True Apocalypse Game

Only five ships in the Eagle Country Fleet were still seaworthy. Nearly half of the fleet’s personnel had been killed in action. Of the survivors, a large portion had gone down with their ships and were now in the water. Some wore life jackets, others were in lifeboats, and some had nothing at all, struggling and calling for help.

Although the nations involved all had their own conflicting interests, the scene had been too harrowing. The Eagle Country Navy sailors had fought to the very end without flinching, earning the respect of their counterparts from every country.

While biological tissue samples were being salvaged from the giant beast, rescue efforts for the Eagle Country Navy sailors were also rapidly underway.

Soldiers who fight to the death without retreating always deserve respect.

The salvage operation proceeded in a tense but orderly manner. The giant beast had left behind an incredible amount of tissue. Its blood alone stained the sea green for several nautical miles, and there was too much of it to collect in barrels.

Large fragments of flesh and tissue that had been blasted off were also being continuously scooped onto the ships with nets.

Everyone understood that these tissue samples were more than enough for research, so there wasn’t too much dissatisfaction about Hua Country claiming the largest tentacle for itself.

After all, the Electromagnetic Railgun hadn’t been put away yet.

Besides, the reason given by the Hua Country fleet was perfectly reasonable. A complete tentacle of this size held immense research value and shouldn’t be dismantled. Therefore, the Hua Country fleet would take charge of its preservation, towing it back to Dalian Port for detailed study.

At that time, researchers from all over the world could travel to Hua Country to conduct on-site research—after all, this was for the good of all humankind.

This giant tentacle belonged to all of humanity, not just Hua Country. Hua Country was merely preserving it on everyone’s behalf—after all, no other country had the shipyards and gantry cranes large enough to handle it.

Besides, this was the sea north of the Bering Strait, which was close to Bohai Bay.

The other countries tacitly agreed to the Hua Country fleet’s proposition, at least for the time being.

In light of their pilot having landed safely to become a hero and the fact that the remains of their fallen had been recovered, Eagle Country refrained from pointing out that Alaska was right next door.

The Russian Fleet was also sensible enough not to mention the Chukotka Peninsula.

Another reason they acquiesced to Hua Country’s actions was their understanding that no single nation could handle the tentacle on its own. International cooperation would be inevitable.

Soon, the fleets of various nations left the bulk of their forces, including aircraft carriers, on guard, while dozens of warships hurried back home with their respective spoils of war.

Given the recent battle and the uncertainty surrounding the undersea Wormhole, large numbers of additional warships were already en route, so there was no fear of the area’s defenses being left vulnerable.

Towing the massive tentacle from the Bering Strait to Dalian Port would take at least five days. Therefore, smaller tissue and blood samples were immediately airlifted to major laboratories across the globe.

Humanity urgently needed to know what this monster was.

In the eyes of the average person, an Eagle Country carrier fleet was invincible, a military force that could sweep across the globe. To see it suffer such a crushing defeat—and after a Herculean effort, to have only managed to repel a single one of the beast’s tentacles—was utterly inconceivable and sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

A large volume of video footage from the naval battle was released online for the public to watch and study.

Meanwhile, major laboratories around the world sprang into action, beginning their research on the creature’s biological properties.

After suffering this humiliating blow, the Eagle Country Navy dispatched an unprecedented force. A full three carrier strike groups set sail for the Wormhole Sea Region north of the Bering Strait.

They were even joined by two Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers retrofitted with Electromagnetic Railguns, the Michael Monsoor and the Lyndon B. Johnson, which had become part of this powerful fleet, ready to avenge the previous defeat.

The entire military-industrial complex within Eagle Country went into overdrive, as if on steroids.

Previously blocked military spending bills were swiftly approved, and the Eagle Country President capitalized on the incident, causing his approval ratings to rise once more.

The militaries of Hua Country and Russia also reinforced their fleets, not by deploying new warships, but by sending new weaponry.

After a period of discussion, the major world powers reached a consensus. Their first priority was to seal off the undersea region where the Wormhole was located, doing everything possible to prevent the giant beast from passing through it again.

But if it did manage to cross through the Wormhole and enter their world again, they had to have a countermeasure ready.

A deep-sea defense net, retrofitted with nuclear torpedoes.

The few deep-sea submersibles available globally were all commandeered, fitted with nuclear warheads, and remotely piloted to the seabed, where they formed an ambush perimeter around the undersea Wormhole.

If the Wormhole were to expand again, and the colossal deep-sea beast were to cross through, it would be met with a volley of nuclear strikes.

Judging from the injuries sustained by its tentacle, the beast would be unable to withstand a nuclear attack.

This capability was now humanity’s ace in the hole.

At the same time, the allied nations established a secondary battlefront on nearby islands and mainlands.

The Exotic Giant Beast’s home turf was the ocean floor. Humans, as land-dwelling creatures, were at an absolute disadvantage in the sea.

If they could lure it onto land, things would be much easier to handle, even if the entire beast came through.

On land, free from the dampening effect of seawater, humanity’s full arsenal of missiles and artillery could be unleashed at maximum power, giving the beast a nasty surprise.

After all, it was still a creature of flesh and blood. No living thing could possibly survive a torrential downpour of ordnance.

Such was humanity’s confidence in its capacity for war.

To everyone’s relief, however, the Space Wormhole had stabilized significantly since the naval battle.

The Exotic Giant Beast that had been visible on the other side of the Space Wormhole was now nowhere to be seen.

Peering through the shimmering image of the undersea Wormhole, people could only see the star system in the space on the other side.

A dying red giant, and its planets, which were gradually growing cold and lifeless.

The colossal Exotic Giant Beast had vanished completely, as if it had never been there at all.

Perhaps it had learned of humanity’s might and decided to flee the Space Wormhole.

Just as the entire world was wrestling with these questions, the vessel towing the giant tentacle arrived at a port to resupply.

The enormous monster tentacle immediately drew gasps of awe and a crowd of onlookers from the local populace.

However, seeing the tight security around the Hua Country warship, no one dared to approach, content to watch from a distance.

At that moment, a mercury-like shadow slithered along the ground. It quickly reached the warship’s gangway, flowed up the handrail, and slipped into the ship’s interior.

The silvery-gray liquid substance continued to flow, eventually following the steel cables towing the tentacle until it reached the mountain-like appendage itself.

Then, the silvery-gray substance condensed and twisted, taking the form of a Hua Country teenager wearing a T-shirt.

The Hua Country teenager cracked his neck and muttered to himself:

"This ship is towing this thing way too slowly... Zhao Weiguo is so stubborn. It would’ve been so much easier to just build a research base on the spot. Why did they have to drag it all the way back? I don’t have time to wait for it..."

As he spoke, he thrust his hands forward. They tore into the giant tentacle like knives, ripping open a gash, and his entire body slipped inside.