The bridge of the aircraft carrier Freedom.
Admiral Jackson's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the Black Tortoise Ship stretched across the sea on the screen, the veins at his temples throbbing.
It had rammed and sunk a ten-thousand-ton cruiser without suffering a scratch.
Now, like a guardian deity, it blocked every rescue route.
The wails of hundreds of Eagle Country soldiers in the icy seawater seemed to pierce the screen, becoming invisible slaps that struck his face hard.
Yet he dared not let any ship advance another step.
What if another ship was rammed and sunk?
As commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, he would become the greatest laughingstock in world naval history!
Humiliation!
An unprecedented, crushing humiliation!
"Admiral..." a staff officer ventured cautiously.
"Shut up!"
Jackson roared, abruptly turning toward the fire-control officer, his voice hoarse and twisted.
"Lock onto it with the fire-control radar! Lock onto that damned Type 055!"
Illumination by fire-control radar!
This was the final warning before war broke out!
"Admiral! This will send the situation out of control!" The staff officer went deathly pale.
"That's exactly what I want!" Jackson swept the coffee cup off the table, sending shards flying across the floor. "They dared humiliate the great Eagle Country navy, and they will pay the price!"
"Beep! Beep! Beeeep-"
A piercing alarm instantly filled the Black Tortoise Ship's bridge.
"Report! Enemy fire-control radar has locked onto us!"
The commander's gaze turned cold, but a sneer curled his lips, his voice steady as a mountain.
"Activate electronic countermeasures! All combat units, stand by! Let's see whether he dares press that button!"
Above the sea, invisible electromagnetic waves crisscrossed furiously, and the tension in the air was thick enough to ignite.
Yet beneath these waters on the brink of death, in the darkness