Chapter 203: Ghost Sails to Sea (Part II) Seeking Subscription Support

The New Arkhangelsk had finished its refit, and Sun Cheng had even given it a new name—Ghost!

Although he still felt a bit of envy for its brother-in-arms, the Arkhangelsk, which was docked on the other side of the pier.

But Sun Cheng also knew that he had stayed in Severodvinsk for too long, and he had more and more important things to do, so it was time to leave.

However, Sun Cheng had not forgotten the purpose of his trip to Severodvinsk this time.

So, even though he was leaving, he would not depart quietly.

Sun Cheng prepared to make a big splash and then solemnly announce his existence to that powerful president of Russia.

"Master, the power system can be started at any time. Do you need me to untie the cables and raise the anchor..."

Ships have anchors, and submarines have submarine anchors, though most ballistic Missile Nuclear submarines have done away with this design.

The Typhoon-class designed in the 70s and 80s of the last century was an exception, but for better stealth, the designers had designed retractable internal anchors for the first few Typhoon-class vessels.

Sun Cheng nodded, "Go raise the anchor, I will untie the cables... but don't rush to start the power system. I am going out now; wait until you receive my communication before starting the power system..."

"Yes!"

After giving his instructions earnestly, he soon left the submarine.

Inside the Severodvinsk Shipyard, although the Russians' management was notoriously lax, they had recently been losing equipment and materials, and they were all high-value, high-end goods, so the shipyard had clearly begun to realize there was a problem.

So much so that when Sun Cheng left the Ghost, he quickly noticed that the security in the shipyard was much stricter than it had been in the previous days.

However, this was just right.

After coming out of the Ghost and getting onto the pier, Sun Cheng immediately untied the cables fastened to the pier.

Afterwards, he jumped back into the sea, left the shipyard, and swam toward another pier in the military port area.

Over the past week, Sun Cheng had not been idle; he had already thoroughly scouted the entire Severodvinsk Port, including the restricted military port area.

Therefore, after leaving the shipyard, he immediately headed toward the other pier in the military port area.

There was a large ocean-going tugboat equipped by the Russian military there; behemoths of over 20,000 tons like the Typhoon or the Kirov were usually moved in and out of the military port by it.

And this large ocean-going tugboat docked in the Northern Fleet's military port was exactly his target.

Despite sneaking along the seabed, Sun Cheng's speed was like that of a shark, and before long, he quietly approached the large ocean-going tugboat.

The Onega was the name of this large ocean-going tugboat, and because it was past three o'clock in the morning, there wasn't half a soul to be seen on the pier where the Onega was docked.

Quietly climbing onto the pier and shaking the crushed ice off his body, he didn't waste the few Micro-reconnaissance Drones he had left, walking straight to the side of the Onega to untie the cables, then leaping with force onto the tugboat.

This was, after all, the base port of the Northern Fleet, and the defense was much stricter than at the shipyard next door.

As soon as he boarded the ship, the Core scanned and Sun Cheng noticed that although there were no soldiers guarding the tugboat, four surveillance devices had been installed around the tugboat and on its deck.

Intentionally exposing his figure in the frame of one surveillance device, and fearing that the duty soldiers might not notice this, he once again emitted several electromagnetic waves, destroying the other three surveillance devices on the ship and leaving only the one that had filmed him.

Knowing that the duty soldiers in the military port should soon discover the anomaly here, Sun Cheng then walked toward the bridge.

The bridge of the Onega was clearly designed to human standards; although the hatch was two meters high, its width was not enough for Sun Cheng to enter.

Coupled with the fact that the door was tightly shut, he did not hesitate and violently extended his right hand, slamming a punch into the connection between the hatch and the adjacent wall.

The terrifying punch force of over two tons struck the hatch, and accompanied by a loud noise, several deep cracks immediately appeared on the bridge hatch and the wall.

"Rip!"

Like tearing paper, Sun Cheng easily tore through the hatch and the bridge wall, and only after finally creating an opening large enough for him to enter did he walk inside.

With his Core fully engaged, noisy sounds could already be faintly heard on the pier.

Sun Cheng didn't care about these; after entering the bridge, countless metal joints immediately extended from his body and submerged into the equipment inside the bridge.

Under the constant intrusion of the Core's functions, this large ocean-going tugboat soon fell under his control.

The anchor began to be pulled back onto the tugboat, and the power system began to start.

After intentionally letting the tugboat sound a whistle, the Onega finally began to leave the pier, and after slowly sailing out of the shallow water area of the pier, it began to sail at full speed toward the Severodvinsk Shipyard next door.

Not long after the tugboat sailed away, a piercing alarm sounded in the military port.

A smile could not help but appear on Sun Cheng's face; nothing was easier to let the Russian top brass know of his existence than pulling off a big news story.

Especially when this big news story was that he had stolen a nuclear submarine from their home, and his image had been clearly captured.

"The stage is set, but before the main show begins, I have to warm up the crowd..."

As this thought flashed quickly through his mind, the Core with its scanning function fully engaged soon caused the smile on his face to fade a little.

"Hmm? Two patrol boats?"

In the military port, a team of Russian Army soldiers on patrol had already arrived at the pier.

Upon seeing the empty pier, the soldiers quickly summoned two patrol boats that were docked at a pier in the military port; they had already left the pier and started heading toward the Onega.

"They are professional soldiers after all, their reaction is quite fast..."

He muttered to himself in a low voice, but he felt no panic.

Although Hephaestus and the other Workers had not received training in operating submarines, Mechanical Life forms were naturally the best controllers of mechanical equipment.

Therefore, they could actually easily sail the Ghost out of the Severodvinsk Shipyard pier without needing a tugboat at all.

The reason he came into the military port to steal this tugboat was merely to expose his existence to the Russian Army before leaving.

Seeing that the Russian Army's reaction was much faster than he had imagined, Sun Cheng did not hesitate and immediately issued the order to Hephaestus and the others to start leaving the port.

The tugboat, sailing at full speed, finally managed to rendezvous with the Ghost, which was sailing on the surface at a speed of about 25 knots, before the patrol boats could catch up.

After giving the order to Hephaestus and the others to cooperate, the Ghost's speed decreased slightly, and its sailing direction also changed in coordination with the Onega he was on.

Seen from the blurry night, it looked as if it were towing the Ghost out of the port.

"The vessel ahead, stop immediately for inspection, otherwise we will open fire and destroy you..."

"Repeating, the vessel ahead, stop immediately for inspection, otherwise we will open fire and destroy you..."

The two patrol boats finally caught up with Sun Cheng and the others before long; in the dark of night, they clearly had not discovered the Ghost at the first moment, so while speeding toward the Onega, they threatened sternly.

Sun Cheng ignored them; the scene he had designed, titled 'First Close Contact with the Polar Bear', had been played out enough by now, and it was time for the curtain to fall.

He believed that this appearance of his should successfully expose him to the sight of the Russian top brass.

As for the matter of stealing a Typhoon-class that was about to be decommissioned and thus offending the Polar Bear, he did not care in the slightest.

Throughout the entire process, he had exercised restraint and did not kill or even injure a single Russia soldier; at most, the other party had only lost some property.

Moreover, after returning to Base No. 2 for a brief rest and preparation, Sun Cheng would soon jump out again to take the initiative to contact the Polar Bear.

By that time, he would throw out bait sufficient to make the other party willingly swallow this bitter pill.

Military technology far exceeding that of Russia—Sun Cheng had as much as they wanted.

Even if the other party wanted money, Sun Cheng was not intimidated at all.

Every one of the Decepticon Workers was a highly productive miner; at worst, he would just find a world-class gold mine and send the Workers out to dig frantically for a month.

However, his things are not easy to take!

When the time comes, let us decide the outcome then!

While Sun Cheng was distracted and lost in thought, the two speedboats that had tracked him to the vicinity of the tugboat finally discovered the Ghost, which was traveling at high speed while accompanying the tugboat.

The shouting from the speedboats stopped abruptly, and at the same time, one group of wireless communications after another was continuously transmitted back to the naval port.

"... 0027 calling Command, emergency, emergency. We have discovered the missing 'Onega' in the naval port; it is towing a submarine out of the port, requesting support..."

"... 0039 calling Command, we have discovered the 'Onega'; it is towing a Typhoon-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine out of the port. I will perform an emergency boarding to stop the other party, repeat, I will perform an emergency boarding to stop the other party..."

"Command received, boarding action approved. An armed helicopter squadron has been ordered to mobilize for support, and the fleet is also mobilizing. Please buy time for them..."

One group of radio waves after another held no secrets at all in the eyes of Sun Cheng, whose Core was fully engaged.

After noticing one speedboat approaching him, it looked like they were truly prepared to disregard the danger and perform an emergency boarding, while the other speedboat headed in the direction of the Ghost.

Sun Cheng finally retracted all the joints controlling the tugboat and stepped out of the pilothouse, boarding the deck without any attempt at concealment, exposing his image to the surveillance cameras once again.

Afterward, he leaped off the tugboat, landing a few meters away from that speedboat, and then, amidst their exclamations, swam rapidly toward the Ghost.

"Damn it, what is that?"

"Command, we saw a robot?!"

"Emergency order, emergency order, 0027, 0039, destroy that Combat Mecha immediately, do not let it get near the submarine, repeat..."

Ignoring the radio waves that had become lively once again, and facing the bullets spraying from the two speedboats, Sun Cheng soon approached the Ghost, which was still traveling at high speed, and leaped, jumping onto the submarine.

In the sky, the whistling sound of helicopter rotors was already faint but audible.

Sun Cheng looked up in the direction the sound came from, his smile growing broader; he quickly climbed onto the conning tower and entered the submarine through the open hatch.

After the hatch closed, the Ghost, which had been traveling at high speed on the water's surface, finally began to submerge.

By the time the Mi-28 armed helicopter squadron that had taken off in an emergency from the naval port arrived, there was no longer any trace to be seen on the sea surface.

Ghost, set sail!

PS:

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