Chapter 90: Flying Up

"Yamero!"

The captain of NZN204 was already at a loss for words, tears in his eyes.

In the past, he had rammed other fishing boats many times, but "grazing" was actually more accurate.

After all, no one was a fool, and fishing boat structures were very fragile; usually, they would approach and graze sideways.

This achieved the effect of driving them away without worrying about backlash causing both ships to sink.

But this time, when he wanted to dodge, he turned the rudder too much while focusing on the relative positions of the two ships, and by the time he tried to adjust, it was completely too late.

Moreover, due to his mistake, NZN204 was now facing the hardest bow of Fudong with its most fragile waist!

The situation was already irreparable; he could only grab the handrail nearby as if resigning himself to fate, hoping his hull was hard enough.

Fudong's super-high-power searchlight blinded him so much he could barely open his eyes; even with his eyes closed, his vision felt white, so he could only squint and see a black shadow approach in an instant through the bridge.

"Bang!"

In the darkness, a huge roar came first, followed immediately by the teeth-grinding sound of tearing metal.

Due to its size and speed advantage, Fudong easily smashed straight through the left side of NZN204's hull.

The entire bow plunged two or three meters into NZN204's hull; the thin hull was torn open and indented inward as easily as A4 paper, and everyone on the ship felt a massive force strike from the side, then uncontrollably flew out, sliding to the right side of the cabin.

But this wasn't over; the originally angled hull was forced straight because Fudong's bow got stuck, the two ships were now in a perpendicular state, and the huge potential energy caused them to capsize to the right.

The captain's feet had long left the ground, his head hitting the ceiling; if the cabin door hadn't been closed, he would have leaked out.

Fudong, which had been charging at 20 knots, dropped its speed drastically to under 10 knots in less than 5 seconds, and all remaining kinetic energy was dumped onto NZN204!

NZN204 was a pure-blood fishing boat with no watertight compartments to reinforce structural strength, bursting instantly like a cardboard box.

In contrast, Tang Wen in Fudong's bridge also felt a massive negative G-force; he almost couldn't withstand it and flew up, and if he hadn't been prepared, he would have become an aerial acrobat for a moment.

Hashiriki was a gunboat that was very low-class even in the era of its birth, with almost no protection; against a proper warship, it was just a dumpling, pierced with a single poke.

But even the lowest-class warship is still a warship; its designed protection level was incomparable to fishing boats whose primary purpose was cost reduction.

Of course, Fudong also suffered damage; its bow deformed and cracked under the huge impact and had already started taking on water.

【NZN204: 455/2620】

【We have heavily damaged the enemy target】

【Fudong: 3150/5150】

【Hull breached below the waterline, my ship is rapidly flooding! (Speed -50%, HP -15 per second), stops after 60 seconds】

Tang Wen remained expressionless and ordered Fudong to reverse.

He could have pressed R to immediately stop the flooding and HP loss, but that would also repair the main cannon and weapons, which would look bad if people saw it.

Anyway, it was only a loss of 900 HP, which didn't matter.

Here, the power of the game mechanics had to be mentioned; in the HP settings, even with only 1 HP left, a warship could still sail at full speed and output at full power!

In just over ten seconds, Fudong unscientifically started reversing again!

Another teeth-grinding friction sound rang out as Fudong, with its battered bow, withdrew from NZN204's hull; an irregular large hole immediately appeared on the latter's white hull, and seawater surged in wildly!

A minute passed quickly; when Fudong slowly withdrew from inside NZN204, the sealed compartments had effectively controlled the flooding.

【Fudong: 2250/5150】

【Flooding stopped, speed restored】

Although HP was reduced by more than half, at this moment, aside from the bow looking slightly twisted, the rest of Fudong was surprisingly unharmed.

NZN204 was different; this unlucky one had already flooded its port side with a large amount of seawater, and the dozens of crew members on board were jumping into the sea in a frantic rush.

Jumping into the sea now still offered a chance of survival; if they waited until the hull's balance completely failed and it capsized, even immortals would find it hard to save them!

Fortunately, most of them had already gathered on the deck and bridge when they detected the collision, and with the help of Fudong's searchlight, they all reunited in the seawater one by one like dumplings.

At this moment, the two Fuyu boats that witnessed the collision process didn't bother to retrieve their nets, tied on buoys, threw them into the sea, and rushed over at high speed.

At such high speed, Fudong must have been uncomfortable too; who knows if it was also leaking water.

However, when they got close, besides the obviously folded and sinking NZN204 with its indented hull and the Japanese fishermen waving their arms and crying bitterly, Fudong not far away was still floating steadily on the sea.

Although the bow showed deformation, it wasn't serious; in fact, the bow hadn't even been pressed down by the flooding.

Apart from that, Fudong looked like it had no problems at all!

The captain of Fuyu 8101 opened his eyes wide; he remembered that Goose Fishery 4401 had introduced itself as a trial-run ship from the Gecheng Gaijin Shipyard.

"Goose Fishery 4401, Goose Fishery 4401, are you okay? Are there any casualties?"

"My ship is in very good condition, no problems at all, thank you for your concern."

Tang Wen's tone was calm and indifferent, and he even had the mood to run an advertisement:

"Everyone, this is the quality of our shipyard's products, proven by facts; buying it is absolutely no loss!

For a collision of this degree, we only charge a repair fee under 100,000, and it can be fully repaired within 24 hours."

Tang Wen still remembered his port HP recovery effect: 0.1% per minute, restoring 100% HP in 17 hours, costing only a tiny bit of electricity.

Park a broken ship at the port overnight, and when you sail it out, it's a good ship again!

But to the ears of the two captains, this showed great confidence in their own products, meaning they hadn't actually suffered any serious injuries.

Good heavens, a ship that could withstand such collisions—didn't that mean it could run rampant on the seas?

"Boss Tang, this ship isn't cheap, is it?"

"Not expensive, not expensive! The steam-powered version we sell for 6 million, 3,400 horsepower, 700 tons empty weight, 1,500 tons full load, maximum speed 19 knots.

There is also a specialized diesel-powered version selling for 7.5 million, 1,700 horsepower, 14 knots, 600 tons empty weight, 1,500 tons full load, maximum speed 14 knots.

The diesel version isn't as hard, but burning diesel is more convenient, the space is larger so it can carry more, and the economy is better."

Tang Wen's price increase wasn't a sudden whim; the special prices given to Fudong Fishery and Dawan Fishery before were due to special reasons; selling normally definitely couldn't be much cheaper than the market price.

"No, no, no, we want the steam version."

The captain of Fuyu 8101 answered hurriedly; a truly tough product must be hard; just ram whoever disagrees.

Added 100 tons of dead weight, but the power doubled; obviously, a collision-resistant one must be chosen.

After Tang Wen's on-site performance, they were even more eager to replace their fishing boat immediately.

And what is six million? This thin-skinned junk of mine, weighing over 400 tons, cost more than five million.

Regret! If only I had known, I would have bought a ship from Gai Jin Shipyard!

"Boss Tang, where is your shipyard? I will definitely pay a visit later."

"It's just at..."

"Wait, wait!"

A mutually willing flirtation was in full swing when suddenly an discordant voice interrupted it.

NZN003 saw NZN204 actually sink directly, then quietly slowed down, turned, and circled several nautical miles away.

Its captain's voice, like one who had lost his mother, carried a sobbing tone:

"Gentlemen, you are greatly mighty, but can you not discuss business first? Let us salvage the seamen who fell into the water."