Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 647 - 586: Riding the Waves

In Tokyo City, some remaining soldiers hiding in dilapidated houses saw the top of a high-rise building through a curtain of tracer fire and the fleeting trajectory of a magnetic railgun shell.

Risking their lives, they used a satellite phone to notify a radar station two hundred kilometers away, warning them of this information. However, the response they received was that the radar station could not detect any signal.

On one hand, thanks to the data obtained from the Tokyo Materials Research Institute, the Elemental Material on the surface of the magnetic railgun shell had transformed into a multi-spectrum electromagnetic wave stealth coating, capable of absorbing and attenuating incoming electromagnetic waves, microwaves, and infrared radiation.

On the other hand, the shell was flying too fast. Its excellent aerodynamic shape and extremely high initial velocity allowed it to break through the dense atmosphere like a ballistic missile.

"Did you create an Electromagnetic Cannon?"

The American officer, lying on the ground and enduring the pain of a fractured rib, asked with difficulty, "Who are you targeting?"

Li Ang replied indifferently, "Warships."

"Hahaha."

The officer laughed with difficulty. "You couldn’t possibly be unaware of the Earth’s curvature, right?"

At that moment, the majority of the US Navy and Japan Self-Defense Force warships were in the Liuqiu Sea Area, confronting the East Sea Fleet.

That location was thirteen hundred kilometers away from Tokyo. How could a shell possibly reach that far?

Even if this exceptionally long Magnetic Railgun could launch the shell over thirteen hundred kilometers, due to the Earth’s curvature and air turbulence during flight, the shell would deviate significantly from its target—by several or even tens of kilometers. Shells, unlike missiles, lacked autonomous guidance capabilities.

Li Ang didn’t argue but calmly stated, "I used a Wave Rider Configuration."

The officer’s pupils dilated instantly in disbelief.

After the shell passed through the dense atmosphere, its outer casing slowly eroded away, revealing a flat, wedge-shaped inner structure with smooth tail fins on either side. It looked nothing like a conventional shell or aircraft but more like a craft from a future era.

The alteration of its aerodynamic shape, combined with the influence of gravity, caused the craft to descend slowly, gradually touching the top of the dense atmosphere, about to re-enter it.

WHOOSH!

The fierce wind, coupled with the shockwaves generated by the craft’s design and hypersonic speed, created intense lift, boosting the craft out of the dense atmosphere.

Like a surfer on water, the craft glided smoothly atop the atmosphere, its flight elegant and serene.

This was the Wave Rider Configuration.

"Director, shouldn’t we take action now?"

Aboard an amphibious warship of the East Sea Fleet in the Liuqiu Sea Area, Wei Linglan, a member of the Special Affairs Investigation Bureau’s mobile task force, couldn’t help but ask.

"...Wait a bit longer."

Xing Hechou, the director of the Special Affairs Investigation Bureau, a powerfully built man in military uniform with a square jaw and resolute expression, put down his telescope and shook his head.

The sea was pitch black, but Xing Hechou, a Superpower User, could clearly see the US Navy aircraft carrier strike group twenty nautical miles away through his telescope.

Twenty nautical miles. For a navy that emphasized over-the-horizon engagement, this was almost uncomfortably close.

The agent codenamed Thousand-miles Sealing Blade, his expression anxious, stamped his foot on the deck. "How long have we been waiting?" he demanded, clearly irritated. "Are we supposed to wait until it’s time to collect that Li Ang fellow’s corpse?"

The East Sea Fleet, along with the multinational armada including the US Navy aircraft carrier group, the Japan Self-Defense Force Fleet, the Australian Fleet, and the South Korea Fleet, had been in a standoff for several hours. They had closed the distance from one hundred to twenty nautical miles, with neither side backing down.

"Wait a bit longer."

Xing Hechou told Thousand-miles Sealing Blade to remain calm, yet he couldn’t stop himself from walking to the edge of the deck. He gripped the rail tightly, leaving a clear imprint of his palm on the metal.

He also understood the concerns from his superiors; Tokyo City was ablaze with war, multiple naval forces were in a standoff, and the situation was on a knife’s edge.

If this wasn’t handled well, it could trigger a world war.

The higher-ups must have obtained more information, perhaps about the meteorite’s effects, the current situation in Tokyo City, or the US leadership’s bottom line.

Xing Hechou gripped the railing, his mind a whirl of thoughts, forcing himself to remain calm. There were Superpower Users on the opposing fleets as well; he had to be wary of them launching a boarding action.

Suddenly, the opposing fleet moved. As if they had detected something, they broke formation and scattered chaotically. Their fleet commander even broke the silence first, contacting the East Sea Fleet via radio and shouting, "Did you just launch a hypersonic missile at us?"

A missile?

Before the East Sea Fleet could react, their shipborne radar also detected an object rapidly approaching from high altitude.

A hypersonic missile, strictly speaking, refers to missiles capable of reaching speeds of Mach 8 or higher and performing significant maneuvers.

Due to their extreme speed, they can penetrate all defense systems. With no effective countermeasures to intercept them, they form a crucial part of a major power’s nuclear deterrence.

Currently, only China and Russia officially possessed operational hypersonic missiles. Even a power like the United States was still stuck in the testing phase.

Thus, upon detecting the radar signal, not only the US fleet but also Xing Hechou and his team were shocked, wondering if World War III was truly about to begin.

WHIZZ—

Everyone heard it: an extremely sharp shriek tore through the sky.

Immediately after, an explosion erupted in fire and smoke from the deck of the USS George Washington, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy Seventh Fleet.

BOOM!

A huge, deep crack, nearly splitting the aircraft carrier in two, opened up in the middle of the 330-meter-long and 76-meter-wide deck.

Five decks were penetrated. Thick smoke mixed with steam billowed upwards. The violent tremors and lurching caused the parked F-14s, F/A-18 fighter-attack jets, and EA-6 electronic warfare aircraft to tilt. The tie-down chains on four of them snapped, and the aircraft slid overboard into the sea, throwing up spray high above the deck.

The crew had never imagined they would be attacked. Panic and fear spread through their ranks until an officer’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers. Only then did they regain some composure, following damage control procedures to fight the fires onboard.

The aircraft carrier, after all, was a fortress at sea. Even with such severe damage to the deck, it wasn’t going to sink immediately...

Clinging to this sliver of hope, the sailors took fire extinguishers to the deck, only to witness a bizarre scene.

A large amount of black sludge spread from the gash in the deck, slowly forming into the shape of a young Eastern man.

Li Ang, or rather Li Ang’s Ink Silk Clone, surveyed the chaos on the deck before lifting his gaze to the sky—

Two previously airborne MH-60S Knight Hawk shipborne helicopters spotlighted him with their searchlights.

Li Ang slowly opened his palm, then clenched it into a fist.

Tremendous Telekinesis poured out like two giant, invisible hands seizing the airborne helicopters.

The blast-proof glass shattered inward, propeller blades buckled and shattered, and digital displays sparked violently before instantly going dark.

BOOM—

The two helicopters, crushed by the Telekinesis, plummeted into the sea.