The Trembling World

Chapter 300 - Submerged

TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney

"Underwater secret laboratory? That is very good! It is possible that we could find things that we need. Oh, can you communicate with them?" Liu Gan quickly asked, very excited about the news. Their last encounter at Green Pao Bay was a truly life threatening scenario. It was only through the Yin He's sacrifice that there was a gain. Ultimately, they both gained in power, but lucky chances like those were very unreliable.

"I am unable to initiate conversation with them. From the perspective of the creators of these Armored Warriors, the designers deliberately made it so that communication was limited to their own species. The Armored Warriors are unable to communicate with the locals. But… we can still navigate there. I will pretend to be a part of the rescue team and infiltrate the laboratory. I will equip the Silver Armor while standing next to you. There shouldn't be any problems with deceiving them into believing us," Yin He suggested to Liu Gan.

"Do you know their exact location?" Liu Gan asked again.

"The SOS message didn't say the exact location, but I can use three setpoints to triangulate the source. This will be my first setpoint. You can head toward setpoint B, up ahead around ten kilometers, and stop there so I can receive their message. Then I can start my calculations," Yin He explained to Liu Gan.

Twenty minutes later, the submarine moved straight in another direction for ten kilometers, Yin He received the message at setpoint C. With the final SOS message received, calculations began. Yin He was able to easily locate the base broadcasting the messages.

With all the navigating, the submarine burned a decent portion of the gasoline. There wasn't enough fuel to reach the base and return to Serenity. Ultimately, Liu Gan piloted the submarine back to Green Pao Bay to refuel.

Upon hearing of the possibility of a deep sea expedition, the team members really wanted to follow Liu Gan and Yin He. Taking into account the weight limit of the submarine and the amount of oxygen cylinders, Liu Gan was only able to bring Han GuangMing and Zhao Meng.

"If you follow us to infiltrate, there is a certain amount of danger. If you aren't careful, you can easily lose your life. I will do my best to save you, but if I fail then you will be abandoned. This isn't an easy trip. Even if you don't come along this time, there will be plenty of other times for you to level up," Liu Gan reassured the other non-selected team members.

Even so, not being picked was a disappointment by itself. From all prior experiences, Liu Gan's capabilities are very strong, so if he wasn't around then there was fear of the dangers lurking everywhere.

For all the remaining team members, they were ordered not to fight amongst themselves and to protect Serenity. Then, Liu Gan piloted the submarine with Yin He, Han GuangMing, and Zhao Meng onboard.

The size of the submarine was small, but it could fit six passengers, with four sitting. The last two spots were meant to store cargo and gasoline. These were provisions meant to help prolong the journey underwater.

Even though there was enough fuel for the small submarine to travel back and forth to Green Pao Bay and still have remaining fuel for an additional ten kilometers, it was best to be prepared for the worst. Otherwise, they might be stranded in the middle of the sea without any fuel left. Then the four of them will be trapped with no way back.

Shortly after, the submarine headed back into the sea. Liu Gan piloted the submarine, heading straight toward the source of the signal. The distance from Serenity to the base was close to fifty kilometers. At full speed, the submarine would take close to an hour before reaching the designated location.

Operating in open waters wasn't an issue for the small submarine. Liu Gan was worried about the sea creature that was lurking in the middle of the ocean. The hull of the submarine might look sturdy, but using Kingler's power as a standard measure of strength, the underwater Advanced Zombie could easily bite down partially, or completely swallow the submarine.

If either scenario happened, the other two team members were dead. Liu Gan and Yin He would sink like anchors in the water, and even with life jackets it would be a very troubling problem.

...

Perhaps there were very few Advanced Zombies along the route, or it could've been their lucky day. It was smooth journey without any disasters. After a quick hour, the submarine arrived at the location of the transmission.

What they saw wasn't what they expected. The source of the signal wasn't a converted deep sea oil well platform, but a coral reef. Constructed on top of the reef was a small wireless radio device. Clearly, this was just merely a transmission checkpoint. The real location of the signal was hidden elsewhere.

After finding the transmission checkpoint, Yin He was able to receive the actual SOS signal from the source. It was located fairly close to the transmission checkpoint. A few more kilometers away, but deeper. Way deeper, into the abyss of the seabed.

Liu Gan predicted something of this sort would happen, so he was relatively prepared for additional kilometers of travel. The submarine that everyone was riding in, was capable of reaching depths of 4000 meters, based on information obtained by Yin He. The seabed was around 3000 meters down. Without any incidents, this submarine was capable of reaching those depths.

Carefully, Liu Gan steered the submarine past the coral reefs into crevices in the seabed. Continually going deeper… 500 meters… 1000 meters… 2000 meters…

As the depthometer continued to increase, the immense underwater pressure weighed down on the hull of the submarine. There were sounds of metal cranking that were similar to metal plates sliding over one another. It felt as if the hull would collapse due to pressure and the sea water would rush in.

Han GuangMing and Zhao Meng's expressions changed when they heard the sounds. Suddenly, they realized a big flaw. The submarine hadn't been maintained for a while now. So no one knew if it was still capable of withstanding this much pressure. If the hull collapsed, water would instantly flood this place. Stuck this deep underwater would mean certain death.

Liu Gan participated in these deep sea expeditions before, so this wasn't his first venture into the abyss. Even now, Liu Gan wasn't disturbed about the creaking noises. His only worry was getting attacked by an Advanced Zombie when he was this close to the seabed. Hopefully, the underwater creature won't notice the presence of the submarine, or would ignore it. There was also his curiosity about what might be stashed away in the underwater secret laboratory.

No two secret laboratories in The Trembling World were the same, and they could be filled with endlessly different possibilities. Yin He was rescued by Liu Gan from a secret laboratory. Only with Yin He's constant protection and assistance was Liu Gan was able to become this strong this fast. Without Yin He, he would not be level 9 this quickly.

After experiencing Green Pao Bay, Liu Gan specifically told Yin He that when they reached the underwater laboratory, regardless of what happens, she can't do any more self-sacrificing acts to help him gain levels. Liu Gan really want Yin He to know the importance of her life. Her life was far more important than his need to level up.

...