Chapter 128: USS Connecticut (6/10)

Pressing against the hull of the USS Connecticut, Zhu Lan sneered, "Now, I'll show you what true despair feels like!"

He pulled his fist back and struck the submarine’s belly with a thunderous blow.

*BOOM!*

The sound of steel colliding echoed across the deep seabed, carrying for miles.

*Wooooo~~~~*

The alarms on the Connecticut blared deafeningly.

"What’s going on?"

"Sir, we don’t know! It feels like we hit something."

"Does the radar show anything?"

"No, sir, nothing on the radar. But we are currently passing through the 368 Mountain Range; perhaps a rock fell and struck the submarine!"

*BOOM!*

The sound returned, even more violent this time.

Colonel Nick’s face turned deathly pale. "Alert! General quarters! Deploy the micro-mechanical fish—something is attacking us!" As the commander of the Connecticut, Nick knew that two consecutive impacts were far from a simple accident.

"Yes, sir!" At the commander’s order, the crew grew grim and focused.

"Launch hatches opening, commencing deployment!"

As the video feed flickered to life, a sudden flash of blue light cut across the screen, and the transmission was instantly severed.

"Damn it!" The micro-device was destroyed in an instant. Nick realized immediately that something outside was attacking them.

"Bad news, sir! Something has entered through the release hatch!"

"Damn it! Get the Marine detachment to intercept it immediately!"

The Marines rushed to the scene upon receiving the order, but they were met only with ruthless slaughter.

"No, no, no!"

"It's a monster!!!"

"Stay back!"

*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*

The radio relayed the plight of the Marines clearly to Nick’s ears.

*Clatter!*

Nick threw down his headset. "Damn it, what on earth is that thing?"

With the Marine detachment completely wiped out, a cold sense of dread washed over him.

"Sir?" An officer looked at him nervously.

*Thud, thud!*

Pounding sounds erupted from various parts of the submarine.

"Hatch Four is compromised! Hatch Three is severely damaged!"

The bad news came one after another.

"Oh no—"

Before the sonar operator could finish his sentence—

*BOOM!*

A massive impact shook the entire vessel. The sonar operator’s eyes widened, and he slumped over, his life extinguished by the sheer force of the vibration.

*CRACK!*

Even standing upright, the crew could clearly hear the sound of the submarine’s hull being torn apart. Everyone’s face drained of color.

"Quick, quick, notify the USS George Washington of our situation! Tell them we’ve come under an unidentified attack and can no longer hold out. Order them to support us immediately!" Nick knew the George Washington was not far; if they pushed their engines, they might arrive before the Connecticut sank.

"Yes, sir!"

Meanwhile, Zhu Lan had finished clearing the corridor of the remaining Marines. After scanning the area and finding no other living souls, he kicked open the hatch and stepped inside.

He immediately spotted Lan Tianxin, unconscious, lying to one side. He checked her pulse; she had merely been sedated and showed no signs of side effects. Zhu Lan breathed a sigh of relief.

But now, he faced a dilemma. How was he to get her out?

They were at a depth of over three hundred meters. His actions had doomed the Connecticut, which would soon descend to depths of nearly a thousand meters. At that depth, even Canglan could not withstand the water pressure, let alone protect Lan Tianxin.

"Boss, if we move fast enough, we can bring her out," Red Queen reminded him in time.

Zhu Lan nodded.

He picked up Lan Tianxin. Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a Marine frogman suit nearby. He set her down, grabbed the gear, and helped her into it. It wasn't an intentional liberty; it was a necessity.

Once she was suited up, Zhu Lan carried her away. He had cleared the path on his way in, and though the surrounding structure had been destroyed, it wasn't difficult to find the exit. If all else failed, he could simply blast his way out; even a nuclear submarine was only a few thousand tons of steel. His laser weaponry could carve a path, and his arc reactor provided more than enough power to spare.

Arriving at the launch channel, Zhu Lan sneered. The chamber was already half-flooded. He set Lan Tianxin aside and tapped his arm, revealing a micro-missile. He removed it, activated it with a quick laser pulse, and tossed it aside. He knew that on the other side of the wall was the torpedo storage. Even if there weren't many left, a single detonation would be more than enough to finish off the Connecticut.

He scooped Lan Tianxin back up, checked that everything was secure, and charged through the exit, leaving the Connecticut behind.

*BOOM!*

A massive explosion tore through the vessel, snapping the Connecticut in half as if it had been broken at the waist. Looking back, he saw the submarine slowly descending. Even if the George Washington arrived, there would be no saving the crew of the Connecticut.

"Boss, four F/A-18s are approaching. Estimated contact in eight seconds!"

Just as he breached the surface, Red Queen issued a warning. He looked up and saw the Hornets approaching in the distance.

"Hmph, I'll let you off for today!"

A device unfolded from his back and ejected. *Pop!* A powerful electromagnetic pulse surged outward, covering a radius of several kilometers. The four Hornets that had just entered the range instantly went blind.

"Electromagnetic attack! Everyone, break formation!"

The US military, having been subjected to electromagnetic simulation training, reacted instantly as their instruments failed, and the four Hornets scattered. They didn't know that this was merely a decoy; Canglan had already whisked Lan Tianxin away at high speed.

With the frogman gear, Zhu Lan couldn't travel at his maximum, but 1.6 Mach was more than enough to escape the Hornets' search radius.

The Americans had been the ones to target Lan Tianxin. Once she returned, they would surely realize the Connecticut had been destroyed by China; only China possessed such power. But if he revealed his hand, it would imply that China—or Fantasy Technology—possessed super-mecha-like capabilities, which would not be in their best interest. The US might even use this as an excuse to blockade Fantasy Technology.

Zhu Lan vanished into the distance.

The Pentagon was in chaos. The Connecticut had been sunk by an unidentified device, and the first wave of F/A-18s sent to assist had been disabled by some form of electromagnetic weapon. They couldn't determine what had attacked the submarine.

However, the Pentagon knew it was China’s doing. They were shocked; to destroy the Connecticut instantly without giving them time to react required new, advanced equipment. Yet, the US dared not publicly blame China. They were the ones at fault for being there in the first place, and admitting it would only bring more trouble for the government.

At the next day’s press conference, a US military spokesperson announced to the world that due to an underwater earthquake, the Seawolf-class USS Connecticut had been struck by debris in the Southern Pacific at 16:00 Pacific Time, with no survivors. It was a day of tragedy for the United States, and the Navy would increase monitoring of the Pacific to ensure such an incident never happened again.

"What is it?" Zhu Lan asked, looking at Li Hongjin curiously.

Li Hongjin remained silent. Yesterday, after a busy day, Zhu Lan had told him that Lan Tianxin had been rescued. Today, Li Hongjin had received the news about the US submarine sinking in the South Pacific. Though he found it hard to believe, his intuition told him the sinking was not as simple as it seemed. The location was far too close to their own coastline—only a few hundred nautical miles away. Furthermore, the US carrier group had arrived in a combat posture, not a rescue posture. There was only one conclusion: the Connecticut had encountered an enemy, and the George Washington had been rushing to support.

Could it be that Lan Tianxin had been abducted, and then...?

Li Hongjin shook his head, thinking he was overthinking it. How could that be possible? He knew the capabilities of a Seawolf-class submarine better than anyone. Over the years, he had received reports of them infiltrating their waters; the South China Sea Fleet had engaged them multiple times. Without the support of surface ships, their Shang-class nuclear submarines were no match for a Seawolf in terms of acoustics, speed, and sonar.

And if his theory were true, it meant the Connecticut had been hovering right off the coast of Lai City—only a hundred kilometers from Sanya. They could have entered firing range in ten minutes. The potential damage was unthinkable. Understanding this, he preferred to believe the official story: it was an accident caused by an underwater earthquake.

"Zhu Lan, I want to know, who kidnapped Lan Tianxin?"

"A team of mercenaries from the Stone Group. I’ve taken care of them. They were heading through Southeast Asia."

"Stone?"

Zhu Lan nodded. "They couldn't get the agency for the genetic optimization fluid, so I suppose they decided to take this route."

"What are you planning to do?"

Zhu Lan shook his head. "Stone has US congressmen backing them, and one of their directors is from Boeing. Even if I'm not happy about it, what can I do?"

Li Hongjin nodded in agreement.

"To ensure this doesn't happen again, I’ve increased security, and I’ve applied to the authorities to purchase the Fourth District."

"You want to take over the whole area?"

Zhu Lan nodded. "Only then can I ensure absolute security. Happiness Community must be complete."

"I understand. I will submit a report to the higher-ups to facilitate this deal." Li Hongjin did not refuse. The Fourth District was the final piece of the puzzle for Zhu Lan’s planning in the northern suburbs of Lai City, and also its most prosperous. The purchase price was a point of contention between Zhu Lan and the provincial government, already reaching thirty billion.