Chapter 306: Underwater Wormhole, Seeking Support, Conditions
Somewhere in Hawaii, Earth, within a Federal Military Base alarms blared frantically. Simultaneously, Energy Monitoring Satellites above the Federation also detected powerful energy fluctuations erupting in the Sea Area near Hawaii.
Amidst the piercing alarms, the Federation's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Reagan, escorted by seven battleships, sailed towards the Incident Area.
Hawaii Military Base held an extremely important position within the Federation's defense system, and the Incident Area was located deep within the Federal Mainland.
Nearly a hundred Federal fighter jets scrambled from the nearby Air Force Base. The fighter jets roared overhead the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the heavy missiles hanging under their wings glinting in the sunlight.
"Oh, my God! What the hell is that?"
A carrier-based aircraft was the first to reach the Incident Area. Looking down through the porthole, what came into view was a giant seawater vortex shimmering with electric arcs in the boiling seawater.
From within the seawater vortex, a monster resembling a bright red lobster was climbing out through the vortex, as if lobsters in the world could be nearly a hundred meters tall.
It wasn't until the monster had fully climbed out of the vortex that the Pilot on the fighter jet saw its full appearance. The monster had a head like a lobster, while its lower body resembled the tentacles of an octopus.
The giant suckers on the swinging octopus tentacles made the Pilot think of the colossal sea monsters from monster movies that could drag a ship into the bottomless Abyss.
"Officer, we have reached the Target Sea Area. A giant seawater vortex has appeared on the Sea Surface, along with a rather large-looking lobster. What should we do next?"
Fighter jets arrived at the Target Sea Area one after another. Exclamations and reports from Pilots constantly echoed through the communication channel.
"I can see it, young men. This Sea Area is too close to Hawaii. I don't care if it's a lobster or whatever the hell it is, it's threatening the safety of the Federal Mainland. Take it down!"
Hawaii, within the Federal Military Base, a white-bearded General watched the surveillance footage on the screen before him. The big screen displayed the situation in the Target Sea Area like a nine-panel grid.
These images included surveillance footage transmitted from the front-line fighter jets, as well as images captured by orbital satellites.
In the command center, a group of staff officers and Research Personnel were conducting intensive calculations and analysis in front of computers, assessing the danger posed by this sudden vortex.
"Swish swish swish!"
Following the Cobra Commander's Order, the Pilots of nearly a hundred Federal fighter jets simultaneously pressed the fire control buttons on their fighter jets.
Boom boom boom boom! Amidst violent explosions, hundreds of air-to-ground missiles and rockets simultaneously hit the Target.
The head of the bright red lobster monster was instantly blown to pieces by humanity's technology weapons. After a low roar, it fell silent.
In the Room of the Hawaii Military Base, the Military Officers collectively cheered upon seeing this scene. Lieutenant General Connors, the Cobra Commander, breathed a sigh of relief looking at the lobster monster on the screen that was deader than dead.
Connors had been worried that this lobster monster was a Monster like the TV Tokyo Giant Snake, but it turned out that while this lobster monster was large, it was just a pushover.
Equally relieved as Connors were the Owner of the White House and The Pentagon. The tragedy in TV Tokyo, Japan, a few years ago was still fresh in their minds. This administration certainly didn't want to be brought down by a Titan.
"It's just a big lobster. Tell the aircraft carrier fleet to find a way to drag this lobster back to the Base. Maybe we can research something from it?"
Connors, with his hands behind his back, looked at the big screen and casually gave the Order to his Adjutant.
"Yes, Officer!"
The next moment, both Connors and the cheering Military Officers were stunned. On the screen, from the giant seawater vortex, a giant beak-like mouth suddenly extended, biting onto the lobster's head.
A massive creature covered in spikes, resembling a turtle, crawled out of the seawater vortex. Its enormous body size was like a small island. It seemed completely unconcerned by the fighter jets circling in the air, and it swallowed the corpse of the lobster monster bite by bite.
"Take it down!"
Without waiting for Connors' Order, the nearly hundred fighter jets circling in the air simultaneously opened fire on the giant turtle in the sea.
Boom boom boom boom—
The concentrated firepower from nearly a hundred fighter jets once again accurately hit the Target. After the gunsmoke cleared, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, what was revealed beneath the gunsmoke was the undamaged back armor of the monster resembling a giant alligator snapping turtle.
"Increase firepower, continue the attack! Where is the USS Reagan? Where have they reached? Send them the precise coordinates of the Sea Area and tell them to be ready to use long-range missiles at any time. Notify The Pentagon, the Base is entering Level 1 Alert! Request permission from the White House Direction to use space-based weapons! Also, tell them to be prepared to evacuate Hawaii Residents at any time!"
General Connors' complexion turned ashen as he watched the fighter jet attack prove ineffective. He repeatedly issued Orders to his Adjutant beside him.
"General, isn't that too exaggerated? It's just one monster. We have a powerful aircraft carrier battle group. This alligator snapping turtle just has strong durability. I think we can take it down!"
The Adjutant looked at General Connors with some surprise.
General Connors looked around. It wasn't just his Adjutant; some Military Officers in the Room also had expressions of disapproval, clearly thinking he was making a big fuss over nothing.
"My experience on the *South battlefield tells me that if you find one monkey in the Jungle, it means there are at least a dozen or twenty, or even more, that we haven't found—" Connors, a veteran of the Vietnam War, pointed at the giant seawater vortex on the screen and said:
"If this seawater vortex can produce a lobster monster and a turtle, then after we take down this turtle, will another shark appear?"
His stern gaze swept across all the Soldiers around him. These Soldiers recoiled a step in fear. Connors roared:
"Remember, young men, our Hawaii Base is located in the Federal Mainland, not an overseas Base. A small mistake will cause irreparable loss to the Federation. On the Battlefield, you must always prepare for the worst. Remember that?"
"Yes, General!"
In the Room, numerous Soldiers and Military Officers saluted Connors in unison.
Soon, Connors' suggestions were placed on the Office Desk of the White House Office, before the President. Another analysis report also appeared on the Minister of Defense's desk.
In fact, Connors' concerns were quickly validated.
After the Federal fighter jets used energy laser weapons to take down the alligator snapping turtle-like sea monster, another monster appeared within the giant seawater vortex.
This time, the monster's body was covered in bone armor resembling a mirror surface. This mirror-like bone armor, capable of emitting lasers, instantly rendered the energy weapons on the Federal fighter jets useless.
This monster had a bizarre appearance, resembling an eight-legged crab with rhombic mirror plates on its back. Ultimately, the Hawaii Base launched over a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles, shattering the crab's back mirrors, and then the fighter jets used high-energy laser weapons to finish it off, finally eliminating it.
Although three monsters were eliminated,
For the Federal Military, the situation was far worse than Connors had predicted. These monsters might not be unintelligent creatures. They were making some kind of adjustments based on the attacks they encountered, or perhaps, on the other side of the great vortex, there was an alien race different from Earth, and these monsters were the bio-weapons they sent out.
In the Hawaii Sea Area, that giant underwater vortex, with the rumbling electric arcs lighting up from time to time, hung like a Sword of Damocles overhead.
The Pentagon quickly mobilized the Federation's most famous physicists, Biologists, Outer Space research scholars, and wormhole theory experts to conduct research on these monsters and the giant underwater vortex.
Soon, a report was delivered to the Federal President. This first Black Person President in Federal history to enter the White House looked at the analysis report before him, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown.
The great vortex is suspected to be a wormhole! The biological genes within the monsters' bodies have been artificially adjusted, with the possibility of them being bio-weapons exceeding 80%.
The monsters' blood contains a large amount of toxin. After sampling and analysis, the three monsters that have died so far have contaminated over a hundred kilometers of the Hawaii Sea Area.
The Hawaii City Government is sealing off coastal beaches, prohibiting tourists and local residents from entering.
"So, this is a premeditated alien invasion. Does The Pentagon have any good suggestions?" The President held the thin few pages in his hand, yet they felt heavy as a thousand pounds! "The Minister suggests directly using space-based weapons to destroy that underwater vortex, but it requires evacuating all residents near the Hawaii coastline first. According to calculations, the sea wave caused by the space-based weapon striking might trigger a magnitude 5 tsunami!" the Advisor said.
A magnitude 5 tsunami, according to international sea condition classification, is a calamity of a scale sufficient to destroy all architecture along the Hawaii coast.
"How confident are we?" The President rubbed his chin, his eyebrows tightly locked. If this suspected underwater wormhole could be completely resolved, he wouldn't mind giving it a try.
"The Department of Defense is waiting for the analysis results. They have dispatched a special operations team to conduct spectral analysis and energy detection on the great vortex!"
"How long do we have to wait?"
"The Department of Defense said that the analysis results will take at least three days!"
Three days passed in a flash, but three days were also enough for many matters to occur.
First, an underwater vortex similar to the one in the Hawaii Sea Area appeared near the English Channel in the British Isles. The commotion caused by the monsters appearing this time was much larger than in the Hawaii Sea Area.
The appearance of the underwater vortex directly triggered a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on the British Isles. A monster, clearly optimized, directly broke through the blockade of the Royal Navy of the Great British Empire and landed on the British Isles.
After destroying several coastal towns on the British Isles, the Army of the Great British Empire retreated step by step under the attack of this monster. Ultimately, it was several Round Table Knights wearing ancient armor who took action, using Supernatural Power(s) to kill this monster.
Unexpectedly for the Federal Research Personnel, this Kaiju killed by Supernatural Power(s) did not release toxic qi and contaminate the environment like the three monsters in the Hawaii Sea Area.
The White House urgently conducted friendly discussions with the British Government and urgently dispatched over a dozen top Biologists to "seek support" in the UK.
After dissecting this monster, which the government named "Kaiju," its biological characteristics were quickly deciphered.
The blood of this type of monster contains a potent toxin. Once they cause massive bleeding, the toxins in the blood will volatilize upon contact with Earth's air, changing the Earth's soil, atmosphere, and ecological environment. The reason the monster killed by those Knights did not cause harm was that the attacks of these Round Table Knights were not large-scale; they used Supernatural Power(s) to cause massive internal bleeding in that monster.
These highly toxic blood did not react with Earth's oxygen, so no toxic qi contamination occurred.
After the English Channel vortex, underwater vortices successively appeared in the Sea Areas near Manila, TV Tokyo, Sydney, and HK.
Kaiju emerged in droves from these underwater vortices, and by this time, National Governments had also learned that the blood within these monsters was highly toxic.
Even with powerful firearms, they dared not use them indiscriminately.
After all, environmental organizations shouting slogans just want money, but the potent toxin within these Kaiju can truly take a life.
Just as various countries were at a loss against these monsters, first a giant beast resembling a monster fish appeared near HK and completely swallowed the giant snail-like Kaiju.
Then Godzilla, the King of the Titans, appeared in the Sea Area near Tokyo Bay and took down another Kaiju.
The appearance of two Titan Giant Beasts, the overlords of the ocean, undoubtedly injected a shot of confidence into humanity. However, as more and more underwater vortices appeared, with increasing distances between them, even with the assistance of two Titan Giant Beasts, humanity was still bound to deal with these troublesome Kaiju.
S.H.I.E.L.D., under the World Security Council, was like a dog chasing rabbits, with Helicarriers chasing these Kaiju all over the world.
But facing these Kaiju that couldn't be easily attacked, even though the Helicarriers were equipped with the most advanced technology weapons in the Human World, they felt like a dog biting a hedgehog, unable to take action.
Perhaps inspired by the Round Table Knights of the British Government, the Federal Department of Defense urgently coordinated with the Supernatural Power(s) Management Department, dispatching a large number of Supernatural Power(s) users, hoping to use their strength to deal with the underwater Kaiju.
However, being located underwater, unless those Kaiju came ashore, ordinary Supernatural Power(s) users simply couldn't affect these hundred-meter-tall monsters through billions of tons of seawater.
National Governments had also analyzed the underwater wormholes during this period, and the final conclusion was that there was a layer of energy glow protecting the area around these underwater wormholes. Even space-based weapons might not be able to penetrate this layer of energy glow.
For this purpose, the White House used a satellite in Low Earth Orbit carrying the Rod of God to conduct a probing strike on the underwater wormhole near Manila.
The resulting towering sea waves caused thousands of deaths in Manila and forced over 300,000 people to leave their homes and become displaced. Yet, the underwater wormhole still existed.
Afterward, the Federal spokesperson strongly condemned the damage caused by the alien race to Manila and promised humanitarian rescue for Manila.
But that was a later story.
To cope with these underwater wormholes, National Governments could only mobilize their Country's Supernatural Power(s) users to deal with these monsters on one hand, while on the other hand, they intensified research on these underwater wormholes.
At the same time, they prepared to develop the newest targeted weapons to deal with these monsters.
The Federation assigned this Mission to their respective partner Arms Company.
Washington, Federation. Beside a quiet street, within a Building owned by the Tang Group, in a hidden Room, the lights were bright, a faint fragrance wafted, and occasionally the rustle of skirts could be seen.
The oval Room was covered with thick wool carpets. Along the walls of the Room was a circle of sofas covered with precious animal hides. The transparent white bear animal hides faintly emitted a faint blue luster under the lights, adding a touch of mystery to the Room.
A tall, strong Black Person maid silently pushed a four-wheeled cart over. The cart was full of collection-grade handmade cigars, as well as thin cigarettes.
The man sitting on the sofa expressionlessly selected a cigar. Immediately, two beautiful young women came forward, serving the man by lighting his cigar.
The Black Person maid slowly pushed the cart away from the Room. A blonde, blue-eyed White Person beauty pushed another small cart in.
This time the cart was filled with various fine wines. Each one was a rare commodity hard to find even for a thousand gold coins, especially a few bottles of wine without labels, with strangely shaped bottles covered in dust, which were peerless fine wines with fewer than a hundred bottles in the entire Federation.
The man's gaze swept over a pile of wine bottles and casually picked one.
The White Person woman pushed the wine cart away. Two beautiful young women knelt on the ground, placing a thick-based wine glass carved from natural crystal on the small table beside the man.
One young woman took the wine bottle from the man's hand and gently opened the cork. A burst of wine aroma filled the air, indicating the wine was perfectly aerated.
Crimson wine liquid silently poured into the wine glass. The two young women respectfully held the wine glass in their palms, carefully feeding it to the man's mouth.
However, the man took the wine glass in his hand, waved his hand, signaling the obedient young women to quickly stand up and obediently retreat from the Room.
The two-foot-thick oak door of the Room silently closed, and the vast Room seemed isolated from the entire Universe.
Fingers skillfully flicked, and an extremely thin cigarette jumped into his mouth. Lane lit the cigarette and took a deep breath.
Wisping smoke slowly exhaled from his nostrils. Lane comfortably lay on the sofa, squinting at the man sitting there stiffly, heavily puffing on his cigar.
"Mr. President, why did you call me here in such a hurry?"
The man—no, rather, the current Federal President, Obama—crossed his legs. He glanced at Lane and gently shook his head.
"Mr. Lane, I'm not looking for you, but for your Boss. Where is Tang? Why isn't he here to see me?"
Pursing his lips, Lane blew three smoke rings one after another, watching them slowly expand and disappear.
After a long while, he finally smiled.
"Mr. President! Our Boss hasn't been involved in company matters for a long time. He's handling some private matters and can't get away. If you have something, just tell me directly!"
Obama gave a cold laugh, heavily exhaling a puff of smoke. He glanced at Lane.
"It seems Boss Tang is quite arrogant. I, the Federal President, need an appointment to see him..."
Lane interrupted Obama, shifting his body comfortably and smilingly said, "Mr. President, you misunderstand. Our Boss truly has matters to handle. Are you looking for our Boss regarding political contributions for the next election or votes?"
Hearing Lane mention votes and political contributions! Obama's expression immediately changed. With the current number of employees and the influence of the Tang Group in the Federation, it could indeed affect the outcome of the next presidential election.
Understanding this point, Obama immediately changed his slightly arrogant attitude from before. He took two heavy puffs of his cigar and stated his purpose.
"Mr. Lane, I believe you must have heard about the underwater wormhole incident. Currently, National Governments around the world are beaten and bruised by these underwater wormholes. There are two underwater wormholes in our Federal Sea Area. If these two wormholes are not resolved quickly, the Federal Mainland will be threatened!"
It will also affect my future votes, Obama silently added in his heart.
"So your purpose in seeking our Boss is to ask him to help you solve these two troubles?" Lane exhaled a smoke ring, a look of realization on his face.
Obama nodded: "Regarding wormhole handling, your Tang Group has experience in this area. The space gate at Leon Military Base was resolved by your Tang Group. That kind of magical Beast Hide Scroll, I think if we use that kind of Beast Hide Scroll to plug the underwater wormholes, it should temporarily resolve these two troubles!"
"Beast Hide Scroll?" Lane shook his head, a look of difficulty on his face: "Mr. President, setting aside the fact that the Beast Hide Scroll is a magic artifact from the Underworld, just its manufacturing materials are legendary Hell Creatures. How many of these Beast Hide Scrolls do you think there can be? Moreover, the natural environment of the underwater vortex is completely unsuitable for using Beast Hide Scrolls!"
Lane scoffed inwardly at Obama's suggestion. Obama wasn't the only one who had sought him out these past few days; they all wanted the Tang Group to find a method to deal with the space gate.
And Lane truly wasn't lying to Obama. The Boss had emerged from seclusion and gone traveling with a few Boss's Wives. If Obama wanted to find the Boss, he'd have to go to Heaven.
Literally. Forget about the few Boss's Wives, even he wanted to go see Heaven from the Bible, which the Boss mentioned was now their Territory. Lane wanted to go see it as well.
He had contacted the Boss about the things happening on Earth, those mysteriously appearing underwater wormholes, and the reply he received was just three words: "Got it!"
Lane understood that the Boss had no intention of being Earth's babysitter.
"Mr. President, although the Beast Hide Scroll is useless, there is something else that I think the Federal Government could use!"
Seeing Obama looking disappointed and preparing to leave, Lane extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray, took out a folder from the side, and handed a piece of data to Obama.
Obama took the folder suspiciously. After a brief look, he looked up at Lane in shock. "Is the stuff in here real?"
Lane watched Obama's expression with satisfaction, rubbing his palms together forcefully.
"This Colossus Exoskeleton Battlegear combines the most advanced technology of our Tang's Arms Company. If equipped with a chainsaw made of Adamantium Alloy, our weapon experts have evaluated that one unit can take down a Kaiju."
Obama suddenly stood up and quickly paced around the Room, which was less than five meters wide and long. He suddenly spun around and stared intently at Lane.
"Tell me, what are the conditions of your Tang Group? Policy support, or tax exemption measures?"
Lane sat up straight, his hands on his knees, and said very seriously, "One condition!?"
"What condition?"
Obama asked without hesitation.
"Don't worry, you and we are old friends. This time, we just want to ask you to push forward a free act!" Lane smiled.
(end of chapter)