Underwater Blasting

But how to dig it is the question.

A joint operations meeting of the three parties was convened swiftly.

The technology side proposed a deep-hole blasting solution.

"The drilling noise is too loud," Su Ming complained. "Once the machine starts, our movements will be detected."

When the rock drill is working at full capacity, it's as loud as a karaoke session at full volume. The sound travels along the dense rock strata and reflects back and forth in the cave walls, and the audience consists of orcs with amplified abilities like cats and dogs.

The thought of that scene is beautiful.

"Use 'fossils as mud' to carry out silent operations," the mages on the magic side suggested.

Of the team members, only Jinxiu can use earth magic.

She placed her small hand on the stone, and pale yellow patterns spread out, like delicate roots, seeping into the cracks in the rock. The originally hard volcanic rock began to soften inch by inch.

Before long, it had spread to about one meter.

A flash of light appeared in Su Ming's hand, and a sharp entrenching tool materialized in his grasp.

He shoveled hard, and the shovel head sank completely in. Although it wasn't really as soft as mud, its strength was much lower than that of stone.

"The deeper the penetration, the greater the consumption." Jinxiu frowned.

"Spellcasting underwater consumes significantly more energy," Zijin reminded her. "Overall, it consumes about three times the amount."

"It's alright." Jinxiu puffed out her little chest. "My Magic Power can withstand it!"

Yise tested the hardness of the enchanted "soil" with his finger; it felt like hard soil and was very dense.

Su Ming calculated the result.

"A hole one meter square and eight meters deep, containing approximately twenty tons of 'mud'."

"No problem," Yise said, opening and closing her fist. "I can break through with sword skills."

But the experts had bad news for her.

The same workload requires dozens of times more physical exertion underwater at a depth of 260 meters than on land.

"Also, one hole isn't enough."

The expert team continued with even worse news. "The inner underground palace has a volume of 80,000 cubic meters. If we only dig a small hole, it would take half an hour just to fill that one section of the space."

"Not to mention the time it would take to continue flooding the mine shaft."

Su Ming frowned.

"That definitely won't work."

"By this time, the enemy's high-end combat forces had already arrived and were implementing a blockade!"

Katharine agreed with this assessment.

"Therefore, we need to make a hole big enough."

"Upon first meeting, they overwhelmed the opponent, then quickly flooded the tunnel."

"Don't give them any chance to retaliate!"

Once the requirements were determined, there weren't many other options left.

"Then let's combine the two," Su Ming said. "Use 'fossilized mud' to dig small holes, then bury explosives deep inside for a detonation!"

The specific operating procedures were quickly refined. The little skeletal dragon of the Zijin raised its claws.

"So, the remaining question is, given that we've come here as unwelcome guests—"

"What should we do with Abidaji?"

****

More than ten hours later, with all preparations completed, the group entered the water again, crossed the narrow crevice, and returned to the main hall of the underground palace where the torch array was located, gathering on the inner side of the crescent shape.

It was still pitch black all around.

The beam of light from the diving lamp pierced through the slightly murky water, illuminating layers of artificial patterns all around.

Yise took several sections of metal pipe off his back, assembled them, and formed a long-handled Luoyang shovel.

The brocade fell on Yise, and her small hands pressed against it.

"Fossils turned into mud!"

Magic Power seeped through the alchemical rod, Yise a slight effort, the shovel head sank into the rock wall as easily as cutting through tofu.

"Not bad!" Su Ming gave a thumbs up. "Control the fluctuations," Zijin reminded him.

Jinxiu nodded, trying her best to concentrate the Magic Power within the alchemy rod to prevent it from dissipating.

Yise gripped the long pole, rotated it, pushed it forward, and then pulled the softened rock and soil out in one piece.

Soon, a five-meter-deep blast hole was dug out. Su Ming checked it with a probe and filled it with cylindrical explosives.

The explosives were wrapped in a waterproof membrane, and Su Ming pushed them one by one into the bottom of the hole.

Simina checked the borehole numbers and explosive charges nearby.

After completing this, Su Ming inserted an electronic detonator and led out a thin wire.

****

While the outside was busy digging, inside, thousands of orc miners on the night shift were also working hard to excavate.

The oil lamp hung on its stand, casting a dim, yellowish light over the tunnel.

Experienced rock finders gently tap the rock face with their pickaxes, searching for and marking areas with weak points in the rock structure.

The shaman inserted a "rock-crack totem" at the marked spot.

It was a bone pillar about half an arm's length long, its surface covered with serrated patterns, and its top was inlaid with dark red animal teeth.

The orc shaman smeared blood on the totem and then chanted.

"The ancient spirit slumbering within the mountain's belly listens to the questions posed by iron and blood."

"Offer the blood of the brave, unleash your fangs, and bite through the stubborn rock!"

A ray of light appeared, accompanied by a low-frequency hum. The black rock wall rippled like water, gradually developing cracks that grew and extended for several meters, becoming increasingly dense.

The rock-splitting process was completed approximately fifteen minutes later.

The shaman retrieved the totem, and then several orc miners stepped forward with their pickaxes, starting to dig into the cracked area with a series of bangs, while those in the back shoveled the rubble into the minecart.

Such scenes were found throughout the entire underground palace.

The foreman brandished his whip and shouted urging them on. As soon as one cart was full of gravel, an empty cart was immediately filled, and they lined up to be hauled away.

The entire tunnel was a huge workshop that operated day and night.

Suddenly, one of the canine-man vein finders looked up. He heard a strange grinding sound, which didn't sound like normal digging. It was as if some thin, metallic object was being pulled back and forth in the rock.

The half-dog listened intently for a long time, only to hear continuous banging and clanging sounds echoing through the cave walls.

He pricked up his ears and moved to different spots a few times.

However, several more hammer blows came from behind, and he was immediately swallowed up by the noise in the mine.

"You must have misheard."

The half-dog-man lowered his head and continued probing for weak points in the stone wall.

****

Ground level, Cloud Fang City Royal Palace.

The Y-20's check-in times have become increasingly irregular lately.

It started at midnight, then at 2 a. m., and continued until 4 a. m., very randomly.

Sometimes when I'm in a good mood, I'll come twice.

Sometimes he won't even show up, like a scumbag who's hooked up with his girlfriend, doing whatever he wants. His attack methods are also like a menu for profanity-based online communities, constantly evolving and changing.

Sometimes Cloudfang City's defenses are effective, but other times they can bring unexpected surprises.

Tonight, it visits again.

The deep sound of engines came from behind the clouds, gradually enveloping the entire palace.

Abidaji opened his eyes.

He has developed a kind of auxiliary magic to fragment his sleep time. Otherwise, this old man simply couldn't withstand such harassment.

Today's Y-20 transport aircraft adopted a conventional low-to-medium altitude drop method.

It opened the cargo hold door, and more than thirty large, neatly tied wooden crates slid out.

Soon, these boxes crashed into the Burning Cloud defense layer.

Surprisingly, none of the large wooden crates escaped; they all exploded in mid-air, turning into more than thirty balls of fire that fell from the sky.

But things went wrong during the fall.

These flames dispersed in the air, growing increasingly intense until they merged into a vast expanse. From the ground, it looked as if a massive conflagration of fire was pressing down from the sky.

"Napalm bombs successfully dropped," the crew announced. "Beginning our return journey."

"Roger that!" Wolf Lady waved to the air, "Welcome back again!"

She picked up the binoculars and continued observing.

The use of napalm bombs in the air was a first not only in Taiya, but also in any other region on Earth.

All effects need to be verified in actual combat.

****

Abidaqi sensed something was amiss and activated the defensive array in the palace area without hesitation.

The magic towers at the four corners of the royal palace lit up simultaneously.

Golden and red rays of light shot out from the top of the tower, converging in the air before spreading downwards. Countless hexagonal magical patterns emerged one after another, piecing together a huge semi-circular shield that enveloped the entire palace area.

The rain of fire from the sky crashed into the protective shield.

Large swaths of viscous flames adhered to the surface of the protective shield, spreading along the curved wall of light. In just a few seconds, the entire palace was covered by a blazing, crimson curtain of fire. The light of the defensive magic array flickered under the pressure.

But it only flickered.

The burning was indeed eroding the shield and consuming the magic circle's Magic Power, but it was far from breaking through it.

Abidalchi breathed a sigh of relief; the night was over.

It's just candle wax!

It looks impressive, but it can't burn through the protective shield; it's less effective than a high-explosive bomb.

But soon, Abidal discovered that the curtain of fire was moving, and large amounts of burning material were flowing down the semi-circular shield.

Dozens of fire lines flowed downstream and converged at the bottom of the protective shield, quickly forming a river of fire encircling the palace.

Although the palace's defensive array is very tight, maintenance points need to be reserved at the junction of the shield and the ground.

The viscous burning material seeped into the cracks in the rocks.

Soon after, large bursts of flame erupted from the base of the shield.

The rune nodes buried underground were covered by high temperatures, and the metal parts engraved with incantations quickly turned red. Some Magic Power crystals shattered on the spot, and the originally stable shield began to ripple with patterns. The flames continued to spread inward along the magic circle's patterns.

Some shamans tried to extinguish the fire, but it was very ineffective.

The napalm dropped by the Y-20 burns extremely fiercely, and even if it is extinguished, it will quickly reignite if a new spark comes near.

The orcs, who had been calm and collected, were suddenly thrown into chaos.

They hurriedly grabbed buckets of water to put out the fire, but the situation became even more interesting. The flames floated on the water's surface and spread everywhere with the current.

"What kind of evil thing is this?!" The orc soldiers, who had never seen anything like it, were stunned.

Abidaqi's face turned ashen, and he used a spell to send several buckets flying.

"Cover it with sand to block it!"

The earth mage hurriedly summoned a large amount of sand and soil, pressing it down on the burning base. The soldiers, meanwhile, used shovels to scrape away the sticky fireballs clinging to the ground.

With so many people involved, the flames were quickly brought under control, but the once orderly walls of the Cloud Fang Royal Palace were now a scene of darkness and devastation.

Some of the outer spell patterns had been burned to a charred black and stuck together.

Abidal looked up in the direction where the Y-20 had disappeared, a hint of irritation in his eyes. Where did these Earthlings get such tricks from!

"Scrape off everything stuck to the array patterns!"

He gave the order.

Replace any damaged parts immediately!

"Yes!"

****

While underwater, Su Ming received the report.

"Abidach is being treated well by the Air Force."

Simina marked the explosives as she installed them.

"The explosives are 90% loaded."

During this period, due to a change in the work area, the orcs transported a large amount of explosives from the old Blackrock Mine to the Cloudfang Palace.

This is only a small part of the large-scale relocation of mining equipment, thus leaving many opportunities for thieves. Recently, the Black Claw and Night Howl gangs disintegrated, and a large number of thieves and criminals formed new small groups.

Among them were some daring individuals, especially those who had lost the gang's stable "job" and "income," who were naturally willing to do anything.

The explosives Su Ming used were "purchased" from these people by Yise in disguise; there was no shortage of them at all.

This was the first time he had ever experienced being waited on by a transport team leader.

The assignment was completed quickly.

A new underwater robot, "Amazing Fish," has arrived nearby; it is not equipped with an umbilical cable.

They loaded all the remaining explosives onto the giant salamander and then anchored it nearby.

Everyone went through the verification process again.

The timer started normally, and the "baby fish" is working properly.

"Detonator wiring connection is normal."

"The amount of explosives has been verified to be correct."

Simina made an upward gesture, then floated up on her flippers; Su Ming followed, then Yise. Su Ming glanced back.

After confirming that no tools had been left behind and no bubbles were coming out of the equipment, he turned off the diving light shining on the work area.

Darkness closed in from all directions.

Only the red indicator light on the timer and the indicator light on the giant salamander remained, flashing alternately in the depths of the sea.

****

Ten minutes ago, the half-dog pulse finder heard strange noises again.

He pricked up his ears and searched the tunnels, finally stopping in front of a rock wall.

But when the half-dog pressed his ear against the rock wall to listen carefully, the sound completely disappeared.

A bell-ringing priest noticed the pulse-seeker and came over to inquire about the matter.

After hearing the report, he was very cautious, preferring to believe it was true rather than risk it.

"I hope it's not leaking or something," the bell-ringing priest said worriedly.

He summoned several pulse-finding masters and ordered them to listen carefully against the rock face for a while longer. In the end, they still found nothing.

"We'll come back later," suggested one of the pulse-readers.

The bell-ringing priest, however, hesitated.

Deep within this rock, there seems to be a faint trace of Magic Power, vaguely resembling the "fossil to mud" spell.

However, the entire tunnel was under construction, and Magic Power was constantly emanating from it, with rock-crack totems, lighting spells, and exploration spells all mixed together.

To the point that he couldn't be sure at all.

Before the bell-ringing priest could make a decision, a violent roar suddenly erupted from behind the wall in front of him.

The entire rock wall shook simultaneously, and the ground beneath our feet suddenly jolted upwards.

The stone dust in the rock crevices was shaken out and gushed out, turning into a grayish-white mist.

A shockwave as strong as a physical object swept by, instantly deafening everyone present. Their bodies felt as if they had been struck, and they were all thrown backward.

Unsurprisingly, all the pulse-seekers fainted.

The bell-ringer priest glowed, withstanding the shockwave's damage, and crashed into the stone pillar behind him. The shield collided with the pillar, exploding into a ring of scattered golden light fragments.

He felt a tightness in his chest, and a metallic taste rose in his throat.

The bell-ringer's head was buzzing. He managed to regain his senses and looked up, only to see a scene that terrified him.

Numerous cracks appeared on the stone wall in front of them and spread rapidly.

Like a black spider web that suddenly unfolds, it covered the entire wall in the blink of an eye.