The Power to Break Free

After completing the Sea Wolf's redesign, Nie Yun saved the warship's model in the Mechanical Insect model library. That way, the next time he needed it, he could simply give the Mechanical Insects a thought, and they would assemble the Sea Wolf according to the model.

Then, excitedly, he took the redesigned Sea Wolf out for its maiden voyage.

On a moonlit night, the oddly shaped silver warship left the base for the first time, displaying its form beneath the open sky.

Nie Yun sat in the captain's chair in the wheelhouse. The front and both sides were made of transparent glass, giving him an unobstructed view.

Down in front of him, several Xiaohai robots were operating the radar, sonar, and other equipment Nie Yun had copied from the Chengjiang. At his side, as usual, stood a secretary—though now, of course, his first mate.

"Sea Wolf! Straight ahead! Full speed!"

The secretary beside him, Xiaohai, spoke in a sweet female voice. "Order confirmed! Sea Wolf! Straight ahead! Full speed!"

At his command, the three propellers beneath the ship began spinning rapidly. The powerful thrust pressed Nie Yun firmly against the back of his chair.

The silver warship carved a gently curving white trail across the sea as it raced toward the front left...

"Uh... Looks like I didn't adjust the center of gravity properly!" Nie Yun said, a little embarrassed, after getting used to the acceleration.

But for him and the Sea Wolf, this was only a minor issue. Nie Yun immediately set about adjusting the ship's layout.

And so, over these waters, the elegant silver-white warship traced an S-shaped course one moment, then a B-shaped one the next, leaving behind a decidedly flashy wake.

If a military observer had been there, they might have commented, "Hmm. Those evasive maneuvers are very professional!"

It took Nie Yun half an hour to finally get the Sea Wolf moving in a straight line.

He wiped away a bead of sweat and coughed awkwardly.

"Ahem. These are just minor issues. The road of life has always been full of twists and turns!"

Sea Wolf: "..." (My insides are pretty twisted up right now, too...)

"All right, the surface test is over. Next, let's test the Sea Wolf's diving capabilities. I order maximum speed, dive!"

"Sea Wolf! Maximum speed, dive!" Xiaohai repeated the captain's order.

The next moment, a mass of bubbles and spray began to churn around the Sea Wolf's hull. It gradually sank beneath the surface and disappeared in less than a minute, leaving behind only a faint wake.

"Diving depth: 100 meters!"

"Diving depth: 300 meters!"

"Diving depth: 800 meters!"

As Xiaohai continued to report the diving depth, the scenery before Nie Yun changed constantly.

At a thought, the space around him shifted. The ceiling and walls of the cabin turned transparent, enclosing the wheelhouse like a glass dome.

Nie Yun watched the moonlight, silvery as liquid, fall upon the quiet seafloor. The light seemed to refract through a prism, scattering into a kaleidoscope of colors. The sight was breathtaking.

For a moment, he was completely transfixed.

Though he had lived alongside the ocean since childhood, this was his first time diving so deep—and his first glimpse of the ocean's other side. Or perhaps this was what the ocean truly was.

Two searchlights opened at the bow, their beams illuminating the colorful coral reefs on the seafloor and creating all kinds of captivating scenes.

Schools of fish in every color swam among the coral, some circling the Sea Wolf curiously.

This place was alive with color, a miracle of life that ordinary people could never experience firsthand.

As Nie Yun stood in this surreal world, a line suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Human progress is far too slow!

—Jules Verne, from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

It was one of the few books Nie Yun had read, but also one of his favorites.

What had left the deepest impression on him was the lonely, proud figure in the story.

Only now, surrounded by such a world, did he truly understand the urgency and longing in those words. Yes, human progress was far too slow!

Even now, space and the ocean remained uncharted frontiers.

Fortunately, he had the Mechanical Insects!

He had a vague premonition that what the Mechanical Insects could give him—and humanity—might be the power to break free from every one of these constraints.

"Keep diving! I want to see how far the Sea Wolf can go... No, how far I can go!" A hint of yearning appeared in Nie Yun's eyes.

"Diving depth: 1,000 meters!"

"Diving depth: 1,500 meters!"

"Diving depth: 2,000 meters!"

Still not enough. Nie Yun could sense that the Mechanical Insects were nowhere near their limit. They could keep going!

"Diving depth: 7,000 meters!"

"Diving depth: 7,500 meters!"

"Creak, creak!" When the Sea Wolf had descended to around 7,500 meters, the hull groaned with the sound of twisting steel.

"So this is as far as we can go for now?" Nie Yun murmured, halting the Sea Wolf's descent.

The water pressure here was already terrifying. The force bearing down on the Sea Wolf now amounted to tens of thousands of tons. Even the most advanced submersibles in the world could only reach roughly this depth.

That the Sea Wolf could dive so deep with such a thin hull was a miracle of futuristic technology.

"Sooner or later, I'll conquer you!" Nie Yun's eyes gleamed.

"Sea Wolf! Return to base!"

"Aye, Captain! Sea Wolf! Returning to base!"