Chapter 686.1: Free is Free |
The submersibles of Shelter 70 possessed strong stealth capabilities, but they were not completely invisible.
Just as Muda had expected, the moment the Federation’s destroyer arrived, it quickly locked onto the submersible beneath the waves and retrieved it.
However, what Muda did not expect was that there was not a single person on board.
All signs indicated that the two had abandoned the submersible when its propulsion system failed. Logically, they should not have gotten far.
The destroyer immediately deployed a team of frogmen to dive deep and search. But to everyone’s shock, they searched for a full hour and found absolutely nothing.
It was as if the two pilots had dissolved into seawater, vanishing completely from the area...
“I need to clarify a few things with you.” On the destroyer’s deck, an officer walked up to Muda, pulled out a recorder, switched it on right in front of him, and tapped the table with his finger.
“This is a routine procedure. Please cooperate.”
“Understood. Go ahead.” Muda nodded and pulled out a chair.
Muda had already rehearsed his explanation. Calm and unhurried, he replied, “I was on duty at the time. While patrolling my assigned area, I picked up a suspicious signal. I followed it and arrived here. As for that point, my team patrolling the nearby waters can testify. I requested passage and reported it to them.”
“We verified that. It matches what you said… But there are still some suspicious points.” The officer lifted his sharp gaze and swept it across Muda, continuing with strict precision:
“When we reviewed the communications logs, we noticed that a friendly vessel nearby offered to reinforce you. Why did you refuse?”
Muda showed no cracks under the scrutiny. He simply shrugged, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Why else? Because we weren’t sure what it was. What if it was just some piece of drift garbage? If you were in my place, would you call for backup before figuring it out?”
That was a fair point. No one wanted to become the laughingstock of the fleet because they mobilized reinforcements over a floating piece of trash.
The officer found no flaw and nodded. “So you used two 100 kilogram deep-water depth charges to confirm what you saw?”
“Yes.”
“How extravagant… And why didn’t you report to the nearby vessels before opening fire?”
Muda sighed patiently, “When the enemy is right under your nose, would you file a report first or fire first? Please don’t ask these strange questions. If you think I did something wrong, then tell me what it is.”
“No, no, Lieutenant Muda, that’s not what I meant. We’re not suspecting you. As I said, this is routine procedure.” The officer waved both hands quickly, smiling to ease the tension. “Now, the final question… You confirmed that the submersible was from Shelter 70?”
Muda fixed him with a serious look. “I don’t need to confirm anything. Look at the time and place. This vessel appeared in our patrol zone without authorization and ignored our communication requests. So we dropped depth charges until it stopped. Luckily, it only took two to force it to break down, though you still arrived too late, the pilots escaped.”
The officer nodded again, then suddenly asked, “Do you know why they stopped?”
“No, and I’m not interested.” Muda stared back coldly, impatience in his voice. “And didn’t you say that was your last question?”
The officer put away the recorder and notebook, smiled, and stood, extending his right hand. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
Muda stood as well, shook his hand, and let go. “You’re welcome. Did I pass your test?”
“Test? You misunderstand, Lieutenant Muda. We weren’t suspecting you of anything. As I said, it’s a routine procedure.” He slipped the recorder into his pocket and tapped the booklet lightly. “If anything new comes up, I’ll contact you.”
Muda nodded. “Next time, bring my medal.”
The officer laughed and patted his shoulder. “Of course! Congratulations, this is at least a second-class merit!”
With that, the officer turned and left.
Watching him walk away, Muda clicked his tongue regretfully.
Only second-class, but… Merit didn’t matter.
He only hoped he wouldn’t be nailed to the pillar of shame by history. Since he didn’t know who the mole was, or how deep they had infiltrated the Federation hierarchy, he ultimately chose to hide part of the truth.
Including the radio exchange with the submersible. Including the spherical probe now hanging beneath his speedboat in a fishing net, he didn’t know whether his choice was correct. He only hoped his future self wouldn’t regret what he did.
At the same time, on the destroyer’s deck, a black single-rotor helicopter slowly descended onto the wide helipad.
Flanked by two exoskeleton-clad bodyguards, Chief-of-Staff and Naval Head Advisor Chalas stepped down, walking sternly toward the destroyer captain approaching to greet him.
“Mr. Chalas? What brings you here?” Seeing the president’s right-hand man, the captain extended his hand from afar with a smile.
“What else? Something this big happened, why didn’t you inform me immediately?!”
Seeing Chalas’s displeased expression, the captain sheepishly withdrew his hand and tried to explain. “It was just a scientific submersible. We found some modifications, but crude ones. They are not a big deal.”
To him, the chief-of-staff was overreacting. It was only a Shelter 70 submersible, not a military submarine. Moreover, the area had no strategic value, just the ruins of a power station.
There was nothing worth panicking about.
Chalas narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the captain. “Just a submersible?”
The captain blinked, confused, and nodded. “Of course. We already found it. My men are getting ready to dismantle it… Would you like to inspect it yourself?”
“Take me there.” Chalas’s gaze shifted, and he nodded.
They walked together toward the stern.
A cylinder-shaped submersible was being hoisted up by cables.
Several exoskeleton-clad sailors were preparing welding lasers and cutting tools.
Seeing the stern expression on Chalas’s face, the captain asked curiously, “What was a Shelter 70 submersible doing out here?”
Chalas didn’t look at him. “Who knows… maybe covering up evidence, maybe retrieving something left behind.”
“That’s strange,” the captain muttered. “If they wanted to cover evidence, why destroy the station so openly at first? Now it’s too late, no one would believe them.”
He wasn’t wrong. What was stranger was that they found a giant sea monster corpse near the submersible. It looked like nothing they’d seen before, It was like a giant starfish, but with more tentacles than an octopus.
Damage patterns on the submersible confirmed the creature had attacked it.
Ironically, the Federation patrol’s depth charge had saved the pilots. The bomb missed the submersible but hit the pursuing creature dead-on.
Based on testimonies from the patrol crew, they had no idea what they had hit.
The Federation could not yet determine whether the creature appeared randomly or had been deliberately kept there.
If it was the latter, things would be disturbing.
Because the power station ruins had very few mutants due to the damaged engines still running, something had to have forced the creature to remain.
Only one thing could, a neural interference device. But that still required recovering and dissecting the creature’s corpse.
Chalas gave the captain a cold glance, then looked back at the battered submersible. “Ask Shelter 70. Maybe they thought they could win, then halfway through realized they overestimated themselves and tried to wash their hands of it. I don’t care why our enemies attack us. I care about sending them to hell. And you, just do your job.”
The captain stared blankly at Chalas. He didn’t know why the chief-of-staff suddenly used such a harsh tone, but instinct told him not to pursue the topic. After some time, he mumbled, “Alright. I just found it strange… please don’t mind me.”
Chalas gave him a meaningful look, said nothing, and returned to the helicopter under the captain’s confused stare.
His two bodyguards sat silently across from him.
“Return to North Island.” He gave the order to the pilot, then leaned back and closed his eyes as if resting.
But no one knew, the moment his eyes shut, his consciousness slipped into a milky-white space. A gray-robed elder stood at the immaculate center.
Holy light fell on his shoulders, soft power blurring his features. He looked radiant and majestic.
