Zero-Sum Game of Life and Death

"It was incredibly fortunate. According to the echo-sounding results, the spot where USS Virginia had hit bottom was the ridge of an undersea mountain range," Lieutenant Colonel Louis said. "The ridge was estimated to be no more than a hundred meters wide, with bottomless trenches on either side."

Hearing Lieutenant Colonel Louis's description, Lin Yuan and the others could not help feeling relieved.

If they had not followed Mr. Billy's method and deviated sixty meters due west while traveling along the N-17 route, USS Virginia would not have landed on an undersea ridge. It would have continued plunging into the bottomless depths, and the outcome was easy to imagine.

"Mr. Billy truly was remarkable. His title as the living map of the Arctic Ocean seafloor was well deserved," Lieutenant Colonel Louis said with a sigh.

"It seemed Mr. Billy possessed a more accurate seabed map, but for some reason, he had not submitted it to the military. He likely chose to deviate from the route so that if he encountered an underwater cliff, he would still have a slim chance of survival, just as we did now," Lieutenant Colonel Louis said.

"A slim chance?" Depp immediately caught the troubling implication in Lieutenant Colonel Louis's words.

"Yes. After the emergency repairs just now, we had only barely stopped the situation from deteriorating further. We were not out of danger yet.

Please forgive my bluntness. I believed you did not want false reassurance.

Given the current situation, whether we could return safely was likely up to fate," Lieutenant Colonel Louis replied.

Hearing Lieutenant Colonel Louis's words, Meng Tao and the others felt their hearts sink again.

That meant the situation was extremely bad, likely far worse than they had imagined.

Lin Yuan was the first to ask, "Mr. Louis, could you explain