However, if they couldn"t delay this fleet, then it would reach the Star Luo Empire in no more than two days, and that may not even be enough time for the Star Luo Empire to set up all of the resources and weapons that Tang Wulin had brought to them.
As such, he had to stall this fleet no matter what.
Furthermore, there was another issue for Tang Wulin: he had to stall this fleet without actually damaging it. His ultimate objective was peace, not to harm any side. The soldiers on the federal fleets were also living, breathing humans!
Right at this moment, Long Yuxue suddenly spoke up. "I have an idea."
She had arrived a little after Tang Wulin and his friends, and she had heard the conversation between Tang Wulin and the captain.
Tang Wulin was ecstatic, and he immediately prompted, "Go ahead."
Long Yuxue continued, "If we want to hara.s.s the enemy without exposing ourselves, then we have to think outside the box. Our weapons aren"t the only things we can rely on; we can make use of some other factors, such as the terrain. For example, in our legion, we"ve only been able to keep our enemies at bay for all these years by taking advantage of the terrain in the pa.s.sageways."
The captain"s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "But this is the sea; what terrain is there to speak of? Even if we detonate soul missiles in the ocean to cause a temporary tsunami, that"ll only affect a fleet of such a ma.s.sive scale for a short time, and they"ll definitely know that it was a man-made tsunami!"
Long Yuxue shook her head in response. "Even the boundless ocean exists as a landmark of the Douluo Star; water has to float on top of something solid, does it not? If we want to create a sufficiently significant disturbance, then our target can"t be the seawater or the surface of the sea."
Tang Wulin and the captain exclaimed in unison, "You"re talking about the seabed?"
Long Yuxue nodded in response.
Tang Wulin"s eyes immediately lit up. "What will happen if we target the seabed with our firepower?"
The captain replied, "That depends on the area that we target. If we only attack a normal area of the seabed, then the most we"ll be able to accomplish is trigger a tsunami that"ll only last for a short time. However, if we can trigger a seabed earthquake or better yet, set off a seabed volcanic eruption, then the effect would be much more significant."
Tang Wulin asked, "If we set off an underwater volcanic eruption, will that harm the federal fleet?"
The captain replied, "A federal fleet of this scale is definitely going to be well equipped to deal with weather changes. For example, the federal fleet has the ability to connect all of its s.h.i.+ps in a short time through soul tools in order to stabilize the entire fleet, so it"s most likely going to be very difficult for us to truly damage the fleet. However, if we cause enough of a commotion, then we"ll definitely be able to stall them effectively. For example, if we can trigger a sufficiently powerful eruption of energy, their radars and sonars would malfunction."
Tang Wulin nodded in response. "In that case, this seems to be a plausible course of action."
A wry smile appeared on the captain"s face. "It won"t be that easy. Everything that I just described can only happen if we can trigger a seabed earthquake or underwater volcanic eruption, but our detection devices are completely unable to detect anything beneath the seabed. The only way this will work is if we can stumble upon an underwater volcano that"s already on the brink of eruption and is giving off very clear energy fluctuations, but as you can imagine, the chances of that happening are extremely low. As such, we"ll most likely only be able to set off an ordinary explosion, and the effect of that will be close to negligible for the federal fleet."
As opposed to being disheartened upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin"s face.
"Leave the seabed scouting mission to me; if there"s something that can be used to our advantage, then I"ll definitely be able to sense it. Captain, organize a bailout capsule for me and release it after the submarine sinks to the seabed. Make sure the capsule is propelled with enough power for it to be able to burrow into the mud and sand on the seabed."
The captain"s mouth immediately gaped open upon hearing this, "I can"t do that! The bailout capsules are disposable objects; there wouldn"t be any issues if you"re taking the capsule to the surface, but if you"re burrowing into the seabed, you won"t even be able to get out of the capsule, let alone transmit any information back to us. There"s enormous water pressure on the seabed; we won"t even be able to rescue you!"
Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "Don"t worry about all that, I"ll definitely be able to handle it. Just do as I say, and also prepare a ninth-grade soul missile. If I discover a suitable spot on the seabed to target, launch the missile as soon as I return."
The captain wanted to offer further objections, but Yue Zhengyu laid a hand on his shoulder, and said, "Do as he says. He was able to secure victory even in the Trial of Five G.o.ds; this is nothing in comparison."
Tang Wulin"s physical const.i.tution was completely incomprehensible to the average person. Even as his closest friends, they were still constantly being surprised by what his body was capable of.
Water pressure that was lethal to the average person was nothing to Tang Wulin, and with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was the ideal candidate to scour the seabed.
There was indeed immense pressure in the sea, but it was also the place where there was the greatest abundance of water elements. With Tang Wulin"s status as the Son of Nature and his enormous spiritual power, there was a very high likelihood that he would be able to find a suitable trigger point, so long as there actually was one in the nearby area.
Everyone else"s absolute confidence in Tang Wulin seemed to have rubbed off on the captain, and his expression changed slightly as he said, "Alright, then."
The bailout capsule was around 2.5 meters in length, and was a pill-shaped metallic structure with a built-in self-righting mechanism. During the ejection process, the capsule was inevitably going to tumble to a certain extent, so it had to be able to right itself.
Xie Xie and the Holy Spirit Douluo had already left, and there was no way to communicate with them from underwater, so everyone could only pray for their success.
The captain"s voice rang out through the transmission device in the capsule. "The submarine is now beginning its descent; we are now at 1,800 meters... 1,900 meters... 2,000 meters..."
The pressure regulation device within the capsule was very effective, so Tang Wulin couldn"t feel any difference.
He was currently repressing his own emotions to remain as calm as possible. Everyone"s spiritual power fluctuated to a certain extent; the more erratic one"s emotions were, the more chaotic their spiritual power became, and vice versa. Only after reaching a certain level of spiritual power would one be able to sense this, and Tang Wulin had definitely reached that level.
The depth of this region of the sea was around three kilometers, and Tang Wulin had already inquired the submarine captain about the intensity of the water pressure he would have to face at this depth. The submarine was awaiting his return deep in the ocean, and the thing that the captain was most concerned about was the return process. However, Tang Wulin was very calm and had absolute confidence in himself.
"2,800 meters... 2,900 meters... 3,000 meters... Now preparing to launch the capsule. Sect Master, are you ready?" The captain was still clearly quite hesitant.
Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "I"m ready."
"Preparing for launch! Three, two, one, launch!"
Tang Wulin felt the capsule around him shudder violently from a burst of powerful propelling force, following which he was struck by a severe sense of weightlessness.
This process pa.s.sed by very quickly, and all of a sudden, the capsule decelerated dramatically. Tang Wulin knew that it had to have already burrowed into the seabed.
He focused his attention and began to sense the changes taking place around him. The capsule was designed in such a way that it was able to completely keep out the external pressure even at such a great depth, but also allowed Tang Wulin to clearly sense the water elemental fluctuations outside.
He released his spiritual power outward and slowly began to communicate with the water elements outside. This was the first time he had been this deep in the ocean; even back when he was training with Mu Ye, he had only reached several hundred meters deep at most.
What was the sea going to be like three kilometers beneath the surface?
With this sense of curiosity in his heart, Tang Wulin silently experienced the world around him. There were very few sparks of life force here, but the water elements were so dense that they were feeling slightly viscous.