Chapter 1394 - Countdown from the Opposite Shore (3)
Chapter 1394: Countdown from the Opposite Shore (3)
Song Jinning felt deeply for Gu Xiangwen’s hologram, and she couldn’t help but wipe her face with the back of her hand to brush away the tears that were quietly flowing down her face.
When everyone heard the last words that Gu Xiangwen left in this world, they were all sad and speechless with anger.
This type of intense anger that burnt one on the inside and caused one to be speechless could only be felt by people of the same race and culture.
Gu Xiangwen’s hologram had fully disappeared, and the lamp in the submarine cabin gradually dimmed.
The computer screen immediately went dark.
But soon, the hidden LCD lights in the roof of the cabin lit up again.
Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to the small black cylinder on the desk.
This must be the “Music Box” that Gu Xiangwen’s holographic avatar had mentioned, right?
It looked about the same size, and most importantly was that it was the only thing on the desk.
Huo Shaoheng was the first to look away. He looked down and quickly gave the little robot instructions. He directed it to fly past the eight large dividers and saw the scene behind them.
Behind the dividers was a bed.
There were two people lying side by side inside.
A man and a woman. The man was wearing the khaki coat they had just seen. His thick hair was neatly combed and his eyes were closed. His tall and straight nose was particularly obvious.
He had a square jaw, the corners of his lips slightly pursed, and a faint smile on his face.
It was Gu Xiangwen.
Beside him was a fair, gentle, and beautiful young woman. It must be his wife, Gu Nianzhi’s mother.
Huo Shaoheng glanced at her and immediately stood up. He gave a very smooth, perfect military salute to Gu Xiangwen and his wife’s bodies on the screen.
Everyone in the surveillance room, except for Song Jinning, were active-duty soldiers, including the experts in armaments.
They all stood up at the same time as Huo Shaoheng, and also saluted Gu Xiangwen and his wife’s bodies on the computer screen.
Song Jinning bowed a respectful ninety degrees towards the computer screen.
After three minutes of mourning, Huo Shaoheng put down his hand and gritted his teeth. He said in a low voice, “Let’s officially begin salvaging!”
Everyone immediately took their positions and quickly optimised the surveillance equipment. They threw themselves intensely into their respective roles.
Zhao Liangze rushed to the deck outside the door and worked with the staff operating the robotic arm to first retrieve his little robot.
The long, thin rope pulley was made of the toughest material. Although it was thin, its strength and toughness were top-grade.
Not long after, his little robot returned to his hand.
The mechanical arm closed the last bit of gap. Five steel fingers grasped tightly onto the submarine’s body. Once the joystick activated its maximum horsepower, they could begin to salvage it.
Sixteen hours had passed, and the sky outside was already bright.
The bright red Sun jumped up from the sea level, showering miles around with a radiant glow.
Not far away, white seagulls were flying above the dark blue sea. Scattering gold and red off their feathers, they were like butterflies fluttering among the flowers.
Sunrise at sea was always so magnificent.
But at that moment, no one was in the mood to enjoy this beautiful scene.
In order to salvage the submarine as soon as possible, everyone focussed fully on their job at hand.
Huo Shaoheng’s was gloomy. He connected his laptop to the NANDOU satellite communication system and adjusted the frequency of several satellites to monitor the sea area.
He had only used one satellite previously, but it didn’t seem to be enough.
If they hadn’t heard Gu Xiangwen’s last words to remind them, they wouldn’t even have known that Japan had built a secret military base here!
Now that they even had the coordinates, of course they had to take a good look.
…
In the next 24 hours, the entire fleet and the research ship were engaged in one thing, which was to salvage this cement submarine.
Because they had underestimated the weight of the submarine, they encountered various difficult and risky situations. The moment the submarine was loosened from the seabed, the sea water violently swirled and set off huge waves.
The research ship jolted in the turbulent wind and waves. Several experts vomited violently, but no one was willing to stop.
“Steady, 30 degrees to the left. Tighten the No. 1 steel spike.”
“Faster! If we use the upthrust of this wave, we can save some horsepower.”
However, just as the submarine rose a little, it was shaken by the huge waves.
The mechanical joystick made a huge sizzling sound. It sounded like it was going to break apart in the next second.
Fortunately, these operators had a lot of experience. They focused their attention, constantly reinforced the pulley system, and increased the horsepower. They looked for equilibrium points in the waves and slowly but steadily pulled the submarine out of the water!
Without sleeping or resting, this group of people fought for two days and one night. Finally, the cement submarine that had been submerged under the sea for seven years was able to see the light of day!
Fortunately, the unpredictable weather in the Atlantic Ocean did not interfere with them. Otherwise, if they were struck by storms and hurricanes, they would have to spend a lot more effort to salvage the submarine!
The moment the submarine, draped in seaweed, barnacles and gravel, resurfaced, a rainbow really appeared in the distant horizon.
The entire research ship suddenly raised a huge screen, blocking out the sea area and shielding themselves from the surveillance of other countries’ satellites.
When the submarine completely surfaced, they could clearly see the huge wound on the exterior of the submarine from the monitor.
They could see that the people inside the submarine quickly took measures to seal the entire cabin, but because the exterior suffered such a heavy blow from a torpedo, the submarine was unable to operate normally.
Under normal circumstances, a submarine that suffered such a blow would surface.
However, Gu Xiangwen chose to perish together with the enemy.
…
The submarine was finally salvaged.
Its weight was really not something an ordinary ship could withstand.
However, Huo Shaoheng and the others were fully prepared. This research ship, which was even larger than the largest research ship in any other country, was now put to good use.
When the submarine was placed on the deck of the research ship that had long been prepared, the entire ship sank a little under its weight.
The waterline obviously rose a lot.
However, it did not affect the normal operation of the research ship.
The experts in the control room swarmed out to the deck to see the submarine that they had spent a lot of effort to salvage.
A few older experts even came over with baijiu, poured it into a bowl, and splashed it around the submarine.
The leader of the group of experts respectfully raised the bottle of white wine and spoke towards the submarine, “Mr. Gu, apologies for disturbing you today. We will take you home now.”
“Your daughter is healthy and doing very well. She will be very proud to have a father and mother like you.”
They did not know who Cereus was before, but after Gu Xiangwen’s hologram said that his daughter’s name was “Gu Nianzhi,” many of them understood.
Gu Nianzhi was Huo Shaoheng’s fiancée. Few people in the military, or even in the country, did not know about her.
After all, Huo Shaoheng’s grand proposal in front of the tomb of the unknown martyr in Red Square and the huge diamond ring had already spread all over the internet. Later, television stations even broadcasted it repeatedly. Those who didn’t know about it could be said to be very ignorant.
While everyone was surrounding the cement submarine and worshipping it, Huo Shaoheng had already been working alone in the radar room of the research ship for ten hours straight.
His eyes were red from the lack of rest, and the display screen of the active phased array radar in front was densely marked by him.
“All hands! Raise anchor and set sail!”
He had Zhao Liangze send orders to the entire fleet through the captain’s room’s pager.
There was not only the research ship, but also the nuclear submarines they had brought with them this time as their trump card, as well as the cruisers, destroyers, and anti-submarine patrol ships that had been carrying out their lookout and security functions around them.
This was a military order. Once it was issued, everyone had to carry it out immediately.
Thus, the entire fleet quickly prepared to set sail and return from the way they came.
At the same time, the experts quickly cleaned up the cement submarine that was salvaged with high-pressure water jets.
Then, the deck of the research ship let out a rumbling sound. The deck of the ship, on which Gu Xiangwen’s cement submarine was placed, broke away from the surrounding deck and slowly descended, as if a huge “hole” had appeared on the deck.
When the entire cement submarine had completely descended below the deck level, the deck above it slowly closed again, covering the entire “hole” like a lid.
It turned out that there was a huge isolated space below the deck, which was specially prepared for storing this submarine.
With the submarine hidden in the hull of the research ship, no matter how powerful the spy satellites were, it was impossible for them to capture anything in the hull through the deck that was reinforced with lead plates.
Zhao Liangze directed the “closing” procedure on the deck outside.
It was only after the submarine was completely hidden that he gestured for his men to remove the “screens” on the research ship.
Of course, these “screens” could not be up on their return journey. Otherwise, how would they be able to sail the ship?
After the “screens” were removed, the deck was empty, as if the black submarine just now was just a figment of everyone’s imagination.
Zhao Liangze backed up the recording of the operation here with satisfaction, and then went to report to Huo Shaoheng in the radar room.
“Report! The target outside has been cleared!”
Huo Shaoheng didn’t even raise his head. He only raised his hand, “Thank you for your hard work. Now order all the fleets to move forward at full speed. I want to return three days earlier than planned.”
After a pause, Huo Shaoheng said in a hoarse voice, “… Inform Nianzhi to wait for us at the Southern Military Port.”
Actually, she would be welcoming her father and mother ashore.
Ever since Bai Shuang’s death, Zhao Liangze had thought that he had become numb to all emotions. This was the first time since then that he had felt his heart twist into a ball. It was so painful that he could hardly breathe.
“… Yes, chief.” Zhao Liangze accepted the order and asked, “Should I tell her in advance?”
“Not yet,” Huo Shaoheng closed his eyes. “She… need not suffer too long.”
Even if everything went smoothly on their return journey, it would take at least 12 days.
If he told her now, there would be no knowing how painful it would be for her to pass these 12 days.
Huo Shaoheng rejected the idea without hesitation.
Zhao Liangze also understood and quickly said, “I understand. I’ll go inform her now.”
Zhao Liangze returned to his cabin and couldn’t help squatting behind the door and wiping his tears for a while.
He waited for himself to calm down before drinking some water and giving Gu Nianzhi a call.
On the phone, he pretended to be relaxed and said, “Nianzhi, my mission is complete. We’ll be back soon. Do you want to come to the military port to pick up brother Ze? Of course, there’s also Young Master Huo… and Ms. Song…”
On the phone, Gu Nianzhi’s voice was light and soft. “Brother Ze?! You Can Come Back Now?! That’s great! I’ll go to the military port to pick you guys up! I’ll be right there! When will you be here? I need to pack my bags in advance!”