Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 122: Subspecies (7)

Dragon Raja 3

“So Pompeii thinks the dive is safe?” Manstein asked.

“Strangely, the Japan branch is just like Pompeii. Since the Japan branch is not a direct institution of the college, the Executive Department rarely requests their assistance. This time, we had to ask for their help, and they were exceptionally enthusiastic. They mobilized the entire Ganryū Research Institute, with high-level officials coming out in droves. They showed unusual enthusiasm about whatever was in the Abyss, constantly asking us for information. Yet, they adamantly refused to acknowledge that it was a dragon embryo, citing various reasons for needing further research without providing any results. We initially planned to dispatch a support team from the equipment department to Japan, but the equipment department refused to send anyone there. Just before that, the Japan branch, which insisted on continuing to observe the embryo, suddenly expressed full support for the Dragon Embryo Project, securing a government injunction within two days, controlling the waters and quickly assembling six floating platforms to build a surface base. Their enthusiasm for the embryo in the trench was unusual; I always felt they knew something.”

“It seems everyone knows something except us, who are responsible for the Dragon Embryo Project?” Manstein said.

“It really feels that way. To reduce risk, I included Caesar in the diving team and requested that the head of the Japan branch’s execution bureau serve as the on-site commander. His status within the Oni Clan is very high, so if something goes wrong, he can’t evade responsibility.”

“Everything has gone smoothly so far,” Manstein glanced at the embryo hatching rate on the large screen, which remained at a safe 32%.

“The depth has reached 2,100 meters; the Trieste ship is operating normally,” Schneider said.

His words were interrupted by a piercing alarm, and overlapping holographic projection screens appeared around him, densely packed with scrolling data. In the cross-sectional view of the Trieste ship, the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 air chambers were all marked in red and flashing.

Schneider’s expression changed dramatically. “Air chamber leak?”

The dragon he had been carefully guarding against hadn’t appeared, but the Trieste ship, after thorough checks, had developed a mechanical failure.

The Trieste ship began to shake violently, and Caesar’s face turned pale. “Submersible malfunction! Submersible malfunction! Calling the Sumeru Throne! Calling the Sumeru Throne! The pressure in air chambers 1, 2, and 3 is dropping simultaneously! We’re losing buoyancy! Repeat, we are losing buoyancy!”

There had been no prior warning, and suddenly the submersible jolted; all the instrument readings fluctuated violently. The Trieste ship had four air chambers, and three of them were leaking simultaneously, with compressed air escaping wildly. The sensation of weightlessness hit them instantly, and the depth gauge numbers jumped—they were plummeting toward the deep sea at high speed.

“2,400… 2,680… 3,260…” Chu Zihang reported rapidly; in just one minute, they had descended a kilometer.

The Trieste ship still used an old-fashioned instrument panel; the depth gauge had units for ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands, and the digits for ones and tens spun rapidly, making it impossible for Chu Zihang to even read the tens digit.

“Slow down! Find a way to slow down! The pressure increase will damage your outer shell!” Chisei shouted.

“We can’t slow down! We’re crashing down like a rock!” Lu Mingfei’s voice trembled. “How can a rock slow itself down?”

Lu Mingfei felt as if his soul was being thrown out of his body. The submersible was plummeting and rolling at high speed; for the people in the cockpit, it felt like riding a roller coaster. But while a roller coaster ride at most lasts three minutes, they had been rolling for several minutes already. If this continued, this ride could only end in hell.

“Try cutting off the air valve! Keep the air in the air chambers! You must find a way to increase buoyancy!” Chisei urged.

“We’ve already tried; the problem is with the air valve. I’ve lost control of that valve!” Caesar futilely twisted the knob of the air valve.

Massive bubbles began to rise around the submersible, sounding like thunder. Lu Mingfei looked out the observation port, seeing only the silver reflections of bubbles. Chu Zihang quickly opened the Trieste ship’s design blueprint; the problematic valve should be the air valve at the top of the submersible, which served as the pressure relief valve for air chambers 1, 2, and 3. It was usually closed and only used in extremely rare situations. It was hidden beneath thick pressure-resistant armor, making it very troublesome to inspect. Yet, it was this deeply hidden little valve that had failed instead of one of the commonly used valves that had opened and closed thousands of times.

“This is a design flaw. If the pressure relief valve leaks, all the other valves being closed won’t prevent the air from escaping,” Chu Zihang said. “We can only try to minimize the rate of air escape.”

“I can cut off the pipe leading to the pressure relief valve by switching to a three-way pipe, but that operation takes time! Damn it! Didn’t the equipment department say this modification was a masterpiece?” Caesar said, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

“I can try opening the stabilizer to stop the rolling first; if we keep flipping over, we can’t do anything,” Chu Zihang suggested.

“Call the Trieste ship! Call the Trieste ship! The Ganryū Research Institute has provided an emergency plan. If you can activate the Trieste ship’s powerful energy source and work together with the stabilizers and the balance rudder, you can enter a gliding state underwater! This can slow down your descent. But you have to be quick; if you wait too long, you’ll crash into the trench and be smashed against the sea floor!” Chisei’s voice came through the earpiece.

“Are you talking about the powerful energy source that the equipment department installed, the nuclear power chamber?” Caesar stood up, grabbing the belt on the wall. He elbowed the glass cover on the control panel, shattering it, and tightly grasped the yellow wrench inside.

Lu Mingfei then noticed the nuclear symbol on the wrench. “Are you kidding me? This thing is nuclear-powered?”

“The original was just an ordinary hydrochloric acid battery, but the equipment department thought the power was too weak to complete a large-scale survey, so they installed a nuclear power chamber. This submersible has two power sources: the weak one is lithium battery-powered, and the strong one is that nuclear power chamber,” Caesar explained. “But can you trust the nuclear power chamber assembled by the equipment department?”

“They’re not… really skilled in nuclear technology, are they?” Lu Mingfei stammered.

“There are a few experts from Oak Ridge who developed the world’s first atomic bomb.”

“Is this team not reliable?”

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 121: Subspecies (6)Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 123: Subspecies (8) >>