bioinnovel Chapter 297 Terrified at the mere mention of it!
Chapter 297 Terrified at the mere mention of it!
Jinghai International Airport, 7:03 AM.
Zhang Yan parked the car in the long-term parking area, picked up the suitcase Nie Qingcheng had prepared, and headed towards the terminal.
The A4 paper in the shirt pocket was folded neatly, and you could feel the handwriting on it even through the fabric.
Forty-seven items.
He hasn't even watched it all the way through yet.
It's not that I don't want to watch, it's that I'm afraid I'll turn around in the parking lot after watching it.
My phone vibrated as I approached the security checkpoint.
Nie Qingcheng: "Have we arrived?"
"Just arrived."
"Don't forget to empty your thermos before going through security."
"Know."
"After arriving in Vladivostok, contact Lao Liu at the local branch office. He will arrange transportation and accommodation."
"You said that last night."
I'll say it again.
Zhang Yan smiled and put his phone back in his pocket.
Three hours later, the Gulfstream G650 from Qingcheng International took a direct flight from Jinghai to Vladivostok.
Zhang Yan sat in the spacious cabin, an old notebook spread out in front of him, filled with structural sketches of the Azure Dragon Space Folding Module.
The landing time in Vladivostok is 1 p.m. local time.
Old Liu is a man in his early forties from Northeast China who has spent eight years in the Far East and speaks foreign languages more fluently than Chinese.
He didn't ask any further questions about Zhang Yan's identity. Nie Qingcheng's instructions were only one sentence: "Do whatever this person says, and don't ask questions you shouldn't ask."
Zhang Yan changed into dark outdoor gear at the branch office's safe house and then opened and inspected Qin Xiaosai's suitcase.
Winter clothing, compressed food, medical kit, and two spare satellite phone batteries.
All forty-seven items on the list were included.
"Old Liu, I need to get to the coastline."
Which section?
"The closest one, the one with fewer people."
Forty minutes later, an inconspicuous gray van stopped on a remote coastline southeast of Vladivostok.
Zhang Yan got out of the car and faced the gray-blue sea.
The ocean current surged in from the south, carrying a salty, cold scent.
In August, the sea temperature in the Far East is only twelve or thirteen degrees Celsius.
Old Liu parked his car and stood twenty meters away smoking, his eyes glancing in this direction intentionally or unintentionally.
After confirming that there was no one else within a 500-meter radius, Zhang Yan summoned the Devouring Shark from his storage space.
A six-meter-long black mechanical giant shark appeared out of thin air on the shallows, its heavy metal body pressing into the sand and pebbles, emitting a deep hum.
The deep-sea memory metal shell gleamed with a cold, dark light under the overcast sky.
A muffled thud came from behind.
Zhang Yan glanced back.
Old Liu's cigarette fell to the ground, and he leaned against the car door with his mouth open and his face pale.
"I'm leaving," Zhang Yan said. "Go back."
Old Liu's lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.
He watched as the young man climbed onto the back of the steel behemoth, and then the behemoth slowly slid into the sea, like a living deep-sea predator returning to its hunting grounds.
The moment the seawater reached the shark's belly, Old Liu's legs went weak.
He wanted to call Nie Qingcheng to ask what was going on, but after thinking for three seconds, he gave up the idea.
Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask.
……
At a depth of 150 meters, the sea-devouring shark advanced northwest at an economic cruising speed of 35 knots.
From Vladivostok, head north, cross the Strait of Tartary into the Sea of Okhotsk, and then cut westward along the continental shelf into the Arctic Ocean.
This route bypasses all major international shipping lanes and eventually lands somewhere on the north coast, about 400 kilometers away from the target mining area.
Four hundred kilometers of permafrost and coniferous forest.
It happened about twenty minutes after the Vermilion Bird flew by.
Zhang Yan leaned back in the cockpit, with real-time ocean data displayed on the holographic screen in front of him.
The water temperature is 7 degrees Celsius, the ocean current speed is 1.2 knots, and the salinity is 34.
The sonar scanning radius was set to its maximum, and the spherical detection range of fifty kilometers was completely clean.
He sent Nie Qingcheng his first message: "I'm in the water, everything is normal."
Reply after twenty seconds: "What's the water temperature?"
"Seven degrees."
"The thermal underwear you're wearing is made of heat-locking fabric. Wear it close to your skin, not over other clothes."
"...I know how to dress."
"What were you wearing when you came back from the Golden Triangle last time? A short-sleeved shirt under your training uniform, in Southeast Asia in August."
Zhang Yan did not reply.
That's why I made a list.
"Fine, you decide."
"I'm the one who calls the shots."
Zhang Yan put his phone aside.
The cockpit's temperature control system maintained a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, and the air conditioning's gentle airflow brushed against the holographic screen in front of them.
Quiet.
The only sounds were the low-frequency hum of the power unit and the sound of seawater slicing through the belly of a shark.
He closed his eyes and rested for two hours.
The system notification sound woke him up.
[Passive sonar detected multiple abnormal signals—location: 42 degrees south of right front, distance 37 kilometers. Signal characteristics: propeller noise x4, active sonar pulses x2.]
[Signal matching complete: 97.3% match with the voiceprint characteristics of "Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force" ships in the host database.]
Zhang Yan opened his eyes.
Four ships.
He pulled up the details of the voiceprint.
Two destroyers, one frigate, and one supply ship.
Standard configuration for a long-range ocean patrol fleet.
This area is the northern part of the Sakura Sea, near the edge of the E-zone waters. It is not unusual for JMSDF patrol ships to occasionally appear in this area.
Zhang Yan did not adjust the course.
At a distance of thirty-seven kilometers, given the stealth capabilities of the Sea Devouring Shark, it would be impossible for the other party to detect him.
Unless they are scanning with high-powered active sonar.
But they are indeed sweeping.
Two sets of active sonar signals, with high frequency and short scanning intervals—these are not parameters for routine patrols, but for search mode.
Looking for something.
find him?
Zhang Yan narrowed his eyes.
Last time in the South China Sea, he sank three warships and cut a submarine's sonar line.
After that, he couldn't see the internal reports of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, but Nie Qingcheng's intelligence network reported that Japan had increased the deployment of at least three patrol squadrons in the Western Pacific.
He scared me so much I developed a psychological trauma.
The sea-devouring shark continued its journey at the same speed and depth.
Zhang Yan did not actively reduce noise.
At a depth of 150 meters and a cruising speed of 35 knots, the acoustic characteristics of the mechanical shark are already below the baseline for marine environmental noise.
To find him, sonar technology would need to advance another two centuries.
Twenty minutes later, the distance was reduced to nineteen kilometers.
The passive sonar captured a change.
The other party's initiative suddenly stopped.
The propellers of the four warships increased their speed dramatically at the same time, and their course changed from northeast to due north—away from the direction of the sea-devouring shark.
Zhang Yan watched as the four dots on the holographic screen retreated northward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Ran.
It wasn't because they discovered him, but because their sonar swept over something.
Given the JMSDF's technological capabilities, it's impossible to pinpoint the deep-sea shark at this depth precisely. However, a highly sensitive active sonar, during a wide-area search, has a chance to capture a blurry, unidentifiable underwater echo.
A ghostly signal that shouldn't exist in this sea area.
They tracked this signal before.
The Great Whale-class submarines dived at full speed, and the entire fleet conducted a massive search for several hours, only to be completely outmaneuvered by Zhang Yan and return empty-handed.
This time, they didn't even bother chasing; they simply turned around and left.
They've learned their lesson.
Zhang Yan leaned back in his chair, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
The four points of light are getting farther and farther away.
Ten minutes later, it completely disappeared from the sonar detection range.
They ran much faster than they came.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Nie Qingcheng: "I encountered a few fish on the road, but they swam away on their own."
"What kind of fish?"
"Stupid fish, those few that got bitten last time."
Nie Qingcheng understood instantly: "They ran away?"
"Without even turning her head."
"Serves you right."
She posted another message: "Ignore them, it's a waste of time."
"Ignore it, let's keep going."
"Okay, I'll contact you in twelve hours."
"Know."
Zhang Yan put down his phone and glanced at the flight path map on the holographic screen.
It is about 1,600 kilometers away from the target landing point.
At the current speed, we will arrive in eighteen hours.
He adjusted the seat angle, intending to sleep for a few more hours.
In the corner of the system panel, a line of deep red countdown numbers silently ticked.
Seven months and twenty-nine days.