Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 656 Underwater Explosion, Child of Light and Magnetofluid
Fang Wen explained, "I saw it underwater. The altar is topped with an obelisk, but the overall structure is not damaged. If we pry open the stones underneath, we might be able to find the entrance."

After a pause, Fang Wen looked at Steve.

"But that requires underwater tools and underwater explosives. Do you have any of those with you?"

Steve nodded: "Before setting off, I prepared the necessary equipment specifically for this underwater exploration. Come on, let's go over to the Boeing 314, I'll show it to you."

Immediately, Fang Wen and Steve left the plane, jumped into a rubber boat, and rowed towards the Boeing 314 not far away.

Once they arrived, Steve led Fang Wen to the rear cabin.

The cabin, which was originally the public passenger area, was filled with many equipment boxes.

Steve opened the box and introduced it to Fang Wen.

"This contains the latest underwater hydraulic impactor developed by the Batsinger Tools Company in Texas. It was originally developed for underwater mining by oil companies. One of my followers is a customer of this company. He told me about it, and I managed to get a set of equipment over here."

"How does it work?" Fang Wen asked curiously.

"The high-pressure fluid inside the device drives the piston hammer to impact the rock, and then a spring helps it return to its original position. Repeated impacts will cause the rock to crack," Steve replied.

It turned out to be an underwater hydraulic device, and Fang Wen was looking forward to seeing how it would operate underwater.

He glanced at his watch. "It's 1 a.m., and we have at most five hours until dawn. After that, the Germans will be able to find our location more easily. We don't have much time left. Send your most experienced diver up to clear the rubble with hydraulic impactors and underwater blasting. I'll provide directions."

The German threat made Steve no longer hesitate, and he immediately made the decision: "That's it! Select four divers, take the equipment, and go down. Mr. Fang, I'm leaving the underwater work to you."

"Then the situation on the water will depend on you, Steve. If the Germans come, you need to find a way to hold them off," Fang Wen solemnly instructed.

“I have this prepared,” Steve nodded.

A new underwater operation has begun.

Four of the most experienced divers donned their Morse heavy-duty diving suits and stepped onto the floating platform made of four rubber boats next to the Boeing 314, making a dull "thump-thump" sound.

Their safety ropes were connected to winches on the deck, and the air supply hoses on their backs meandered to the high-pressure air pumps on the aircraft. The whole set of equipment gleamed with a cold, hard metallic luster under the searchlights.

Fang Wen changed into a frogman suit, slung his air tank bag over his shoulder, and before putting on his closed breathing apparatus, he gave a final instruction to the diving team: "I'll go underwater to locate the position first. You wait for the news before going underwater, and be sure to maintain a safe distance."

After saying that, he put on a closed breathing hood and jumped into the lake.

Upon entering the icy lake water, Fang Wen swam downwards and reached the altar area in four minutes, pulling the safety rope to signal "location complete".

Gong Xiuneng, who was on the floating platform, immediately raised his hand to indicate that he could go into the water.

As the winch lowered the line, four divers, like four steel statues, slowly sank underwater, the beams of their waterproof lights hanging outside their heavy diving suits tracing four straight lines in the darkness.

A few minutes later, four heavy diving suits landed on the bottom of the lake.

It was the location of the base of the obelisk where the positioning float had been placed before.

Fang Wen moved nimbly in front of them, pointing behind him with his right hand.

Four divers trudged heavily, following Fang Wen toward the altar area a few dozen meters away.

Above the altar, the spire of a massive, broken obelisk rests, and shattered stones cover the entire altar, obscuring its complete appearance and making the entrance impossible to find.

But this was not a problem for Fang Wen. While on the water, Fang Wen used his X-ray vision ability to penetrate the layer of rubble and find the location of the entrance.

It's located in the area on the east side.

But there was a large rock blocking the stone gate.

Fang Wen swam to that area and used hand gestures to indicate that underwater operations would be carried out in this area.

The divers then deployed a new directional buoy to guide the divers above.

Twenty minutes later, the hydraulic impact device fell from above.

The divers worked together to aim the drill bit of the Basinger underwater hydraulic impactor at the area covered with rubble.

Then notify the operator above to start the device.

The drill bit suddenly started moving, causing the water flow to form a vortex.

Subsequently, the piston hammer inside the impactor, propelled by high-pressure fluid, strikes forward three times per second.

As the machine continued to operate, the layer of gravel was pushed aside, revealing large rocks underneath.

A diver waved his arm, indicating that he wanted to move to a different spot to continue drilling.

If someone else were giving instructions, I probably would have followed the diver's advice and changed positions.

But Fang Wen knew that the correct entrance was beneath the rocks.

Therefore, he used hand gestures underwater to instruct the divers to continue trying to break the large rock.

The equipment moves forward, and the impact drill bit is aimed at the rock.

Under constant impact, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the basalt. The vibrations of the impactor were transmitted through the water, stirring up waves of mud and sand, causing a sharp drop in visibility.

Even so, Fang Wen did not stop the equipment.

The basalt layers were broken apart and scattered on the lake bottom.

Time passed slowly, and the impact equipment had to be stopped every thirty minutes.

During this period, the four divers also had to change jobs, otherwise no one could persist in underwater work for a long time.

Fang Wenye surfaced from underwater, removed his breathing mask, and sat on the floating platform to await the results.

Steve was also waiting on the floating platform.

At 3:30 a.m., the fourth batch of divers took over. As soon as the divers came up and took off their helmets, they eagerly reported some good news.

"President, we've removed that big rock. There's a stone door underneath it."

Steve jumped up in surprise: "Can you open the stone door?"

The diver shook his head: "It can't be opened."

"Then prepare for the explosion, use a trinitrophenyl nitramine explosive charge," Steve decisively gave the order.

Two divers in charge of the underwater demolition immediately opened the specialized equipment box and took out cylindrical rubber hoses and explosive blocks. They carefully filled the hoses with trinitrophenyl nitramine explosive, controlling the amount in each hose to 1.5 kilograms to avoid excessive force that could damage items behind the door.

The divers then donned heavy diving suits and went underwater.

At the underwater altar stone gate that had already been breached, they used waterproof tape to evenly fix four explosive hoses in the center and four corners of the stone gate.

Subsequently, the underwater press equipment and divers were all pulled to the surface using a towing device.

"The explosives have been installed. We need to retreat a certain distance to ensure safety," the diver reported.

"How do we detonate it?" Steve asked.

“I will dive down and install the timed detonator,” one of the divers replied.

This was clearly a very dangerous job, and the diver appeared very nervous. Steve took out the amber cross and placed it on the diver's forehead.

May the mystery protect you.

Under the protection of that mysterious and powerful force, the divers showed a devout expression and were no longer flustered.

Subsequently, both seaplanes and the rubber boat all retreated into the distance.

After everyone had evacuated to a safe area, the diver paddled his rubber boat over alone. When he reached the buoy, he jumped into the water wearing a frogman suit.

Next, there was a quiet wait.

Ten minutes later, the diver surfaced, climbed into the rubber boat, and immediately began paddling vigorously after removing his hood.

Eight minutes later, he rowed to where everyone was.

Suddenly, ripples appeared on the water behind us.

Then a large stream of water gushed out.

The explosion wasn't as violent as a land-based one; it subsided after a brief churning. "Did the stone gate explode?" Steve wondered worriedly.

"We'll find out when we go down and take a look," Fang Wen replied.

Immediately afterwards, the two planes and the rubber boat returned to their original positions.

This time, Fang Wen took the initiative to go into the water to check.

Upon entering the water again, Fang Wen accelerated his descent. If the stone gate were to explode, he planned to enter and retrieve the treasure.

Using his powerful mental strength, he descended directly to the altar area without turning on the waterproof lights.

Because the mud and sand from the blast had not yet completely settled, visibility was less than two meters. Fang Wen turned on his waterproof lamp and used the light to determine his location before swimming toward the stone gate of the altar.

The explosive power of the four high-explosive hoses was still considerable, blasting a one-meter-wide irregular gap in the center of the stone gate. The rocks along the edges cracked radially, but did not collapse on a large scale, just enough to reveal the passage leading inside.

Fang Wen swam to the gap and looked inside.

It was pitch black inside; you couldn't see anything.

However, in my perception, the energy fluctuations from the treasure were right in front of me.

Fang Wen raised the waterproof lamp with his left hand to shine it forward, and held the diving knife in his right hand before diving inside.

The rock walls on both sides of the spacious stone passage are covered with unique symbols of Ethiopian civilization.

Those unfamiliar with this civilization cannot distinguish whether the script is a totem symbol or a pictograph.

Suddenly, a dark figure rapidly approached from the side.

Faced with this sudden threat, Fang Wen did not hesitate to swing his diving knife.

His strength far surpasses that of ordinary people, and he is incredibly fast even underwater.

The blade flashed across the water, leaving a cloud of blood mist.

The dark shadow broke in two and slowly fell.

It is a strange fish with a long body and a seemingly degenerated head, lacking eyes.

It's unclear how it got into this sealed ancient altar, but it doesn't seem to pose much of a threat.

Fang Wen used his diving knife to move the fish carcass aside and continued swimming forward.

At the end of the passage is a circular stone chamber, about ten meters in diameter, with a natural cave ceiling at the top. Stalactites hang down like icicles, and the surface is covered with a thin layer of calcification.

In the center of the stone chamber stands a stone altar that is half a meter high.

The location where the secret treasure is located is on the altar.

Fang Wen carefully swam up.

He saw that in the center of the altar was a golden disc.

Around the disc are strange symbols that look like the eyes of some kind of creature.

Something familiar.

Fang Wen searched his memory for the source of that sense of familiarity.

They found it quickly; it was the Eye of Horus from ancient Egypt.

This symbol frequently appears in ancient Egyptian murals, and Fang Wen had seen it in some film and television entertainment documentaries in the future, which is why it felt familiar.

This thing looks like the guardian deity of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. How did it end up in the altar of the Ethiopian civilization?
Fang Wen speculated that the two were not far apart, connected by the Nile River, and given the legend of Solomon, it was possible that they were connected.

Brushing aside his thoughts, Fang Wen looked at the center of the golden plate.

That's what he really wanted.

Black liquid floated in the center of the gold plate, and above it, a small, irregularly shaped clump of liquid was suspended.

It is insoluble in water and looks like petroleum.

what is this?

Fang Wen dared not make contact rashly.

He extended his diving knife and touched the small clump of liquid suspended in the air with the tip.

Strange things happened.

The liquid actually adhered to the blade, quickly enveloping half of it, turning the encased half of the blade pitch black.

As the black liquid adhered to the blade, the liquid on the golden plate decreased, revealing the objects within it.

It is a glowing bead.

Fang Wen immediately thought of the term 'Child of Light'.

Could this be what you're referring to?
He reached for it.

He held the bead in his hand, and although there was rubber between them, an invisible energy connection was still established.

It is still the energy of faith, although the texture is somewhat different, but the essence is the same.

Fang Wen now possesses a complete set of techniques for controlling and absorbing the energy of this kind of treasure.

He tried to infuse a wisp of his energy into the light bead.

Instantly, the black liquid clinging to the diving knife detached from the blade and flew rapidly over, attaching itself to Fang Wen's hand.

A large amount of black liquid enveloped Fang Wen's left hand, which was holding the light orb. Because of the rubber barrier, nothing strange was found for the time being.

How do you use it?

Fang Wen continued to inject energy, attempting to stimulate it.

Under his manipulation, the black liquid changed again, with liquid spikes protruding, and then changing accordingly under Fang Wen's will.

interesting.

This lump of liquid becomes highly malleable clay, which can be attached to any part of the body and can be shaped.

This reminded Fang Wen of a special technological term from the future: 'magnetic fluid'.

The simplest magnetofluid can be made by fusing magnetic iron powder (Fe3O4) with an oily substance, and then, under the guidance of a magnet's magnetic field, produce fluid changes.

(Magnets control the magnetofluid in the glass bottle)
In future science fiction movies, a parasitic organism with an appearance called Venom is actually a science fiction reinterpretation of magnetohydrodynamics.

Is this magnetofluid-like material we have now actually a magnetofluid?

Fang Wen didn't have time to verify it now; he prepared to put away the light orb and the black liquid and leave the altar.

But such a bright bead would be hard to go unnoticed if you wore it out.

How can I prevent it from glowing?

Fang Wen came up with a solution: to directly absorb the energy within the light bead.

After absorbing a certain amount, the light orb truly stopped glowing.

It turned into a black bead, and the liquid miraculously contracted, enveloping the black bead, and then solidified.

Immediately, Fang Wen held the black bead in his palm, swam out of the altar, and swam towards the surface of the water.

On the water, it was already daylight.

A patrol boat appeared in the distance.

The ship was not flying the Italian flag and was being piloted by a group of men dressed in black.

After seeing the situation on the ship through his binoculars, Steve shouted, "Get your weapons, the Germans have found us!"

(End of this chapter)