Chapter 263: Search Fleet Lost, Shen City Cruiser Breaks Through the Waves

East Sea, the sea area near latitude 31° to 32° N, longitude 122° to 123° E.

Four full days have passed since the mixed fleet of the "Nagato" lost contact. Led by the light cruiser "Divine Power", followed by the four newest and sharp Heat Haze‑class destroyers "Heat Haze", "Will‑o‑the‑Wisp", "Black Tide" and "Snow Wind", the Eastern search detachment finally reached the vast sea area that was last signaled by Commander Yamaguchi's unit and is presumed to be the point of loss.

However, what lay before them was only an endless, open sea.

The sea breeze blew steadily, and sunlight glittered on the gently rolling blue waves, casting a shimmering golden sheen. Apart from a few occasional seabirds, there was no sign of any fleet in sight. No billowing black smoke, no floating oil slick, no scattered hull fragments, not even a single life jacket or a plank could be seen.

It was as if that massive fleet of fifteen capital warships and numerous auxiliary vessels had been dropped into the sea like a sugar cube, completely melting away without a trace. The sea was so still it was suffocating, and this eerie emptiness and silence starkly contrasted with the grim scenes they had imagined before departure—scenes of wreckage and survivors—leaving every Eastern officer and sailor with an inexplicable chill.

Bridge of the light cruiser "Divine Power".

The commander in charge of the search, Colonel Ijuin Matsushi, furrowed his brows and held a high‑power telescope, scanning the horizon again and again. He was an experienced navy officer who had taken part in numerous drills and long voyages and had dealt with several maritime incidents, yet the situation before him was wholly beyond his comprehension and experience.

How could a complete, powerful mixed fleet simply vanish into thin air?

No distress signal, no battle report, no severe weather, no… nothing at all!

Even if they had suffered an unprecedented internal explosion or an extremely rare underwater reef (though none is recorded on charts for this sea area), it would be impossible for the entire fleet—including those agile, fast destroyers—to lose contact simultaneously and leave not a single floating debris! This defies all logic! A huge doubt and intense unease swirled over his mind like a dark cloud.

"Commander, sir," the navigation officer whispered, "we have reached the central area of the designated coordinates. As ordered, each ship has formed a fan‑shaped search pattern with a radius of five nautical miles."

Ijuin Matsushi set the telescope down, rubbed his slightly throbbing temples, and said in a deep voice, "Order all ships to expand the search radius to fifteen nautical miles! Observe any abnormality, even a speck of oil or a plank, and do not let it pass! At the same time, maintain the highest level of radio silence—receive only, do not transmit! Strengthen air and sea vigilance!"

"Hai!"

After issuing the order, Ijuin Matsushi turned and walked down from the bridge to the ship's operations room. He had already used flag signals to summon the captains of the four destroyers to the "Divine Power" for a joint discussion.

Inside the "Divine Power" operations room.

The atmosphere was so heavy it seemed it could drip water. Colonel Ijuin Matsushi and the four destroyer captains gathered around the chart table, each face etched with confusion and worry.

"Gentlemen," Ijuin Matsushi began, his voice low, "you have all seen the situation before you. Commander Yamaguchi's fleet… vanished as if it had never existed. Share your thoughts."

"Sir," Captain of the "Heat Haze" spoke first, his tone heavy, "I believe the possibility of encountering extreme severe weather can be ruled out. The sea conditions have been fine throughout our voyage, and the weather report confirms this."

"Could it be a collective grounding or stranding?" Captain of the "Will‑o‑the‑Wisp" asked, then shook his head, "The water here is deep enough, and the charts show no hazardous obstacles. Moreover, even if the flagship made a navigation error, it wouldn't cause the entire fleet, including the outer destroyers, to rush forward together, would it?"

"Could it be… an internal accident?" Captain of the "Black Tide" speculated, "Perhaps the 'Nagato' suffered a magazine self‑detonation? Yet even so, it couldn't cause all vessels to lose contact simultaneously; some nearby ship should have been able to send an alarm or distress signal!"

The discussion reached a stalemate. All conventional possibilities seemed unable to explain the bizarre situation. Finally, a possibility that no one wanted to mention yet had to be faced was raised in a very low voice by the cautious captain of the "Snow Wind":

"Sir… could it be… an enemy attack? And one of a kind we cannot comprehend, an extremely efficient strike?"

The words hung in the air, and the operations room fell into dead silence. Everyone was mute. An enemy attack? From whom? The lagging Great Dry navy that the world barely notices? Or the warlord Lin Yu entrenched in Shen City? On what basis? With what means? How could they, in such a short time, cause a powerful fleet with the 'Nagato' to be utterly annihilated, without even a single distress message?

It sounded like pure fantasy! Yet aside from this most unlikely explanation, they could find no other reasonable reason.

Colonel Ijuin Matsushi's complexion grew even darker; he did not rebuke the "Snow Wind" captain's ramblings. Deep inside, that seemingly absurd conjecture was sprouting wildly like a poisonous weed.

"Continue the search!" he finally broke the silence, his tone carrying a barely perceptible fatigue and anxiety, "Expand the search area! The living must be found, the dead must be seen! Until solid evidence is found, do not indulge in any baseless speculation!"

Even though he said so, a massive, ominous foreboding weighed heavily on the commander of the search fleet and his subordinates. They felt as if they were sailing into a fog thick with unknown terror.

"Divine Power" light cruiser, lookout post.

"Bearing 0‑9‑0, unidentified high‑speed vessel sighted! Approximate distance 20 km!" the lookout's sudden sharp report shattered the bridge's oppressive atmosphere.

Colonel Ijuin Matsushi and the other officers rushed to the portside windows, raised their telescopes, and looked in the direction indicated by the lookout.

In the distant horizon, a distinct black dot broke through the waves, racing toward them at a speed far exceeding any vessel they were accustomed to. As it closed, the outline sharpened—it was a warship of a design they had never seen, bizarre in style yet exuding a powerful sense of oppression!

Its hull lines were so sleek they seemed not of this era; the bow was sharp, lacking the complex superstructures of traditional ships, replaced by a simple, forceful architecture. The hull was painted deep gray, revealing no flags or insignia. Most alarming were the several obvious heavy‑cannon turrets mounted on the fore and aft decks, whose barrel proportions and styles differed starkly from those of the Imperial Navy and any Great Powers navy they knew, appearing unusually massive and ferocious, as if harboring unimaginable destructive power.

The very appearance of this mysterious warship was eerie! Its speed was astonishing, estimated at over 30 knots, and its heading was clear, sailing straight toward the Eastern search detachment with an arrogant, undeniable bearing.

"What kind of ship is that?!" Colonel Ijuin Matsushi asked, his voice hoarse with shock and confusion, "Does the Imperial identification manual have anything like this? Which faction does it belong to?"

The adjacent staff officer and identification officer frantically leafed through the manuals, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, and finally could only shake their heads in despair: "Report, sir, there is no record at all! It is certain this is not an old vessel of the Great Dry Navy, nor a ship of the foreign powers we know such as Yingjili, France, or Miligan! Its design… is completely… entirely unprecedented!"

Just as the Eastern sailors were uneasy, the mysterious warship closed to about 10 km, its speed unchanged. Then its signal lantern began flashing rapidly, transmitting a clear string of internationally standard Morse code. Simultaneously, the Eastern fleet's radio operators received a plain‑text transmission in a language that sounded slightly stiff yet discernible (perhaps English or German, though the Eastern men could not determine its source):

"Warning! Warning! The waters ahead are under Shen City jurisdiction! Any foreign armed vessel entering without permission must turn back and withdraw within thirty minutes! Repeat, must withdraw within thirty minutes! Otherwise, it will be deemed hostile, and we will take all necessary measures to sink it! Warning complete!"

The warning signal struck the bridge of the "Divine Power" like a bolt of lightning on a clear day!

Colonel Ijuin Matsushi and all the Eastern personnel present turned ashen instantly.

Shen City jurisdiction?!

A mysterious warship with bizarre design, unknown firepower, yet a fierce presence?!

Issuing such a harsh, no‑margin warning?!

At this moment, all confusion and speculation seemed answered! There was no longer any doubt! Commander Yamaguchi's fleet, the disappearance of those fifteen capital ships and numerous auxiliary vessels, was certainly linked to this suddenly appearing mysterious warship and the Shen City faction it represented, whose true strength they had previously not understood.

The local warlord Lin Yu, whom they had never taken seriously before, actually wielded such terrifying sea power?! Could this seemingly ultra‑advanced warship be only the tip of the iceberg? What other horrors lie beneath the calm surface that could cause the 'Nagato' fleet to disappear silently?

A massive shock, anger, and an unprecedented fear of confronting an utterly unknown power seized Ijuin Matsushi's heart in an instant. He realized that he and his small search fleet had possibly stepped into a trap far more dangerous than they had imagined, one that could be lethal!