Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1088 - 1081: Defend the Merchant Ship

Chapter 1088: Chapter 1081: Defend the Merchant Ship

"Luo’er, what are you doing? Stop daydreaming and come help, Heaven helps those who help themselves!" Cheng Ziang shouted while holding the launcher.

"Right, heaven helps those who help themselves, and besides, Tana is not heaven." For some reason, Luo’er felt deeply moved by his last sentence, finally regaining some confidence, staving off total despair.

"Make way, make way, get a few people ready to set up the cannon!" Hu Daoke, carrying the mortar, ran out from the cabin, followed by several sailors.

As an outstanding student trained by the army, although the Advance Team had not fired cannons much, they at least had some experience and knew how to operate them.

They set the mortar on the deck, while the sailors carefully brought over the ammunition boxes. Seeing this, Hu Daoke hurriedly shouted, "What’s the holdup? Hurry up and bring it over, it won’t explode!"

As modern weapons of Earth, safety is highly emphasized, so mortar shells, as long as they are not fired, won’t explode whether they are tossed or smashed, because the safeguard remains locked until they are fired. Even if it is smashed head down onto the ground, it is the same principle.

Of course, if one tampers with the primer directly, it will definitely explode, since primers are not as temperate as explosives and can detonate easily with slight mishandling, potentially triggering the explosives.

"Boss, the cannon is set up, we can fire at any time!" After setting up the mortar, Hu Daoke shouted loudly at Luo’er.

"Wait for my command to fire," Luo’er turned his head and instructed, then couldn’t help but ask, "Do you know how to aim?"

"I do, but the calculations are a bit tricky," Hu Daoke replied honestly after hesitating for a moment.

"Yue’er, go help!" Luo’er nodded and ordered Baiyue.

"Yes!" Baiyue, obeying the command, immediately dropped what she was doing and ran over to Hu Daoke.

"Captain Luo’er." Wadulan called out, holding the ship’s wheel.

"Yes, I’m here, what is it?" Luo’er asked, looking at him.

"The water here is not deep, so I guess even if there is a Leviathan, it won’t be a large one," Wadulan reported what could be considered good news to Luo’er.

"Got it, thanks, captain," Luo’er nodded his head, feeling much more relieved.

"Submarines don’t dare enter shallow waters; Leviathans are bigger than submarines and coming to shallow water would be suicidal," Cheng Ziang said.

Hearing his words, Luo’er looked thoughtful, then asked, "Logically speaking, Leviathans that roam in shallow waters should have a lower pressure resistance than those hidden in the deep sea, so I think anti-submarine weapons could possibly kill them outright."

"But if there are many, it’s hard to say, if Tana wants to kill you, she wouldn’t send just one Leviathan," Cheng Ziang shrugged as he spoke.

"That’s true..." Luo’er’s mood grew heavier as he nodded, then turned to assess all their weapons, and couldn’t help but worriedly ask, "Can these weapons drive the Leviathan away?"

"Who knows whether they can or can’t, we just need to find a way to get the ship back to the regular route," Cheng Ziang said.

"But in that case, we might have to endure another storm," Luo’er said worriedly.

"Hey," hearing his words, Cheng Ziang suddenly paused, involuntarily expressing his doubt, "Speaking of which, if Tana wants us dead, why doesn’t she send both storm and Leviathan at once? Even an aircraft carrier wouldn’t be able to withstand that."

"I feel like she’s very cautious about using her powers. I don’t know if she’s unwilling or unable, but anyway, it seems like she can only use one tactic at a time, either the storm or the Leviathan," Luo’er pondered.

"Interesting!" Cheng Ziang nodded thoughtfully.

If it were just the Leviathan or bad weather, that would still be manageable, but Luo’er’s biggest worry was facing both simultaneously. However, from the current situation, it was obvious that Tana was still holding back.

By now, the ship’s mortars and Deepwater Bomb Launchers were ready. Those arms dealers had evidently not cheated Wadulan when they sold them these weapons.

The mortars equipped with Deepwater Shells and the Deepwater Bomb Launchers formed a clearly tiered arrangement; the mortars were responsible for long-range firepower delivery with not much ammo loaded, primarily serving a deterrent role.

If the Leviathan insisted on getting close to the ship, they could utilize the powerful Deepwater Bombs. Even though these bombs were sold to Otherworld, when used in the seas of Earth, they could equally sink a military submarine—the effect could only be described as nothing less than adequate.

"Luo’er, the Leviathan has been spotted; it’s hiding in the sea," Fulajie’er’s voice suddenly erupted in Luo’er’s mind, causing his heart to instantly tighten.

"Bearing, distance...!" Luo’er loudly asked, attracting frequent glances from the others.

"Over there, the distance is roughly, roughly over two hundred meters... in the water..." Whether due to nervousness or not, Fulajie’er’s report was dreadful, far from clear and concise.

"Be more precise, where exactly?" Luo’er slightly frowned and asked loudly.

"Eh, do, do I need to show myself to point it out?" Fulajie’er asked awkwardly.

"Fula," Luo’er sighed, then said somewhat angrily, "Have you forgotten the military terms I once taught you for reporting bearings?"

While saying this, he pointed towards the ship’s bow and said, "Using the ship as a reference, the bow is the twelve o’clock direction, and the stern is the six o’clock direction. If you report it this way, I will naturally know in which direction Leviathan lies, and you won’t need to show yourself to point it out."

"Oh, oh, my apologies, I neglected that," Fulajie’er suddenly realized, then repeatedly apologized, saying, "At, at nine o’clock..."

"Good," Luo’er frowned and nodded, then loudly commanded, "Nine o’clock direction, two hundred meters away, prepare for deterrence and expulsion, mortars, ready for a calibration round!"

Hearing Luo’er’s command, Baiyue and Hu Daoke began to adjust the firing parameters of the mortar. Although the seller had provided a firing parameter chart, most people on the ship could not understand it, so it had to be adjusted by these professionals.

Once the parameters were set, Hu Daoke picked up a mortar shell. The shell was housed in a polymer cylinder; it was used by picking it up by the tail end and lifting it out.

Hu Daoke’s movements were natural and bold, unlike other sailors who were trembling in fear, apprehensive that the thing might explode.

After the preparations, Hu Daoke held the mortar shell with both hands, the tail end already inserted into the barrel. Then, he loudly shouted, "Calibration round, fire!"

As he spoke, he released the shell, which slid into the barrel relying on gravity. Then, the primer was struck and ignited, producing a loud "bang" as the shell was shot from the barrel, tracing an arc in the sky before falling into the designated sea area.

Although it was only a launching blast, the close-range explosion was not at all pleasant to experience. A round of firing made everyone nearby feel a tingling in their scalp, as if they themselves had been struck by the shell.

The shell splashed into the choppy sea surface, followed by nearly three seconds of stillness. Suddenly, a golden light lit up beneath the sea, and everyone felt the ship suddenly tremble; then, a larger water column soared into the sky than before.

Though it was called a calibration shot, Luo’er didn’t actually know Leviathan’s precise location; he could only mark an approximate area for the trial shot. If it happened to hit, well and good; if not, they would adjust parameters and strike again. If the enemy approached, they would immediately activate the Deepwater Bomb Launcher for a hearty dose."

Luo’er stood on the deck, tiptoed and eagerly watched the water column splashing up from the sea surface, unable to accurately determine whether the shell had hit, and thus could not assess the damage inflicted. In his urgency, he simply started climbing up the mast, preparing to command from a high vantage point with a telescope.

"Luo’er, what are you doing?" At that moment, Tangmo, who was teaching Spells to Fulajie’er, noticed Luo’er’s action and looked up to loudly ask.

"I’m going up to command, just follow the plan," Luo’er replied.

"Are you crazy? The wind over the sea is so strong, if you climb up there, you might easily be blown off," Tangmo worriedly exclaimed on the spot.