"Get into the escape pod!" Ivan shouted.
Thirteen torpedoes approaching from thirteen directions would be difficult for a submarine to evade at its turning speed. Even if it managed to evade them, the magnetic fuses on the torpedoes would likely detonate upon approach. The pressure created by the underwater explosion of the thirteen torpedoes would be enough to tear the submarine to pieces.
These torpedoes returned for some unknown reason, as if they encountered some kind of spatial inversion barrier after being launched, like firing a shot at a mirror, your bullet disappearing, but the bullet in the mirror coming through.
Fortunately, based on the sonar detection, the torpedo had several minutes to reach the submarine. Ivan decisively issued the escape order. Although at this depth, a massive explosion would likely tear the escape pod apart with the submarine before it even surfaced, there was still a glimmer of Tushu.
The crew members were all very skilled, clearly having participated in such crisis drills before. Ivan went to help Mr. Stone. As they passed the command hatch, Ivan glanced back and saw Boris still standing there, looking dazed.
He yelled, " Boris, what are you doing! Get out of here!"
Boris stood before the control panel, a resolute expression on his face, veins bulging on his hand gripping the rudder.
" Ivan, you guys go. I'll take control of the submarine and try to avoid them, otherwise you won't be able to get away!"
Ivan knew Boris was right. If the submarine could avoid the torpedoes, at least making room for the escape pods to surface, the crew's chances of survival would be much higher.
" Mr. Stone, you and the others go into the escape pod. I'll go help Boris. Don't worry, they all know how to operate the escape pod." Ivan finished speaking, shoved Stone forward, and then yelled to the people in front, "Quick! Close the hatch, pressurize rapidly!"
" Ivan..." a crew member called out.
Ivan glared at them fiercely, then turned and went back to Boris's side.
Boris didn't mince words with him. In such a critical moment, it's very difficult for one person to control a submarine, especially when it comes to dodging torpedoes.
"15 degrees to surface, left rudder 5, speed 3." Ivan calmly looked at the sonar detector and gave the order to Boris, who was at the helm. Then he picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Escape pod in position, close the hatch, begin pressurization!"
The submarine's rapid ascent and turn made Ivan somewhat unsteady, the sonar alarms beeped more and more frequently, and the air inside the cabin seemed to freeze.
"Left 10, reverse," Ivan commanded.
"Roger!" Boris shouted, pushing the rudder lever and tilting his body along with the submarine.
As the submarine suddenly switched from high-speed forward motion to reverse, while simultaneously turning and surfacing, the hull trembled slightly under the pressure of the seawater hundreds of meters deep, seemingly unable to withstand the combined forces of the submarine's fuel power and the water pressure, and appearing ready to fall apart at any moment.
... beep... beep... beep... beep... beep beep beep beep...
The alarms grew more frequent, eventually forming a continuous series, and all thirteen green dots on the detector turned red.
Ivan and Boris's hearts also started racing, as if they were about to jump out of their throats.
Just then, Ivan felt a warm, peaceful, and refreshing sensation, like the melting snow in spring, the midday sun in winter, the sweet mountain spring in Xia Tian, and the rich fragrance of osmanthus in autumn, enveloping his body.
His anxious, tense, and wildly beating heart calmed down instantly, as if he had just taken a hot bath.
He looked at Boris, whose face, which had just been flushed, was still red, but whose expression was much calmer, probably feeling the same way he did.
Ivan turned around abruptly and saw Stone standing behind him.
" Mr. Stone..." He didn't know whether Arthur Stone had just come out of the escape pod or had been in the command center the whole time.
"Don't be afraid, I'm with you."
Arthur Stone's words were so warm, yet carried an irresistible power. Ivan opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He was certain that the suddenly comforting atmosphere in the cabin was emanating from Stone.
This gentleman is truly extraordinary!
But he didn't have time to think too much, nor did he have time to talk to Stone. At that moment, a voice came from inside the capsule. "Escape capsule pressurization complete."
"Disengage!" Ivan commanded.
The submarine shuddered, but because it was still adjusting its course, the shudder was not severe.
The alarm kept ringing until it finally turned into a long "beep--" sound.
Ivan and Boris closed their eyes at the same time.
Thirteen torpedoes exploded simultaneously at a depth of about 800 feet in the ocean.
Because water is about 1,000 times denser than air, the energy transferred by an explosion of the same yield is 1,000 times greater underwater than in air. Therefore, torpedoes explode underwater with a "multiplication effect".
A typical conventional tactical missile carries around 200 kilograms of explosives, while the Type 533 torpedo carries 400 kilograms, close to the explosive charge of a Tomahawk Missile. However, torpedoes have a multiplier effect underwater; the energy transferred by a single Type 533 torpedo exploding on the seabed is equivalent to the explosion of 400 tons of TNT. Thirteen torpedoes would deliver 5,200 tons of TNT, equivalent to the power of a small nuclear bomb.
The shockwaves from the thirteen torpedo explosions instantly tore the submarine to pieces, simultaneously creating a massive bubble in the seawater. Like the Big Bang, this bubble continued to expand and expand...
The surrounding seawater was compressed to an extreme degree in an instant. The life pod, which had just escaped the submarine, was propelled out like a rocket by the pressure of the expanding bubbles. However, it could not move an inch in the concentrated seawater and was instantly crushed into a pancake.
The bubble expanded to its limit, its interior space large enough to hold four football fields. If there were a high-definition camera at this point, a suspended pyramid would appear inside the bubble, along with countless torn submarine fragments floating within, and the faint shadows of several people among them.
Under the pressure of the surrounding seawater, the bubble began to shrink, as if the universe had collapsed. The life pod, which had just been flattened, was like falling into a huge whirlpool, rushing rapidly towards the shrinking bubble with the backflowing seawater.
The bubble shrank smaller and smaller until it reached its limit, about the size of a house. The pyramids disappeared, leaving only the fragments of the submarines.
The air was compressed too much, and after a brief moment of stillness, it began to bounce back, continuing to expand and expand...
The bubbles generated by the explosion continuously undergo a repetitive process of expansion and collapse, collapse and expansion, like a breathing lung or a beating heart. As it pulsates, it rises upward, consuming energy in the process, constantly ascending from the depths of the 800-foot ocean.
Thud--
With a deafening roar, bubbles burst from the sea surface, accompanied by massive tsunami-like waves, and energy dissipated into the air. Numerous fragments of the submarine and a life pod crushed into a pancake shot into the sky, like food spat out by a monster, flying hundreds of meters into the air.
On a research vessel not far away, sailors on the bow shouted, "Tsunami! Get back to the cabin! Tsunami!"
A piercing alarm sounded on the ship...