"It seems the situation is bad, we must retreat immediately."
Morel put down the documents in his hand and swam out of the submarine.
"Rumble..."
As soon as Morel moved, the entire submarine, including the whole trench, vibrated violently.
"This is underwater. If anything unexpected happens, it'll truly be a death without burial."
Morel thought to himself, immediately increasing his swimming speed and quickly reaching the forward compartment hatch. As soon as he swam out of the hatch, he found that outside, sand was flying everywhere. The sand and various debris from the seabed completely obscured his vision, making it impossible to distinguish up, down, left, or right.
"This is... what happened underwater?" Morel gazed at the scene before him, looked down towards the deeper part of the trench, and a bad premonition arose in his heart. "Combined with the previous scream, it might be the deep-sea creature mentioned in that document."
"The submersible is no longer visible. Either it has already returned, or it has been destroyed."
"It seems I'll have to rely on my own strength to get back." Morel began to swim upwards. "However, I'm quite confident in my stamina."
"Rumble..."
Another violent tremor rippled through the seabed. Morel, swimming upwards, couldn't help but pause slightly, looking towards the depths of the trench. But aside from the flying sand, he saw nothing.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a violent tremor erupted from the bottom of the trench, causing even the trench's rock walls to begin cracking and collapsing. Faintly, Morel could even feel the oppressive aura emanating from the bottom of the trench.
"Underwater monster!?"
Morel looked towards the depths of the trench, swallowing.
After swimming for an unknown duration, Morel returned above the trench. At this moment, the semi-submersible oil rig at the edge of the trench was slowly sliding towards the trench due to the violent tremors on the seabed.
"The oil rig is sliding down too."
Morel looked at the oil rig sliding down step by step, his brows furrowed. Morel swam towards the oil rig and then discovered that behind the oil rig, two submersibles were pulling the oil rig back with umbilical cords.
"Splash!"
Morel emerged from the water of the pressure-resistant steel cabin. His gaze shifted, and he saw a submersible nearby.
"As expected, they abandoned me and fled first."
Morel frowned slightly, swam to the shore, and climbed up.
"Huff puff"
Morel sat on the shore, took off his helmet, and gulped down the oxygen within the oil rig. Swimming up from seven hundred meters deep underwater was something he had never even imagined before. Although he had equipment and enough oxygen, even so, the deep-sea pressure almost prevented him from returning.
"This matter, I should report it to the Hunter Association."
Morel thought to himself. Reporting it to the Hunter Association would allow the association to work with various countries to designate this area as a forbidden zone, prohibiting any person or vessel from entering.
"But for now, I'll go see what they're planning."
Morel changed out of his wetsuit into his own clothes and walked towards the control room.
At this time, on the sea surface over 500 meters above...
"Crash!"
Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky, and the sea surged with violent waves. Strong winds, carrying seawater and raindrops, lashed against the ship. The tugboat swayed violently, looking as if it could capsize at any moment.
"Splash~"
Suddenly, a huge wave crashed onto the tugboat's deck, slamming against the crane on the deck. With the waves crashing again and again, and the violent rocking of the tugboat, the crane slowly slid towards the edge with a "creaking" sound.
"Bang!"
Finally, the crane, tied with its umbilical cord, slid off the edge and crashed into the seawater with a thud.
And at this time, inside the underwater oil rig, Morel was walking through a corridor, carrying his large pipe.
"Hmm?"
Passing by the rest area, Morel discovered that the special forces soldiers were gathered inside. However, there were now only three special forces soldiers, including Lieutenant Coffeen. And on the table in front of them, a nuclear missile was placed.
"Sir, what do we do now?"
Inside the rest area, a special forces soldier asked with a grim expression.
"There's currently a violent tremor on the seabed for some unknown reason. We must first report the situation here to Colonel Kiyan. Once the higher-ups make a decision, we will execute it."
Lieutenant Coffeen pondered for a moment, then said to the remaining two soldiers with a solemn expression. "You two stay here and watch. I'm going to the comms room."
Lieutenant Coffeen turned and opened the rest area's hatch, just in time to see Morel, his expression surprised.
"You're actually still alive!"
"I'm an ocean hunter. How could I die at sea?" Morel's expression was calm in the face of Lieutenant Coffeen's surprise.
Lieutenant Coffeen nodded. He stepped past Morel and walked towards the end of the corridor; he was going to the comms room to contact his superiors. Morel stared deeply at the nuclear missile in the rest area, then turned and followed Lieutenant Coffeen's footsteps. He wanted to know how these military personnel would handle the current situation.
"Rumble..."
Just as the two, one in front and one behind, arrived at the comms room, intending to contact their superiors, the entire oil rig suddenly vibrated violently.
"What's going on!?"
Morel and Coffeen swayed uncontrollably, forced to brace themselves against the wall to maintain balance.
"Splish~!"
Suddenly, water began spraying from the cracks in the wall, clearly indicating a problem with the oil rig. Lieutenant Coffeen immediately braced against the wall and went to the comms station, picking up the communicator to contact his superiors.
"Sizzle~"
However, the communicator was filled with "sizzling" static, and even the screen was blurred, showing nothing.
"Damn it, the signal's lost."
Lieutenant Coffeen slammed his fist "bang" on the comms station and turned to walk towards the control room.
"Eli, quickly come fix this!"
"Damn it, can't you figure something out yourself! I'm busy as hell!"
Inside the oil rig, workers were bustling everywhere, repairing this and that, making a racket.
"Bastard!"
Lieutenant Coffeen arrived at the control room and saw a man in a white T-shirt eating potato chips and watching the submersible on screen. He "slapped" the bag of potato chips out of his arms.
"What happened?! Why can't I contact the surface!?"
"The crane and umbilical cord fell! They just smashed into the oil rig, damaging many parts of it, and communications are cut off."
The man in the white shirt was startled, stumbling. He nervously looked up at him, pointing to the screen in front of him. On the screen, the crane lay smashed into several pieces on the oil rig, and the umbilical cords connecting the tugboat and the oil rig had also fallen from the sea surface, entangling the oil rig and the damaged crane.
At this time, the two submersibles outside were doing their best to try and untangle the umbilical cords and crane from the oil rig. If this continued, the submersibles wouldn't be able to pull the oil rig, and it would eventually slide into the trench.
"Damn it!"
The lieutenant slammed his fist hard on the white-shirted man's seat and turned to leave.
"What are your plans?"
Morel followed behind him. Lieutenant Coffeen glanced back at him, saying nothing.
"Sir."
Lieutenant Coffeen had just returned to the rest area when the two special forces soldiers looked at him with anticipation. The lieutenant braced his hands on the table, lowering his head in contemplation.
"We've lost contact with the surface." Lieutenant Coffeen looked up at his last two soldiers and said in a deep voice, "Now, we're on our own."
The two special forces soldiers, hearing this, exchanged glances, then looked at the lieutenant, swallowing.
"Give the order, sir."
Lieutenant Coffeen stared intently at them, as if trying to discern something different in their eyes, but all he saw in the two soldiers' eyes was determination.
"Our mission, on the surface, is to recover the warheads from the Stealth Assassin."
Lieutenant Coffeen stood upright. He intended to tell the two the true objective of this mission. At least, before they died, they would know why they were dying.
"But in reality, we are to detonate the Stealth Assassin's nuclear missiles."
"Detonate nuclear missiles? Why?"
The two special forces soldiers looked confused, not understanding. Why detonate nuclear missiles underwater?
"The Stealth Assassin's original target was to drop nuclear missiles into the Koman Trench." At this point, Lieutenant Coffeen paused slightly. "Two years ago, a federal scientific expedition team once reached the bottom of the Koman Trench aboard the Deep-Sea Explorer..."
There, the scientific expedition team's scientists discovered something at the bottom of the Koman Trench. There existed a strange transparent creature, seemingly entirely composed of water. When first encountered, they were like small cats and dogs, docile and friendly.
No one knew what they were. The scientists spent over half a month researching them, still knowing nothing. In the long process of research, the scientists discovered that these transparent creatures possessed intelligence. In prolonged contact, the scientists found that they also had the ability to change, capable of freely transforming into the forms of any creature.
What frightened them most was that these creatures were not only imitating humans, they were also learning. Learning and absorbing everything about humans. And the reason the scientists determined that these creatures threatened human existence was that one day, all of them transformed into human form.
The scientists reported all this to the Federation, wanting the military to eradicate all these deep-sea creatures. But those creatures seemed to sense the scientists' malice. They transformed into humanoids and killed the scientists and everyone else on board the ship at the time.
And they even transformed into the scientists' likenesses and made contact with the Ozuma Federation Navy, attacking the Navy. Because their bodies were made of water, ordinary weapons had no effect on them.
These things carried out a massacre on the warships. When reinforcements arrived, the warship had already been destroyed and was gradually sinking. As for the culprits, they had disappeared.
The Ozuma Federation investigated for a full year, expending a great deal of human and material resources. Finally, they found the creatures from the intelligence at the bottom of the Koman Trench.
But what they were unsure of was whether these creatures were the original group of unknown creatures that had massacred the Navy and scientists. However, for the safety of the human race, the Ozuma Federation decided to bomb that trench with nuclear missiles.
"Understood?"
Lieutenant Coffeen finished speaking, and the two soldiers, their faces drenched in cold sweat, nodded.
"Excellent, now, do as I say." Lieutenant Coffeen opened the nuclear missile's casing, his finger lightly tapping the buttons, seemingly setting something. "I'm setting a three-hour timer. After three hours, this nuclear missile will explode."
"And your mission is to install this nuclear missile on the remote reconnaissance vessel and have the reconnaissance vessel deliver it to the bottom of the trench."
"However, the reconnaissance vessel's umbilical cord isn't long enough. One person will need to go underwater, at least to get the reconnaissance vessel to the submarine."
"That way, when it explodes, it will detonate the remaining 191 warheads inside the submarine."
Lieutenant Coffeen said, setting the missile as he spoke. He didn't ask who would go; he just had another soldier help him carry the nuclear missile to the pressure-resistant steel cabin. "Bring over the Frederick."
Lieutenant Coffeen and another soldier placed the nuclear missile on the shore, then had the other two soldiers carry the remote reconnaissance vessel over and place it beside the nuclear missile. "Tie it onto there."
Coffeen found a nylon rope and had the two soldiers tie the nuclear missile onto the remote reconnaissance vessel, while he himself turned to find a diving suit from a box and rustled as he put it on.
"Snap!"
When Coffeen finished putting on his diving suit, the two soldiers stood at attention, saluting him with chests out.
Coffeen's mouth twitched. He stepped forward and embraced the two, saying nothing.
After a moment's embrace, Lieutenant Coffeen separated from the two, pushed the remote reconnaissance vessel into the water, and turned to look at the white-haired figure standing at the hatch.
"You should leave quickly too."
"You have three hours. I hope you can escape to a safe area."
Having said that, Coffeen put on his helmet, plunged "bang" into the seawater, pushed the remote reconnaissance vessel into the submersible, and operated the submersible to slowly dive underwater.
"He is a true man."
Morel came over to the two soldiers and patted their shoulders.
"We should hurry and notify the others to prepare for evacuation."
"By then, the entire oil rig will be flattened into a sheet of metal by the explosion."
The two soldiers lowered their arms and immediately prepared to return to the submersible on the surface, while Morel went back to notify the others.
Bottom of the Koman Trench.
"Rustle, rustle..."
A thousand-meter-long body slowly moved along the rock wall at the bottom of the trench. Sixty-four crimson vertical pupils stared tightly into the darkness ahead. Something seemed to be hidden in the darkness, confronting it.
A hint of human-like light flashed in the enormous crimson vertical pupils. It slowly swam towards the unknown creature hidden in the darkness, its crimson vertical pupils showing a hint of curiosity.
But halfway through its journey, the giant snake's moving body suddenly stopped. All sixty-four crimson vertical pupils rotated in unison, looking up towards the top of its head.
"Boom~!!!"
Within the Koman Trench, a blinding white light suddenly burst forth.
A vacuum zone even appeared at the center of the explosion. The vacuum's suction absorbed a massive amount of surrounding seawater, which then violently expanded. The compressed seawater suddenly erupted, causing the entire trench to shake violently.
Accompanied by a semi-circle of dazzling white light constantly expanding outwards, it finally exposed the creature hidden in the darkness.
A being also thousands of meters long, but entirely transparent, as if composed of countless seawater, was looking up with curiosity at the dazzling white light.
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