythe of the god of death.
In just a few breaths, dozens of aquatic mutants were shot to pieces, and a scarlet blood mist spread wantonly with the water.
Death was spreading.
Fear crept into the hearts of every mutant.
Unlike the greenskins on the shore, they built their nests under the cold and damp reefs and learned more about the cunningness of fish rather than the bloodthirstiness and madness of beasts.
Seeing that their morale was about to collapse, the mutant leader lurking among the mutants let out a low and long howl.
”It’s humans!”
”They’re down there!”
”Go up! Tear them apart!”
Hearing the leader’s roar, the mutants who continued to suffer casualties finally recovered some morale and rushed to the seabed below them with their legs.
As the depth decreased, the surrounding water pressure became higher and higher, squeezing their bloodshot eyeballs and muscular chests.
Finally approaching the nearly 300-meter-deep seabed, the dazzling white light gradually left them.
”Ka–!”
Nearly a thousand mutants who had re-entered the darkness gradually regained their vision, roared to dispel fear, and rushed towards the source of the attack with all kinds of weapons in their hands.
Coincidentally, their opponents thought the same thing.
Twenty-two huge “king crabs” turned on their searchlights almost at the same time, waving their crab legs and crab claws with chain saws welded on them to kill the blue-skinned monsters!
Excited roars echoed in the communication channel–
”Crush them!”
”Ahhh!”
Flesh and blood collided with steel!
A “king crab” armor quickly ejected its inward-folding mechanical legs and kicked the mutant who was rushing towards it with thermite.
Then the huge body rushed forward again, and the front feet stretched forward smashed down fiercely, stepping squarely on the back of another mutant who was swooping over, pressing it to death on the uneven reef like stepping on an ant.
A mutant managed to get behind it and tried to pry open the thick crab shell with the harpoon in his hand, but he couldn’t even scrape off the paint on it.
Just when he was about to think of other ideas, a real “harpoon” shot into his chest, and half of his body was blown into a bloody mist and minced meat.
Mutants were like garlic cloves dropped into a garlic grinder, and in an instant they were crushed into a bloody mess.
Harpoons were thrown from their powerful arms, but they only left scratches on the steel shell.
They used all their skills, using harpoon guns, underwater rifles, short knives and daggers, and even deep-sea mines and explosives… However, in front of this armor that was several times thicker than that of the split claw crab, all these efforts were in vain. The
dazzling searchlights made them unable to open their eyes, and the thick chainsaws could split them in two with just a slight touch.
Not only chainsaws –
but also fishing net bullets ejected from the thick barrels!
The strong silk threads were pulled into a large net, tying many mutants to the reef, or simply tied to other mutants.
And the more they struggled,
the tighter the fishing net became!
In just five minutes, more than two hundred mutants had died under the whistling chain saw.
The continuous casualties and the battle with no hope of victory made almost every mutant’s face show deep fear.
Even their leader couldn’t help but move back in fear.
They had never seen such a strange guy!
However, their enemies – those players lying in the king crabs, are very familiar with these scaly beasts!
Since the French Fries Port captured several aquatic mutants two months ago, the research station opened by the Alliance Biological Research Institute in French Fries Port has dissected those mutants and soon understood the habits of these guys clearly.
These guys are not as rampant as they seem, and can run rampant in the sea without obstacles.
They will also be attacked by aliens in the sea, just like those cargo ships without black iron wood or mind interference devices.
In order to avoid being targeted by large aliens, they usually choose waters near land or islands and shallow seabed as their travel routes.
The maximum depth of these waters does not exceed 400 meters. Generally, aliens that are too large will not easily wander there to avoid being stranded.
In addition, during the long journey, they will alternately sing “ship songs” and actively make noises to disguise themselves as “XXXL specification” aliens, in order to intimidate those small and medium-sized aliens active in shallow waters.
Taking these characteristics into consideration, French Fries Port only needs to place a few buoys to collect sound wave signals in the waters near the submarine water pipeline to lock the activity tracks of these beasts and formulate an interception plan.
This is not technically difficult to achieve.
Although there are no satellites available, the sensors installed on the submarine freshwater pipeline are enough to transmit the signal to French Fries Port or nearby players.
These mutants didn’t know that they had been targeted by the military base in French Fries Harbor as early as when they left the Coast of Death and entered the eastern coastal area of Baiyue Province.
Seeing the continuous casualties among the mutants, the leader standing in the crowd of mutants finally panicked and shouted loudly to the minions in front of him.
”Retreat!”
”Towards the sea!”
The mutants who were fighting with the “king crabs” kicked their legs hard and retreated towards the sea.
Although the king crabs are equipped with ballast tanks and high-pressure gas cylinders similar to “swim bladders”, they are limited by their own weight and armor volume. The speed of these crabs floating up is not fast, and it is difficult for them to continue firing during the floating process.
Therefore, the 22 “king crabs” did not chase towards the water surface, but set up the “harpoon” bullets welded on their arms and continued to fire.
Slender air columns chased the heels of the group of mutants and flew towards the sea surface. Mutants were constantly shot into a bloody mist by harpoons, but more mutants were still lucky enough to escape from the not-so-dense firepower network.
When there was only a distance of 50 meters from the sea surface, the “harpoons” chasing behind them finally slowed down the speed of pursuit.
These weapons seemed to be unable to fly too far.
Looking at the “harpoons” under their feet gradually losing power and the iron crabs thrown away by them, the frightened mutants finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, thin and long cylinders suddenly entered the water and fell on their heads.
At this moment,
their nightmare had just begun!
Looking at the cylinders that slowly fell in front of them, the faces full of scales were all filled with astonishment and confusion.
As if they had sensed the threat of death, an inexplicable fear crept into the hearts of every mutant.
Before they could react, and before they had the chance to react, bursts of fire and gas exploded in an instant, engulfing these sinful lives.
Looking at the sea of fire spreading near the sea above their heads, the “king crabs” exclaimed in admiration from under their crab shells.
”This is powerful enough…”
”Anti-submarine warfare is really the job of the Air Force.”
”Damn, those greenskins are still tough. These scaly guys are like loaches. They are too vulnerable!”
”So who is the MVP?”
”If the explosion scene is cut out, it should be ours.”
”That’s a good idea.”
Just as everyone was talking and arguing, the voice of Brother Mosquito suddenly came to the ears of the model worker.
”The bombing is complete! How are you guys doing?”
Hearing this duck voice, the model worker hurriedly responded.
”Oh! We are all fine! No casualties–”
Mosquito: “Who the hell cares about you, I’m asking if you took the photo?!”
Model worker: “…Fuck! Is it so real?”
Mosquito: “Wait, I won’t talk nonsense with you… I have detected the signal of the mind interference device here! The source is about 300 meters near the explosion area, with a depth of 50 to 100 meters. Keep an eye out for anything else nearby.” There are other things
? !
Model worker was slightly stunned.
Almost at the same time when Mosquito finished speaking, a long cry reached everyone’s ears.
”Woo–!”
The sound was like the whistle of a freighter, and the nearby waters trembled.
Everyone looked up and shone their searchlights upwards, just in time to see a shadow that was dozens of meters long covering their heads.
”What the hell is this?”
Everyone’s face showed an expression as if they had seen a ghost, and the model worker swallowed his saliva involuntarily.
The voice of a teammate came from the communication channel.
”Oh my god… there’s another big guy.”
The mind interference device began to emit unstable interference waves, and the wailing big guy seemed to have been injured.
The entire sea water was boiling, and the surging waves blew away the corpses floating in the water and scared away the aquatic aliens that were trying to approach.
The “king crabs” standing on the seabed were also constantly moving their crab legs backwards under the turbulent ocean currents.
”Mosquito! Do you still have ammunition?!” With both hands desperately pressing the shaking handle, the hardworking man shouted into the headset.
There was a rustling sound in the communication channel, and an embarrassing voice came.
”No more… I only have one spare round. I have dismantled my machine gun to throw this thing to you. You are on your own.”
”%￥#@!”
After a burst of cursing, the hardworking man switched the voice to the team channel and shouted loudly to his teammates.
”Prepare for the boss battle!”
Unlike him who was extremely nervous in his heart, there were excited roars in the team channel.
”Ahhh!”
…
On the other side, about 100 kilometers away from the center of the explosion, a destroyer belonging to the South Islands Federation was parked.
At this moment, the bridge was in a panic.
”An explosion occurred in the underwater area 100 kilometers to the west! The location is near the submarine volcanic belt, which seems to be our minefield!”
”Minefield?!”
”Damn… were those planes responsible?”
”What’s the situation with those planes?”
”Could it be Shelter No. 70?!”
The reason why the sailors were in a panic was not only because of the sudden explosion underwater, but also because of the fifty planes that suddenly appeared on the radar!
These planes seemed to have appeared out of thin air, from the endless sea, and there was no sign at all!
And the strange thing is that there is no aircraft carrier or airport nearby, not even a small fishing boat can be seen.
Captain Dong Wen stared at the blue sky and the rolling sea outside the bridge window with a frown, thinking something in his heart.
Seeing that his boss did not respond for a long time, the adjutant standing next to him took a deep breath and said in a deep voice.
”I suggest reporting the situation here to the Navy Command immediately!”
As his subordinates discussed, those planes might be the masterpiece of Shelter No. 70. The explosion happened at the minefield they had laid to intercept the No. 70 shelter submersible and protect the circular island from threats.
Although the entrance to the shelter was under the blockade of the federal fleet, no one could guarantee that the shelter had no other emergency exits.
However, the captain standing next to him spoke abnormally after a moment of silence.
”No, keep watching.”
The adjutant was stunned for a moment and looked at him in confusion.
However, the officer did not intend to explain to him, but just told him to keep an eye on this place, and then turned and left the bridge.
Back to the captain’s room.
Dong Wen casually hung his captain’s hat on the hanger, then opened the drawer and took out a small communicator.
He used his thumb to press the mechanical buttons on the shell, carefully entered a string of numbers, and then put the communicator to his ear.
Before he could speak, an anxious voice came from the other end of the phone.
”What’s the situation?”
The person on the other end of the phone was none other than Mr. Charas, the Chief of Staff of the Federal Navy and Chief of Staff of the President, a representative of the Navy’s war faction.
Although for most federal citizens, getting rid of the control of Shelter No. 70 is a consensus, until the destruction of the ocean current power station, everyone actually disagreed on whether to resolve the conflict through moderate or radical means.
Because of his unwavering position and radical propositions, Charas has the support of many naval officers, including Dong Wen himself.
However, there have been some bad rumors recently, which made Dong Wen begin to doubt whether he really did this for the benefit of the federation.
It is true that some of the things done by the alliance that came out of nowhere are indeed worthy of suspicion, but the slogan they shouted, “Survivors unite”, is not something that they should be so cautious about.
The humans on this planet used to belong to a whole.
And they did practice their slogans and set an example for those wastelanders who are still killing each other to end the wasteland era.
For example, in the recent Golden Gallon Port, no matter how the slave owners there used classics to argue, they did untie the ropes tied around the slaves’ necks. Another example is the fresh water pipeline leading to the roundabout island. Although they did make some money, the result is that the locals do use water cheaper.
Those guys didn’t say they were here to do charity. If they maliciously raise prices in the future, that’s a matter for the future. You can’t just borrow a big hat from the future just because they didn’t open their pockets for free today.
At least in his opinion, it’s the church lunatics who talk about “evolution”, “future” and “for humanity” all day long who look more suspicious.
These guys really don’t want money. The mind interference devices provided to the Federation are free gifts, but no one can say for sure that they are not plotting something bigger.
For example, Coral City.
Haven’t they always wanted to go there?
He agreed to start moderate cooperation with the Torch Church, as long as it is truly beneficial to the Federation, even if it is a benefit that cannot be seen in the short term but will benefit future generations infinitely.
For example, it is undoubtedly worthwhile to exchange an ocean current power station for the unity of the entire Federation. People in the future will thank their ancestors for their temporary hardship.
But…
what is the benefit of blowing up a fresh water pipeline?
In the past, he could convince himself and even justify Mr. Charas, but now he really doesn’t know how to make it up.
But –
now is not the time to think about this.
After sorting out his thoughts for a moment, Dong Wen slowly spoke.
”The explosion… did happen.”
Hearing the relieved voice coming from the other end of the phone, he paused for a moment and continued.
”But there are some doubts about this matter. The explosion did not occur on the seabed, but in the area near the sea surface… And, were those planes sent by you?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and it took a long time to utter a half-hesitant sentence.
”Plane?”
”Yes.”
Dong Wen paused and continued.
”A group of planes suddenly appeared on our radar, and then dropped torpedoes or depth charges into the sea, and then we observed the signal of the explosion… I’m not sure whether the pipeline was blown up, but I want to know what those planes are, and what they are bombing-”
However, what he didn’t expect was that after hearing this, Mr. Charas, who was always gentle on weekdays, jumped up like a seal seeing a penguin.
”That’s not something you should care about! Captain, now let your people return to the nearest port immediately-no, return to Anle Island in the east.”
Dong Wen was stunned.
”Mr. Charas?”
As if realizing that there was something wrong with his tone, the sound of calming breathing came from the other end of the phone.
”Sorry… I lost my composure. A formal order will be issued through the command system later. You can go back to the bridge and let your subordinates prepare.”
After a pause, a sigh came from the other end of the phone.
”It’s terrible… A water pipe made those traitors betray their original beliefs. They didn’t realize that they were actively putting the rope handed to them by others around their necks. They just had two days of freedom and they were rushing to sell themselves for a good price.”
”Mr. Charas,” Dong Wen asked with a frown, “Maybe this is not the question I should ask, but… what does this have to do with selling yourself for a good price?”
Charas snorted.
”Aren’t they doing this? We just got rid of the rope that was put around our necks in Shelter 70, and now they picked up the rope from Shelter 404-”
”So I want to know, what exactly is the rope you have been talking about?” Dong Wen couldn’t help asking, “Can you use a more specific term? Instead of an abstract metaphor.”
The other end of the phone paused for a few seconds, and then there was a light cough.
”We have strayed too far from the topic… Anyway, our friends in Haiya Province don’t want us to get too close to the Alliance. Those lunatics are not good people, but we need to rely on their power to solve our problems for the time being. Anyway, that pipeline is a problem… If someone can solve this problem, every citizen of the Federation will thank him.”
Hearing the expectation in that voice, Dong Wen took a deep breath, kept himself calm, and spoke carefully.
”Mr. Charas, if it is other concerns, I can solve them for you, including making those who should shut up shut up and those who should disappear disappear, but this matter… is too much.”
After a pause, he continued.
”I’m sorry that I can’t solve your troubles. Maybe you should solve this problem through more legal and compliant means. I suggest you talk to Mr. President.”
Charas said with great sorrow.
”That’s too slow! And the residents of the ring island will not understand us.”
Dong Wen said immediately.
”Then go slow… There’s nothing wrong with being cautious about this kind of thing.”
The reason why he hated the guys in Shelter 70 was because they were arrogant and self-willed, never willing to lower themselves to communicate with the survivors outside the shelter, and used their blue coats as a shield when they couldn’t explain clearly.
He suddenly realized at this moment that he almost became the person he hated the most.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and after a moment, a sigh of resignation suddenly came.
”You’re right… There’s nothing wrong with going slower. I was inconsiderate. Please forget what I said just now.”
Dong Wen nodded, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps Mr. Charas realized this as he did.
He had no doubt that the gentleman made the decision for the benefit of the Federation, but just like other captains sometimes go too far, so did the chief of staff?
He would still support him as always…
After hanging up the phone, Dong Wen returned to the bridge.
At this time, the adjutant came over and saluted.
”…Just now, the Navy Command sent a message, asking us to go to the port of Anle Island in the east to rest.”
Dong Wen, who had heard about it from private channels, nodded, walked straight to the bridge control console and stopped.
However, just as he was about to order a turn to the east, his heart moved slightly, and he looked at the officer next to him and gave an order.
”Go west for 80 kilometers!”
Surprised expressions appeared on the faces of all the officers, especially the adjutant who had just conveyed the headquarters’ message to him.
”But…” Hesitantly, the adjutant took a step forward to remind him, but was interrupted by a raised hand.
”The headquarters didn’t ask us to turn around.”
Staring at the surging sea, Dong Wen reached out and gently adjusted his hat, and slowly spoke.
”It’s okay to take a little detour.”
…
In the clear blue sky.
Feng Qing, who was driving a seaplane, circled over the sea and was about to turn around, when she suddenly saw a warship coming from the east.
A trace of surprise appeared on her face, and she wiped her hands, which were stained with chocolate sauce, on her clothes, and reached out to press the switch of the onboard radio.
”This is Feng Qing. We have spotted a federal warship, probably a destroyer… heading towards the little crabs of the Jungle Corps.”
”Not sure if they are hostile, they haven’t fired at me yet… Ah, they seem to be trying to call me on the radio… Do you want to answer?”
Mosquito’s voice soon came over the communication channel.
”Answer it! Why not? Ask these Dogecoins what they are doing here!”
Hearing the tone of voice that sounded like they still had a lot of ammunition, Feng Qing made a helpless expression, stepped on the rudder with his left foot, adjusted the course and moved towards the destroyer.
”Got it.”
(End of this chapter)
