Zhuang Rui's shout attracted everyone's attention. Six or seven pairs of eyes turned to the display screen at the same time. At the same time, the radar system beeped, and a red warning light spun wildly.
The radar screen had automatically detected the volume of the moving object, and the figure of 758 meters stunned everyone.
"God, are there really living beings?"
Captain Clyde stared at the slowly moving dot on the radar screen, his mouth agape. As a graduate of the Royal Naval College, he knew exactly what it meant.
Even the world's largest submarine wouldn't be that big, so there's only one explanation: if volcanoes don't have legs, then it must be life that originated in the ocean.
"Quickly, ascend, ascend to an altitude of 5000 meters..."
Zhuang Rui had no time to share the surprise with the others. Instead, he shouted at the driver, for this concerned his life and fortune. He didn't want to be among the first to die because of the sea monster.
Unbeknownst to everyone staring intently at the screen, Zhuang Rui's face was now an unhealthy white, with tears welling in the corners of his eyes, making him appear extremely exhausted.
No one knew that in order to lure out this sea monster, Zhuang Rui had poured out almost all the spiritual energy in his eyes, which caused the monster to wake up from its slumber and rise to the surface.
After several upgrades in spiritual energy, Zhuang Rui once again felt tears streaming down his face.
However, Zhuang Rui knew in his heart that his spiritual energy, which was enough to bring the dead back to life, would probably only make this monster feel comfortable for a short while.
In order to trace the source of the spiritual energy, this monster will definitely surface. The tentacles on the monster's body, which are ten or twenty meters thick, sent a chill down Zhuang Rui's spine.
Although it had dozens of tentacles, Zhuang Rui was almost certain that this monster was the legendary octopus. At the current altitude of the helicopter, Zhuang Rui felt no sense of security whatsoever.
"Major General?"
Although the driver was also shocked, his good training allowed him to quickly recover and turn his gaze to General Lascaux.
"Listen to Zhuang, ascend, ascend quickly, fly northeast..."
Upon hearing the pilot's words, General Lasco snapped out of his shock. He understood that regardless of whether the monster was the octopus Zhuang Rui had mentioned, its size of six or seven hundred meters was enough to pose a threat to helicopters at an altitude of three thousand meters.
"Yes, General..."
After receiving Lasco's order, the pilot casually flicked two fingers together at his forehead in a military salute, then steered the Apache helicopter upwards at a speed of over sixteen meters per second.
During the brief minute or so of conversation inside the cabin, the bright spot on the radar scanner accelerated, quickly rising from over 3,000 meters deep to a point only 400-500 meters above the surface.
"Faster, faster..."
Hearing the incessant beeping alarm, Lasco's forehead was covered in sweat. The helicopter was only about four thousand meters high, and it seemed that they had not yet escaped the danger zone.
"General, I have done my best..."
The handsome young pilot was covered in sweat. After answering Lasco, he bit his lip and quickly operated the helicopter with both hands, while keeping an eye on the distance between the underwater monster and the helicopter.
"Four thousand four hundred meters, that should be safe, right?"
Just as the helicopter reached an altitude of 4,400 meters, Lasco breathed a sigh of relief. As long as that thing on the seabed didn't have wings, it shouldn't pose a threat at this altitude, right?
Just as General Lasco finished speaking, suddenly, a dark object more than twenty meters thick emerged from the deep sea and crashed straight into the helicopter in the sky.
Chapter 1288 A Narrow Escape
Even without any tools, people in the helicopter could clearly see through the glass on both sides of the cabin door that the originally calm sea had suddenly become turbulent.
As if the Dragon King of the Sea had become enraged, towering waves surged up on the calm sea surface, and a dark object, more than twenty meters thick and as thick as a pillar, shot out of the sea like an arrow. Its target was the helicopter circling in the sky.
"Ascend, faster, increase speed!" Even without General Lascaux's orders, the helicopter pilots were frantically maneuvering, maximizing the helicopter's climbing capabilities.
The helicopter climbed upwards at a speed of sixteen meters per second, but it was clear that the black object below was moving much faster, like a ladder to the sky, piercing straight from the sea.
"Faster, faster!"
As the massive "pillar" continued to make contact with the helicopter, everyone in the cabin looked on with panic, including Zhuang Rui, who was so nervous that his right fingernails almost dug into his flesh.
You should know that at an altitude of over 4,000 meters, where there is no one to call for help, if you are touched by this tentacle, the result will definitely be a crash and death, with no hope of survival whatsoever.
"Eight hundred meters..."
"Five hundred meters..."
"Three hundred meters..."
"One hundred meters left..."
The alarm of the radar scanning system filled the entire cabin, and people could clearly see with the naked eye the huge tentacle that looked like a pillar supporting the sky.
The tentacles, over twenty meters thick, were pitted and dark brown in color. At their tips were more than a dozen suction cup-like objects. Looking at these tentacles, which resembled those of an alien creature, everyone turned pale and began to breathe rapidly.
General Lascaux's two guards kept making the sign of the cross in front of them, muttering prayers for God's blessing. They believed that in all their decades of life, their prayers today were the most sincere they could muster.
"Didn't reach it, haha, this guy's arms aren't long enough." Perhaps it was the prayers of a few foreigners that worked, but the thick tentacle finally stopped in mid-air when it was still fifty or sixty meters away from the helicopter, and then fell limply downwards.
Such a near-death experience is rare. After surviving the ordeal, everyone in the cabin breathed a sigh of relief and cheered.
What is that?
Just as the driver was cheering loudly, he suddenly saw another equally thick object emerge from the sea next to the tentacle that had not yet completely fallen into the water, instantly choking his cheers.
"Get higher, faster, climb higher..."
Everyone in the cabin clearly noticed this scene, and their hearts, which had just been at ease, were raised again. After all, human fingers are of different lengths, so what if the monster's tentacles were the same?
Fortunately, while the pilot was cheering, he did not relax his control of the helicopter. After the second tentacle extended, the helicopter had already reached an altitude of 5,300 meters.
Clearly, the monster in the sea was powerless at this height, and the second tentacle was even further away from the helicopter. Only then did everyone in the cabin truly relax.
"My God, what... what kind of monster is this?"
This helicopter is equipped not only with a radar scanning system, but also with a camera system. At an altitude of 5,000 meters, which is out of reach of the naked eye, a high-magnification, high-precision camera suspended at the bottom of the helicopter captured the scene on the sea surface in its entirety.
After both tentacles failed to reach their target, the waves on the sea grew larger, with waves tens of meters high rising high, and from each wave, a huge tentacle stretched out.
At that moment, it truly felt as if the sea god had descended. A raging storm swept across the sea, and twenty or thirty tentacles bared their fangs in the sky. No one doubted that these tentacles could tear apart any object they touched.
Deprived of its source of spiritual energy, the sea monster became increasingly ferocious, relentlessly pursuing the direction the helicopter had fled. Its massive body undulated on the surface of the sea, creating a monstrous surge of waves.
After chasing the helicopter in the sky for a while, the monster in the sea finally revealed its size.
The first things to emerge from the sea were, of course, the tentacles. Dozens of tentacles, arching around a head the size of several football fields, emerged from the water.
The monster's head was covered with wrinkles and pits; if everyone hadn't been watching the sea closely, they might have mistaken it for a giant rocky island emerging from the water.
Even from an altitude of over 5,000 meters, everyone could clearly see that incredibly ugly head; the part that was protruding from the sea was almost as tall as a dozens of stories high.
"It really is an octopus."
At this moment, Zhuang Rui didn't need to say anything more. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. In the ocean, apart from the octopus, there is no other creature that looks so similar. This is a large... no, an extra-large "octopus" that exceeds people's imagination.
Looking at the towering waves on the monitor, everyone was shocked. Perhaps... only the boundless ocean could give birth to such enormous creatures.
"Return to base, return to base..."
After taking photos of the creature from various angles, General Lascaux ordered the return flight.
Although the helicopter still had more than a dozen missiles, even if they all hit a creature of such a large size, it might not necessarily kill it. It might even go berserk and attack humans on the coastline, which would be a great loss.
Perhaps unaccustomed to staying on the surface of the sea for an extended period, the underwater monster slowly disappeared from the surface after chasing the helicopter for a while, and the once turbulent sea instantly returned to its former calm.
However, when the people on the helicopter looked at the sea again, their mindset was completely different. Knowing about the monster lurking below, they always had a sense of trepidation.
Recalling the scene he had just witnessed, Captain Clyde was still filled with lingering fear. Just that morning, he had been swaggering around this area in the "Xuanrui" ship. If the ship hadn't taken a nap, the entire crew would probably be dead by now.
"Damn it, this trip was a complete waste..."
Zhuang Rui, who sensed with his spiritual energy that the monster had returned to the seabed, shook his head helplessly. There was this giant "octopus".
It will likely remain there until the day it dies of old age, at which point these underwater treasures will finally be revealed to the world.
Of course, Zhuang Rui knew he wouldn't live to see that day. How could anyone know how many years this guy had lived to grow to such a size? He could probably live for another thousand or eight hundred years without much trouble.
It's a pity about the batch of gold lost at the bottom of the sea. Zhuang Rui once roughly estimated that if this gold could be brought to the surface, its market value would probably be at least three billion US dollars. Now, Zhuang Rui can only "look" at this gold and drool.
At full speed, the helicopter returned to the area where the Xuanrui and the Portuguese patrol ship were located in less than 50 minutes.
Perhaps General Lasco felt unsafe in these waters, for he did not disembark but instead ordered the patrol ship and the Xuanrui to set sail towards the shallower waters.
After the helicopter landed on the Xuanrui, everyone who got off the plane looked listless, like wilted eggplants. The thrilling scene just now had exhausted everyone's energy.
Zhuang Rui invited General Lascaux to the ship's lounge. At this moment, everyone's minds were still a bit confused. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that such a monster could exist in the seabed.
"Zhuang, thank you. If it weren't for your reminder, we probably wouldn't even know that such a huge monster was lurking in that sea area..."
After drinking a cup of hot coffee, Lasco stood up and saluted Zhuang Rui. Although the process was very dangerous, the trip had solved a mystery that had troubled General Lasco for decades, so he felt it was worthwhile.
With such a behemoth in existence, the scarcity of marine life in this area and the disappearances of sunken ships can now be explained. After the initial fear, General Lascaux felt a faint sense of excitement.
Upon hearing General Lasco's words, Zhuang Rui quickly stood up and said, "General Lasco, I was merely making inferences based on radar survey results; I never expected it to be true..."
This enormous sea monster might be incredibly attractive to biologists, but Zhuang Rui had little interest in it. He was already thinking about salvaging the sunken ship next; Zhuang Rui was in a hurry to cook.
"Zhuang, you are a great explorer. The discovery of this marine creature is all thanks to you..."
General Lasco paused here, a hint of embarrassment on his face, and continued, "I need to report this matter to higher authorities, and I hope Mr. Zhuang can remain in our country's waters for the time being..."
"Hmm? General Lascaux, what do you want me to do here?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. With that monster present, this sea area held no appeal for him whatsoever.
Lasco put on a sincere expression and said, "Zhuang, as the first person to discover that sea monster, I would like to... hope that you can be on-site to provide guidance when we take action against it..."
"Take action?"
Upon hearing Lasco's words, Zhuang Rui's eyes brightened.
Chapter 1289 Action Plan
"What action should be taken?"
Zhuang Rui pressed further, not believing that the Portuguese military was capable of capturing the deep-sea monster alive. He thought that any action they took might only have one answer: to destroy it.
This made Zhuang Rui feel a little excited. If this deep-sea monster died, his treasure hunt could continue. Without this giant octopus, the ocean was completely undefended for Zhuang Rui.
"Mr. Zhuang, this sea monster is too close to our waters, endangering the safety of passing ships. Therefore, I will suggest to our superiors that we use military means to kill it or drive it into the deep sea..."
Just as Zhuang Rui had expected, General Lascaux's answer was exactly what he had imagined. Just because Zhuang Rui himself had no way to deal with this deep-sea monster did not mean that a country was also helpless against it.
From the moment humans learned to use tools, they were destined to become the masters of this earth. No matter how powerful an individual human may be, they can never be a match for humans with modern weapons.