First of all, I"m sorry for not saying anything before going MIA in here. Many things happened in my life – I moved to another country – so I needed some time (a long one) to adapt to this new life – learn a new language for example lol. I"ll continue to translate this novel but there will be one or two chapters per month. If there"s another translator interested in translating this novel just tell me beforehand so that we can arrange things better.
I"m sorry again for not notifying you that I would have to take some time out of the translations. Ok, let"s go to the chapter:
Chapter 57 – Life hanging by a thread (1)
“Where exactly are you?"
A cold voice came through the transmission device, carrying an authoritative tone and displaying a calmness that even if the Mountain Tai were to collapse, it would still remain the same.
Li Xin heard that it was Qi Mo"s voice, and a sudden sight of relief came from the bottom of her heart. Her replying words were as fast as lightning: "I don"t know. I only know that I"m inside one of the ship"s cabins and there are many containers filled with metallic gunpowder. The entrance door is completely sealed, I"m unable to get out, so hurry up, there"s no time left."
When Qi Mo, who was in the captain"s room, together with Jiao Wen and the few other parties that were connected, all heard what she said, all of their faces changed, and Qi Mo"s face also turned much more somber.
Jiao Wen clenched his teeth and spoke: "What do they want to do with metallic gunpower?"
"Master, get out now, hurry!"
Red Falcon and Li Hu loudly shouted from the submarine that was approaching in high-speed. From the window right next to Qi Mo, the sub could be seen rapidly emerging from the water, but it had yet to surface entirely when the doors above it started to send water out as they opened, and Red Falcon was already making his way towards the outside.
Qi Mo"s expression was cold and dark, and there was a chill in his eyes that would make people shudder. Completely ignoring the submarine that had surfaced, he spoke with a heavy voice: "Trace her location, quickly."
At the same time, Jiao Wen had his face filled with worry as he said: "Qi, hurry up and leave…"
"Now!"
Qi Mo"s roar immediately cut off everyone"s anxious voices, and then he coldly looked at his wrist.w.a.tch. Suddenly, the location that Li Hu had transmitted appeared on the surveillance screen of the ship. Qi Mo glanced at the remaining time on his watch and stood up, speaking in a deep voice: "Red Falcon, stay there. Jiao Wen, go as far as you can. The others can all leave." As soon as he finished, he disappeared from the captain"s room.
On the screen, a flicker of surprise flashed through Jiao Wen"s face, his complexion turned dark and anxiousness instantly appeared on his face. His eyes displayed a scary look on them as his fist smashed the control panel, and with a heavy voice he uttered: "Retreat"
"No, Master is still…" It wasn"t known when Yellow Falcon ran out and grabbed the lever, harshly refusing.
Jiao Wen didn"t even glance at Yellow Falcon. He looked so cold that it seemed as if all his facial expressions had been frozen, and said with an icy voice: "Retreat. He is Qi Mo, his every word is an order."
They were brief words, but they let Yellow Falcon"s anxious expression calm down. After a short moment of reflection, Yellow Falcon gritted his teeth and firmly pulled down the lever, making the ship turn to full power, rapidly drawing back. As Jiao Wen has said, he is Qi Mo, he is their Master. Since he has pa.s.sed down such order, he must be completely prepared for it. There is no need to worry about his safety because he is Qi Mo, Qi Clan"s Master. As long as it is this name, everything will turn out okay.
While Yellow Falcon quickly retreated on his side, Red Falcon was tightly glued to the edge of the steamer. The men that were on the rest of the boats, as soon as the order was given, promptly dropped the things they were carrying and quickly a.s.sembled around the submarine where Red Falcon was. The Falcons and Li Hu began the preparations in complete silence. Qi Mo, his words were an absolute command, even in the face of death, there can be no trace of cowardice.
Trapped inside the ship"s hold, Li Xin listened to the conversation between Qi Mo, Jiao Wen, and the others, which had pa.s.sed through the established connection. She listened to the anxious voices from those several people and also Qi Mo"s callous command. While beads of sweat ran down on Li Xin"s forehead, she persevered in piercing the unreasonably thick door made of steel.
There was less than a minute remaining as she kept listening to the ticking sound as clear as a bell. It was suffocating to be inside this quiet s.p.a.ce, the thumping of her heart gradually synchronized with the ticking noise, and it increasingly seemed as if it wanted to jump out of her chest. It was beyond her control, she had no way of containing it.
Fifty seconds. Forty seconds. Time was gradually pa.s.sing by. Li Xin didn"t want to look at the time she had in hands, but she couldn"t stop looking up to it. The more she looked, the more her heartbeat accelerated. Her face and mind were extraordinarily calm, but her heartbeat and her trembling were not a predicament her mind could control.
"Bang!" "Bang!"
It seemed as if Qi Mo was flying as he fiercely and swiftly ran inside the ship. In his ears, there was Li Hu"s clear and steady voice pa.s.sing on instructions, conducting Qi Mo to take turns, go onwards or change directions, and there was also a banging sound that was reverberating.
Within the sense of extreme silence, there is this kind of small sound can be easily overlooked and disregarded, but in fact, it expressed Li Xin"s truest feeling, this was the sound of her heart beating.
"Already panicking?"
Li Xin heard that cold and overbearing voice, and with a sudden jolt she replied, "Almost."
"Back off, about ten meters from the door." (10m≅33ft)
Listening to what Qi Mo said, Li Xin immediately let go of what she had in hands and while she ran to the back with no delay, she spoke with exceptional cool-headedness: "The lower left corner is relatively weak."
That was the place where she has made a big and square opening, so it was definitely weaker than anywhere else. As the situation got even more critical, she became even calmer. Li Xin could no longer hear her heart beating, all she knew was that she had to give Qi Mo the most accurate information, because a second saved was a second of hope, and a second wasted was a call to their deaths.
Forty seconds. Thirty-five seconds. The ticking sound symbolized the rapid recede of time. Li Xin hid behind the front container and clenched her fist tightly.
"Get down."
Qi Mo suddenly let out a loud order, and Li Xin jumped to the ground without a second thought. At the same time, at the sealed door, there was a small but very powerful explosion sound. As soon as the sound was heard coming from the steel door, pieces of steel were shot to all directions, spreading cracking sounds all around in an instant. Those pieces of steel hoovered in the air and hit all the containers in the surrounding area. A flame suddenly burst inside the darkness, and with it came the light that brightly entered that originally dark place.
Li Xin paused for only a second after the explosion, and before Qi Mo could order her to rise up and run, she flung herself at the burning steel door.
In the lower left corner, a hole was blasted by Qi Mo. It wasn"t big, but just enough for one person to pa.s.s through. At that moment, the dazzling flames were still burning on the steel door, but Li Xin couldn"t care less about it and rushed towards it.
Standing outside, Qi Mo also rushed up at the same time, but when he saw Li Xin"s head appearing, he caught her by the scruff of the neck and yanked her, pulling her out completely.
Qi Mo grabbed Li Xin and didn"t care about what position she was as he turned around and rushed forward, letting Li Xin face downwards as she was caught by him. Qi Mo"s strength was fierce, and his unparalleled speed seemed as if he would take flight. Li Xin also didn"t care much about it and impatiently said, "There"s still twenty seconds."
Qi Mo didn"t answer Li Xin words, just profoundly said, "Get ready."
"Yes." Red Falcon"s and Li Hu"s voices sounded at the same time.
Outside the steamship, the submarine already began to slowly submerge, and standing at its peak, Red Falcon solemnly watched the direction in which Qi Mo and Li Xin were going to come out, calculating how much time remained.
Inside the submarine, Li Hu started to operate it, pulling the lever, making the level of water fall, sealing the vent and elevating the speed. All the men in the submarine sat in silence, each in his place, looking as sedated as a statue. On the steamship, Qi Mo hooked Li Xin"s neck and quickly charged ahead madly, rapidly approaching the submarine. The submarine was gradually sinking, synchronized with Qi Mo speed and time as it went down and disappeared.
Fifteen seconds. With incredible speed and unimaginable power, Qi Mo took Li Xin straight through the other side of the cabin and rushed out from where she had come up. Qi Mo looked at the submarine and saw that only its top remained on the surface, where Red Falcon was standing and waiting at the open hatch. Then, as soon as Qi Mo"s wrist exerted his full strength around Li Xin, he threw her towards Red Falcon who quickly stretched his arms to catch her while going downwards at the entrance to give s.p.a.ce to Qi Mo jump over.
Without demur, Qi Mo put his hand on the edge of the ship and jumped to the entrance in a swoop, as soon as he landed he rapidly reached to grip the hatch and powerfully close it with a bang. At the same time, the seawater flooded the closed entrance as the submarine fully submerged, it was a perfect control of time down to the last second.
At the same time Red falcon fell into the cabin while holding Li Xin, a man waiting at the side promptly pulled another two to his side to clear out enough s.p.a.ce for Qi Mo. As soon as Li Xin got into the cabin and was on the ground, she loudly shouted with a stern voice: "Go! They are going to blow up more than one ship. Hurry!"
Inside the captain"s room, Li Hu had already turned on the motor. When he saw that the two expected people came in, he pressed the pole down, and the speed immediately went up, charging towards the bottom of the sea with amazing speed.
Three seconds, two seconds, one second.
"Boom!"
No sound could be heard, but the people in the submarine were surprised when they saw through the transparent opening that the sea suddenly began to boil intensely.
The waves in the sea were like a tsunami as they rushed through all directions. The s.p.a.ce in the sea suddenly twisted and countless forces were crushed, they could only see a big shark vanish in a blink of the eye. The sudden overwhelming pressure seemed to surpa.s.s the pressure of bearing down the weight of Mount Tai.
The water pressure was stronger than ever, violent boiling bubbles exploded behind the submarine, radiating in all directions. They could only watch as the water rapidly approached the submarine. Thousands of tonnes, ten thousand of tonnes, hundred million of tonnes of water abruptly struck them. There was no power capable of resisting that terrifying force.
The submarine was at its utmost capacity, its speed had already been elevated to its highest, but the inside was shaking incessantly. Creaking sounds came from every part inside the submarine that was under the strong water pressure. On the submarine, the tempered looking-gla.s.s on the window couldn"t endure the intense pressure that had already exceeded its own limit. A loud bursting sound reverberated, and seawater started to violently pour in.
"The seawater is coming in at an angle of 173 degrees…"
"The cabin at the back couldn"t stand the pressure and is now melting…"
"Seventy degrees to the front, we have an inflow channel of water…"
"The bottom of the cabin is heating up…"
A series of reports began to come over, and Qi Mo"s face became as cold as a ten thousand year ice. Speeding up the pace towards the captain"s room, Li Xin quickly joined with everybody to deplete the seawater that has been pouring in unconstrainedly.
The water force was tremendous. The deeper it went, the greater was the pressure, and the more rampant was the water that poured inside. Although the submarine had not dived in too deep, the force of that insane pressure made this entire part of the sea became a frenzied area, and that was making the water pour in even more rampantly.
Li Xin had nothing in her hands. The looking-gla.s.s has cracked a hole of the size of a finger, but the pressure was tearing it bigger and bigger every pa.s.sing moment, and the surrounding steel began to show signs of cracking. Li Xin didn"t have time to think so much about it, she grabbed the edge of the inner cabin and immediately used her back as a wall, yelling: "Get out of here! Quickly!" while being pushed forwards nonstop by the powerful force behind her.
Step by step, she clenched her teeth as she tried to hold her position, tightly blocking the hectic amount of water that was pouring inside. Even if it was a small one, it was nevertheless a hope of survival.
At the side, when Jiao Wen"s subordinates saw this, they all went to use their bodies as a blockage. These people were all brought by Jiao Wen, usually, they are the manpower that is specifically chosen to work together with Qi Mo, so they naturally understand some common principles of weaponry, and know that this thing of using their bodies as a wall won"t accomplish anything, and will cause great harm to their bodies. But to think is one thing, and to do is another one, they didn"t mirror each other, so their bodies have already gone to block it. It is only possible to strive for a very short moment in time, and it can only be delayed for a very short moment for it to be achieved.
"f.u.c.k! What the h.e.l.l is this?" In the captain"s room, Li Hu"s hand was shaking as he held the lever. The pressure was so great that the meter almost stopped for a moment. There was no way to detect how strong the pressure was, many of the instruments began to oscillate, it was impossible to even hold it. The danger was rapidly approaching.
At this moment, Jiao Wen and Yellow Falcon were at the surface of the sea. Thanks to Qi Mo ordering the warship to retread at that time, they had already backed ten to twenty nautical miles and they could see from a distance the several ships that were halted together at the sea.
"Boom"
Standing inside the captain"s cabin, Jiao Wen and Yellow Falcon solemnly watched the several ships moored together when there was suddenly a tremendous explosion sound. Through the telescope, Jiao Wen and Yellow Falcon could only see three ships for a moment, and a huge force exploded from the middle, and gigantic flames instantly swallowed the several warships at the side.
The waves started to fluctuate violently at the sea surface, and the column of water rose to a height of 100 meters. In a flash, the wild flames were extinguished by the high column of water. The huge column of water that rose from the bottom of the sea seemed to have come from an explosion of an atomic bomb. Only after a long time did the water level ceased its rising, and the layers of waves in the surrounding radiated tempestuously and rolled towards every direction.
The dark blue sea water was now suffused with a muddy light and it spread all over just like the sound of the waves. The faint thundering sound that came through, made Jiao Wen"s and Yellow Falcon"s face completely change as they stood inside the captain"s cabin.
"Retreat. Speed up and retreat even further." Jiao Wen"s face was rather ugly as he furiously smashed the telescope in his hand, and his voice was as cold as the cold wind from h.e.l.l.
Standing at the side, Yellow Falcon didn"t need Jiao Wen"s instructions for his hand to push down the control lever and the warship that was initially stopped, instantly turned around and backed away at full throttle.
"What a good trick. Really willing to lay down investment, even uranium was put to use." Jiao Wen"s whole face was somber as he looked at the turbulent waves flying over. The roar at the sea surface seemed the roar of a dragon as it grew bigger and louder, and it gradually spread through the sky and covered the sea. The creaking, oppressive sound in the air was ear-popping, and it was felt even inside the warship.
"What metallic gunpower, this is obviously…" Yellow Falcon could only say half of the phrase before swallowing the rest. What does Li Xin know about uranium, this thing had undergone many processes, not to mention the serious contamination, is radiation and power are both terrifying. To know about these things, only if it was a weapons expert or manufacturer. For Li Xin to be able to recognize as an explosive was already good enough.
"Qi might have predicted, or he wouldn"t have let us retreat." Jiao Wen looked at the huge scene before him and said in a frigid tone.
Yellow Falcon heard Jiao Wen and nodded his head after a slight pondering. Metallic explosives were devastating, but they were in a warship, and their defenses against explosions were top-grade, even a few ships of dynamite couldn"t do anything to them. Qi Mo ordering them to retreat must have come from judging Li Xin"s speech that those things were some kind of chemical processed material.
The warships are st.u.r.dy but were not as fast as the submarine that they were on. If they don"t avoid it beforehand, under such an oppressive force, not to say other iron things, there will be nothing left from the warships.
"Get in touch with Qi"s position." Looking at the waves rapidly coming to splash in front of him, Jiao Wen"s gloomy face suddenly furrowed. It was so fast that it has even reached and affected them here, so even if the submarine where Qi Mo and the others are it"s extremely fast, the computing time is unable to be faster than this powerful wave attack.
Jiao Wen had just said those words when Yellow Falcon"s hand had already been placed on the contact device. Both of them started to show hesitation after having thought up to that point.
"Master, how are you? How are you?" Yellow Falcon quickly drove the warship to a retreat as he continuously kept contact with Li Hu.
There was no answer, only the audio frequency sound remained.
Yellow Falcon"s heart was instantly stung by a chill. Jiao Wen"s brows furrowed even deeper. Seeing that Yellow Falcon"s expression had a faint shudder, Jiao Wen slapped Yellow Falcon"s back and coldly said: "He is Qi Mo. If he can go, he"s capable of coming back."