130: This shot is called "Eraser"! Within 3.5 kilometers, everything evaporates!

"Warning: Energy capacitor group has reached its maximum load capacity."

"Warning: Backup energy storage matrix overloaded, attempting to force discharge excess heat through the cooling grilles."

During the voyage, the command cabin did not become relaxed and comfortable just because they had obtained infinite energy.

Instead, it was filled with one after another alarm sound.

Previously, they were paupers who calculated every single kilowatt-hour of electricity.

Now, they had become nouveau riche who had so much money they couldn't spend it all, even to the point of bursting their wallets.

"Boss, it's no good! It's too full!"

Old Chen looked at the rows of purple-red energy readings and slapped his thigh with a face full of worry:

"That [fission heart] is just too fierce."

Even if we're just cruising, the energy it produces far exceeds our consumption.

The current [black iron] is like a strong man with a belly full of fire and nowhere to vent it.

If we don't find a way to bleed off some of that energy, the waste heat alone will boil us alive!"

"Can't our weapons systems handle this level of energy output?"

Jiang Ran looked at Su Qingyu, who was in charge of the weaponry system.

Su Qingyu shook her head and pulled up a complex weapons schematic, her brow furrowed:

"It can't be done."

Our existing means of attack are mainly [Electromagnetic Cannon]s and heavy torpedoes."

"The principle of an [Electromagnetic Cannon] is to use instantaneous current to generate a magnetic field to accelerate the projectile; it's extremely sensitive to instantaneous voltage."

"If we forcibly pour the energy of the [fission heart] into it."

Before the shell even leaves the barrel, millions of volts of voltage will melt the barrel coils first."

"It's like..."

Su Qingyu thought of a vivid analogy: "Trying to use a fire hose to connect to the flood discharge outlet of the Three Gorges Dam; the hose will explode first."

Having a body full of world-destroying internal power, but only being able to use an embroidery needle to poke people.

This was indeed a maddening waste.

"Since the pipe is too thin to catch such a large amount of water..."

Jiang Ran sat in the Commander's chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping the armrest.

His gaze went past the crowd and landed on a holographic anatomical diagram floating in mid-air.

It was the structural diagram of the carcass of that Radiation Sea Lizard they had hunted earlier.

Jiang Ran's gaze was locked onto the monster's throat area.

There was a ring of special cartilaginous tissue in a strange crystalline state, connecting to the reaction [core] inside the monster.

"Look at this."

Jiang Ran enlarged the image and pointed at the structure: "When that beast spews radiation flames, it doesn't use any complex acceleration tracks, nor does it use any precision coils."

"It just opens its throat."

Using these high-temperature resistant crystals as focusing lenses, it then takes the energy generated by the reactor in its stomach and directly—spits it out."

Su Qingyu was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up as if she had caught Jiang Ran's train of thought:

"Bionic structure?

You mean... we're not building a cannon anymore?"

"Right, no cannon.

Cannons are too precise, too petty, those are for mortals."

Jiang Ran stood up and walked to the structural diagram of the warship.

His finger drew a heavy circle on the bow of the [black iron], where the sonar and ballast tanks were originally installed:

"Since the [black iron] is now alive, since it has the heart of a beast..."

"Then we have to build it a... 'throat' that can breathe fire."

...No sooner said than done.

In a high-pressure environment like the deep sea, performing such a major structural overhaul of a ship's hull would be nothing more than a pipe dream for an ordinary engineering team.

But for the [black iron], which possessed the abilities of [Metal Devour] and [Biological Reconstruction], this was merely a slightly complex surgical operation.

"Zizizi—"

Accompanied by the precision cutting sounds of the internal engineering tentacles, the internal structure of the [black iron]'s sharp bow was completely hollowed out.

The large bulbous bow sonar array originally installed here was ruthlessly dismantled.

The ballast tanks were also violently cut and replanned.

A huge cavity, twenty meters long and over three meters in diameter, was thus cleared out under the bow armor.

This was the position where the "throat" was about to be installed.

"Material synthesis complete."

"Using high-purity quartz glass and optical crystals extracted from the wreckage of the [uss united states] to construct the 'High-Energy Particle Focusing Channel'."

[zero] controlled several precision [Mechanical Arm]s, performing dazzling operations in this pitch-black cavity.

They were like building a precise crystal palace.

Pieces of special high-temperature resistant crystals, reorganized at the molecular level and appearing as translucent hexagonal prisms.

They were embedded layer by layer on the inner wall of this cylindrical channel.

These crystals were not for aesthetics.

Their function was similar to the ruby medium in laser weapons, or the cartilaginous lenses in the throat of that Radiation Sea Lizard—

They were responsible for constraining, refracting, and ultimately focusing those violent energy flows.

"So beautiful..."

Old Chen looked at the internal structure gradually taking shape in the holographic projection and couldn't help but click his tongue:

"This doesn't look like a cannon barrel; it looks like a kaleidoscope studded with diamonds."

"The more beautiful something is, the more lethal it often is."

Jiang Ran stood with his arms crossed, his gaze not lingering on those crystals.

Instead, he looked at a more critical part—the connection system.

At the end of the channel, three deep blue "arteries" thick enough to fit an adult through.

They were extending all the way from the power cabin deep within the ship.

They weren't connected to any transformers, nor did they pass through any voltage-stabilizing capacitors.

This was the simplest, crudest direct connection.

One end was plugged into the main artery of the [fission heart], and the other end was shoved directly into the bottom of this crystal-filled "throat."

"Warning: This connection method is extremely dangerous."

Su Qingyu looked at the hair-raising design schematic, her brow furrowed: "This is equivalent to directly leading the nuclear fire out of the reactor."

There are no buffering devices in between.

Once fired, if the crystal channel in front cannot eject the energy in time.

The backflowing high temperature will instantly burn through half of the ship's bow."

"It's like someone trying to breathe fire, but failing to open their mouth, and the fire explodes in their mouth."

"So, the mouth must be opened wide."

Jiang Ran reached out and made a violent tearing motion in the air: "Install a set of the best hydraulic jaws for it."

"When it wants to breathe, I want its entire bow to be able to split open... like a crocodile."

...Three hours later.

The [black iron] hovered in front of an undulating underwater mountain range.

"Target locked."

"Distance: 3.5 kilometers."

"Target: A limestone peak about a hundred meters high."

Su Qingyu's fingers moved quickly over the fire control radar screen, locking onto a natural target.

Although for conventional naval warfare, hitting a fixed target required no technical skill.

For testing a brand new, even somewhat insane weapon, it was enough.

"Energy circuit connection complete."

"Crystal cooling system operating normally."

"Boss, do we really have to test it?"

Old Chen's voice was still a bit shaky; he always felt like his butt was currently sitting on a powder keg about to explode:

"This thing is directly connected to the reactor [core]; what if the barrel explodes..."

"Open the mouth wide, and it won't explode."

Jiang Ran stood at the very front of the command console, his gaze cold as he watched the silent stone mountain ahead, slowly uttering two words:

"Open mouth."

"Buzz—Crack!!"

As the command was issued, a dull hydraulic unlocking sound suddenly came from the [black iron]'s originally streamlined and sharp bow.

Immediately after, a scene occurred that would make even deep-sea creatures tremble.

The heavy alloy ram at the very front of the warship actually split open with a straight crack down the middle.

"Creak—"

Accompanied by the sound of heavy mechanical hinges turning, the upper part of the bow armor slowly lifted, while the lower part sank.

Like a sleeping deep-sea behemoth, it slowly opened its bloody maw in the darkness, wide enough to swallow a whale.

As the "big mouth" opened.

The twenty-meter-long crystal focusing channel hidden inside was finally exposed to the deep sea.

"Zizi..."

Seawater poured into the barrel, coming into contact with those crystals in a high-energy excited state.

It was instantly heated to a boiling state.

Countless white bubbles rose from the "mouth," gurgling loudly.

Deep within that dark throat, a ball of dazzling azure light that one couldn't look directly at was frantically gathering.

That was the primal fury from the [fission heart].

Billions of high-energy particles were being pumped into this narrow channel along those three thick "arteries."

They constantly collided, accelerated, and compressed under the refraction of those hexagonal prism crystals.

A low humming sound, like the one before an impending thunderstorm, began to echo throughout the sea area.

The surrounding seawater began to tremble unnaturally, and the water temperature near the [black iron]'s bow soared to several hundred degrees in just a few seconds.

It was charging up.

Just like the moment Godzilla's dorsal fins light up before he spews his devastating breath.

"Charging... 100%."

[zero]'s voice was devoid of emotion, yet it announced the arrival of destruction.

"Roar it out."

Jiang Ran gave the order coldly.

There was no roar of gunpowder exploding, nor the crisp sound of mechanical impact.

At the moment that beam of light erupted, only one sound remained in the world.

"Zi—Buzz!!!"

It was an extremely sharp electric scream that seemed capable of tearing the soul apart.

Like countless startled birds flapping their wings at once, or the wail of a high-voltage arc piercing through the air.

This sound ignored the barrier of the seawater and the soundproofing layer of the warship.

It drilled directly into everyone's tooth roots, causing a maddeningly sour and soft vibration.

Then, the world turned blue.

A beam of deep blue high-energy ion light, over three meters in diameter and condensed as if solid.

From the [black iron]'s split "giant mouth," it erupted violently.

This beam of light was simply too bright.

It was like a giant sword of light swung by a god, slicing horizontally through this deep and dark undersea world.

Wherever it passed, the seawater acting as the medium didn't even have time to boil before it was instantly ionized and vaporized under the terrifying high temperature of tens of thousands of degrees.

A straight "vacuum steam tunnel" tens of meters in diameter was instantly formed in the deep sea.

The light beam followed this vacuum tunnel.

At a speed near that of light, it slammed without hindrance into the hundred-meter stone peak three and a half kilometers away.

"Boom?"

No, there was no explosion.

Nor were there any flying rock fragments.

Under the wash of that devastating blue light stream, the hard limestone mountain was like a sandpile encountering a high-pressure water gun.

Or like an ice cream cone thrown into a furnace.

Melting.

Complete melting.

On the monitoring screen, that originally towering undersea mountain began to disintegrate the moment it came into contact with the light beam.

The rock instantly turned into crimson magma, and then in the next second, it was directly sublimated into gas by the even higher temperature.

One second.

The eruption lasted for only one second.

When that blinding blue light vanished.

When the surrounding seawater, under immense pressure, roared to fill that vacuum tunnel.

Triggering a belated, earth-shaking "implosion" roar.

The mountain was gone.

Where the peak had originally stood, there was now only a cloud of murky magma still rolling and emitting a dark red glow.

As well as a bottomless vitrified crater plowed out of the seabed.

In the command cabin, there was a deathly silence.

Old Chen's mouth was agape, the teacup in his hand slipped and hit the floor with a "clack," but he was completely unaware.

"This... this is a cannon?"

He tremblingly pointed at the area on the screen that had been forcibly "erased":

"This damn thing is an eraser, isn't it?!"

This wasn't destruction.

This was evaporation on a physical level.

Compared to a physical attack like an [Electromagnetic Cannon] that relies on kinetic energy to pierce and shatter the enemy.

The visual impact brought by this pure energy weapon was entirely in another dimension.

It was unreasonable.

Every bit of matter it touched would instantly return to an atomic state.

"Power overflow. Target... completely vaporized."

[zero]'s voice broke the deathly silence in the command cabin.

Although it was an electronic voice, it sounded with a chilling coldness at this moment.

On the screen, the red area representing high temperature was slowly dissipating.

Because of the drastic temperature difference, the surrounding seawater formed violent convection vortices, frantically churning up the silt on the seabed.

"The data is out." Su

Qingyu took a deep breath.

Forcing herself to recover from that devastating scene just now, she began to examine the combat performance of this new weapon with a professional eye:

"Power rating: S-rank.

The core temperature exceeds 30,000 degrees, enough to instantly melt all currently known conventional alloy armor.

Even some high-temperature resistant special ceramic composite materials."

"But..."

She changed the subject, pointing out the only shortcoming of this terrifying weapon:

"The range attenuation is extremely severe."

"High-energy ion beams in seawater dissipate energy a hundred times faster than in the air.

That strike just now had full power at a distance of 3.5 kilometers.

But according to simulation calculations, once it exceeds 5 kilometers, the power will drop exponentially.

Beyond 8 kilometers, this is just a large flashlight."

5 kilometers.

For modern naval warfare, where engagement distances are often dozens of kilometers, this was almost a "face-to-face" distance.

Compared to the [Electromagnetic Cannon] with a range of up to a hundred kilometers, this new main gun was indeed an out-and-out "short-range" weapon.

"It's enough."

Jiang Ran looked at the still-rolling magma on the screen, his eyes showing no disappointment, but instead a hunter-like cunning:

"I never expected to use it for sniping."

"This is a 'shotgun'.

It's a close-combat weapon specifically designed to be used in this deep-sea coliseum...

...to crack the heads of those guys who think they're safe just because they have shields."

In this era where [Klein Field] shield technology is becoming increasingly popular.

Conventional live-fire weapons are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver a fatal blow.

But ion beams are different.

It is pure energy.

It can act like a hot knife through butter, forcibly burning through the enemy's shield generator through continuous high-temperature overload.

"No matter what kind of turtle shell you have, one bite and I'll melt it all."

Jiang Ran turned around and gave a big wave of his hand:

"Enter it into the system."

"New main gun designation: [Fission · Ion Roar]."

"Weapon positioning: Close-range shield breaking / Siege / Devastating strike."

"Understood, Commander. Weapon module updated."

With [zero]'s confirmation, the [black iron]'s split, ferocious bow slowly closed.

That crystal throat pipe emitting an aura of destruction was once again hidden under the heavy armor.

Like a predator retracting its fangs, it turned back into that silent, cold black warship.

At this point.

Defense has [Radiation Dragon Scale] + [Infinite Shield].

Power has [fission heart] + [Infinite Endurance].

Attack has [Ion Roar] + [Electromagnetic Heavy Cannon].

Only now did the [black iron] finally have the confidence to run rampant in this desperate apocalypse.

"All preparations complete."

Jiang Ran walked to the nautical chart table and pointed his finger heavily at a coordinate point located in the high-latitude cold region of the north—the K-19 Sea Area.

A complex emotion flashed in his eyes, including nostalgia and anticipation:

"Old friend, although I don't know which ship you're working on in this life, since I'm back..."

"Your life is reserved by me."

"Set off! Full speed ahead!"

"Boom—!!"

Blue tail flames pulled out two straight light bands in the deep sea.

The fully-loaded [black iron], like a black arrow released from a bow, launched a charge toward that colder and more dangerous sea area to the north.