Chapter 1330 The Escaped Unknown Giant
Meanwhile, the captain on the bridge of the "Jiangzhou" was staring intently at the sonar screen and fire control data.
On the screen, the huge shadow signal showed obvious fluctuations and distortions during the first water-based artillery barrage.
After the dense explosions of anti-submarine rocket depth charges covered the area, the signal changed dramatically!
It no longer moved steadily and slowly, but began to twitch, contract, and expand violently and irregularly!
The echo intensity instantly surged to a blinding scarlet, and then began to flash wildly!
"Hit! Multiple hits!" The sonar operator's voice was filled with excitement and trembling:
"The target signal is extremely erratic! The internal structure may be damaged! It's... struggling?!"
Almost at the same time the sonar operator reported, everyone felt an unusually violent tremor beneath their feet!
It wasn't the swaying of waves, but a low-frequency, heavy tremor originating from deep within the water, like a giant heart spasm!
Even a behemoth like the "Changjiang Fenjin" was noticeably shaking!
Outside the porthole, in that deadly waters covered by fire, strange phenomena suddenly appeared!
The thick fog was stirred by an unseen force, forming a dark vortex with an astonishing diameter that rotated slowly!
The turbid river water carried a huge amount of silt and bubbles, and even more frighteningly, an unknown substance as viscous as crude oil and shimmering with an eerie dark green and pale phosphorescence seeped out and rolled up from the center of the whirlpool!
Instantly, an indescribable stench, a mixture of deep-sea silt, decaying organic matter, gunpowder smoke, and some pungent chemical substance, filled the air, making one want to vomit. Within some of the churning waves and viscous matter, specks of cold, ominous light could be seen.
"What the hell is that?!"
"Water! The water is emitting a strange light!"
...
Screams erupted from the ships.
"Keep the attack rhythm! Don't stop!"
The captain of the Jiangzhou's voice remained steady, but he spoke extremely quickly: "Continue to cover the outer perimeter with the 100mm guns! Prevent it from surfacing! What's the depth charge status?"
"Loading! It will take two minutes!"
"Too slow! Helicopters! Drop depth charges! Bomb them!"
Upon receiving the order, a Z-9C anti-submarine helicopter rapidly ascended from the aft deck of the "Jiangzhou" amidst the fierce winds whipped up by its massive rotor. Despite the dense fog and extremely dangerous conditions, the well-trained crew resolutely flew towards the target area, dropping the depth charges they carried onto the edge of the swirling vortex teeming with strange substances.
More explosions were heard from underwater.
Under this relentless and increasingly ferocious barrage of fire, the huge shadowy signal on the sonar screen, after struggling and twisting violently for nearly a minute, suddenly changed!
"It's...it's diving! The depth is increasing rapidly! 100 meters...120 meters...150 meters...the speed is extremely fast! The signal strength is rapidly decreasing!" The sonar operator was practically shouting.
"They escaped?" an adjutant blurted out from the operations command center.
But the captain's brow furrowed even more. He stared intently at the screen, watching as the signal didn't simply disappear, but rather, during the descent, its form seemed to undergo some inexplicable change, becoming more...dispersed? Blurred? As if the massive body was partially disintegrating or transforming in agony?
Immediately afterwards——
"Waaaaaahhhhhh!!!"
A deep, long, and soul-piercing cry faintly came from the abyss beneath our feet, from the flowing water, and even from the keel of the ship itself!
The sound transcended the realm of ordinary hearing, carrying strong infrasound and mental interference characteristics. Everyone who heard it felt a violent dizziness and nausea, as if their heart was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, their breathing stopped abruptly, and a sense of insignificance and fear in the face of the vast unknown, originating from the instinct of life, instantly seized everyone!
At the same time, the turbulent river surface, the center of the whirlpool, suddenly collapsed downwards!
A terrifying funnel-shaped vortex, nearly 100 meters in diameter, was formed. A huge amount of river water, along with those viscous, luminous substances, was frantically sucked into the abyss, as if an invisible giant mouth had opened there!
The suction force of the eddy was so strong that it caused the entire fleet to rock violently, and the outermost escort boat was almost dragged in!
This terrifying water absorption phenomenon lasted for more than ten seconds before gradually subsiding.
The river surface gradually returned to its turbulent state, but the area was already a mess, with a large amount of lingering oily residue, slowly sinking luminous debris, and some indistinguishable, semi-melted dark lumps floating on the surface.
On the sonar screen, the enormous shadowy signal that had brought an endless sense of oppression had vanished without a trace.
In the hydrophone, only a faint, muffled sound of water churning remained, quickly fading away and gradually disappearing.
The thick fog began to drift and thin out at some point.
The beams of the searchlights were finally able to pierce through the darkness, illuminating the open, undulating waterway ahead, which no longer concealed the imminent deadly threat.
The attack... is over?
Was that thing... repelled? Or did it escape after being severely damaged?
On the bridge of the "Jiangzhou" ship, the old captain slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his military uniform on the back soaked with sweat.
He glanced at the sonar recorder, where the violent fluctuations and bizarre changes in the final stage of the signal, as well as its rapidly disappearing trajectory, were clearly recorded.
"Reporting to Commander Han," he said, picking up the communicator, his voice hoarse from the fierce battle, yet still steady.
"The devastating strike against the unidentified underwater target has been completed. The target has been severely damaged, its signal has disappeared, and it has been determined that it has broken contact or escaped. There is no direct damage to our ship or formation."
There was a two-second silence in the channel before Han Feng's voice came through: "Received. Well done, Jiangzhou."
The old captain put down the communicator, his gaze sweeping over his pale-faced, lingering-fear, yet exhilarated subordinates in the operations center, before finally looking out the porthole at the dissipating fog and the river surface still dotted with eerie wreckage.
That long cry, those glowing, viscous substances, that terrifying water-absorbing vortex... all indicated that the other party was no ordinary creature.
"Maintain maximum alert and accelerate through this area." He gave the order, his voice echoing throughout the ship:
"The damage control team inspected the ship's hull, especially the area below the waterline, for any abnormal deposits or corrosion. All personnel who came into contact with floating debris or unusual moisture underwent medical examinations."
"All data from this engagement, including sonar, optical, anomalous hydrological, biological samples, and the record of that 'call,' will be packaged into a top-secret document and prepared for submission."
He paused, looking at the pale morning light gradually brightening over the Wuxia Gorge in the distance.
"keep going!"
