Chapter 150: Plan Successful — Destruction of the SouthSea Outpost

SouthSea, the same sea area, seven days later.

The sea surface was no longer just the "Explorer" ship.

Three nautical miles away from the Longyin team, a research vessel "Ocean Frontier" flying the Eagle Country flag was slowly cruising.

Its stern was also suspending deep-submergence equipment.

A large manned deep-submergence vehicle painted bright yellow with sharp-angled styling, followed by four smaller unmanned reconnaissance submersibles.

"They arrived right on time." Wang Hao held binoculars and curled his lips.

"Calling it a 'joint scientific expedition', isn't it just wanting to tag along and watch the show?"

Feng Yan stood in the command center of the "Explorer", looking at the light spots on the radar screen:

"The 'SouthSea Hydrothermal Ecosystem Survey' project jointly applied for by the Eagle Country Oceanic Administration and several private deep-sea exploration companies has complete procedures, we have no reason to block it. However..."

He switched the screen to show the high-definition monitoring camera of the "Ocean Frontier" deck.

Several personnel wearing casual clothes but with obvious military traces were debugging equipment.

"The 'scientific equipment' they brought is a bit too luxurious."

Chen Guang added calmly from the side: "'Torch Dragon' monitored that the ship is equipped with military-grade synthetic aperture sonar and low-frequency active detection arrays."

"Their four unmanned submersibles are the 'DeepSea Ghost-MK3' model, public data shows a maximum operating depth of 5,000 meters, equipped with high-precision mechanical arms and sampling devices."

"And optional micro-torpedo launch modules."

"What a 'scientific expedition'." Li Yang checked the final status of "Jiaolong".

"Are they here to pick up scraps, or to cause trouble?"

"Probably both." Feng Yan turned off the monitoring screen.

"Ignore them, act according to our plan."

"Remember, the protagonist of today's stage is 'Consortium', the Eagle Country team is just... the audience."

"But if they cross the line, let 'Jiaolong' remind them that the audience should have the self-awareness of an audience."

"Understood!" Li Yang put on his pilot helmet, and "Jiaolong" began the water entry procedure.

This time, "Jiaolong's" configuration was completely different.

An extended mission module was added to the back, filled with "samples" specially made by Zhao Gong.

Pieces of extremely refined new alloy ingots, several cans of sealed "high-energy fuel units", and even a scaled-down model of a small vector thruster.

Each one had built-in multi-layer tracking beacons and encrypted data packets, which would activate once scanned or dismantled by external equipment.

Around the mech, twelve "Messenger" mechanical eels scattered like an escort school of fish, and they would set up an underwater monitoring network covering a radius of five kilometers.

Deeper down, there were six camouflaged "Lurker" mechanical spiders, carrying vibration sensors and chemical sniffers, ready to stick to key locations on the seabed.

"Deep-sea hunting ground, deployment complete." Chen Guang reported in the command center.

"'Torch Dragon' has taken over all monitoring node data streams and is synthesizing the battlefield situation map in real-time."

"Jiaolong" began to dive.

At the same time, "Ocean Frontier" released their deep-submergence vehicle and unmanned submersibles, diving clearly toward the sea trench where the metal structure was located.

Deep sea, 3,700 meters.

"Jiaolong" arrived first. Li Yang hovered the mech 100 meters above the structure and turned on the lights.

That thing was still the same, half-buried in the sediment, silent and eerie.

"According to the plan, deploy the 'samples'." Feng Yan ordered.

"Jiaolong's" mechanical arm opened the mission module and dropped several "alloy ingots" and "fuel units" onto the seabed not far around the structure, seemingly casually.

Their landing points were scattered, but all within the "field of view" of the structure.

Then, "Jiaolong" retreated, hiding in the shadows of a deep-sea coral forest, extinguishing all external lights, and keeping only the minimum sensor operation.

In the command center, time passed second by second.

In the monitoring screen, there were only slowly drifting deep-sea creatures and eternal dead silence.

"Will they take the bait?" Wang Hao tapped the console a bit impatiently.

"If they are true technology fanatics, seeing these 'samples', it's hard to resist." Chen Guang stared at the data stream.

"'Torch Dragon' monitored a faint energy fluctuation increase inside the structure... it is 'looking' at those things."

Just then, new light spots appeared on the sonar screen.

The Eagle Country deep-submergence vehicle and four unmanned submersibles arrived.

They clearly also discovered the structure and the scattered "samples".

The yellow deep-submergence vehicle cautiously stopped 200 meters away, and one unmanned submersible slowly approached, extending its mechanical arm, attempting to grab an "alloy ingot".

Just as the mechanical arm was about to touch the "sample"—

On the side of the structure, three hidden hatches slid open simultaneously!

Six attack robots, larger and more ferocious-looking than the last time, darted out!

They were faster, and their heads had protrusions resembling laser emitters in addition to the rams.

"Sure enough, there's an upgraded version." Li Yang said in a low voice on the communication channel.

The Eagle Country unmanned submersible clearly didn't expect this, retreating in a panic while firing two small interference shells.

But the deep-sea robots reacted faster, and two faint blue lights flashed.

Although the laser attenuated severely underwater, it still precisely melted the submersible's mechanical arm and part of the sensor cables.

The damaged submersible retreated crookedly.

The yellow deep-submergence vehicle immediately released the other three unmanned submersibles, which deployed in tactical formation, firing more interference shells and active sonar pulses.

A chaotic underwater melee began.

"They are testing the firepower for us." Wang Hao was happy, "Good people!"

"Don't be happy too soon." Chen Guang reminded.

"'Torch Dragon' monitored signs of large-scale underwater unit cluster activity behind the structure, at a depth of 4,000 meters."

"The number... is over twenty."

"The main force is out." Feng Yan's eyes narrowed.

"Li Yang, prepare for action. Chen Guang, start 'Abyss Eye' comprehensive monitoring, I want to know the position and movement of every enemy unit."

"Received!"

On the seabed battlefield, the Eagle Country team had already fallen into a bitter fight.

Their unmanned submersibles were not bad in performance, but were retreating steadily under the opponent's numerical advantage and home-field environment.

One submersible had its shell cracked by a robot's ram, losing power and sinking;

another had its core controller burned by a laser.

The yellow deep-submergence vehicle began to retreat, clearly the commander judged the situation unfavorable.

And just then, in that deeper sea trench, massive shadows emerged.

Three giant submersibles over fifteen meters long, resembling deep-sea whale rays!

They were pitch black, their surfaces covered with a biological camouflage layer, and multi-tube torpedo launchers and mechanical tentacles hung under their bellies.

Around each giant beast, there were eight to ten escort robots.

"My god..." Wang Hao stared at the screen, "Is this 'Consortium's' prized treasure?"

"Target locked on the one in the middle, its communication signal strength is the highest, it's very likely the command node." Chen Guang analyzed quickly.

"Li Yang, the enemy main force has been completely attracted by the Eagle Country team, your chance has come."

"Understood."

"Jiaolong", which had been lurking, moved.

In cruise form, it was like a real deep-sea giant beast, silently bypassing from the flank toward the three giant submersibles.

The mission module on the back had already fallen off, and now it was loaded with the "gift" specially made by Wang Hao.

"Distance two thousand meters... one thousand five hundred meters... entering attack range." Li Yang reported in a low voice.

"Messenger network has covered the target area, communication is smooth." Chen Guang said.

"Energy system peak output ready." Zhao Kaiyuan's voice inserted.

"Dragon Scale armor self-check passed, all sensors normal." Li Yang completed the final check.

"Then—" Feng Yan's voice sounded in the channel, "The hunt begins."

"Jiaolong" first released six "Firefly" light bombs.

After these special versions exploded underwater, they not only released intense light but also spewed out a large amount of dyed, continuously glowing bubble clouds!

The suddenly appearing glowing clouds instantly disrupted the enemy formation.

Several escort robots turned toward the cloud direction, laser beams cutting through the foam in vain.

Now!

"Jiaolong" lunged out from the other side of the cloud, the left-arm supercavitating torpedo launcher firing continuously!

Three torpedoes dragged white cavitation trails, precisely hitting the thruster array of a giant submersible!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In the dull explosion, dense electric sparks and leaking hydraulic oil erupted from the tail of that giant beast, spinning out of control and sinking.

"Hit!" Wang Hao punched the air in the command center.

The remaining two giant submersibles and their escort robots reacted immediately, all turning toward "Jiaolong".

Torpedoes fired in a volley, laser beams drawing scorching trajectories underwater.

Li Yang controlled "Jiaolong" to make a near-limit Z-shaped evasion, while the mech transformed—this time it only took sixty-five seconds!

The humanoid "Jiaolong" displayed terrifying maneuverability in the deep sea.

It used seabed reefs and coral forests as cover, the high-pressure water jet on the mechanical arm precisely cutting the approaching escort robots.

One robot tried to dive from above, but was hit head-on by the sonic shock cannon on "Jiaolong's" shoulder, its internal parts instantly vibrating and shattering.

Another circled to the side and fired a torpedo, "Jiaolong" didn't dodge or evade, directly taking it with its left-arm armor!

"Bang!" The shockwave of the explosion made the mech sway, but the monitoring screen showed:

The armor surface had only slight dents, and the energy shield absorbed 80% of the impact force.

The battle entered a white-hot stage.

In the command center, Chen Guang operated quickly: "The enemy command submersible is trying to retreat to a deeper area."

"It is summoning all units to cover... Li Yang, can't let it run!"

"Messenger network, start interference protocol!" Feng Yan ordered.

The twelve mechanical eels distributed throughout the battlefield simultaneously released broadband noise at a specific frequency.

This wasn't to block communication—but to mask another signal.

Under the cover of noise, a nondescript cylinder popped out from "Jiaolong's" back.

That was the "deep-water adhesive tracker" designed by Wang Hao, looking like an ordinary scientific instrument on the outside.

The tracker silently adhered to one of the escort robots.

And that robot was retreating back to the vicinity of the command submersible.

"Tracker in position." Chen Guang reported, "Injecting camouflage data packet... the opponent's system identifies it as 'friendly equipment minor damage, requesting recovery'."

"Beautiful." Feng Yan nodded, "Li Yang, keep the pressure on, but don't really sink it. We want it to take the 'gift' home."

"Understood!"

"Jiaolong's" offensive suddenly became "restrained".

It no longer attacked the vital parts of the command submersible, but focused on clearing the surrounding escort robots.

The high-pressure water jet and sonic cannon coordinated perfectly, making enemy units lose combat capability one by one.

The command submersible clearly sensed something was wrong and began to accelerate its dive, attempting to flee to a deeper sea trench.

But it didn't notice that the "tracker" stuck to the escort robot had been "kindly" picked up by another recovery robot and brought back to the mother ship's maintenance bay.

"Gift delivered." Chen Guang stared at the monitoring data.

"Tracker activated, sending positioning signal and... environmental sampling data."

"Let it go." Feng Yan said, "We'll follow."

"Jiaolong" didn't pursue, but maintained a safe distance, trailing far behind the command submersible that was fleeing in a panic.

And below them, that Eagle Country team had completely retreated.

The yellow deep-submergence vehicle dragged the only remaining damaged unmanned submersible, surfacing in a sorry state.

Four "Consortium" robots pursued for a distance symbolically, then returned to the structure area.

On the sea surface, in the command room of "Ocean Frontier", the atmosphere was grave.

"Sir, we lost three 'DeepSea Ghosts', the deep-submergence vehicle is damaged, must return for repairs." An officer reported.

The middle-aged man standing in front of the monitoring screen had a livid face; he was looking at the final segment of the battle between "Jiaolong" and the "Consortium" troops, which was desperately filmed by the deep-submergence vehicle before retreating.

Although blurry, it was shocking enough: the humanoid mech crushing enemy units in the deep sea, taking torpedoes head-on, cutting robots like chopping vegetables.

"Encrypt and save this footage." The man said in a low voice.

"Send it back to the highest level in the country immediately. Also... contact the liaisons in WhiteElephant Country and Footbasin Chicken, tell them, Longguo's deep-sea mech is no longer just a 'concept'."

He took one last look at the deep sea and turned to leave.

"This game has been upgraded."

Deep sea, 4,200 meters.

"Jiaolong" followed the command submersible to a brand-new sea trench area.

The terrain here was more complex, with large amounts of metal wreckage scattered on the seabed.

Some looked like shipwrecks from many years ago, some were clearly fragments of some large equipment.

And in the deepest part of the sea trench, a shocking scene appeared.

It was an underwater base built by expanding a natural sea cave.

The main structure of the base looked like it was pieced together from multiple deep-sea cabins of different styles and eras, some parts severely rusted, some looking very new.

Thick pipelines were connected to the outside, and lights shone from the portholes, appearing particularly eerie in the deep sea.

The command submersible slowly drove into an opening of the base.

"Found the lair." Li Yang's voice was filled with excitement.

"Don't approach." Feng Yan ordered.

"At this distance, release all remaining 'Messengers', establish a complete monitoring network. Chen Guang, can you access their internal communication?"

"Trying... 'Torch Dragon' has already infiltrated their local area network through the tracker." Chen Guang's fingers tapped quickly.

"Acquired partial internal data... this is..."

His voice suddenly stopped.

On the large screen in the command center, a newly decrypted data file was displayed.

The file title was: "Consortium — SouthSea Outpost Technology Fusion Experiment Log".

It recorded in detail the establishment process of this base:

How to steal deep-sea technology fragments from various countries, how to forcefully integrate equipment from different systems, how to use this "test field" to test the combat performance of fusion products...

The last entry in the log was updated three days ago:

"The appearance of Longyin's 'Jiaolong' mech confirms that ground mech technology has matured."

"Recommend starting the next phase of the 'Abyss Fusion Project': acquire complete mech technology, fuse it with existing deep-sea platforms, and create an amphibious ultimate combat unit."

"The ideal of techno-ultranationalism is about to be realized."

At the end of the file was a logo: an intertwined gear and neuron pattern.

"Techno-ultranationalism..." Feng Yan repeated the word softly.

"So that's it. They don't believe in any country or political system, they only believe in technology itself."

"Believing that technology should transcend national borders, be mastered and fused by the 'best', and create a 'perfect' technological civilization."

Wang Hao cursed: "Isn't this just stealing things and getting a sense of superiority out of it?"

"More dangerously, they really have the ability to steal, and the ability to turn stolen things into new things." Li Yang stared at the underwater base.

"If their 'fusion project' continues..."

"Then it ends here." Feng Yan cut off the communication and ordered Li Yang directly.

"'Jiaolong', execute final order: send the precise location of the 'Consortium' base and the evidence package to the navy coordinates of that country."

"Then, after we withdraw, use the 'special charge' you are carrying to ensure this base remains silent forever."

"Understood." Li Yang's voice was calm.

"Jiaolong" took out the last module from the mission module.

It was an ordinary-looking deep-sea geological sampler, but inside was a directional charge carefully calculated by Wang Hao, just enough to destroy the base structure without triggering a large-scale ecological disaster.

The mechanical arm gently placed the "sampler" next to a load-bearing node of the base's main structure.

Timer started: thirty minutes.

"Jiaolong" began to surface.

Shortly after it left, the twelve "Messenger" mechanical eels transmitted the last batch of monitoring data back, then initiated the self-destruct program, turning into a pile of harmless metal fragments.

Thirty minutes later, a dull vibration came from the deep sea.

The light 4,200 meters down was extinguished forever.

Sea surface, "Explorer" command center.

Team members gathered in front of the screen, looking at the final report synthesized by "Torch Dragon".

"SouthSea 'Consortium' outpost confirmed destroyed, main technical data and information recovered." Chen Guang reported.

"Our losses: twelve 'Messenger' mechanical eels, partial minor damage to 'Jiaolong's' external armor."

"Enemy losses: one complete underwater base, thirty-seven underwater combat units of various models, technical database partially destroyed."

"What about Eagle Country?" Feng Yan asked.

"Their deep-submergence vehicle has returned, but 'Torch Dragon' intercepted the encrypted data packet they sent back to their country, which contains 'Jiaolong' combat footage." Chen Guang pushed up his glasses.

"It is expected that within 48 hours, global media will have news that 'Longguo has equipped practical deep-sea mechs'."

Wang Hao chuckled: "Free advertising, pretty good."

Feng Yan didn't smile. He pulled up the gear and neuron logo and looked at it for a long time.

"One outpost destroyed doesn't mean 'Consortium' has disappeared." He said slowly.

"From the logs, they are a global network, SouthSea is just one of their 'fusion laboratories'."

"After today, they will only be more hidden, and also more... eager to obtain our technology."

He looked around at the team: "So, the deep-sea initial exploration is over, but the real technology defense war has just begun."

Outside the window, the SouthSea in the night was calm and waveless.

But beneath that calm, something had changed forever.

Li Yang took off his pilot suit and walked to Zhao Gong: "Zhao Lao, this 'Dragon Scale-Abyss' performed perfectly."

"But when I was evading, I felt the fluid resistance of the right knee joint was still a bit high, maybe the shape needs fine-tuning..."

Zhao Gong nodded and took out a small notebook to start recording.

Wang Hao was already pulling Chen Guang to discuss "whether we can install an additional module on 'Jiaolong' that can fire 'Deep-Water Skyrocket Monkeys' next time".

Zhao Kaiyuan was discussing with experts from the Oceanic Administration whether a permanent deep-sea energy and communication relay network could be deployed in the SouthSea, "to make it convenient to come again next time".

Feng Yan watched the team quickly enter the discussion of the next problem and smiled.

He took one last look at the "Consortium" logo that was gradually disappearing on the screen and turned off the interface.

Techno-ultranationalism?

Then, Longyin will tell them—

Technology always has a motherland.

And what guards it is not just mechs and weapons.

It is this group of people who are always looking forward. ===== CHAPTER 151 =====