Water Chestnut Island Transport

A Minute Hand hurried in.

"My lords, we've just received intelligence," he reported to his superior, "Su Ming is about to lead the Pansy to the Arctic!"

"The Arctic?" Death Knell frowned, turned to look at the map on the wall, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, the miasma's location is some distance from the Arctic, so they won't encounter it."

This is what she cares about most; as long as there are no problems, that's good.

Hairspring also turned her head to look at the map.

"The Pansy probably can't break through such a thick layer of ice, right?"

"Yes," the Minute Hand hand reported. "When the Pansy went to Northern Ice Island last time, its icebreaking capability was limited to a maximum of two meters."

It might be possible over short distances, but it's definitely not possible to create a long-distance waterway.

"How will the Pansy get across?" Hairspring's brows furrowed slowly. "The Arctic Ocean stretches for thousands of kilometers, all covered by ice."

This question didn't last long; soon, further intelligence provided the information.

"Su Ming has built a large submarine, preparing to travel there via the underwater tunnel," the Minute Hand reported.

"Submarine?"

"It's a boat that can run underwater."

The Death Knell and the Hairspring exchanged a glance.

This answer clearly exceeded their expectations.

But the intelligence ended there, and no further information was available.

They didn't plant enough layers of intelligence; they couldn't reach the deeper levels.

Hairspring stared at the map for a long time before suddenly speaking, "No matter what Su Ming is going to do in the Arctic, we can't let him complete it smoothly."

Death Knell agreed with this.

"But ordinary power is useless."

She hesitated.

"Given the current combat strength of the Final Bone Mad Machines, unless we recover from our injuries and go together to strike when Su Ming's defenses are weakest, we will have no chance of killing him."

Hairspring immediately rejected this tactic.

We can't leave at the same time.

"Water Chestnut Island cannot be empty."

"This is the foundation!"

He slid his finger across the nautical chart, finally stopping at an area near the northern sea.

"Charybdis."

Hairspring of something in her eyes.

"We can use Him!"

Upon hearing this, Death Knell's expression changed.

"Charybdis, are you trying to lure that abyss beast over there?"

"Yes." A cold glint flashed in Hairspring's eyes. "He doesn't need anyone to command him, nor does he need anyone to cooperate with him."

The more he thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.

"As long as we lure Charybdis there, we can trap him in that sea area."

"That would render Su Ming's plan obsolete!"

Charybdis is not a sea creature in the ordinary sense.

Rather, it's a catastrophic entity capable of feeding an entire fleet!

This sea creature rarely moves, often remaining dormant for hundreds of years.

But when it moves, it shakes the heavens and the earth!

The creatures of Taya were unaware of the characteristics of the Abyss Beasts, or even their existence.

Witnesses always regard everything related to the Abyssal Beast as a sudden and unpredictable natural phenomenon.

Such as underwater volcanoes or tsunamis.

However, the Plundering Clock knew everything about this only remaining abyssal beast between the two realms.

After a moment's thought, Death Knell also agreed to the plan.

"During this season, there are many water fleas and ice algae in the Arctic."

"After Charybdis arrives, he can eat for a long time, and he won't leave easily during that time."

"Leading Him there will consume a lot of resources."

"Death Knell.

In fact, this process will cost a lot of fishmen their lives.

But neither of them mentioned this point.

Anyway, this is the least valuable resource.

"Regarding supplies, we must use them as needed," Hairspring decided. "Start executing this plan immediately!"

****

Water Chestnut Island, Storm Sea.

The night was as thick as ink.

Even on good weather days, the sea here is still churning with quite large waves.

Fifty meters below the surface, the water was calm.

The Albacore cruised quietly at six knots, its bulkheads resonating slightly with the rotation of the propeller.

The old elf Xiwo sat on the bridge chair, closing his eyes to rest.

The operators stared intently at the depth gauge, the beacon, and the electronic imaging interface, their expressions tense.

These crew members were all transferred from the Pansy.

Navigating this submarine like a ship shouldn't be a problem.

But asking them to dive too deep or perform overly complex actions is another matter entirely.

Fortunately, this was a transport mission, so it didn't require any fancy maneuvers.

Thanks to a more user-friendly electronic system, they can see the three-dimensional seabed outline and the submarine's real-time attitude without having to interpret complex echoes and parameters.

It's so intuitive, it's like playing a game.

"Why is Instructor Red Pig suddenly on leave?" a crew member said in a low voice.

"You should be glad," another person said. "It's said that the chairman initially wanted us to follow the Ling River estuary all the way inland."

"With Instructor Red Pig absent, the deployment was changed to only be carried out from the coast."

Xiwo suddenly opened his eyes.

"Almost there."

The operator immediately looked down to confirm.

"The seabed ahead has risen significantly."

Xiwo immediately ordered, "Slow down to three knots and ascend to periscope depth."

Before long, the Albacore rose to a depth of ten meters.

"Parking."

The submarine shut down its propulsion and hovered below the surface of the sea.

The low humming sound completely dissipated, leaving only the faint working sounds of life support, passive sonar, and other systems.

Xiwo raised the periscope and observed quietly.

This location is about 300 meters from the coast of Water Chestnut Island.

The shore is lined with sea cliffs that are fifty or sixty meters high, and the tops of the cliffs are lush and covered with vegetation.

The sea beyond the foot of the cliff is full of jagged, protruding reefs, clearly unsuitable for ships to anchor.

Xiwo looked around but found nothing unusual.

Fifteen minutes later, a series of regular taps—three short and one long—repeated three times appeared on the sonar screen.

signal.

A set of tapping signals with the same rhythm was returned.

"Open the No. 1 torpedo hatch."

The torpedo compartment began to be flooded, and the outer hatch was then opened.

A figure emerged from the seawater and tapped a confirmation signal on the bulkhead.

"Close the torpedo compartment and drain the water."

Soon, the torpedo compartment was re-pressurized.

The inner hole for loading torpedoes opened, and a soaking wet orc crawled in, panting heavily.

I'm so suffocating!

He was half-dog, of serval blood, and considered one of the best divers in the canine family.

Xiwo stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

This person is a liaison for the "Fangs of the Wilderness, Never to Be Slaves," a resistance organization of the orcs of Water Chestnut Island.

Since the Plundering Clock took control of Water Chestnut Island fifteen years ago, they have never stopped resisting.

Xialike had secretly supported them, but recently the Death Knell has sealed off the entire island and increased patrols.

Traditional supply delivery routes were cut off one by one.

That's why Su Ming temporarily pulled out the Albacore that had just been completed and used it for underwater transport.

This is the third time this week.

Xiwo handed over a list.

"These are the supplies for this trip."

Magical weapons, alchemical materials, medicines, and all sorts of other things.

A total of 300 tons.

"Could you please move a little closer to the sea cliff and rise a bit more?" the half-serval man said.

Xiwo allowed the Albacore to rise to a depth of five meters, then approached it to a distance of about 100 meters from the sea cliff.

The half-serval man put his fingers in his mouth and whistled a series of whistles.

The sound traveled through the bulkhead and faintly echoed across the sea.

Before long, a hundred orcs emerged from the dark seawater and skillfully unhooked the neutral buoyancy cargo boxes attached to the sides of the submarine.

These boxes are made with a density close to that of seawater, so they can be easily moved by just a few people.

They dragged the cargo container to the foot of the cliff on the shore.

Ropes with hooks were already hanging from the top of the cliff, perfectly fitting the pre-installed hanging rings on the box.

Once the hooks were secured, the orc tugged on the rope, and his companions above immediately hoisted the boxes up one by one before quickly moving them away.

The movements are skillful.

Even so, given the wind, waves, and terrain, only half of the supplies had been transported after an hour.

"Three patrol boats are approaching," the sonar operator suddenly announced.

The half-serval man who had docked with the other blew another series of short whistles.

But these orc porters remained completely calm.

They leisurely pushed all the boxes they had to the edge of the cliff and attached them with hooks.

The people on the cliff top hauled the goods up, carefully stowed away the pulleys and ropes, hid them, and then disappeared into the nearby jungle.

The orcs in the sea hid in the crevices of the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

****

Sure enough, it took quite a while before the three patrol boats detected by sonar slowly came into view.

"You're getting too close," the half-serval man complained.

"It's not my fault that the sonar can see far," the sonar operator replied in a low voice.

The patrol boat found nothing unusual.

No one would have guessed that there was a "cargo ship" underwater.

Once the patrol boat had sailed away, the orcs continued unloading their cargo.

The last cargo box was pulled away, and Xiwo took the oilcloth bag handed to him by the half-serval man.

Inside was a stack of intelligence.

The military facilities, personnel distribution, and changes in garrison locations on Water Chestnut Island are all drawn in great detail, and the scale and numbering style are clearly based on the Star Empire's system.

"There have been some strange movements of supplies Plundering Clock these past few days."

Half serval dog humanity.

"We've recorded everything here."

"As previously agreed, the delivery of supplies shall be halted for now."

"No matter how much stuff we have, we can't move it all."

"What we have now is enough to last us for a while."

Xiwo nodded.

Take care!

The other person grinned, revealing a set of sharp teeth.

Thank you for lending a helping hand to "Fang of the Wilds"!

He retraced his steps from the torpedo compartment, plunged back into the sea, and vanished into the night along with his companions.

On the sonar screen, that rhythmic tapping sounded again.

It's a signal of farewell.

"Evacuate," Xiwo ordered. "Once in deep water, dive."

The Albacore began to leave the shore, and the ballast tanks were refilled with water.

Inside the cabin, there was a series of soft clicks as metal clips clicked together. The numbers on the depth gauge jumped rapidly from five meters to ten meters, then twenty meters, and finally stabilized at a cruising depth of fifty meters.

Xiwo confirmed the gyroscope status and, based on the nautical chart, reported the direction.

"Heading 20°, heading to Northern Ice Island."

"Yes!"

The Albacore turned slightly, its propellers accelerated again, the hull shuddered slightly in the sea, and then it headed north.

In the water, only an invisible trail is left.