Homo Sapiens

Meanwhile.

Luzon.

Approximately 1,206 kilometers northeast of Luzon Island lay the boundless Pacific Ocean.

This expanse of sea, situated between the Luzon Islands, Taiwan Island, the Ryukyu Islands, the East Japan Archipelago, and the Mariana Islands, had a specific name: the Luzon Sea.

The Luzon Sea did not belong to Luzon; most of it was international waters. It covered a total area of 5.8 million square kilometers, with an average depth of around 4,100 meters.

The reason for turning their attention here was because some time ago, while laying its undersea fiber-optic cable network, the Homo Sapiens Company had accidentally discovered a ”lost artifact.”

Currently, the submarine Tuna-005 was operating in this very sea.

The captain, Davis, and Zhang Li, the captain of the Internal Affairs Department’s special task force assisting with the salvage, were communicating via pheromones in the cockpit.

’Have we reached the designated location?’

Davis nodded. ’We’ve arrived. The target is on the seabed below us.’

Zhang Li studied the detailed nautical chart.

The water depth here ranged from 3,527 to 3,807 meters. The surrounding seabed terrain was a hilly landscape, and the target he needed to salvage was located in a small basin among these undersea hills.

He issued a command to his subordinate: ’Release the recon fish.’

’Yes, sir.’

The submarine was currently at a depth of around 130 meters, while the target lay 3,723 meters below.

At a depth of 3,723 meters, ordinary submersibles couldn’t dive that deep. Only certain scientific research-type submersibles could reach it.

Soon, hundreds of genetically modified fish were released from a special hatch at the bottom of the submarine and began their rapid descent.

As they dove deeper, the bodies of the genetically modified fish began to undergo a special transformation, a change specifically designed to withstand the immense water pressure.

The maximum diving depth for these genetically modified fish was the deepest point on Earth: the Mariana Trench.

A depth of over three thousand meters was nothing to them.

In the cockpit, Zhang Li watched as various unusual data points began to appear on the rows of biocomputer screens, relayed through the pheromone signal receiver on the submarine’s hull.

For instance, the radiation levels were 2.4 times higher than in a normal sea area, and this number was still rising.

This was why the detectors on the undersea fiber-optic cable had noticed something was amiss in the nearby waters.

Although there were many high-radiation zones on seabeds across the globe—some with nuclear radiation concentrations more than ten times that of normal sea areas—a large portion of these high-radiation areas were actually caused by submarine volcanoes or radioactive minerals on the seafloor.

When the high-radiation zone was first discovered, neither the Internal Affairs Department nor the Security Department had paid it much mind. They simply followed internal protocols and dispatched genetically modified recon fish to conduct a rough survey of the area.

This type of survey was mainly in preparation for future undersea mining operations.

However, during this survey, the recon fish unexpectedly discovered the wreckage of an airplane at the epicenter of the radiation.

This incident immediately drew the full attention of the Security Division and the Internal Affairs Division.

They quickly investigated historical records and found a specific account of this aircraft in a declassified document from America.

The time was December 5, 1965.

An aircraft carrier fleet on a mission in the Luzon Sea had, through a moment of carelessness, allowed a fighter-bomber parked on its deck to accidentally slide into the ocean.

The average depth of the Luzon Sea is around 4,100 meters. At such a depth, salvage was not only impossible back then, but it remains so even now.

If it had just been a bomber, the fabulously wealthy America wouldn’t have cared much.

The problem was that the bomber was carrying a B43 thermonuclear bomb.

Upon discovering this information, the Security Division and the Internal Affairs Division were ecstatic.

Others lacked the technology for the salvage, and since America had obscured the location, no one would naturally think of going after the hydrogen bomb.

But the Homo Sapiens Company not only had a way to salvage it, but had also happened to find the sinking point. Furthermore, the company was currently encountering some minor issues with its own hydrogen bomb development project.

Although they had already used bio-purification technology to refine a batch of heavy water, produced lithium deuteride from it, and even possessed their own fission bombs, a hydrogen bomb wasn’t something that could be easily built just by knowing the basic principles and having the raw materials.

Otherwise, why hadn’t Tianzhu, which also possessed fission bombs, managed to develop a hydrogen bomb?

Clearly, there were significant technical hurdles. This was the closely-guarded expertise of the major world powers, and many key details were undoubtedly kept hidden.

There were two ways to crack this technology.

One was to figure it out bit by bit on their own.

The other was to obtain a hydrogen bomb directly and simply reverse-engineer it.

The problem was that with the rapid development of information technology in the mid-to-late last century, especially after the 1990s, the major powers had modernized most of their nuclear arsenals, adding features like self-destruct, self-locking, and positioning systems.

Therefore, obtaining a sample from their current nuclear stockpiles was next to impossible.

Thus, this lost B43 hydrogen bomb on the seabed had become the Homo Sapiens Company’s perfect target.

...

Through this detailed survey, Zhang Li soon saw the 3D model of the seabed terrain automatically generated by the system.

The bomber was twisted and deformed by the water pressure, with more than half of its wreckage buried in silt. Fortunately, this was a deep-water area, free of dense coral reefs and the like; the surroundings were like a cold, barren desert.

Once the 3D model was complete, Zhang Li immediately ordered, ’Deploy the retrieval device.’

’Yes, sir.’

An object resembling a fiber-optic node submersible was swiftly deployed into the sea.

A specialized operator, fully focused, controlled the custom-built submersible. As the depth increased, it was crucial to activate its special pressure-resistance system to prevent the internals from being damaged by the immense pressure.

After an hour, the submersible, which looked like a small submarine, finally arrived at a position a dozen or so meters above the wreckage.

’Report: retrieval device has reached the designated position.’

Just then, Captain Davis’s expression shifted. ’Captain Zhang Li, we’ve detected a Los Angeles-class submarine approximately 31 kilometers to our southwest. It’s approaching our position. Estimated time until its range closes to eight kilometers is 47 minutes.’

Zhang Li made a split-second decision: ’Deploy the retrieval device immediately and activate the auto-growth system. We will begin evasive maneuvers in ten minutes.’

’Yes, sir.’

The operator quickly and precisely placed the retrieval device inside the bomber’s wreckage and activated the auto-growth system.

The retrieval device normally required several days for its growth cycle. Not wanting any complications, Zhang Li had no intention of a head-on confrontation with the United States Army.

Although the Tuna-005 could use its undersea launch tubes to sink the Los Angeles-class submarine directly, doing so would only draw America’s focused attention to the Luzon Sea. At this stage, the Homo Sapiens Company was still laying low and biding its time; there was no need for reckless actions born of pride.

Shortly after, the slow-moving Tuna-005 selected a concealed route that avoided the other submarine and slowly departed the area.

Dozens of kilometers away, aboard the Los Angeles-class submarine.

The crew had no idea they had just narrowly avoided getting wiped out. They continued their leisurely patrol underwater, their destination apparently being the Guam Base.

In truth, the Shark Team frequently encountered American submarines. The United States Army just didn’t know that a great white shark was hiding right under their noses.

If not for their outstanding surveillance systems and ultra-quiet acoustic tiles, the Shark Team’s submarines would have been discovered long ago.