radicalducati Chapter 134 is amazing, they blew up the water ghost!
Chapter 134 is amazing, they blew up the water ghost!
Chapter 134 is amazing, they blew up the water ghost!
"————Detonate underwater?"
Xiao Lü doesn't oppose the plan; it is indeed a very effective option.
However, this plan may also have some negative consequences. After all, water is virtually incompressible.
Therefore, almost all of the shockwave generated by the explosion will act on the walls of the sewer pipes.
"Wouldn't there be a problem detonating explosives in the water?"
"Although we can blast open this barnacle wall, the strength of the sewer wall might not be enough to withstand it, right?" she asked Bai Shuyuan.
"You're right. So, the current plan is divided into two steps," Bai Shuyuan explained.
"The first step is to remove the barnacle walls so that the accumulated water can recede."
"The second step is to wait for the water level to drop and the pipes to be exposed. We have plenty of ways to deal with the remaining barnacles."
"So, how should we destroy it? — Wait, I have an idea!"
Xia Zhaozhao thought for a moment, then looked at Xiao Lü and revealed a malicious smile.
"It just so happens that your ability is ice-making, Little Green. Create an ice shell for yourself, use it as a submarine, and solve the problem with the power of a magical girl!"
"—You want to play a real-life version of Abyss Syndrome, huh? I can certainly make an ice shell, but the pilot has to be you."
Xiao Lü looked at Bai Shuyuan and asked if there were any other solutions.
Bai Shuyuan shook her head.
"I do not recommend that anyone go down to solve the problem. The underwater environment is too complex and full of unknown variables."
She paused for a moment before giving her final answer.
"Just use explosives and carry out a directional blast."
"Wait, what's that?" Xia Zhaozhao exclaimed in surprise.
"Didn't you just confirm that detonating explosives in the water would blow up the sewers as well? That's why we need to drain the water first."
"But now, in order to drain the water, you want to detonate the explosives in the water first?"
A perfect vicious cycle.
Bai Shuyuan seemed to realize that her explanation was too concise, so after thinking for a moment, she decided to give a simple popular science explanation instead.
"When conventional explosives explode in water, the shock wave will indeed spread indiscriminately in all directions."
"This will inevitably have a significant impact on the walls of the sewer pipes. Therefore, we need to change the way the explosives are loaded."
"All we need to do is add a conical metal groove to the front end of the explosive."
"When the explosive is detonated, the enormous energy will first act on this metal shield, instantly crushing it from the inside out, and finally forming a jet of metal with extremely high speed, strong direction and extremely high temperature."
"If the vast majority of the energy is converted into the kinetic energy of this jet, then the energy that can generate a shock wave will naturally be much smaller."
She paused, then summarized using a more common term.
"This is known as the Monroe effect. Many armor-piercing projectiles used in modern warfare utilize this principle."
Xia Zhaozhao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
"Oh, I get it! I've learned another piece of completely useless knowledge."
"Wait a minute!" Her tone suddenly changed, "It seems it's not entirely useless."
"Speaking of which, haven't we always kept that vault in the bank's basement unopened? Could we use this method to open it?"
"Can."
"Why did you take that thing apart? The banknotes inside are already worthless," Xiao Lü complained.
"I just want to have fun!" Xia Zhaozhao said matter-of-factly.
"In fact," Bai Shuyuan's voice cut in, "aside from the long-dead paper money, gold still has considerable industrial value."
"Gold has an extremely high density, making it an excellent material for kinetic energy warheads."
"If used in an electromagnetic railgun, it can carry a greater amount of kinetic energy than ordinary steel for the same volume."
"However," she added, "the specific effects still need to be verified through several live-fire tests."
"This is such a waste!" The extravagance of using gold as a cannonball was a little frightening to Xiao Lü.
She forcefully steered the conversation back on track.
"Then, what about explosives? The napalm used to make dragon's breath bombs shouldn't be of any use here, right?"
"While you were away, I took the time to collect a lot of fertilizer. And our diesel reserves are also quite plentiful."
"Simply purify nitrogen fertilizer and mix it with diesel fuel in a certain proportion to create the classic ammonium nitrate explosive."
"So, the plan is to send that canine-shaped aggregate down with explosives and fix it in place at the target location."
"Now that we know the exact coordinates of the barnacle wall, we no longer need cameras and flashlights."
As Bai Shuyuan spoke, she removed it from Hakiwang's body.
"However, the fuse part requires disassembling a few walkie-talkies," Bai Shuyuan added.
"Walkie-talkies?" Xia Zhaozhao was taken aback for a moment, then said nonchalantly, "Whatever, there are plenty of those now."
"It's nothing special, the survivors found a whole bunch of them nearby—wait, why are they dismantling the walkie-talkies?"
"Not only do we need to dismantle the walkie-talkies, but we also need to dismantle several voice-activated lights in the banks."
"I understand now," Little Green said.
"Are you trying to assemble a voice-activated fuse?"
Bai Shuyuan nodded, took all the materials from the bank, and began preparations.
"Everyone back off," she said without looking up as she fiddled with the parts in her hands. "This thing isn't stable."
"What would happen if something really happened?" Xia Zhaozhao asked curiously.
"It won't do anything, it won't kill me." Bai Shuyuan's tone was quite calm. "But it's just a safety precaution."
'
Bai Shuyuan then carefully mixed the refined ammonium nitrate with diesel fuel and poured it into the projectile.
She then cut and rolled the readily available aluminum sheets into cones, shaping the bullets into concave shapes.
Finally, she assembled the electronic components and connected them to the projectile.
After some waterproofing treatment, several crude shaped explosives were born.
"Wow! It looks so simple? I feel like I could do it too!" Xia Zhaozhao exclaimed.
"No," Bai Shuyuan said directly.
"I've modified the fuse so that it will only trigger when it receives an audio signal of a specific frequency."
Little Green quietly added from the side, "Otherwise, with that 'whoosh' you just made, this thing would have exploded."
The explosives are ready.
"The barnacle wall completely blocked the water flow, and the water inside the pipe was almost stagnant."
"Therefore, no complicated securing is needed; just place the explosives near the wall and secure them there."
Bai Shuyuan carefully strapped the crudely made explosives to Hagiwang's back.
Xia Zhaozhao squatted down and, in an extremely earnest tone, began to motivate the Pokémon that was about to once again venture deep behind enemy lines.
"Hakiwang, this mission is very important."
"If you can successfully complete this task, I will grant you special permission to go a day without eating chlorella."
'
Xiao Lü listened from the side, feeling that this was not in line with Xia Zhaozhao's style.
"I always feel like you actually mean to let it not eat for a day."
"No way!" Xia Zhaozhao immediately retorted, "I'll still share half a potato chip with it."
"Isn't this a bit too generous?"
Finally, Hakiwang transformed into its more hydrodynamic cockroach form once again, carrying the explosives on its back, and entered the muddy water.
This time, without the live footage from the camera, Xiao Lü turned her gaze to Sasha.
Sasha was intently manipulating the canine-shaped aggregate, sensing vague information about its location, and moving towards its target point in the darkness.
Because he was carrying unstable and dangerous goods on his back, Hakiwang was extra careful during this swim.
However, when it finally reached the vicinity of the barnacle wall, it encountered a small problem.
The little trains from before didn't all crash into the barnacle walls. Many monsters still roam here.
However, this time, without that beam of light, the silent Hakiwang did not attract the attention of these creatures.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sasa manipulated Hakiwang to use whatever materials were available on the spot.
Hakiwang sensed the location of an unfortunate soul ahead by relying on the subtle disturbance of the water flow.
Sneak attack!
It quickly knocked it to its knees (?), and while the opponent was already incapacitated, it stuffed the explosives into its mouth.
Hakiwang then carefully approached the barnacle wall, controlling the newly created biological weapon.
Sasha controlled it, making slight adjustments to its direction, and pushed the monster with explosives in its mouth toward the barnacle wall.
Throughout the process, she ensured that the explosive recess was oriented precisely against the wall and kept roughly level with the sewer.
The barnacle wall seemed oblivious to anything amiss. It simply swallowed it whole, and the explosive entered its body.
After disposing of the remaining explosives in the same way, Hakiwang returned to the entrance once again.
It emerged from the manhole, reverting to its canine form, but seemed unable to resist, preparing to perform that signature canine water-shaking motion.
"Hey! Little Green, block it!"
Little Green reacted instantly, raising an ice wall to block the water splash.
The next second, the sewage splashed against the ice wall.
"————Well done, Hakiwang, no matter what."
Bai Shuyuan took out the walkie-talkie and put it to her lips.
Then, in a singing tone, she uttered a series of seemingly meaningless syllables.
However, Little Green immediately noticed that it was Morse code.
The moment that strange sound was heard, a loud bang came from beneath their feet.
Immediately afterwards, a turbid, dark red column of water, mixed with black fragments, gushed out of the manhole!
Little Green reacted instantly, raising an ice wall to block the splashing water.
Several manhole covers in the distance also bounced a few times, some even being pushed open by the water flow and flipped to the side.
Bai Shuyuan watched this scene and nodded calmly, seemingly quite satisfied with the result.
The impact force was kept within an acceptable range. This should prevent structural damage to the sewer pipe walls.
"Wow, the water's gone down!" Xia Zhaozhao exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the manhole at her feet.
The accumulated water was now forming a whirlpool around the well opening, and was being slowly drawn into the sewer.
Xia Zhaozhao then asked curiously, "By the way, what were those syllables just now?"
Morse code.
"I know that—"
"If we compare it with the English letters, it corresponds to L, O, V, and E."
"Why would you use that word for the detonation signal of a bomb?" Xiao Lü was speechless.
"—Does it express the manufacturer's deep love for explosives?" Xia Zhaozhao guessed.
"I just randomly chose a signal with a unique combination of long and short lengths that is less likely to be accidentally triggered."
However, this receding of the floodwaters did not last long.
After only a short time, the whirlpool disappeared, and the water returned to calm.
The water level in the vicinity did not appear to have changed at all.
Bai Shuyuan observed this scene and came to a conclusion.
"It seems this is a repetitive task. This isn't the only area completely blocked by barnacles."
Just as Bai Shuyuan was about to continue with the demolition procedure, her walkie-talkie suddenly emitted a series of intermittent hissing sounds.
"Sizzle—rustle—"
"What kind of interference did you encounter?" Xia Zhaozhao subconsciously guessed.
Bai Shuyuan didn't answer immediately. She thought for a moment and then realized something was wrong.
Something's not right.
"Logically speaking, the entire city is currently without power, and there aren't any large electrical devices in the bank."
"Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any strong sources of interference nearby. However, there is another possibility—"
"It's a human voice."
"When the frequencies are not matched, a person's voice may sound like this when heard over a walkie-talkie."
"Survivors?" Little Green immediately asked.
"That's possible."
"Huh? No way, blowing up a sewer can produce survivors?" Xia Zhaozhao was somewhat astonished.
"I think the possibility of blasting out some kind of water ghost is probably even greater."
Bai Shuyuan picked up the walkie-talkie again and carefully listened to the crackling static.
The walkie-talkie's speaker still emitted that static-like sound.
"Sh ...
Bai Shuyuan stretched out her finger and carefully rotated the frequency adjustment knob on the walkie-talkie.
As she operates the device, the intensity and characteristics of the noise seem to undergo subtle changes.
"—As expected, this is not random electromagnetic interference," Bai Shuyuan concluded.
She then continued making adjustments and explained to everyone, "If the interference is irregular, then no matter how I fine-tune the frequency, the noise pattern should be completely chaotic."
"However, I just discovered that its pattern is traceable."
Bai Shuyuan tried to identify the voice. Her adjustments became slower and more precise.
"rustle--------"
Subsequently, the noise gradually lost its chaos, and something distinct from the background noise gradually emerged from it.
Finally, a broken human voice emerged from within.
"Stop!"