Volume 2: The Undersea City Chapter 54: Capture the thief and the king
"Why should I kill all the giant deep-sea eels?" Who knew that Ke Lan would suddenly say this.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Perhaps Ke Lan's remarks were too outrageous, Benson even forgot to mock her, and his hand holding the lighter froze in mid-air.
"Yeah... Ke Lan, these... these shells are not enough..." Layton also whispered, "Even if... even if we shoot very accurately and every shot can hit the target... it is just a drop in the bucket for the situation of the Pioneer."
"In fact, we only need to hit it once." Ke Lan pointed to the observation window under his feet, "Didn't you notice that there is a deep-sea giant eel that has not attacked the Pioneer?"
"What?" Benson frowned, looking puzzled... Not to mention him, even Layton and others were also confused.
"Does this transport ship have a combat support program?" Ke Lan asked Benson.
Although the transport ship itself has no weapons, the combat support program is a necessary program for the core computer of the airship, so it will most likely be installed.
In addition to being able to automatically search for enemies, automatically mark targets, and help the fire control system lock onto targets, this program also has the functions of assisting takeoff and landing and correcting routes... This thing is like the auxiliary plug-in installed when playing online games. With its help, even a rookie helmsman who just graduated from school can drive an airship well.
"Yes...what are you going to do?!" Benson's face was filled with more suspicion.
"Let the captain start the combat support program for the battlefield below, and mark each deep-sea giant eel individually and track them throughout the entire process, and then project the images analyzed by the computer onto the observation window at the bottom, and you will understand what I mean." Ke Lan said.
"…Do as he says."
Soon, the observation window under everyone's feet turned into a projection screen divided by countless auxiliary lines. Every deep-sea giant eel that appeared in the field of vision was marked with a unique mark. The computer would record the shape and characteristics of these marked deep-sea giant eels. Even if it dived into the water the next second, as long as it returned to the field of vision, the mark would always exist.
"Pay attention to the giant deep-sea eel marked 'Number 14'." Ke Lan pointed at the projection with his right hand a few times, and the giant deep-sea eel marked with "14" was immediately outlined with a dark red dynamic border.
"This deep-sea giant eel is neither the largest nor the smallest. It has no special features and is very inconspicuous. It dives into the water from time to time," Ke Lan said, snapping his fingers at the camera above his head. "Please calculate its movement trajectory."
He stretched out his hands and pushed inward on both sides of the projection. Suddenly, the entire screen was shrunk by half. In this way, the actual sea area in the field of vision was doubled. At the same time, the movement trajectory of the No. 14 deep-sea giant eel was also marked by the computer with a fluorescent dotted line.
"Most of us were focused on the Pioneer icebreaker and the area around it, so we didn't notice this cunning guy. But now that its movement track has been marked, you should have discovered the problem, right?"
"This 'Number 14'... has been wandering around the edge , and has never participated in the attack on the Pioneer, neither in close combat nor in spitting out arcs of electricity... Strange, this guy seems..." Layton said in surprise.
"Just like a lazy idiot." The Hound picked up what Layton hadn't finished saying.
"But I don't know if you've noticed one thing... Although No. 14 has been paddling all the time, every time it moves to one side of the icebreaker, the attack frequency of the deep-sea giant eels on that side will greatly increase, and the accuracy of the arc attack will also increase significantly - Pause, pull the screen forward four seconds, no, pull it forward four and a half seconds - and then play it at 0.2 times the speed."
Ke Lan waved his hand again, magnifying the image on the port side of the Pioneer icebreaker several times, and said, "Pay attention to this deep-sea giant eel 'Number 9'. Before Number 14 came over, it spewed arcs a total of three times. The first two times it missed, and only the third time luckily hit an unlucky crew member - but when Number 14 passed by it, it suddenly changed its target and fired directly at the anti-aircraft machine gun on the bridge, and wiped out the machine gun team."
"Of course, there is a certain degree of randomness in this situation, but when this 'accident' happens many times, do you still think it is a coincidence?" Ke Lan looked directly at Benson and asked in a deep voice.
"...You mean, this No. 14 is the commander of this group of monsters, right?" Being able to be the captain of an advance team, Benson is certainly not a fool who knows nothing. Ke Lan has said this , and the meaning is really clear.
"To capture a thief, you must first capture the leader. I'm sure everyone understands this principle." Ke Lan kicked the box containing the harpoon shells. "As long as we can hit No. 14, the pressure faced by the Pioneer will be much less, and there is a high chance that we can hold on until the Ark rescues us."
Naturally, the Pioneer did not send a distress signal only to their transport ship, it was just that they were the closest to here. As for the rescue team from the Ark, it would take at least a few hours to arrive. By that time, the Pioneer would probably have already sunk to the bottom of the sea.
"Then how can you be sure that getting rid of No. 14 will have any effect? Won't a new leader emerge among these monsters?" Benson said unconvinced.
"It is indeed possible." Ke Lan nodded.
"Humph, after all, you're just gambling."
"If we don't gamble, do you have any better idea?" Ke Lan asked back.
Benson was speechless for a moment, and he glared at Ke Lan for several seconds, then he slowly said, "I really don't have a better way, but do you think you can hit that monster with this harpoon artillery?"
"That's our own business. You don't need to worry about it."
"Don't forget that you are on the Aurora Group's transport ship!"
"If you were to put yourself in the shoes of your consortium, your top brass would surely want to save the Pioneer... But what puzzles me is why you, Captain Benson, seem to want to see the Pioneer sink. Could it be..."
Ke Lan did not continue speaking, but deliberately looked at Benson with a suspicious look.
"This guy Ke Lan, putting this hat on him is simply murderous." The Hound muttered softly on the side.
"Of course I hope the Pioneer can escape danger!" Benson said hurriedly, "I just doubt your abilities and motives. Is that okay?"
