Seeing that the USS Eisenhower carrier strike group’s target this time was his own desalination vessel, Liu Hui stopped holding back and directly commanded Xiao Hei to charge.

With a sudden bend and snap of its tail, Xiao Hei shot forward like an arrow, its target the Eisenhower carrier steaming on the surface.

Xiao Hei, utilizing its speed of Mach 1, slammed into the underside of the Eisenhower, producing a deafening BOOM. Then, leveraging the immense kinetic energy of its charge, Xiao Hei’s hardened serpentine head bored into the carrier’s hull from below. The head thrashed violently a few times inside the massive structure, tearing open a hole over twenty meters in diameter. Xiao Hei then swiftly retracted its head and retreated into the sea. A torrent of seawater immediately poured into the carrier’s interior through the gaping maw it had created.

The first violent impact against the Eisenhower’s keel not only punched a massive hole in the bottom but the sheer force caused the aircraft carrier to leap four or five meters into the air before crashing back down onto the ocean. Everyone aboard the Eisenhower was thrown to the deck, sustaining injuries of varying severity, and several aircraft parked topside were tossed directly into the sea.

“Damn it, what in the world is happening? Did we hit an undersea earthquake?” Major General Philip Davidson, commander of the Eisenhower strike group, scrambled up from the deck, shouting in fury. Beside him, Pete was bleeding from a gash on his head, blinking around dazedly; he too had no idea what had occurred.

“General Davidson, I believe we are under attack by the enemy,” a damage control officer yelled over the comms.

“Nonsense! We are the mighty US Navy! Who would dare attack us? Do you think those pathetic little Iranian river fleets near us have that kind of nerve?” Major General Philip Davidson instantly refuted the damage control officer. The ingrained arrogance of the American military made him refuse to believe his carrier was under attack; he was far more convinced they had struck a reef. Even with Iranian territory just to the east of the strike group, he could not conceive that Iran would dare strike the great US Navy.

“General, we are definitely under enemy attack. It might be a torpedo, or something else. The hull beneath us is severely compromised and beyond damage control. Our watertight integrity and double hull proved useless because there is a massive, twenty-meter-wide breach below us…” The damage control officer’s words were cut short as another violent impact shook the Eisenhower. This powerful jolt caused the behemoth—which displaced up to 91,500 tons fully loaded, measuring 332.9 meters long and 40.8 meters wide—to rock violently side to side, the amplitude of the sway nearly causing the carrier to capsize.

Consequently, no one aboard the Eisenhower could remain standing; everyone tumbled to the deck. Every aircraft still chained to the flight deck was now submerged.

“Damn it, we are being attacked! Good God, where are our perimeter cruisers, destroyers, frigates, even the nuclear submarine beneath us? Are they all on shore leave?” Major General Davidson slammed his forehead onto a console, immediately producing a lump. He clutched his head to staunch the flow of blood, roaring in rage.

General Davidson was highly experienced. Initially, he had simply been reluctant to believe his strike group was under attack, but after the second impact on the carrier, he reacted instantly, finally confirming the enemy assault. What baffled him was what weapon could strike his carrier when the skies, surface, and seabed were all under his surveillance.

After the first strike on the Eisenhower’s belly, Xiao Hei had observed massive volumes of water rushing into the hull. Given the damage from the twenty-meter breach, Liu Hui knew the Eisenhower was doomed to sink. However, due to the ship's colossal size, sinking would take time, and Liu Hui felt insufficient vengeance. Therefore, Liu Hui commanded Xiao Hei to pull back a distance, tail snapping once more to accelerate. This time, Xiao Hei barreled toward the waterline of the Eisenhower.

Xiao Hei was fully prepared for this second pass. It managed to punch clean through the carrier’s hull right at the waterline. Xiao Hei’s head emerged on the opposite side, so the creature simply exerted force, its entire body slithering through the carrier’s structure. As it moved through the interior, its massive bulk twisted continuously, inflicting devastating structural damage upon the Eisenhower.

The sheer force of this second collision caused the aircraft parked in the hangar bays to collide violently, igniting aviation fuel in the tanks and setting the hangar ablaze with roaring flames. The fire quickly reached and detonated adjacent fuel storage areas, engulfing the Eisenhower in a raging inferno that subsequently set off stored munitions with violent explosions.

Yet, these explosions and the colossal fire did nothing to harm Xiao Hei’s body. The creature’s huge, obsidian bulk passed through the carrier’s structure as if the blasts and flames were merely scratching an itch.

Amidst the towering fire and detonations, Xiao Hei’s massive form emerged from the Eisenhower and slipped back into the sea. Where it had passed, a massive, ravaged hole was instantly visible. Seawater poured relentlessly through this new breach, compounding the ingress through the twenty-meter hole already present in the keel. The USS Eisenhower had lost all capability for self-rescue and was visibly beginning its swift descent into the depths.

Inside the carrier’s command center, Philip Davidson knew they were under attack after the second impact. Before he could issue specific orders, he felt immense explosions and the sound of something tearing apart the hull around him. The carrier immediately began listing, and power abruptly failed.

“Who—who is attacking us? Could it really be those Iranians?” Philip Davidson cried out in grief and fury. He had no choice; his carrier was the first American carrier to be attacked by an enemy since World War II. His name would surely be recorded in history, not as a hero, but as the epitome of foolishness.

“General, the carrier is going down! We have to get out of here!” Pete, though equally ignorant of the specific nature of the attack, reacted quickly. He grabbed Major General Davidson and rushed toward the exit of the command room. Less than a minute after Xiao Hei’s second strike, seawater was already flooding the command center. If they hadn't moved faster, they risked drowning right there.

Davidson followed Pete out of the command center in a daze. As they swam out, illuminated by the raging fires on the carrier deck, they saw the Eisenhower already listing severely. Its stern was jutting high out of the water, its propellers still spinning furiously. The entire ship was sinking rapidly. Around them were sailors who had managed to escape, but far more had not.

“General, we need to swim away quickly, or the vortex from the sinking ship will pull us down!” Though stunned by the catastrophe unfolding on the surface, Pete’s instinct for survival kicked in. He pulled Major General Davidson, swimming hard toward the distance. As they swam, they managed to grab two life vests from an escaping sailor. Donning the vests, they paddled desperately away, joining other survivors who were also fleeing this sea of fire.

With just two impacts, Xiao Hei had catastrophically dismantled the colossal nuclear carrier, initiating its rapid sinking and fully demonstrating its overwhelming power. Among the crew, many had escaped by jumping overboard, but a significant number had not. Not a single aircraft on deck survived. Xiao Hei felt no pity; if this carrier strike group had reached the Persian Gulf, the fate of the Star Group’s desalination ship would have been no better. Furthermore, the strike group still possessed combat strength, and Xiao Hei’s immediate task was the utter annihilation of the Eisenhower strike group to remove any future threat to the desalination vessel.

Thus, upon seeing the Eisenhower enter irreversible decline, Xiao Hei released the carrier. It turned beneath the waves and began charging toward the USS Ticonderoga-class cruiser, the USS Hull. Xiao Hei’s speed, already at Mach 1, meant that virtually as soon as it oriented toward the Hull, it struck. Even if the Hull had detected Xiao Hei, it would have been utterly incapable of evading the impact.

Compared to the Eisenhower’s massive 91,500-ton displacement, this Aegis-equipped cruiser displaced less than ten thousand tons fully loaded. Xiao Hei’s concentrated blow sent the USS Hull flipping over immediately. The serpentine head bored back into the hull, and with a violent shake of its head, Xiao Hei ripped free, then snapped its tail through the air, driving the Hull downward into the sea.

Very quickly, the USS Hull was completely inverted, floating upside down on the water. Because Xiao Hei’s strike was so sudden, almost none of the crew aboard the cruiser managed to escape; they were trapped beneath the waves. The impact had punched a massive hole in the Hull, and seawater was rushing in violently, causing a swift descent. Judging by the sinking speed, even if rescuers had arrived, the trapped sailors would have been beyond saving, facing certain drowning.

Xiao Hei was quite satisfied with this work; a single blow had sunk the powerful USS Hull. It whipped its tail again, seeking its next target: the USS McFaul, a missile destroyer. Xiao Hei locked onto its bearing and accelerated toward the destroyer.

But at that moment, a torpedo shot up from beneath the water toward Xiao Hei. Having just destroyed two major warships under Liu Hui’s direction, Xiao Hei was energized and, consequently, momentarily let down its guard, failing to notice the incoming torpedo. Caught completely off guard, Xiao Hei was struck directly by the torpedo, which detonated in a violent explosion that engulfed the creature’s body.

It turned out that ever since Xiao Hei began attacking the Eisenhower, it had stopped controlling the sound emissions. As a result, Xiao Hei’s presence had been detected by the strike group’s nuclear submarine. The submarine, the USS Michigan, immediately acquired sonar lock and began firing torpedoes. However, due to Xiao Hei’s incredible speed, the Michigan missed several initial launches. During this exchange, Xiao Hei remained focused on destroying the Eisenhower and the Hull, completely unaware of the irritating fly buzzing nearby.

After sinking the Hull, Xiao Hei paused momentarily while turning underwater, which provided the Michigan the opening it needed to land a successful torpedo strike.

Xiao Hei was enraged. The torpedo itself caused no physical damage, but the attack was an extreme provocation to its dignity. The creature’s emotionless eyes swiveled, locating the USS Michigan launching torpedoes in the distance.

The crew of the USS Michigan was horrified by Xiao Hei’s speed, having missed with several torpedoes already. They did not relent, firing continuously until one finally hit. However, before the American sailors aboard the Michigan could cheer their success, they realized the massive unknown object was not destroyed. Instead, it was infuriated by their provocation and was already turning, rapidly accelerating toward their submarine.

“Fire torpedoes three and four immediately!” the submarine commander shouted.

“Captain, the object is too fast, there isn’t time…” the sonar operator yelled back.

Before the sonar operator could finish, Xiao Hei collided with the USS Michigan. However, Xiao Hei did not strike with full force, so the submarine was not instantly destroyed.

The American sailors aboard the Michigan felt their control over the submarine vanish the instant they were struck. It felt as if something was dragging them, forcing the vessel to move rapidly. Then, they felt the hull performing wide, violent rotations beneath the surface, much like a hammer thrower spinning their weight. The rotational speed increased drastically before Xiao Hei suddenly flung the submarine away.

The crew of the Michigan had no time to process what had happened before they smashed into something. Their hull buckled, compressed, and then exploded as they sank. In their final moments, the sailors of the Michigan realized they had collided with another submarine. This impact had not only detonated their own vessel but had also slammed into another submarine, causing it to explode and sink as well.

It turned out that upon locating the Michigan, Xiao Hei had charged quickly but opted not to ram the submarine to destroy it. Instead, it used its tail to ensnare the submarine, turning the USS Michigan into a hammer for high-speed rotation.

Xiao Hei then hurled the submarine away with immense force, targeting the other nuclear submarine in the distance, the USS Ohio. Under the crushing momentum imparted by Xiao Hei, the Michigan slammed into the Ohio. The collision caused both submarines to snap their hulls and detonate simultaneously, sinking them both. Not a single American sailor aboard either vessel survived.

Just as Xiao Hei resolved the threat from the submerged submarines, the remaining three missile destroyers and two frigates on the surface realized the situation was dire. Although they still did not know the source of the attack, they were certain it originated from beneath the waves.

It was the dead of night, yet the raging fires engulfing the Eisenhower and the Hull illuminated the sea as if it were daytime. Furthermore, their sonar systems had detected Xiao Hei’s massive signature. But they were utterly helpless against Xiao Hei moving at supersonic speed. Their only recourse was to continuously drop depth charges and fire anti-submarine missiles into the depths, hoping these measures would stall Xiao Hei’s assault long enough for them to establish defenses.

Depth charges and anti-submarine missiles detonated constantly around Xiao Hei, but the creature’s physical resilience had surpassed all conceivable limits. These weapons caused no discernible damage. Xiao Hei maintained its steady course toward the USS McFaul, the missile destroyer.

With a deafening CRACK, the 9,900-ton USS McFaul immediately listed on its side. Sailors tumbled out of the destroyer like dumplings being dumped into the sea. Xiao Hei pulled back slightly, then slammed into the exposed bottom hull of the listing destroyer, punching a colossal hole through it. Seawater immediately began flooding the breach.

The McFaul’s structure was also critically compromised by Xiao Hei’s devastating assault, and it too began to sink rapidly with no hope of salvage. The American sailors who had fallen into the sea quickly swam outward. However, the McFaul’s descent was so swift that the resulting large vortex dragged several sailors who hadn't cleared the area down toward the seabed.

Xiao Hei appeared to ignore the struggling sailors on the surface, turning again and charging toward the USS Carney, another missile destroyer.

“Captain, the unknown object is charging us! What do we do?” the sonar operator cried out.

The captain of the Carney had witnessed the carnage inflicted upon the other warships in his strike group. Without hesitation, he barked, “All hands abandon ship immediately…”

But before the captain could finish issuing the order, Xiao Hei smashed into the USS Carney. The creature’s body plunged deep into the hull. With an irresistible, overwhelming force, Xiao Hei dragged itself through the ship’s interior, twisting and tearing apart the Carney’s structure as it went. When Xiao Hei emerged on the far side, the USS Carney was completely fragmented and rapidly sinking, with only a handful of its crew having managed to escape.

Little Black ignored the USS Caronie guided-missile destroyer and redirected itself, charging toward the last Farragut-class guided-missile destroyer. Little Black had learned its tactics: it simply barreled toward the Farragut with brute force, slamming the destroyer until it flipped completely over onto the sea surface. Then, Little Black coiled its massive body around the destroyer’s hull, yanking downwards with immense pressure. The Farragut was violently dragged beneath the waves, and not a single American sailor aboard managed to escape.

Little Black swiftly eliminated one aircraft carrier, one cruiser, three destroyers, and two nuclear submarines. With the destruction of these vessels, the combat capability of the entire Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group had essentially been annihilated.

Little Black glanced at the surface and saw that no large US warships remained. The USS Eisenhower carrier and the USS Hutchins missile cruiser, which had been sinking earlier, had completely submerged, dragging with them any US personnel who hadn't managed to flee their immediate vicinity. Now, the sea was littered with American soldiers, many floundering in the water without even a life vest. In the distance, two small frigates, the replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn, and the ammunition ship USNS Sacagawea were fleeing the scene.

Little Black dove back underwater and, in less than five seconds, caught up to the two small frigates. With just a simple collision, it flipped both of them over onto the surface. At that moment, the entire Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was utterly destroyed.

Little Black continued swimming forward, striking the USNS Sacagawea ammunition ship again, causing it to sustain damage and sink as well. Finally, the only vessel left afloat was the replenishment oiler, the USNS Big Horn. Liu Hui paused, deciding to spare the oiler so that it could rescue the remaining American soldiers bobbing in the water.

In an instant, Little Black had wiped out the formidable Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. Little Black’s method of combat was extraordinarily brutal yet frighteningly effective, causing Liu Hui’s confidence to surge. The perceived military threat from the Americans suddenly felt far less daunting.

Thus, Liu Hui commanded Little Black to turn, disregarding the American soldiers still adrift, and continue onward toward the Gulf of Bōsi. Little Black had to reach the vicinity of the Star Group’s desalination ship to provide a protective shield, locking down any potential surface attacks the US military might launch against the vessel.

Miraculously, Major General Davidson and Pete managed to swim clear of the immediate gravitational influence of the sinking USS Eisenhower, avoiding being pulled down by the massive vortex to the seabed, thus escaping death. However, they watched helplessly as countless American soldiers near them were sucked into the swirling maw, an agonizing sensation of sight without the power to intervene that drove Major General Davidson to despair.

After Little Black ceased its attack, nothing remained visible on the sea surface except for the replenishment oiler, the USNS Big Horn. The crew aboard the Big Horn remained uncertain whether the unknown entity that attacked them from beneath the sea was still lurking below. After fleeing forward for a considerable distance and noting the continued absence of any attack, they finally brought the ship to a stop.

The Big Horn then cautiously began steaming back toward the area. When still no attack materialized, the crew breathed a collective sigh of relief, concluding that the mysterious assailant had spared them because they were merely a supply vessel carrying no weaponry.

The USNS Big Horn swiftly approached the recent combat zone and began recovering the American soldiers floating on the surface. Once Major General Davidson and Pete were pulled aboard, they took a grim count: including the crew already on the Big Horn, the total number of survivors was fewer than eight hundred. Their full-strength carrier strike group had numbered over nine thousand personnel; the survival rate was less than one-tenth of the original complement, a reality that caused Major General Davidson profound agony.

“Contact headquarters immediately. Tell them the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was attacked by an unknown enemy and has been completely destroyed. Request immediate reinforcement support from headquarters.”

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