Chapter 227: Twin Dragons Stir the Seas

As the USS Stanis navigated further south after passing through the Gulf of Aden, the carrier strike group was majestically voyaging through the Indian Ocean.

Ten nautical miles ahead of the surface fleet, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine was advancing underwater at a depth of 50 meters.

Its active sonar continually emitted pulses into the surroundings, searching for any potential underwater threats.

Even though this made the submarine completely obvious to others, there was little concern amongst its crew—after all, it was within communication depth and could always contact the mother ship to dispatch a large number of anti-submarine helicopters if needed.

Unbeknownst to them, lying in wait on the seabed 3 nautical miles ahead at a depth of 4300 meters, a colossal entity was sprawled out in silence.

It wasn’t long before the Los Angeles-class submarine passed directly above the giant creature, the sonar pings glancing off its body without so much as causing a ripple.

The submarine continued on its way, none the wiser.

“Send a message to the mother ship, all is well!” the submarine’s captain, Sam, instructed the communications officer.

This was a routine report sent once every hour according to protocol.

The communications officer swiftly dispatched the brief message and waited for a routine reply from the mother ship. However, after a minute had passed, there was no response.

The communications officer blinked in confusion. Could the girls in the communications room have fallen asleep?

Patiently waiting another two minutes without a reply, he felt a growing sense of unease.

He hurriedly sent the message again, yet still received no reply.

Without further ado, he opened the voice channel to make a direct call.

“Mother ship, this is the Buffalo. Please respond if you hear me!”

Everyone in the command room, including the captain, was stunned upon hearing the communications officer’s call. The captain inquired, “What’s going on? Have we lost contact with the mother ship?”

The communications officer replied with frustration, “I don’t know what’s happening. I’ve sent the routine message to the mother ship twice, but there’s been no acknowledgment. There’s no response to the voice calls either. We have likely lost radio communication with the mother ship.”

The captain exchanged glances with the others, and they suddenly recalled a briefing note regarding a sea monster that could create electromagnetic shielding areas.

“It must be the sea monster!” the group exclaimed in unison.

As if on cue, the sonar operator yelled out, “Huge noise from the seabed—it seems like a massive creature!”

Soon after, the submarine was abruptly cleaved in half from the rear section, and water rushed in, rapidly filling the vessel.

Before the crew could react, along with the submarine, they were engulfed by a gigantic mouth.

A similar scene occurred almost simultaneously 10 nautical miles behind the fleet.

At this point, both of the escorting nuclear submarines in the USS Stanis’ carrier strike group were lost.

Back on the USS Stanis, the communications room was in turmoil as an officer hurriedly reported to the bridge, “We’ve lost contact with both nuclear submarines!”

General Lapudos, the commander of the USS Stanis carrier strike group, furrowed his brow and told his aide-de-camp, “Notify the fleet to switch to anti-submarine formation and send out the carrier-based helicopters to investigate both locations. It is likely the sea monster; tell the pilots not to panic in case of radio communication loss and attempt to track it down with sonar.”

Before the aide could deliver the message, the USS Stanis’ captain, Regal, remarked, “General, if it’s the sea monster, why were the incidents triggered one after the other? If I remember the briefing note correctly, there was always only one sea monster mentioned.”

Lapudos paused, then suggested, “Well, if it’s a monster, maybe there’s a male and a female, two of them? Otherwise, did it spring from a crack in the stones?”

Almost validating his guess, two Burke-class destroyers positioned at the outermost left and right of the adjusting fleet formation were hit with violent turbulence.

One destroyer on the left capsized into the sea, leaving its crew scrambling for survival.

The bow of the right destroyer was already submerged, with its stern lifting high. Crew members were falling into the water like dropping dumplings.

The rest of the fleet was stunned, with some vessels instinctively launching a circle of depth charges around themselves.

“Damn it, there really are two monsters!” Lapudos cursed as he peered through his binoculars at the capsizing Burke-class destroyer, which was slowly sinking but had not gone fully underwater, indicating that the monster had simply knocked the vessel over rather than consuming it.

Looking to the right, the other Burke-class destroyer had vanished beneath the waves, and many of its crew members were missing, likely devoured.

“Issue orders for each vessel to launch a round of depth charges around itself to keep the sea monster at bay!”

Captain Regal had already commanded the launch of anti-submarine helicopters and was preparing to drop depth charges around the aircraft carrier.

At this moment, the entire carrier group was in disarray.

The explosions from the depth charges created towering geysers of water, further compounding the difficulty of sonar detection on the sea floor.

The position of the sea monster remained undetected.

The sonar operator, in a state of alarm, reported suspected target positions, and depth charges were promptly launched in those directions.

Following this course of action, it seemed that the monster was intimidated, as no further attacks on the ships occurred.

Lapudos was almost in tears – his fleet had suffered an unprecedented loss. Without even glimpsing the sea monster, two nuclear submarines, and two Burke-class destroyers were gone.

“To the communications room: immediately signal headquarters that my fleet has encountered two sea monsters and we’ve lost two nuclear submarines and two Burke-class destroyers. Request permission to retreat to the base for rest and resupply.”

Barely a minute later, the communications room reported, “The fleet’s radio communication has encountered electromagnetic interference, cutting off contact with the outside world and disrupting inter-ship communication as well.”

Despite the chilling sight, Lapudos gave a firm command, “Signal the ships with semaphore flags to conserve depth charges, deploy the active sonar array to locate the underwater monster. Regal, order the launch of all combat aircraft to circle the ships and bomb gaps. When the anti-sub helicopters are reloaded with depth charges, if the monster’s location is confirmed, we will attack together.”

Regal instantly understood Lapudos’ intent – to save the depth charges for a concerted attack on the monster. Otherwise, once the depth charges were expended, there would be no way to combat the sea monster.

While pondering their next move, the aircraft carrier suddenly jolted upwards, letting out a massive noise.

Those standing on the bridge fell to the ground as Regal cursed aloud, “Damn it, the monster is hitting my carrier!”

It was clear that a sea monster was beneath the carrier, but how would they deal with it?

Regal picked himself up and grabbed the intercom, “Report immediately – is there any water ingress in the bilge?”

The engine room replied, “Multiple compartments are flooding. Damage control is in progress; three compartments are sealed, and our speed has reduced to 23 knots!”

The carrier was now slightly tilted, with several fighter jets from the deck having fallen into the sea after the recent impact.

Fighter jets ready for takeoff were now scrambling into the air.

This demonstrated the well-trained nature of the U.S. Navy – amidst such tumult, they managed to catapult a third of the carrier-based aircraft into the sky within ten minutes.

After takeoff, the planes swiftly grouped and hovered around the gaps between the vessels, dropping bombs.

The numerous bombs created explosions around the ships, making the scene resemble a barrage of missed bombing runs.

Lapudos suddenly shouted another command, “Signal the ships with flags to set the depth of the torpedoes to 30 meters and fire towards suspicious underwater targets!”

The escort ships were all equipped with torpedoes, typically aimed at surface targets, but Lapudos, thinking quickly, ordered their depth settings to be altered to potentially deal with the underwater monsters.

Amidst the chaos, the aide brought new information, “General, communication with headquarters and the other ships has been restored!”

Lapudos, taken aback and observing the continual spouts from the sea’s surface, wondered if the monsters had retreated.

He raised his binoculars and searched the horizon, then froze in place.

At that moment, the launching of torpedoes by the warships and the bomb drops by the aircraft ceased.

Every crew member was struck with awe by the sight far to the right of the fleet’s starboard bow, about ten kilometers away.

A mountain rose from beneath the sea surface, and a silver sea creature resembling an ascending dragon appeared.

With a massive triangular head, it opened its maw towards the U.S. Navy’s fleet and let out a trembling roar.

Everyone felt their hearts clench, and dizziness ensued. Some physically weaker individuals fell to the deck, vomiting uncontrollably.

Several fighter jets flying too low struck the ocean’s surface.

Lapudos clutched his chest, with the term “infrasound” flashing through his mind.

Fortunately, the roar of the sea beast didn’t linger nor was it repeated. Instead, after that single bellow, it turned and vanished into the depths.

The sea became eerily silent.

Several minutes passed before the aircraft in the sky regained their bearings and rushed towards the location where the sea beast had emerged.