Chapter 1400: The Response

“We must prioritize concealing our presence first. We can’t let them discover us or we’ll be in deep trouble.” Tang Wulin dispatched his first order.

If they were discovered by the Federal Fleet, this could possibly arouse the opposite side’s suspicions and result in the fleet launching an attack immediately. If that was the case, then the loss would outweigh the gain.

‘I must stay calm. The more concerned I am, the calmer I must remain.”

Tang Wulin and his companions had never participated in a real war. How could they not feel their hearts racing in the face of the sudden arrival of the fighting? Their individual abilities were not worthy of mention before the war machines like the Federal Fleet.

Tang Wulin was well aware that it was most important for him to remain calm at this moment. He knew that whatever he decided to do to manage this situation at this moment would affect the entire war that came after.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself as much as possible. Tang Wulin spoke in a deep voice, “There are a few matters that we should attend to now. Firstly, we must confirm whether these newcomers are indeed the Federal Fleet because this is very important. If it is just a large batch of sea soul beasts swimming by, we will be making a terrible blunder. Secondly, we must inform the Star Luo Empire as soon as possible so they can begin making the necessary preparations. Thirdly, and also the most important task, we must figure out a way to buy time for the empire.”

The captain considered for a moment. His gaze revealed a look of admiration. Just as Tang Wulin had said, given how time was of the essence, these three tasks were the most important for them to do at the moment to help Star Luo Empire respond to the crisis to the best of their ability. It sounded easy, but could it truly be done?

Tang Wulin asked the captain, “Can our submarine determine what they are without being discovered by them?”

Without the slightest hesitation, the captain shook his head and said, “That’s impossible. Even though our sonar system is advanced, the Federation’s equipment is as well. We have only a small advantage which lets us detect them from a slightly further distance. If this is truly the Federal Fleet, they’ll certainly be able to notice us when we try to get more information about them. When they do, they will send out an anti-submarine fleet to deal with us. It will be very difficult for us to escape once we are engaged. A fleet of this size will certainly have the ability to launch a large-scale deep-sea attack. At that point, we will be in grave danger.”

Tang Wulin’s eyes shimmered as he took another deep breath. “It seems like there’s no other way then. I’ll have to go investigate it myself.” At this point, he immediately turned around and looked toward the Holy Spirit Douluo who had already followed them into the room.

“Mother, I’m afraid that I’m going to trouble you to make a trip to the Star Luo Empire. When it comes to flying, you are the swiftest. We’ll stay in touch via soul communicator. I’ll let you know as soon as we discover if this is the Federal Fleet, and then, you shall inform the empire at your fastest speed so they can be prepared.”

“Are you going to spy on them personally? Don’t. The Federation’s radar is extremely advanced, and there will certainly be Limit Douluos assuming personal command in a fleet of this scale. There will be a large number of powerhouses. It’s too dangerous to go alone,” said Holy Spirit Douluo immediately.

Tang Wulin spoke in a deep voice, “On the contrary, alone, I’ll be the smallest target. Moreover, we can’t risk exposing our submarine as it is our only escape route. That’s my decision.” He immediately dispatched the order without waiting for further elaboration from the Holy Spirit Douluo.

“Big Brother, you’re not supposed to go. Let me handle it.” Xie Xie suddenly spoke, “My martial soul allows me to conceal myself in the gap between space, so even a radar may not necessarily detect my presence. Moreover, I will only need to take a glance from a distance, compared to you being the center of attention. It’s much easier for me to hide.”

Xie Xie’s martial soul was the Space-time Dragon, which enabled him to conceal himself in space. Ever since his martial soul’s second awakening, his abilities had grown exponentially. Moreover, he was an Agility-type battle soul master and he was skilled in the art of spying.

Tang Wulin exchanged glances with him. At this point, there was no time to hesitate. He only needed to ponder for a moment before he realized that it was indeed more suitable for Xie Xie to go instead of himself.

“Alright. You go then. We shall be prepared to assist you at any moment. Remember, if you are detected, you must divert their attention in the opposite direction of the submarine. We will head over and assist you.”

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Brimming with confidence, Xie Xie replied, “Don’t worry. I will make sure that I’m not discovered. Only a soul power detector stands a chance of detecting my presence, and it’s impossible for it to pinpoint my exact location.”

Tang Wulin gazed deeply at him. “Time is against us, so you must depart immediately. Mother, you should go now too.”

The Holy Spirit Douluo nodded, but she did not say anything more. She felt gratified upon seeing the determination and resolution in Tang Wulin. The ability to take the initiative to assume responsibility during crucial moments and to manage the crisis in an orderly manner are the mandatory capabilities of a leader. Even if he was wrong in the end, it would be an extremely important experience for his growth. Moreover, she felt that Tang Wulin was managing this issue in the most proper manner.

The submarine moved carefully. Its two vents opened slowly and sprayed out two bursts of air simultaneously. Xie Xie and the Holy Spirit Douluo, sitting inside their own escape pod, were launched to the outside at the same time.

The most important purpose of the escape pod was for rescue when the submarine had a faulty part that resulted in its failure to surface. In the entire submarine, there was a total of ten such pods. They would be ejected a few hundred meters into the water before relying on their buoyancy to float to the surface. The escape pods were also capable of maintaining suitable pressure internally. It was extremely costly to build these pods.

Even though the Federation was researching submarine technology, they definitely did not have such pods installed.

They departed. Tang Wulin said to the captain, “The investigation and reconnaissance mission can be passed on to them. Our task is now to slow down the fleet. Please report on the fighting capacity of this submarine.”

“Yes.” The captain nodded. “The submarine is equipped with sixteen soul cannon launchers that are capable of shooting fixed soul ammunitions of any model and rank. There are four torpedo bays that are used for shooting torpedos of three different models each with different capabilities. However, these torpedoes are mostly used for battleships in a naval fleet. Our torpedoes won’t break through the defenses of a mothership. The three types of torpedoes are rapid-fire, interference and explosive. The explosive type is the most powerful one, while interference type is mostly used to unleash an array of electromagnetic and sonar waves to disrupt an enemy’s equipment, causing them to give false readings. Our interference-type torpedoes are the most advanced in existence. The explosive torpedoes will need to be used within the range of two nautical miles in order to be effective.”

Tang Wulin spoke, “How about our fixed soul ammunition? How much are we equipped with?”

The question got the captain a little excited. Enthusiastically, he replied, “For this mission, we carry equipment of the highest standard, including three rank-9 fixed soul ammunitions, twelve rank-8, twenty-four rank-7 and over a hundred rank-5 and rank-6 fixed soul ammunitions. The equipment in the battleships is definitely not as good as ours. The submarine can’t use conventional soul cannons for battles so the fixed soul ammunition is better suited to us. However, we can only use rank-5 fixed soul ammunition and above. Otherwise, we won’t be able to ensure the trajectory, speed, and distance through the seawater.”

Tang Wulin nodded ever so slightly. He understood that these were his trump cards, and he would have to stall the massive Federal Fleet using them.

“Do you have any suggestions for stall ping this fleet here?” Tang Wulin asked the captain.

The captain hesitated for a moment. “Sect Master, we won’t stand a chance.”

Tang Wulin was stunned for a moment for he had never expected that the captain would answer so assuredly.

“Won’t stand a chance?” Tang Wulin looked at him in shock. “I thought our submarine was the most sophisticated in the world?”

The captain spoke with a bitter smile, “It’s true that our submarine is the most advanced, but we are facing the most powerful fleet in the world as well. According to the information acquired earlier, the war will be waged by a coalition formed of three great naval fleets. The Sea God Fleet, the Eastsea Fleet, and the Northsea Fleet. This is already almost half of the Federation’s naval forces. The fighting capacity of these three great fleets is unparalleled anywhere in the world according to the available data. It is powerful enough to destroy the entire Star Luo Empire, and it is fully equipped with a multitude of the most advanced soul weapons and spy equipment. It’s utterly impossible for us to stall them with just a submarine. Our entire crew and all of our weapons will be blasted into shreds within five minutes upon being discovered.”

Once again, Tang Wulin took a deep breath, “Can’t we use long-range interference?”

The captain answered, “We can, but the chances of us being discovered are too high once it is initiated. The Federation’s major fleets are all equipped with their own long-range radar netting system now, covering the surface of the sea and underwater. Unless we can submerge into the deep sea immediately after one launch and not to reveal ourselves, we will certainly be discovered. The fleet will launch a full-scale investigation after one attempt at interference, so we won’t have another chance to launch anymore.”

The situation was more troublesome than he had imagined. Tang Wulin had not expected that the Federal Fleet could be so powerful. According to the briefing given by the captain, their chances were almost nonexistent.