Chapter 57:
Blackwater Bay, Pompey Royal Navy Secret Shipyard, Underground Berth No. 101.
This was the core restricted area of Victor's industrial empire. The air was thick with the strong smell of machine oil, the ozone of welding, and the sweaty tension of the workers.
But today, Victor Pompey was in an exceptionally good mood — even better than after winning a major battle.
He held a newly arrived encrypted telegram that had come from King's Landing via the undersea cable (a short experimental line laid earlier).
The telegram contained only one short line, yet it excited him more than a thousand armies:
[The Highgarden Rose has bloomed. Confirmed by the maester: Lady Margaery is two months pregnant.]
"Good! Good! Good!"
Victor couldn't help but say "good" three times in a row.
He immediately summoned the long-dormant [Many Children, Many Blessings System].
Sure enough, the long-silent interface was now glowing with celebratory golden light.
[Congratulations, Host! The family welcomes its first direct bloodline (in gestation)!]
Mother: Margaery Tyrell (Highgarden Rose).
Offspring Potential Rating: [Commercial Genius / Statesman (S-rank)].
Family Fortune: Significantly increased! The Pompey family is no longer a rootless tree!
[First Child Welfare · Advanced Newbie Gift Package has been issued:]
Reward 1: [Ocean Dominance Equipment Blueprint Set] (includes: Complete blueprints for U-VII class attack submarine, T-5 "Wren" sonar-guided torpedo technology).
Reward 2: [Industrial Acceleration Card (One-time use)]: Designated engineering construction speed increased by 300% (lasts 30 days).
Reward 3: [Deep-Sea Pressure-Resistant Material Formula].
"What a good child of Daddy."
Victor looked at the thick stack of incredibly precise submarine blueprints in his system space, filled with paternal affection.
"Not even born yet, and he already knows his father is being bullied by that big squid, so he specially sent this set of 'can openers'."
Victor had originally been headaches over how to deal with Euron's sea monster, thinking it would take at least half a year to develop submarines. But now? With ready-made blueprints and an acceleration card, this pack of deep-sea wolves could be launched in just one month!
"Come!"
Victor put away the telegram, full of high spirits.
"Notify Asha Greyjoy. Tell her to come see me immediately."
"Tell her we are going to hunt sea monsters."
…
One month later.
In the center of the massive underground shipyard.
Three unprecedented steel creations sat silently on the black water surface.
They had no decks, no masts. They were entirely black, streamlined like cigars. In the dim light, they looked like three sleeping prehistoric great white sharks, radiating an suffocating industrial beauty.
[U-001 "Sea Wolf".]
[U-002 "Revenge".]
[U-003 "Rose" (Victor specially named it in honor of the meritorious Margaery).]
Asha Greyjoy, wearing a tight waterproof leather armor, stood on the pier, staring at these three monsters in astonishment.
"Victor… is this the 'secret weapon' you mentioned?"
Asha swallowed hard. "This thing has no sails — how does it move? And it's made of iron — won't it sink straight to the bottom when thrown into the water?"
"It's meant to sink to the bottom, Asha."
Victor walked over to her and handed her a cigarette.
"This is called a submarine."
"It can dive two hundred meters underwater and strike the enemy from beneath their feet like an assassin."
"How is this possible…" Asha still couldn't believe it. "Even the craziest craftsmen in the Citadel couldn't build something like this. How did you manage to make it in just one month?"
Victor smiled mysteriously and gently patted the cold hull of the "Sea Wolf."
"How should I put it…"
He thought of Margaery, who was pregnant and resting far away in King's Landing.
"Let's just say this is a 'full-moon gift' from my unborn child to his future admiral of the navy."
"Child?" Asha was stunned for a moment, then her expression became complicated. "Margaery is pregnant?"
"Yes." A flash of pride appeared in Victor's eyes.
"So, Asha. This battle must be won."
"I want to give my child a clean sea, not a playground full of tentacle monsters."
Asha took a deep drag of the cigarette and flicked the butt into the water.
The doubt in her eyes disappeared, replaced by the fierce determination typical of the Ironborn.
"Understood."
"For your child, and for my revenge."
"I will rip out Euron's guts."
"Board the boats! All hands to stations!"
…
Three days later. Central Narrow Sea, codenamed "Silent Sea Zone".
This was Euron's hunting ground.
Several merchant ships floated on the surface as bait, while fifty meters underwater, U-001 "Sea Wolf" was conducting its first combat dive.
Inside the submarine, command compartment.
The air was hot and humid, filled with the smell of diesel and sweat.
Asha stood in front of the periscope, her palms sweating. Although she had undergone special training, the first time operating in the deep sea still brought an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia.
"Sonar room report!"
"Bearing 0-3-0, distance three thousand meters! Massive biological signal!"
The sonar operator's voice was trembling. "It's… a heartbeat. Extremely loud, like thunder."
Asha quickly raised the periscope.
On the sea surface, the nightmarish monster — the kraken — had surfaced, its tentacles wrapped around a merchant ship.
Atop the monster's head, Euron was waving his horn and laughing maniacally.
"Found you, Uncle."
Asha gritted her teeth, her eyes burning with the flames of revenge.
"Open torpedo tubes 1 and 2."
"Load [T-5 Sonar-Guided Torpedoes] (system product, must be premium)."
"Target: that massive heartbeat sound."
In the torpedo room, several shirtless sailors shouted in rhythm as they pushed the six-meter-long heavy torpedo with its red warhead into the launch tube.
Inside this torpedo was the "acoustic seeker" that Victor had obtained from the system gift package — absolute black technology for this era.
"Flooding complete!"
"Tube pressure normal!"
Asha stared at the stopwatch and took a deep breath.
"This is industry's greeting."
"Fire!"
Puff! Puff!
The hull shuddered violently.
Two lethal silver reapers shot out of the tubes, their rear propellers spinning instantly.
Buzz——————
Unlike ordinary torpedoes that travel in straight lines, they drew a strange arc underwater and locked onto the massive noise source in the distance.
…
On the sea surface.
Euron Greyjoy was immersed in the pleasure of slaughter.
Suddenly, the sea monster beneath his feet twisted uneasily. Its keen hearing had caught an unfamiliar high-frequency buzzing sound coming from underwater.
The sound was getting closer, faster!
"What is that?" Euron asked uneasily.
The next second.
Boom!!!!!!
The first sonar-guided torpedo drilled precisely into the kraken's soft underbelly!
The high-explosive charge provided by the system detonated instantly inside the monster.
There was no towering flame, but the entire sea surface boiled like boiling water!
The massive shockwave instantly tore apart the kraken's internal organs. Black ink mixed with shredded meat and guts erupted like a volcanic explosion, dyeing hundreds of meters of seawater a dark green.
Aaaang————!!!
The sea monster let out a glass-shattering scream.
Immediately after, the second torpedo followed.
Boom!!!
This time it was a bone-breaking strike. The torpedo severed its main tentacle nerve center.
The mountain-like giant beast instantly went limp, floating on the sea surface like a pile of rotten meat, only twitching helplessly.
"No! This is impossible!"
Euron was thrown onto the deck by the massive shock, his face full of horror.
"Who? Who is underwater?!"
"Come out! You coward! Come out!"
…
U-001 Sea Wolf.
"Target hit! Target vital signs dropping rapidly!" the sonar operator cheered.
"Don't stop."
Asha gave the cold order.
"Full speed ahead! Pass directly under its belly!"
"Send it some 'dessert'."
"Deploy [Depth Charges]!"
The submarine glided like a ghost beneath the dying giant beast.
Barrel-like depth charges rolled out one after another.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Continuous explosions rang out in the deep sea.
The incompressibility of water amplified the explosive force tenfold.
Every muffled boom felt like a heavy hammer striking Euron's heart.
On the sea surface, pillars of water shot into the sky.
The kraken had been completely blown apart. Euron jumped onto a fast boat in panic, looking at the empty yet deadly sea surface. For the first time, he felt fear from the depths of his soul.
Was this Victor's power?
Invisible, untouchable, yet capable of easily killing mythical creatures.
…
Ten minutes later.
Splash—!
The black back of the Sea Wolf surfaced.
Asha opened the hatch, looked at the floating corpse of the giant beast in the distance, and lit a cigarette.
She picked up the communicator and connected to the dedicated line in King's Landing.
"This is Sea Wolf."
"Tell Victor."
"His 'full-moon gift' worked very well."
"The sea monster is dead. But this sea… will need a long time to be cleaned."
…
King's Landing, the Red Keep.
Victor put down the communicator and let out a long breath.
He glanced at the system panel.
[Congratulations, Host! Deep-sea threat successfully eliminated.]
[Family fortune further stabilized.]
[To reward Margaery Tyrell's contribution, it is recommended that the Host give her a "special reward" tonight.]
Victor smiled.
He walked to the window and looked at the bustling streets outside.
"Margaery's pregnancy has secured Pompey's naval supremacy."
"Then next…"
His gaze turned east, toward where Daenerys was.
"Daenerys, it's your turn."
"To unlock [Magitech Technology], and so that we can fly into the sky…"
"Valyria's 'human creation plan' must be put on the agenda."
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