Showdown Beneath the Ice

Fortunately, Miao Xin chose the right depth and did not hit the ice or the seabed during the process.

Except for Miao Xin and Xiwo, the rest of the submarine crew members passed out during the intense shaking that lasted for fifteen minutes.

Alarms blared throughout the cabin.

Miao Xin kept pressing down on the control lever to stabilize the rotation and tilt, and then gradually brought the system back to normal.

Xiwo then quickly cast several healing spells, covering the rest of the submarine crew.

Soon, the people gradually regained consciousness and immediately joined the emergency response, starting to plug the leaks.

The moment Pansy completed its turn, Beianqi had already maximized the power of its pump-jet propulsion system.

The massive submarine managed to reach a speed of 32 knots underwater.

The noise signal from Charybdis continues to approach.

"Not enough!" Su Ming shouted sharply, "Raise it to 120%!"

Beianqi quickly powered up the battery compartment.

The ship's speed climbed with difficulty to 34 knots.

The resistance at sea is enormous, and the 20% increase in power only resulted in a 2-kilometer improvement.

But the huge gray shadow behind them was still closing in.

"Still getting closer, 5 kilometers away!" the Hechun shouted.

Even without him saying it, Su Ming could feel the Pansy's increasingly violent vibrations.

The external aquatic environment is deteriorating rapidly.

In front of such a behemoth, a distance of 5 kilometers is completely blocked!

The next second, the entire Pansy felt a slow and continuous descent.

The ship isn't sinking.

It's the surrounding seawater that's flowing downstream.

Beianqi suddenly looked up.

"The ice layer above is concave!"

The ice on the surface of the Arctic Ocean, which is five meters thick, has already developed extensive cracks just from the aftershocks of Charybdis passing by.

Ice ridges gathered and piled up like foam.

The ice groaned violently, as if it were merely a casual, gentle sway from some unsuspecting being.

"No wonder there are no records of sea monsters!" the Hechun finally understood.

"All the eyewitnesses who saw Him and survived."

"He wouldn't be seen as some kind of sea monster at all." (95)

"Instead, it was treated as a natural phenomenon!"

Meanwhile, Zijin's preparations were finally completed.

"Wind-type support magic array, in position!"

"Aim at the correct direction!" Su Ming immediately ordered, "Activate supercavitation!"

"Yes!" Beianqi replied.

The next moment, blue magic Pansy patterns lit up around the Pansy, and a large number of fine bubbles suddenly formed, enveloping the entire submarine.

The Pansy's speed increased dramatically.

Increasing speed and boosting propulsion is one approach.

Reducing resistance is a more effective approach.

The viscous resistance of ocean water is the real culprit suppressing high speeds.

The bubble layer separates the submarine from the seawater, much like applying a thin, smooth coating to the entire ship.

The Pansy seemed to become slippery, suddenly darting forward through the deep sea.

Speed, skyrocketing!

Knowing that they might encounter "a certain ribbonfish," the ever-cautious Su Ming asked Zijin to add this system to the nuclear submarine.

To achieve this, they even sacrificed the original design's insulation performance.

It really came in handy right now!

****

Seemingly sensing that its prey was about to escape, Charybdis also began to accelerate.

But as the Pansy's speed increased further, the distance between the two ships finally began to widen.

The vast ocean echoes that were constantly approaching behind us began to be gradually left behind.

Su Ming let out a long breath.

He glanced at the speedometer.

We've reached the eightieth section.

"That's enough," Su Ming said.

Beianqi nodded and stopped accelerating.

Immediately afterwards, Su Ming gave the order again, "Torpedo One and Two, prepare!"

"Torpedoes One and Two, ready!" the weapons operator responded immediately.

"Target Charybdis, fire!"

Two torpedoes were launched one after the other.

After entering the water, the torpedo first turned 180 degrees in the water, then its thrusters were fully engaged, leaving two pale white trails as it slammed into the front of the Charybdis.

The distance wasn't far, but the torpedo had a yield of up to 12 tons.

When the shockwave returned, the entire bridge trembled slightly.

"Hit." The sonar operator stared intently at the echo. "A few fragments fell—the target did not deflect—no effective damage was observed."

No one was surprised.

Su Ming's purpose in launching the torpedo attack was not for this.

He also wanted to see if this enormous machine could continue to accelerate.

The Pansy still retains a considerable amount of maximum speed reserves.

But it didn't happen.

Clearly, the speed of around fifty knots that Charybdis had just achieved in that brief burst was the limit.

His speed is still rapidly decreasing.

Gradually, Charybdis gave up the pursuit and returned to his previous state of almost cruising.

"We'll slow down too," Su Ming ordered.

Beianqi immediately reduced the thruster output.

As the speed decreased, Zijin slowly closed the cavitation array on the submarine's hull.

The blue light disappeared, and the ship shuddered violently.

The Pansy seemed to have returned to the normal ocean world, completely enveloped by seawater.

****

Immediately afterwards, Su Ming gave another order.

"Torpedoes number one to twelve, all fired simultaneously."

Soon, twelve torpedoes were launched in succession, heading once again towards Charybdis.

This time, however, they veered to the left of their target.

Then, they exploded simultaneously in the sea.

On the sonar map, Charybdis finally showed a more obvious reaction.

Its massive body began to slowly turn, clearly drawn by the series of explosions that had just occurred.

"He can track sounds," the Hechun murmured.

No one was surprised.

In the ocean, sound is the best carrier of information.

"Could we use sonar jamming to cover the approach of a probe?" Beianqi immediately suggested.

"Let's take a closer look at this guy?"

Su Ming immediately adopted the suggestion.

Several sonar signal sources, originally intended for seabed topographic exploration, were quickly launched.

As the sonar signal source began to operate, beams of piercing high-frequency signals covered Charybdis.

In another inconspicuous corner, a detector silently moved closer.

But just as it reached a kilometer's distance, it encountered something.

The detector shattered instantly.

Only a faint, extremely dim light appeared in the seawater.

"It's not just about sound," Zijin, staring at the main screen.

"Charybdis was also extremely sensitive to water flow."

"And it also has some long-range attack capabilities."

"Continue the attack," Su Ming said.

"Continue firing torpedoes to his left."

"Keep Charybdis's attention focused on this side."

Another group of torpedoes passed by and exploded in the sea.

This time, Charybdis clearly moved a little more, but his reaction showed little interest.

"Don't stop," Su Ming ordered again.

"Torpedoes and sonar signal sources will be deployed in turn."

"Don't let it be too quiet around Him."

"Clear!"

****

And so, the Pansy continued its harassment for a full half hour.

Charybdis, however, fell silent once more.

Clearly, these "mosquitoes" that couldn't really hurt him have led him to simply ignore them.

Suddenly, a familiar signal appeared on the sonar.

The system automatically identifies and matches.

"Albacore spotted!" the sonar operator exclaimed with delight. "Slowly approaching!"

Su Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The long-held goal has finally been achieved.

"Continue the jamming! Cover their return flight!"

"Yes!"

Albacore here--

The submarine was in very poor condition.

The water flow over the past fifteen minutes has caused multiple leaks in the hull.

Although the blockages were eventually sealed off, two-thirds of the battery packs had completely failed.

Fortunately, Miao Xin chose silent navigation.

Electricity demand is low.

She clung tightly to the ice, moving slowly around the area above and to the right of Charybdis at a mere 4 knots.

The sonar operator detected the movements of various technological weapons on the other side.

Miao Xin knew that the Pansy was trying to attract their attention.

Suddenly, a sonar wave rippled from afar.

Judging from the sound, it's the active directional sonar of the Pansy.

"They've seen us," Xiwo muttered, concluding.

"Should we respond?" the sonar operator asked in a low voice.

"Don't do anything rash!" Miao Xin whispered, "Continue with completely silent navigation!"

All the crew members inside the cabin were working as quietly as possible.

In the engine room, maintenance personnel activated the backup aluminum-air battery to begin repairing the circuitry.

It barely managed to keep the submarine's various systems running.

****

The agonizing three hours are finally over.

The Albacore finally managed to sneak back from one side.

Only then did Miao Xin grab the communicator and initiate underwater communication.

"This is Albacore."

"Low battery, numerous devices damaged, communication may be lost at any time."

"Dock system malfunction."

The sound was intermittent and even somewhat distorted.

But Su Ming still managed to capture the information accurately.

"Pansy received," he replied immediately.

"Shut down the power system, we're here to capture you."

"If all the remaining power is transferred to the life support system, how long can it last?"

"Enough to get home," Xiwo replied. "The emergency batteries can still function."

See you later!

Onboard the Pansy, a small propulsion system quickly separated, dragging a steel cable all the way to the vicinity of the Albacore.

As the steel cable caught the traction ring, the Pansy started its thrusters.

At first, the movements weren't fast.

But as the distance between them and Charybdis increased, Su Ming issued an order to accelerate.

The older one, dragging the younger one along, quickly moved away.

On the sonar image, Charybdis appeared to have moved slightly.

But in the end, they didn't chase after them anymore.

"Finally, it's open." Beianqi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sonar operator, give a signal," Su Ming said.

A deep, resonant sound echoed through the water.

Although most of its energy is in the frequency range that is inaudible to the human ear.

However, the powerful sound waves that spread out could still be clearly perceived by the people on the Albacore.

Xiwo raised the wrench and banged it three times against the ship's side.

Su Ming looked at the sonar operator.

The latter gave a thumbs up.

"Safety!"

Su Ming nodded.

He stared at the screen, at the giant shadow that had retreated back into darkness.

"All personnel, return to Northern Ice Island."

"Clear!"