96: The Zhenhai has appeared! A two-thousand-ton steel Grim Reaper, this one shot delivers utter despair!

"Depth fifteen meters, maintain hover."

Jiang Ran's voice echoed in the dead silent Command cabin, carrying an undeniable calm.

The black iron ghost slowly surfaced in the seawater, which had just been churned up by flesh and explosions, like a piece of dead iron that had lost buoyancy.

The surrounding seawater was still extremely murky, a natural fog composed of the whale's flesh debris mixed with stirred-up seabed silt.

Although this temporarily shielded them from Ark's sonar detection, it also made the black iron itself blind.

"Commander, isn't it too risky to surface now?"

Old Chen stared at the depth gauge, the cold sweat on his forehead not yet dry, gripping the deformed electronic cigarette tightly in his hand:

"There's a regular military fleet right above us. If their radar sweeps us, it'll be no different from running naked through the street."

"We are blind underwater."

Jiang Ran did not look back, his gaze fixed on a special launch button on the weapon control panel:

"Only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we survive.

I need to see what the opponent who forced me to crawl into a dog hole actually looks like."

"Prepare to release the 'night owl' reconnaissance aircraft."

Following the command, the armor plate on the back of the black iron silently slid open, revealing a small launch tube only as thick as an arm.

"Pfft—"

Accompanied by an extremely faint pneumatic sound, a black, spindle-shaped object broke the water surface.

The moment it rushed out of the water, the folded wings originally tucked against the sides of the fuselage suddenly snapped open, instantly changing its form.

This was not a common rotary-wing drone, but an ornithopter disguised with high-level biomimetics.

Its appearance closely resembled a Mutated Black Sea Gull, common in this wasteland world.

The fuselage was covered with a layer of matte, feather-like coating capable of absorbing radar waves, and its two wings flapped naturally in the airflow.

This was the "night owl."

It was an advanced reconnaissance eye handcrafted by Jiang Ran, combining the computing power of zero after consuming the tech libraries of several shelters.

"Hoo—Boom!!!"

The moment the drone entered the sky, violent wind noise and thunder were transmitted back to the Command cabin via the audio collector.

The image on the main screen began to shake violently.

The world outside was a pitch-black chaos.

The sky hung so low it seemed about to press down on the sea surface.

The heavy dark clouds rolled and surged, torn apart by the gale, like rotten cotton balls soaked in ink.

Streaks of ghastly white lightning occasionally tore through the sky, illuminating the roaring black ocean below.

Rain poured down, every drop carrying unsettling radioactive acidity, pattering against the drone's lens.

"This damn weather..."

Su Qingyu looked at the screen, which was shaking violently enough to cause seasickness, and frowned:

"The air pressure is dropping rapidly. The vanguard of Typhoon Haishen is already affecting this sea area."

"Bad weather is our ally."

Jiang Ran manipulated the joystick, controlling the precarious "sea gull" as it battled the Category 8 gale.

Struggling to pierce the heavy curtain of rain, it spiraled upward toward the high altitude:

"Only at a time like this do the hunter's eyes become blurred."

As the altitude increased to five hundred meters, the field of view finally broadened slightly.

Through the drone's high-magnification night vision lens.

Amidst the distant gales and huge waves, a gray silhouette, flickering in the lightning, finally revealed its fangs.

"Crack—"

Another winding streak of purple lightning tore through the sky, and the intense light that erupted in that instant illuminated the pitch-black sea surface to a ghastly white, like snow.

Taking advantage of this momentary brightness, the high-definition image transmitted by the drone finally stabilized.

On the turbulent, violent sea surface, where waves reached nearly five meters high.

A dark gray warship was cutting through the waves, advancing steadily like a moving steel fortress.

"Is that... the ship?"

Old Chen stared intently at the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with difficulty.

As an old Mechanic who had struggled on this wasteland for half his life.

He had seen countless armed vessels cobbled together from fishing boats, freighters, and even pontoons.

Take the Dragon King Stockade boats, for example; they looked like mangy dogs suffering from skin disease.

They were covered in welded patches and haphazardly hung iron plates and spikes, emitting the stench of rust and engine oil.

But this one, right before his eyes, was different.

Too different.

Although it only had a displacement of just over two thousand tons, making it smaller than some ten-thousand-ton freighters he had seen before.

The oppression it exerted surpassed the combined total of ten freighters.

It was too "clean."

The entire hull displayed a cold, severe deep-sea gray.

The hull lines were extremely simple and smooth, without any superfluous protrusions or attachments.

The superstructure adopted a highly sloped, inward-leaning design.

The sharp geometric facets gleamed coldly in the thunderstorm, not just for aesthetics, but to minimize the radar cross-section.

In this storm, while other vessels were drifting with the current and pitching violently.

It cut through the oncoming massive waves precisely and ruthlessly, like a sharp scalpel.

The spray kicked up by the bow formed a perfect V-shape before quickly breaking against its slender broadside.

"This is the aesthetics of industry... and the aesthetics of violence."

Jiang Ran looked at the figure standing firm in the storm, his expression grave.

In front of this ship, the so-called "overlords" of the wasteland.

Were like a group of thugs holding rusty cleavers and wearing tattered cotton jackets encountering a sharp-suited, top-tier assassin carrying a suppressed pistol.

This gap cannot be bridged by sheer ruthlessness.

This is the gap of civilization.

"Even in the old era, this would be a top-tier light frigate."

Su Qingyu pointed to the side of the bow, where the white hull number and the three bold black characters—[ship]—were clearly visible under the lightning.

"The Ark was actually able to maintain this level of war machine so well... it looks brand new."

Old Chen looked at the mirror-smooth armor plate and muttered:

"No barnacles, no rust, even the paint is new.

They aren't surviving; they are ruling."

Above this dead sea filled with radiation, mutation, and chaos.

The spotless warship itself was a silent display of arrogance and deterrence.

It was telling all survivors:

The order of the old era still exists, and the people who control the power of that order are called the Ark.

"zero, initiate structural scan. Find all its teeth for me."

Following Jiang Ran's command.

The image of the warship pitching in the storm was instantly covered by a layer of pale blue analytical filter.

Countless data streams cascaded down beside the image.

Immediately afterward, conspicuous red highlight boxes locked onto the critical parts of the hull one after another.

"Beep—Threat assessment commencing."

"Target Feature One: Four-sided Active Phased Array Radar."

zero focused the image on the pyramid-shaped, enclosed mast above the bridge.

Four massive, grayish-white flat radar arrays were affixed there.

Like four emotionless compound eyes, gazing toward the four directions: east, south, west, and north.

"This is the most lethal part."

Su Qingyu looked at the four seemingly unremarkable panels, her voice heavy:

"It doesn't need rotational scanning like old-fashioned radar.

This is the 'Eye of God.'

Three hundred and sixty degrees of coverage with no blind spots, and millisecond-level refresh rate.

As long as we show our heads within its line of sight, even a sea bird will be locked onto dozens of times simultaneously."

Jiang Ran remained silent, only shifting his gaze to the warship's foredeck.

It was excessively flat; aside from a streamlined stealth main cannon, there was a large area of neat, square cover plates.

At first glance, it looked like a giant chocolate bar.

"Beep—Target Feature Two: Universal Vertical Launch System.

Number of cells: 32."

"These are its true fangs."

Jiang Ran pointed at the inconspicuous square cover plates, making a vague gesture in the air:

"Don't be fooled by how flat and neat they look now.

Once combat begins, these covers can all spring open within two seconds.

Anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine rocket-boosted torpedoes... all are cold-launched vertically, igniting and maneuvering after launch.

It doesn't need to turn its muzzle.

These thirty-two units can unleash all their ammunition in one minute, forming a saturated firepower network covering sea, land, and air.”

Hearing this, Old Chen's face turned pale, and he subconsciously touched the weapon button on the black iron control panel.

In comparison, their Twin Electromagnetic Railgun and those few Close-in Weapon Systems were like confronting a Gatling machine gun with a matchlock gun.

But that wasn't all.

The camera finally moved to the broad flight deck at the stern of the ship.

Even on the eve of such a violent typhoon, a dark gray “Sea Eagle” Anti-Submarine Helicopter remained steadily parked at the mooring point.

The rotor blades were folded, but the two light anti-submarine torpedoes under the pylon gleamed coldly.

“And the Hound.”

Jiang Ran looked at the helicopter and added coldly:

“It extends the warship's reach.

Even if we hide dozens of kilometers away.

This aircraft can fly over, drop sonar buoys right above us, and then bomb us out like fishing with explosives.”

Radar is the eye, missiles are the teeth, and the helicopter is the legs.

This was a steel monster armed to the teeth, without any weaknesses.

“This is the Regular Army...”

Old Chen muttered to himself, an unprecedented sense of powerlessness surging in his heart.

In the past, facing Mutated Beasts or pirate ships, no matter how large the opponent was, they were just brutes relying on sheer force.

But this small, two-thousand-ton vessel was like a precise Grim Reaper.

Every part of it was designed for more efficient killing.

“A little closer.”

Jiang Ran's finger gently pushed the joystick.

Controlling the “night owl” drone disguised as a seagull, he cautiously lowered its altitude in the strong wind.

He wanted to see clearly the situation inside the warship's bridge, even if only for a glimpse.

At this moment, the drone was hovering at the edge of the clouds two kilometers away from the ship, at an altitude of eight hundred meters.

At this distance, coupled with the bionic feather coating that could absorb radar waves, plus the natural electromagnetic cover provided by the surrounding heavy rain and lightning.

Normally, even a military radar from the old era would struggle to pick it out from the background clutter.

However, Jiang Ran underestimated the “Generation Gap.”

“Rumble——!”

A massive bolt of lightning exploded in the clouds, the blinding white light instantly illuminating the dark sky.

In that very instant.

The “Black Seagull,” originally hidden in the darkness, revealed an extremely small silhouette against the backdrop of the pale electric light.

Just for a split second.

Not even the human retina had time to capture that black dot.

But for the steel monster below, that instant was enough.

No alarm sounded through the clouds, nor did searchlights frantically sweep the area.

The ship, surging in the waves, remained terrifyingly calm.

Only the Close-in Missile Launcher located above the bridge.

Like someone whose nap had been disturbed casually waving a hand, it rotated a tiny angle, extremely languid yet astonishingly fast.

“Beep! Warning! High-Energy Radar lock!”

zero’s alarm had just sounded in the Command cabin.

On the screen, a white smoke trail already filled the entire view.

“Whoosh——”

The small Interceptor Missile, only as thick as an arm, tore through the curtain of rain with a long exhaust plume.

Its speed was so great that the rain couldn't avoid it and was instantly vaporized into a ring of white mist by the shockwave.

“Evade!”

Jiang Ran instinctively yanked the joystick, trying to make the drone perform a sharp dive maneuver.

But this was merely a futile struggle limited by human nerve reaction speed.

Before that command could be transmitted to the drone.

The Interceptor Missile, as if it had eyes, detonated directly five meters away from the drone.

“Bang!”

The screen image did not shake or blur.

It instantly turned into a patch of dead static.

Immediately following, a line of cold data popped up:

[Signal Lost]

[Drone Destroyed]

[Enemy Reaction Time: 1.2 seconds]

[Interception Success Rate: 100%]

The entire process was seamless, happening so fast that one didn't even have time to blink.

There was no dogfight, no chase, and no chance of luck.

It was like an adult casually swatting a bothersome fly.

That reconnaissance drone, which incorporated Jiang Ran's current highest level of technology and was not cheap to build.

It was reduced to a burning mass of scrap metal and plunged into the dark sea without even raising a splash.

On the sea below, the warship named “Zhenhai” did not even change its speed in the slightest.

The launcher that had fired the missile simply rotated back to its original position, as if nothing had happened.

That understated indifference was more despairing than any roaring gunfire.

A deathly silence fell over the Command cabin.

Only the gray-white static on the main screen continued to flicker tirelessly, emitting a “shasha” electrical sound.

It seemed to be mercilessly mocking the battle that had just ended in an instant.

The crumpled electronic cigarette in Old Chen's hand finally dropped to the floor.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something to alleviate the suffocating atmosphere.

But his throat felt stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word.

After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence in a dry voice:

“How... how are we supposed to fight this?”

He pointed at the static on the screen, his fingers trembling slightly uncontrollably:

“That was a stealth drone! Even the Regular Army's radar from before might not have detected it that quickly.

Yet they didn't even bat an eye, swatting it down like a fly.

If we charge up there in our ship.

We probably won't even enter its air defense zone before their Vertical Launch Missiles saturate us, right?”

Su Qingyu sat silently in front of the data console, pulling up the combat data analysis from those short few seconds.

Looking at the rows of red text representing “absolute disadvantage,” she gently shook her head:

“This is the difference between the Regular Army and bandits.

Whether it was the Dragon King Stockade or the Mutated Beasts we faced before, that was a ‘brawl.’

But now...”

She raised her head and looked at Jiang Ran with complex eyes:

“This is ‘warfare.’

The enemy possesses a complete Beyond Visual Range Strike System, an omni-dimensional intelligence network, and overwhelming firepower density.

Within the rules, we have no chance of winning.”

“Clack.”

A soft sound.

Jiang Ran reached out and turned off the screen full of static.

Darkness once again enveloped the Command cabin; only the faint glow of the instrument panel illuminated his sharply defined face.

There was no fear or discouragement on his face, only a profound intensity of rapid calculation.

“Dr. Su is right.”

Jiang Ran spoke slowly, his voice unnaturally calm:

“Trying to engage a war machine like this in close combat is a dead end.

Their radar sees farther than ours, they have more missiles than us, and their reaction is faster than ours.

If we fight by their rules, we won't even get close to seeing its face.”

“Then... should we retreat?”

Old Chen asked tentatively, his tone full of reluctance: “Take a detour? Or sneak back?”

“Retreat?”

Jiang Ran turned his head and looked out the porthole.

The world outside had completely erupted into chaos.

Giant waves surged, and lightning storms raged like a forest.

The leading cloud system of the Super Typhoon named “Poseidon” was sweeping across this sea area at an unprecedented speed.

“Since we can’t beat them by their rules...”

Jiang Ran looked at the black storm outside the window that seemed intent on destroying the world, and a crazy, dangerous curve suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth:

“Then we’ll flip the table.”

“We will drag this sea, that ship, and all the high technology they pride themselves on, into our rhythm.”

“Pass the order.”

Jiang Ran spun around abruptly, his gaze sharp as a knife:

“All hands submerge. Sit on the bottom and maintain silence.”

“We will wait for it... in the Eye of the Typhoon.”