Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense - Chapter 95

095 – Package delivery arrived

<Arrived at the destination. Distance 3000.>

<Power cable status is good. Please wait until further instructions at the current location.>

[Hey. Ms. Soo-jeong, is this really a good idea?]

[It is, so get ready to turn on the power.]

Hovering about 3,000 meters below the surface from the point where the Shandong was attacked, Ho-chang, riding a 10-meter robot resembling a roundish diver, was hanging on the cable, floating.

From the holes all over its body, the robot emitted occasional streams of water, maintaining its position. Attached to the back of the robot, there was a long cable connected to a massive submarine behind it.

It resembled an oxygen line connected to a diving suit, but it was a completely different cable. Even in the powerful water pressure at a depth of 3,000 meters, the cable supplied ‘Crystal Energy’ to the robot’s body, allowing it to withstand without getting crushed.

Inside the robot, Ho-chang, sitting on the seat with an empty hand, touched the cable anxiously, muttering.

“It’s unsettling… this…”

Then, Soo-jeong’s sharp voice, echoing the same complaints several times, resounded from the speaker in the seat.

[You doubt the equipment I made? Trust me. It will never be disconnected.]

“It’s not that I doubt the equipment. it’s just that the opponent is too strong. Think about the size of the Leviathan. Even a thick iron chain would be like using a fishing line against a whale in front of that guy.”

[The thickness is not important. it’s the strength. And the cable attached to the Knight ridden by you is a special cable that increases tensile strength as Crystal Energy is supplied. Moreover, the connecting parts are items personally hammered by Myung-jun.]

She, who reassured Ho-chang by selling the name of Myung-jun, whom he trusts more than his life, finally proceeded with the final check.

[Check the fishing line status. No anomalies in the power supply system. Check the fishing hook status. No anomalies. Check the mechanical reel status. No anomalies. Check the bait status. Mr. Ho-chang, please.]

“Damn, got it.”

Ho-chang’s grumbling could be considered natural in a way.

The ‘bait’ that Soo-jeong mentioned was, after all, referring to the Abyss that Ho-chang drive.

When Ho-chang focused his mind on the hand gripping the control stick, a large crystal on the chest of the Abyss he boarded began to emit a faint red light.

Then, as if the power had been turned off, the monitor in Ho-chang’s seat, which had been pitch dark, gradually revealed the appearance of the deep sea filled with darkness.

It was enough to make someone with a fear of the deep sea panic and tremble in fear.

‘Humanity’s shield is now a decoy.’

Recalling the briefing from a few days ago in his mind, Ho-chang muttered to himself inwardly.

====

***

====

A few days before the ‘operation’, in the briefing room of the Liberal Clan flagship ‘Liberator’.

Having heard the overall operation outline from Myung-jun, Ho-chang slammed the table with his fist and said, “Are we really going to do this? That insane stunt?”

It wasn’t unreasonable for Ho-chang to react like that. The plan explained by Myung-jun was akin to him, aboard the Abyss suit, crawling into the giant monster’s mouth capable of splitting an aircraft carrier in half with a giant anchor-like fishing hook.

Ho-chang believed that even with the Abyss suit, directly withstanding the strength of such a monster was unrealistic.

“If the strength is that strong, even with the Abyss suit, it will crumple like aluminum foil between its teeth the moment it gets caught! Even if I use my new shield, I won’t be able to open its mouth.”

Contrary to Ho-chang’s expectations, Soo-jeong positively acknowledged his opinion, nodding her head.

“My expectations are the same. You calculated it well. Is it calculation, or intuition? Anyway, it’s impossible to block the Leviathan’s teeth attack with an object like the Abyss suit under the pressure environment of 10,000 meters deep sea.”

“So that means you’re telling me to just die….”

“Not at all,” Soo-jeong said.

“Mr. Ho-chang, fundamentally, even if you use tough materials, moving an object like the Abyss suit in an environment with a pressure of 10,000 meters in the deep sea is challenging. It’s not just about making the armor tough, areas like the drive system and cooling system also need to be designed to withstand pressure.”

“So, is there an operational time limit?”

Soo-jeong’s created Abyss suit was designed to receive power using a cartridge similar to a battery that supplied crystal energy. Most of that power was used to implement an energy field protecting the body from pressure.

The problem was that the energy consumption increased exponentially as the depth increased.

To solve the energy consumption issue, Soo-jeong attached an extremely long cable connecting to the rear of the Abyss to the submarine. The tension limit of that cable was precisely the issue that Ho-chang pointed out.

“Even if we’re lucky enough to escape the Leviathan’s teeth and make it into the ship, the cable will be under an unimaginable amount of tension if it goes into the deep ocean. No material on Earth can withstand that kind of force.”

“If it’s any substance on Earth, that would be true. But if it’s a material made by Myung-jun, it might be different.”

The cable she made with Myung-jun’s help. It was a special cable that, depending on the energy supply, enhanced tension almost infinitely.

With the strength of the connection point and the pulling force being sufficient, the cable could move even the entire Mount Everest. Soo-jeong firmly believed that by using the special armor of the Abyss, which withstood overwhelming pressure by consuming crystal energy, and the new cable connected to it, she could easily catch the Leviathan, the largest creature in Earth’s history.

Upon seeing Soo-jeong’s sparkling eyes, Ho-chang gave up on persuading her and turned his head back to the briefing screen. Soo-jeong, who sparkled her eyes in that way, knew well that she was in a state where not even Myung-jun could stop her.

Then, Soo-jeong, who was observing Ho-chang looking at the briefing screen, began to explain the overview of the operation once again.

“The most crucial thing in this mission is the coordination between Mr. Ho-chang and Mr. Taylor. If Mr. Ho-chang, performing the role of bait, successfully drags the Leviathan to the designated location, during that time, Mr. Taylor, who has fully charged the burning spear in the loading bay, will thrust it into the Leviathan’s.”

“But isn’t the target location at a depth of 3,000 meters? Can Taylor’s burning spear exert its strength properly in such deep waters?”

“That’s why fishing is necessary.”

This time, it was Myung-jun who spoke. Since he was the first to come up with this plan, his understanding of the operation was as high as Soo-jeong’s.

“To insert clan members and equipment into the operation areas worldwide without exposing the location, a giant ejection device is installed at the center of the Liberator. If we use that, we can instantly send crew members and equipment from a depth of 1,000 meters to the stratosphere with minimal air resistance.”

“Like a missile?”

“Yes, exactly. However, since the launch speed is more than 15 times the speed of sound, we can’t just shoot crew members like human cannons without any measures. If we do that, they will turn into burnt chunks from the heat generated by compressed air before arriving at the operation area.”

Ho-chang shivered, imagining that scene in his mind.

Seeing him, Myung-jun smiled and continued explaining.

“So, when it is ejected from the ship, a protective shield of some sort is applied to the ejection target. Senior gave it the name…”

“Dimension Coating.”

“Right. If you interpret it loosely, it’s like a dimensional barrier. To prevent the tremendous shock generated during ejection, it surrounds the target like a capsule, isolating it from the real world. Thanks to that equipment, we can easily send crew members to the operation area with a simple transfer capsule, even if it’s on the opposite side of the Earth.”

As Dimension Coating blocked the physical interactions of the real world, being inside it meant not being affected by water pressure.

Myung-jun’s plan was to completely charge Taylor’s burning spear inside the Dimension Coating and shoot it at the Leviathan.

“Of course, due to the tremendous water pressure in the deep sea, the duration and range of the Dimension Coating won’t be very long. In normal conditions, the coating should last until the opposite side of the Earth when fired, but in the deep sea, the limit distance would be around 3,000 meters. And as the depth increases, that distance will become even shorter.”

“So, what you need is fishing?”

“Yes. In this operation, Mr. Ho-chang will play the role of the most appetizing bait in the world, and Taylor will become the most powerful fisherman throwing a harpoon.”

“Alright. Even now, the warning sounds are ringing in my head, but let’s assume everything goes well according to the Captain’s plan. However, there is still one problem.”

“What problem?”

“How on earth are you going to lure that monster, the Leviathan? It’s not a shark, so it won’t come close by smelling, right?”

In response to his point that to become bait, an appropriate ‘prey’ was necessary, Soo-jeong smiled slightly and moved aside.

Then, removing a green cloth covering something about the height of a person, she shouted towards him.

“Allow me to confidently introduce! Liberal Clan’s new product! ‘Ultra-wide Aggro Generator’!”

Revealed within the cloth was a large device that resembled a translucent crystal.

“What is that?”

“As I mentioned, it’s called the Ultra-wide Aggro Generator.”

“So, what does this Ultra-wide Aggro Generator do?”

“Do you remember the bait beacon we use when raiding gates occasionally?”

“That crazy thing where the monsters go berserk as soon as it’s turned on?”

Soo-jeong’s bait beacon was an item that made all monsters within a certain range lose their sanity and rush towards the beacon’s direction. Although it seemed like a useful device to easily subdue all monsters in place without moving he knew well the serious flaw it possessed. It wasn’t just an aggro-attracting device. it was a crazy item that elevated the combat power of the opponent as well.

Since the development of that device, only Myung-jun in the Liberal Clan used the bait beacon. In a state where it emitted a powerful attraction wave affecting the entire gate area, Myung-jun, who could annihilate enhanced monsters in an instant, was unparalleled within the Liberal Clan.

And now, she was telling him to use the enlarged version of that insane device.

“You’re exaggerating with that ‘crazy thing.’ The functionality is similar to the bait beacon, except that the limit of injectable energy has become incredibly large. In this operation, Mr. Ho-chang, this aggro generator pierced into the Abyss on your chest will play the role of bait. If it emits an attraction wave strong enough to attract aggro from all monsters within a radius of 20,000 km, the Leviathan won’t have any choice but to move.”

“It will move, but won’t all nearby monsters rush towards me like crazy?”

“Don’t worry about that. Except for the Leviathan, all the small fry here will be taken care of by Myung-jun. In other words, Mr. Ho-chang will be the bait, Mr. Taylor will be the fisherman, and Myung-jun will play the role of cleaner.”

In the face of this absurd plan, which aimed to conclude a scale of overflow larger than the Amazon crisis with just three people, Ho-chang stared with his mouth wide open and looked towards where Myung-jun was.

Then, Myung-jun raised one hand with a composed expression and spoke to Ho-chang.

“Hello. I’m Myung-jun, who took on the role of cleaner.”

At that moment, as Ho-chang reminisced about what happened during the briefing meeting, Soo-jeong’s serious voice echoed in his ears.

[Mr. Ho-chang, here it comes!]

There was no need for an explanation about what was coming.

Through Soo-jeong’s underwater scanner, which provided a perfect view even in the depths, an incredibly large monster began to reveal itself on his cockpit monitor.

All those deep-sea creatures, spewing red lights from their eyes and rushing towards Ho-chang’s direction, had a terrifying and intimidating appearance that could make even those without a fear of the deep sea panic.

‘I might be torn into hundreds of pieces before becoming bait.’

Since the movements of deep-sea monsters were entirely different from those on land, Ho-chang knew that his usual martial arts wouldn’t be of much help.

Techniques designed to defend against opponents with bones and joints had difficulty against creatures with cartilage and tentacles.

Ho-chang’s only option was to maximize his awakener abilities, pulling up the durability of the Knights he was on as much as possible.

As the monsters approached, not just through scanned images but also within the range where their appearance could be confirmed by physical cameras, a voice Ho-chang had been waiting for echoed through the speaker.

[Now, it’s my turn.]

It was the ‘bait’ for this operation, waiting for its turn aboard the Abyss on the deck of the Liberator floating behind Ho-chang. It was a communication from Myung-jun.

Hope you enjoy the chapter, if you wish to support me or read advance chapter you can do it Here