Chapter 205: Hair-Trigger

The Vigia-class submarine immediately entered alert status, given that they had been tasked to monitor the Asan country fleet, any unidentified submarine approaching naturally heightened their sensitivity.

“Commander, a fleet has emerged on the surface, and it has been confirmed to be the Asan country’s fleet, except the Aegis ship is missing.”

“Dive immediately to a depth of 50 meters and complete silence throughout the vessel!”

Inside the quiet submarine, beyond the faint humming of machines, people were even softening their breaths.

The sonar operator was listening intently, on edge.

“A large submarine has approached within 30 kilometers!”

“The large submarine has now closed to within 20 kilometers!”

“The surface fleet is at 35 kilometers!”

…

At this moment, the Vigia-class submarine, like a hidden assassin beneath the sea, was silently awaiting the approach of the distant target.

Gilt suddenly sensed something was amiss.

Why would there be a distance between the Asan country fleet and the submarine, with the submarine leading and the surface fleet trailing?

Could it be arranged in a combat formation similar to that of an aircraft carrier battle group to allow the submarine to move forward for vigilance?

He remembered receiving a notification from base during the day that the Air Force had already driven the Asan country fleet away from the B2 incident area with aircraft.

Why would they dare to come back at night? Could it be because there was no longer the threat of aircraft?

“Report on the navigation speeds of the underwater and surface targets!”

The sonar operator immediately said, “Submerged target speed 30 knots! Speeds for the two leading destroyers on the surface are 30 knots, with the following ships at 28 knots.”

“Hmm? Why does it feel like the Asan country fleet is in pursuit of that submarine?” mused Gilt.

An officer suggested, “Commander, do we need to launch a preemptive strike?”

After consideration, Gilt shook his head, “The order from above is to closely monitor the fleet and await new instructions, meaning we are not authorized to initiate engagement!”

“Alright, then we continue to wait!”

Gilt stated, “It would be best to determine the relationship between that submarine and the Asan country fleet, otherwise, in the event of a conflict, our position would be passive.”

“Commander, I think if we are attacked, we would do well to prioritize sinking that submarine; otherwise, we could be caught in a pincer attack from above and below, which would spell serious trouble.”

“Jack, keep your eyes on that submarine!” shouted Gilt to the sonar operator.

The sonar operator gestured with a hand signal.

He also reported the latest situation, “That submarine is now 12 kilometers away from us!”

Suddenly, the sonar operator exclaimed, “God, that submarine is turning towards the east, and it’s picking up speed! Its speed is… at least… at least 50 knots!”

Gilt’s eyes widened, “How can there be a submarine capable of 50 knots?”

For a moment, the spacious command room was filled with puzzled looks, with no one sure of what to do.

“I order, pursue it immediately!” commanded Gilt.

Two hundred and fifty meters below the surface, the large hull of the Vigia-class nuclear submarine began to turn and gradually accelerated from a standstill.

“Commander, wasn’t our mission to monitor the Asan country fleet?”

“Compared to that, a fellow able to achieve 50 knots underwater is of more significant interest. Let’s follow and see,” Gilt explained succinctly.

But within just a few minutes, with the sonar operator giving a sigh, “I can’t hear its noise anymore. It’s disappeared!”

The command room burst into activity, “What the hell is it? I bet it’s not a submarine!”

“There’s indeed no submarine that can run at high speeds of 50 knots. But who knows, technology evolves so rapidly. Maybe someone has it now. After all, there were already 40-knot high-speed nuclear submarines decades ago.”

“However, if it’s indeed a submarine, even if we can’t catch up, we shouldn’t have lost its sound so quickly!”

“Wait, why assume it’s a submarine? Couldn’t it be some giant fish in the sea? The speed of the Pacific sailfish can reach almost 60 knots.”

“No, that’s not right. How can they compare it to a sailfish?”

…

“Quiet! All of you, quiet!” the sonar operator suddenly shouted, “The Asan country’s fleet is heading towards us!”

Gilt looked around at the others and they instantly understood; by chasing the just-vanished leviathan, they likely exposed themselves to the Asan country fleet’s sonar.

Gilt of course knew that once the fleet above spotted them, it wouldn’t be easy for his submarine to escape from the clutches of so many destroyers.

“Check the nautical chart to see if there’s a trench nearby. We’ll try to hide below!”

“Commander, about 3 kilometers to the port side, there’s a trench that goes as deep as 4200 meters, which suits us for hiding!”

“Quick, head there straight away!”

Above the surface, Herinik furiously said, “Think you can escape by changing direction? Now I’ve caught you!”

“Captain, the enemy is slowing down! Shall we attack?”

Herinik turned to his executive officer and inquired, “Has the naval general staff sent any reply?”

“Report, none yet!”

“Damn it. The situation here changes rapidly, one misstep could result in being ambushed and yet we must wait for permission from the rear,” complained Herinik.

He peered out of the command room’s porthole into the pitch dark outside.

This night, there were no stars.

“I order the launch of two depth charges towards the enemy submarine’s position, set to a depth of 50 meters!”

Suddenly, Salruk’s voice came over the comms, “Herinik, are you mad? The higher-ups haven’t issued any orders, and you’re firing without authorization.

What if it’s a US Navy nuclear submarine? Do you want to start a war with the United States? Do you want to be a criminal in Asan country?”

Herinik sneered, “Salruk, why such concern? If it’s a US Navy submarine, they’re usually at or below 200 meters.

Now the depth charges are set for 50 meters; it won’t hurt them. I’m trying to force it out!”

“You’re playing with fire!”

Herinik dismissed the concerns and instructed his executive officer to give the order.

Moments later, two depth charges were sent to their designated locations.

Below the surface, in the slowly relocating nuclear submarine, the sonar operator softly muttered, “Damn, they’ve put depth charges! But the positions are of our original trajectory.”

“Commander, they’ve struck first. Should we retaliate?”

Gilt shook his head, “They likely mistook us for that guy who just vanished. If we can dodge this, it’s better to avoid irreversible mistakes.”

Renowned for his caution and without an explicit order to open fire from above, Gilt naturally wouldn’t act rashly, not even under attack.

The US Navy’s nuclear submarines and the Rakshasa nation had often played cat-and-mouse games in the open ocean, but always restrained themselves from firing.

Unlike the Asan country navy, where most commanders had never experienced such high-stake confrontations and couldn’t resist opening fire.

Of course, this was also because the US Navy held the profound advantage of being able to strike back even harder.

In this hair-trigger situation, thanks to Gilt’s patience, direct conflict between the two parties did not ignite.

Meanwhile, far away in the command center of the US Department of Defense.

After a sleepless night, General Vandiatte and others had barely caught some sleep before appearing directly in the command center hall.

This location enabled faster information gathering and response, as the situation was showing signs of escalating.

Before darkness fell in the Indian Ocean area, a patrol plane finally spotted the drifting Captain Donald and his men, and promptly notified the Kenya base to dispatch a rescue helicopter.

Shortly after nightfall, the salvage vessel sent news: the Asan country fleet had returned, once again approaching their operation area.

And they had seemingly deployed depth charges!

This news startled Vandiatte. The Vigia-class nuclear submarine, Tlahuiz-calpan, had only just reached the area that afternoon; could they have been spotted?

While he was hesitating, a major came to report, “General, we just received a message from Asan country asking for confirmation if our submarine mistakenly hit their Visaka-class Aegis ship.”

Vandiatte was taken aback, “A mistaken hit on their Visaka? That’s impossible, isn’t it?”

He then understood why the Asan country fleet had launched depth charges – they were seeking revenge, aiming to sink the Tlahuiz-calpan!

“Immediately inform Asan country that our ships must maintain a safe distance to avoid unpredictable conflicts!”

“Yes, General.”

General Hunte approached, saying, “General, we’ve just received a message from Captain Donald who was picked up by the helicopter. Take a look.”

Vandiatte took it and quickly skimmed through, his mouth hanging open in disbelief for quite some time.

After reading all the information, he said, “Is he sure he wasn’t hallucinating? A sea creature, clad in silver skin, devoured his warship!”

Director Sandy hurriedly snatched the telegram from Vandiatte’s hands and started reading.

“It should be accurate; all six rescued individuals report the same. They are all lucid.”

Vandiatte addressed, “Hant, immediately issue a gag order. This matter absolutely must not leak out!”

“Understood. I’ve already arranged for the Kenyan base to transfer the six men on a special plane back home, forbidding contact with anyone.”

Director Sandy asked, “Gentlemen, have you ever heard of any sea creatures capable of consuming steel warships?”