Volume 2: The Undersea City Chapter 55: Human Buffer
"As for whether we have the ability to do this, you will soon find out - open the cargo door!"
Along with the dull sound of the hydraulic piston rod being pulled, a hatch on the side of the cargo hold slowly opened. Suddenly, a strong suction force swept through the entire cargo hold. Fortunately, everyone was prepared and the containers were fixed on the floor. Only a few shipping lists attached to the equipment boxes were blown into the air by the strong wind.
This scene made Ke Lan feel somewhat familiar, except that the last time, the situation was much more embarrassing than it is now.
"I want to see how you set up this cannon." Benson crossed his arms, "Don't forget, there's no place to put a base for you here."
"I didn't say we needed the pedestal," Ke Lan said, pointing to the bulkheads on both sides. "Layton, take down the inner wall panels."
"What are you doing! This transport ship is the asset of our Aurora Group. I will never allow you to mess around!" Benson shouted.
"Don't worry, we won't demolish your valuable property. We're just going to use the keel of the transport ship."
"That won't work either!" Benson flatly refused.
"That's not up to you," Ke Lan suddenly smiled at Benson. "Just two minutes ago, I sent the entire plan to the top management of your consortium, and received their approval and support. Not only that, they also temporarily granted me the command authority of this transport ship and all the personnel on board... In other words, Captain Benson, I am now your immediate superior."
"This is impossible—" Benson hadn't finished his words when the communication device on his body started beeping. He took it out and looked at it, his face suddenly changed.
The call was from the director of the Aurora Group's Ruins Exploration Division. This person was Benson's real "boss".
The content of the call was very brief. Benson could hardly speak and could only keep saying "um", "yes", and "yes sir" in response.
After answering the phone, his facial expression was already quite distorted, but the orders from the branch director just now made him suppress his anger. He asked Ke Lan with a stern face: "You...you are right...now this transport ship is under your command...but I really want to know...how did you send the email to the mailbox of the consortium's board of directors..."
"It's just a little hacking trick. There seems to be a small loophole in your consortium's network security work, but it should have been fixed now." Ke Lan shrugged.
Leighton quickly removed the wall panels on the inside of the cargo hold, and then dug out the cushioning filler inside, and several keels as thick as thighs appeared in front of everyone.
As the main part of the entire transport ship's frame, these keels mixed with a large amount of Nino alloy can be said to be the strongest components of this transport ship. Layton quickly fixed the disassembled heavy artillery brackets on these keels, and then lifted out the Harpoon heavy artillery.
"Wait." At this time, the escort captain suddenly stood up, stopped Leighton, and said, "This won't work. Although the keel is very strong, it is just a rigid support. There is no room for buffering. The reaction force generated when accumulating power will directly crush the support!"
"Who said we don't have a buffer - Zhuo Ligetu!" Ke Lan waved to the Mongolian sturdy man beside him, and the latter immediately walked up. A pair of mechanical claws shot out from his prosthetic feet. The sharp front end directly pierced the floor and firmly grasped two horizontal ribs whose strength was second only to the keel.
Then, Layton installed a powered exoskeleton on Zhuo Ligetu, and then welded the bracket previously fixed to the keel together with the exoskeleton.
Finally, Zhuo Ligetu opened his arms and held the entire cannon barrel in his arms.
“Human...human buffer...?!” The escort captain was so frightened that his eyes almost popped out.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong? If you can't hold on, be sure to speak up and let Asano Akira take your place." Ke Lan originally wanted to let Asano Akira take action directly. In terms of physical fitness, the seemingly frail Asano Akira is actually several levels stronger than Zhuoligetu. However, considering the conflict between them and Benson, Ke Lan felt that it would be better to keep Asano Akira hidden as a trump card. If he was exposed too early, he would be targeted by the opponent.
"Absolutely no problem!" Zhuo Ligetu smiled naively, took out an injection and injected it into his arm.
This is a muscle enhancer that can greatly enhance the muscle strength of the human body. However, as a price, after the effect of the drug wears off, Zhuo Ligetu will enter a state of exhaustion for several hours.
As the light yellow liquid was injected, Zhuo Ligetu's well-developed muscles bulged again, making his whole body appear to have grown a little bigger.
"Prepare to load!" Ke Lan and Hound held the heavy harpoon shell and pushed it into the barrel. The two electromagnetic slide rails closed at the same time, clamping the shell in the middle.
As for the person in charge of aiming, it was naturally Layton.
"Big guy, if you fail today, don't mention the word weapons expert to me again, it's embarrassing!" The Hound said, patting Layton on the back. "Okay, the reloading is done, the rest is up to you!"
"I will connect the transport ship's combat support system to your prosthetic controller. Don't be too nervous. We have six chances... Okay, now I'm going to start charging the accelerator!" After Ke Lan finished speaking, he pushed the switch up.
A buzzing sound was heard, and a layer of faint blue light appeared on the coil inside the gun. A terrifying force was gradually gathering, and Zhuo Ligetu, who served as a human cushion, also arched his body into a C shape.
"I can still hold on...but it'd better be quick..." Zhuo Ligetu said gritting his teeth.
"Give me five more seconds... That guy dived under the water... Damn it..." Layton took a deep breath, and he almost put his whole face on the sight, " Come up... Come up... OK, I locked it! Shoot!"
The heavy harpoon shot out with a flash of blue and white electric light. In mid-air, six rocket thrusters ignited at the same time, and the huge thrust that erupted instantly increased the speed of the harpoon by a large margin!
“Bang!!”
The harpoon was shot into the water, causing a huge splash of water several dozen meters high! Several deep-sea giant eels that were relatively close were even overturned by the huge waves that followed. However, when the "No. 14" was about to be hit, it suddenly dived and disappeared from sight.
"The target is lost! Fuck him!" Layton couldn't help but curse and disconnected the steel cable connecting the harpoon.
"You are too impatient. The timing just now was too tight." Ke Lan said in a deep voice. He glanced at Zhuo Ligetu and saw that the Mongolian man still maintained the previous movements, but blood was already oozing from the corners of his mouth and nostrils.
"Zhuoligetu, are you okay?"
"No...it's okay, at least I can still take two more!"
His knuckles were completely torn, his entire palms were covered in blood, and his arms were covered in bruises - just one shot had caused him serious injuries.
"Hold on! Second shell, loaded, charging started—"
