Of course, it was a futile effort. In the next instant, scorching flames erupted from SAM's body, spreading in all directions. The frigid seawater evaporated instantly, sending countless bubbles surging upward.
The fishmen who had surrounded SAM moments before were all roasted alive, their deep green skin transforming into charred, brownish-black husks.
Though the monsters had been dealt with, Firefly, inside SAM, frowned slightly. It was like spotting a cockroach in your home—a sign that countless others were lurking in the shadows. The situation was much the same here.
The Dimensional Rift that had likely caused Godzilla's appearance was probably still open. These fishmen might have emerged from it as reinforcements, meaning that this stretch of the deep sea was almost certainly teeming with far more enemies.
It's worth noting that SAM's combat capabilities were somewhat restricted in the deep sea. He couldn't even maintain his Secondary Combustion State for long, let alone achieve Full Combustion. This wasn't because he couldn't ignite flames underwater.
Everyone knew that water extinguished fire, but when fire burned hot enough, it could reverse the natural order, boiling the water away.
SAM's power output was simply too immense. Once his temperature rose, he would evaporate the surrounding seawater at an alarming rate, effectively setting the ocean ablaze.
The ocean's importance to Earth's ecosystem was undeniable. If they kept fighting like this, Firefly feared that by the time they wiped out the enemy, Earth would be on the verge of destruction, courtesy of SAM's rampage.
It was simply a matter of compatibility. This underwater battlefield was far from ideal for SAM's high-intensity combat. If only they could lure the enemy to the surface.
While pondering this, Firefly steered SAM toward the direction from which the fishmen had emerged. Suddenly, a flood of new biological signatures swamped her sensors. Countless red dots converged on SAM from all directions, painting the edges of her detection range crimson.
When Firefly finally laid eyes on the fishman horde, her delicate brow furrowed in dismay. Their sheer numbers were staggering, like a living curtain of darkness blotting out the light. The sight sent shivers down her spine, triggering a primal fear of overwhelming crowds.
She wasn't afraid of these small fries, of course. The problem was their grotesque appearance and the sheer mass of them clustered together—it was utterly revolting.
The next instant, SAM's thrusters roared to life, transforming him into a blazing fireball underwater. The intense heat instantly vaporized the surrounding seawater, and before new water could rush in, it too was obliterated. This created a vacuum-like zone around SAM, a stark anomaly in the depths of the ocean.
SAM plunged headfirst into the black Veil. Fishmen merely grazed by his fiery form shattered into pieces. He had no intention of wiping out the entire swarm; his mind was focused on whether the sheer number of monsters in this area indicated the Dimensional Rift might be closer than he thought.
SAM continued his relentless charge. Yet, unbelievably, even after nearly thirty seconds of flight, he still hadn't broken free from the fishman swarm. Through Firefly's enhanced dynamic vision, she witnessed every gruesome detail of their destruction. She even observed their bulging eyes popping from their sockets as their skulls were crushed, the ejected orbs drifting away before slowly bursting apart into a pulpy mess.
"Ugh—"
Inside SAM, Firefly couldn't help but stick out her delicate pink tongue and gag twice.
Although SAM's high temperature prevented the fishman corpses from clinging to its hull, Firefly still felt thoroughly disgusted. The monsters might not have been particularly aggressive, but their behavior was utterly revolting.
Finally, after another ten seconds or so, she burst through the swarm of fishmen and continued her descent. At a depth of approximately 1,500 meters, she spotted a steep seabed bisected by a colossal rift. The chasm was at least fifty meters wide and stretched beyond the limits of her vision.
It seemed Herta wouldn't need to develop any deep-sea exploration equipment after all. Firefly's luck was astonishing—or perhaps the Dimensional Rift was simply too vast to miss. It wasn't like searching for a needle in a haystack; it was like hunting for Sun Wukong's golden staff on the seabed, and somehow, she'd actually found it.
In truth, anyone capable of reaching a depth of 1,500 meters underwater could easily discover this rift, provided they could withstand the crushing water pressure and survive the fishmen's relentless attacks.
Birth-type dimensional rifts are impassable, preventing seawater from leaking out. They're like textures overlaid on the fabric of this space, making it irrelevant whether they appear in the sky or on the seabed.
Firefly frowned. Judging by the rift's sheer size, she knew dealing with it would be an incredibly difficult task.
Birth-type dimensional rifts only gradually disappear once every monster they spawn has been eliminated. Even if Firefly could obliterate a "Godzilla" with a single strike, the rift would remain open as long as a single fishman lurked in some hidden nook or cranny. Wasn't this just another case of "finding a needle in a haystack"?
By now, the massive horde of fishmen was steadily closing in. Firefly didn't linger. She piloted SAM higher, having already recorded the rift's coordinates for future reference. Her priority now was to devise a strategy.
-
Meanwhile, on the surface of the sea, three Sakura Prefecture destroyers lay at anchor. On each vessel, five soldiers stood fully equipped for diving, grumbling among themselves before descending. "So, why this bizarre order? To search underwater for... what exactly? They didn't specify where to look or what we're supposed to find. Is whoever issued this order out of their mind?"
Hearing his subordinates' complaints, the destroyer captain sternly barked, "Silence! An order is an order. Stop whining and prepare to execute the mission!"
Military discipline demanded obedience, and the captain seemed competent enough. Still, the five divers whispered privately as they made their final preparations. "Honestly, since we don't even know what we're looking for, why don't we just dive twenty or thirty meters, poke around for a bit, and come back up? The captain won't even know the difference."
"Sounds good to me."
"Alright, let's do it that way!"
But just as the five divers were fully equipped and about to leap into the sea, they suddenly noticed a massive eruption of bubbles rising to the surface, shattering the once-calm water.