Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense - Chapter 96

096 – Eraser Protocol

As Myung-jun’s Abyss raised its hand slowly, numerous turrets appeared around the deck.

These turrets had a completely different form from the ones Myung-jun usually summoned on land, resembling the harpoons of a whaling ship.

Observing this through the monitor in the Liberator’s situation room, Arin, who was making adjustments, was asked.

“Unni, is that a new model? It looks different from what I saw in Brazil. And didn’t you say turrets are difficult to use in the deep sea?”

“Oh? Yeah. Those are specially designed deep-sea combat turrets made for this operation.”

“Deep-sea exclusive? What makes them different?”

“You’ll see.”

At that moment, Myung-jun heard an alarm sound along with numerous targeting lines on the monitor in the pilot’s seat.

<Multiple new targets within firing range.>

“Let’s begin. Initiating Eraser Protocol.”

<Command confirmed. Initiating Eraser Protocol.>

<Full projectile dimension coating in progress… Completed.>

<Launch energy supply… Completed.>

<Target automatic tracking and trajectory correction according to current… Completed.>

<Attack preparation is complete.>

Upon hearing the system message announcing the completion of attack preparation, Myung-jun uttered a short command.

“Sweep them away.”

<Automatic artillery fire initiation on targets from turret 1 to turret 32.>

– Boom! Thud! Thud! Thud! –

Instantly, the 32 turrets around Myung-jun’s Abyss exploded with foam, firing a barrage of harpoons loaded simultaneously.

Then, the luminous harpoon-shaped projectiles, leaving long trails, began to race towards the approaching monsters at a terrifying speed.

Considering the pressure of over 350kg per 1cm applied in the depth of this place, their speed was unimaginable.

The radiant harpoons, fired at a speed almost similar to launching in the atmospheric environment, penetrated the exoskeletons of these monsters, which had evolved grotesquely to withstand the pressure of the deep sea, like piercing through tofu.

And then, inside these monsters’ bodies, they exploded in unison.

– Thud! Puff! Puff! Puff! –

monsters with grotesque forms writhed in the water, exploding like balloons, creating a horrific spectacle. However, these monsters offered no resistance.

Thanks to the dimension coating, Myung-jun’s projectiles, unaffected by water pressure, possessed a speed too fast for underwater creatures to evade. Moreover, the destructive power of the harpoons exploding inside the bodies was too overwhelming for even the colossal monsters to withstand.

Some monsters attempted to resist by waving their tentacles against the approaching harpoons, but the harpoons effortlessly sliced through their tentacles like cutting noodles and impaled the monster bodies.

Having witnessed the moment when a horde of these monsters, rushing towards him with red eyes spewing, was annihilated in an instant, Ho-chang complained to Myung-jun via communication.

[Whoa, seriously? Is that for real? If you had something like that, why didn’t you use it sooner?]

Ho-chang, who until then had been tasked with a tank role, had to engage in close combat by either jumping into the monster’s mouth or using a specially developed giant sword, cutting through dozens of tentacles clinging to his entire body.

Enduring the terrifying memories of being held by the tentacles of a giant monster in the depths of the ocean, where the sound of the external armor being crushed echoed, was an experience even for Ho-chang, who had no fear of deep-sea horrors.

And now, Myung-jun effortlessly slaughtered these monsters, almost as if to showcase the fruits of his labor and hardship.

Upon hearing Ho-chang’s complaints, Myung-jun responded through communication.

[There was no other choice. The material used to make these harpoons was derived from the monsters we worked so hard to capture. It’s because of that effort that we could create such powerful equipment.]

[Well, since you’ve made such a powerful tool, why not use it to capture Leviathan…]

[Leviathan?]

Suddenly, Ho-chang’s seat monitor turned red with a warning sound.

<Warning. Approaching monster reaction detected.>

[What?! Where?! I can’t see it!]

Ho-chang looked around the monitor in confusion, trying to find the targeting point indicating the target’s location. However, there was no sight of the targeting point anywhere on the screen; it was just entirely tinted red.

At that moment, Myung-jun’s calm voice reached Ho-chang’s ears.

[No wonder you can’t see it].

[What?! Why?!]

[The target is too large, the targeting point won’t fit on the monitor. Look down.]

Ho-chang moved the controls to rotate Abyss downwards. Then, the entire terrain rising slowly from the deep abyss came into view.

It instilled a strange sense of horror, as if the Earth itself were moving. Myung-jun spoke.

[That’s Leviathan. A monster that can swallow the largest battleships made by humans in one bite.]

Listening to Myung-jun’s words, Ho-chang could realize the vast difference between the creature’s size he had encountered in mere data and the ‘actual creature’ before his eyes.

It was like the overwhelming pressure and awe-inspiring size one would feel when seeing a pyramid in person instead of just in photos. The sheer enormity of it created a sense of reverence and a feeling akin to the tremendous pressure one experiences when faced with something colossal.

[Begin.]

[Begin my foot! It looks like we’re about to dieeeeee!?!?]

Despite his words, Ho-chang forcefully pulled the lever between the controls. Instantly, the protective armor attached to the rear of his Abyss exploded with a loud noise. Dozens of exposed screws inside simultaneously began to rotate, creating tremendous water currents. The screws propelled his Abyss at an unbelievable speed, pulling the cable connected to the towing device, causing it to soar upward.

Due to the red light emitted from the aggro generator, Ho-chang’s appearance from a distance seemed like a black abyss being streaked by a red comet. Right below him, two intense and vivid red lights chased the preceding red light with a terrifying speed. The two red lights, so far away that it was impossible to imagine them as living beings, emanated from the eyes of the ‘Leviathan’, a colossal creature with a giant physique that made his 10-meter-sized Abyss look like a Lego figure.

[Uwaaaa! Why is it so fast with that sizeeeeee!!]

[Mr. Ho-chang, you’re doing great! Just a bit higher!]

[Before I get eaten! This crazy lady! Captain!! Captain!! Do something! Ask her to slow down this crazy speed!]

Observing Ho-chang, who was shouting in fear like never before, Myung-jun smiled slightly, as if witnessing him being scared for the first time. He then issued a command to the operator controlling the Liberator.

[Byung-tae, I’m going to die. Go up!]

[Understood! Ascending! Liberator stealth mode deactivated! Main propulsion system initiated! Ballast tank drainage initiated! Maximum buoyancy angle! Manual control mode engaged! Main operations shifted from automatic mode to controller!]

Then, Byung-tae, who was seated below, raised a control lever shaped like a sports car’s steering wheel.

“You’re going to control it yourself?” asked Arin.

Byung-tae smiled in response and said while holding the control lever.

“I want to show off my driving skills after a long time. Everyone, buckle up tightly!”

Arin, well aware that this was Byung-tae’s first time manually controlling the Liberator, showed no signs of fear. Byung-tae’s ‘driving skills’ were already in the realm of a supernatural ability, and he had cleared all the training simulators developed by Soo-jeong for Byung-tae’s control practice with scores that were beyond human comprehension.

For him, the Liberator was nothing more than another large vehicle capable of speeding through the water.

“I’ll go at top speed from the start! Opening propulsion device! Emergency acceleration to combat speed!”

At that moment, a massive water current was generated behind the Liberator, resembling a hurricane forming underwater.

With that, the Liberator began to hurtle towards the surface at a speed that was hardly believable for such a massive submarine to move at such depths.

Myung-jun, aboard the Abyss Knights on the deck, deactivated all the turrets he had summoned and then re-summoned them under the Liberator’s hull to attack the Leviathan rising from the depths, chasing after Ho-chang.

“Commence firing.”

<Auto-artillery engagement on each target from turret 1 to turret 32.>

Moments after Myung-jun had swept away the earlier group of monsters, the turret barrage recommenced from under the ship’s hull. It was a powerful assault, capable of sinking a giant battleship with a single shot, but it only left small wounds on the massive body of the Leviathan.

[Darn, its hide is ridiculously thick! Taylor!?]

In response, Taylor, in the middle of a large compartment, resembling Iron Man with only a red electronic suit, pouring energy into a window, replied to Myung-jun.

[I’m working on it!]

[Charging started long before the operation began. Is it still not done?]

[Darn it. Have you seen the size of that monster? I’ve never attacked such a big guy before! And on top of that, I only have one chance! The weight has increased because Ms. Soo-jeong modified my spear!]

Taylor’s complaints were not without reason. Due to the numerous attachments Soo-jeong had added for this operation, Taylor’s once magnificent spear, boasting a unique blade shape, had become burdened with extra weight. The modifications were booster parts designed by Soo-jeong to pierce the thick hide of the Leviathan, something Taylor’s raw strength alone couldn’t achieve.

At the very tip of the spear, inside the blade, Soo-jeong had attached the world’s only Rank 8 Crystal stone, the ‘Heart of Banara’. It emitted a radiance as intense as the sun.

“Darn, it feels like my heart is going to be burned just by being connected.”

[Taylor, your body temperature is too high. Are you okay?]

Checking Taylor’s condition on the monitor, Soo-jeong asked with a worried tone, to which Taylor responded with a smile.

“I’m fine.”

So-eun, Myung-jun’s younger sister, who was watching Taylor from beside Soo-jeong, asked with concern.

“His body temperature is over 200 degrees, is he okay!”

“It’s okay. Awakeners are like that from the beginning.”

Despite her words, there was a hint of concern on her face. The only means of attacking the Leviathan among all the weapons the Liberal Clan possessed was Taylor’s Burning Spear.

They proceeded with the operation forcefully because of this, but Soo-jeong was not sure if her equipment could withstand the required output for the success of this operation.

The target temperature Soo-jeong deemed necessary for the success of this operation was 120,000 degrees Celsius.

In order to create a spear blade that could withstand the extreme ultra-high temperatures that would vaporise even tungsten, the most heat-resistant of all metals on Earth, Myung-jun created a new specialised metal based on the bones of the Vanara.

Not only that, but he also used his Attribute Transformation ability to the extreme, increasing heat resistance and reinforcing hardness and elasticity to the limit.

Even with all those materials poured into it, the ‘Burst Metal’ that formed Taylor’s blade only weighed 4.232g. This new material, according to calculations by Myung-jun and Soo-jeong, could maintain its form even at the temperature at the core of the sun, 15 million degrees Celsius.

‘The problem is being close to an object that hot. The issue is that people can evaporate just from radiated heat.’

Heating itself wasn’t the problem. Simply pouring energy brutishly would not be a difficult task to raise the temperature. However, since the only being on Earth capable of ‘launching’ such a hot object was Taylor, his presence was somewhat essential for this operation.

Taylor, concentrating his ability to ‘control heat’ to the extreme, was dispersing radiated heat in all directions and focusing it at the tip of the blade.

Enduring the pain throughout his body, similar to bathing in a pot boiling with acid, Taylor gritted his teeth and concentrated his mind. He recalled the conversation he had with Myung-jun during the mission briefing.

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