Capture The Submarines!?

“Hurry, evade!”

“W-we’re too late!”

The executive officer’s shout echoed through the bridge, but the battleship had only just begun maneuvering—there wasn’t enough time to avoid the attack. The word “sinking” surfaced in everyone’s mind. Just as faces turned pale, Ian immediately used his psychic power.

Zzzrrrk—

The familiar sensation of telekinesis surged forth. In that instant, the oncoming torpedoes suddenly shifted direction. All of them veered downward into the ocean floor. It actually felt much easier than deflecting incoming artillery shells.

As all approaching torpedoes sank, the lookouts—who had lost sight of them—cried out in panic. At that moment, boom boom boom boom! Explosions erupted underwater. The battleship shook from the shockwaves.

Ian grabbed onto a nearby fixture to steady himself and muttered under his breath.

“Were the torpedoes defective?”

“Hmm, it’s possible.”

“Where do you think the attack came from?”

“There were no signs of any ships. That means… perhaps it was that rumored thing called a submarine.”

“You know about submarines?”

“Yes, I’ve taken an interest in them for a while, but I never imagined one would appear in such open waters.”

“Perhaps some nation has developed submarines capable of operating on the high seas.”

“Which one could it be?”

“Well, if I had to guess, maybe the Doicheun Empire?”

“The Doicheun Empire? Would they even use submarines?”

“They’re a wounded beast with their pride in tatters. If it’s done discreetly, I think it’s entirely possible.”

Hearing Ian’s reasoning, the executive officer silently agreed. The empire, having lost face, must be hungry for revenge. Regardless, what mattered now was that somewhere out there in the vast sea, a submarine was hiding and targeting the battleship Mythos. By this time, the ship had finally begun moving.

‘Good thing we never shut down the steam boilers.’

Since the war with the rebels wasn’t officially over, they hadn’t turned them off—which was fortunate. Steam boilers had a major flaw: once shut down, they took a long time to restart. For that reason, unless in a secure naval base, it was best not to shut them down. Now, the priority was to find the submarine.

“Do we have any way to locate the submarine?”

“Regrettably, we currently have no means to detect it.”

“And no way to attack it either?”

“No. Since it’s our first time encountering such a new weapon, we lack any countermeasures.”

“Can’t hit what you can’t see—not even with naval guns.”

They didn’t have sonar-like technology, nor depth charges. At this point, the only option was to keep evading. Ian concentrated his senses, trying to detect the submarine’s location. But his sensing ability was limited to the immediate vicinity. If it was far away, he wouldn’t be able to find it.

‘This proves we desperately need technological development.’

If devices like long-range radar or sonar were invented, it would make using his ability much easier. But he knew such tech was still far off. While scanning the dark sea, he suddenly heard the lookout’s urgent voice from the starboard side.

“T-torpedo sighted! Three o’clock direction!”

“Evasive action!”

At Ian’s order, the battleship Mythos began turning away from the oncoming torpedo. Ian, seeing that one torpedo would hit for sure, used his power again to redirect it.

All four torpedoes passed by the ship harmlessly. At the same time, Ian identified the direction they had come from and spoke.

“If they launched from that direction, the submarine must be there.”

“Shouldn’t we move as far away as possible?”

The executive officer gave his professional opinion—advancing toward an invisible enemy was too dangerous. Ian agreed. But at the same time, he thought that fleeing would only invite more attacks.

“Turn the ship. Let’s head toward where the torpedoes came from.”

“Eh? But…”

“It just occurred to me—if this is the first time submarines have appeared, they’re probably small. That means their torpedoes are likely running low. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh! That means… they might be out of torpedoes now!”

“It’s only a possibility. Unless there’s a whole fleet of submarines out there, they probably can’t launch any more.”

“That’s very possible!”

The executive officer, after some thought, agreed with the assessment—and was impressed. Ian had predicted the enemy’s situation from a completely different angle. Now that he thought about it, this man had often seen what no one else could. His insight and thinking were on another level.

‘I’ve been underestimating Captain Ian all this time.’

With this realization, the crew decided to pursue the submarine. The battleship began heading toward where the torpedoes had been launched. Of course, they had no reliable way to locate the target—but for now, they had to try.

Seeing the battleship Mythos moving, the other ships in the harbor finally realized it had been under attack. They began mobilizing as well. Ian also made sure to signal them via blinker lights, explaining that the threat was a submarine. They had to be cautious.

Soon, five warships were patrolling the area, clearly searching for something. And, as expected, no more torpedoes came. It seemed certain the enemy was out of ammunition. The problem was, they still hadn’t found the submarine.

‘Ah, we can’t let it get away…’

If they let it escape today, they might suffer more attacks later. This wasn’t just about the rebel threat anymore—this was about the survival of the battleship Mythos. Of course, as long as Ian was here, it wouldn’t be sunk.

‘Still, we can’t afford to live under constant threat…’

Anxious, Ian decided to push himself to spread his senses. Even if he couldn’t reach far with his psychic power, he hoped to at least detect something. Taking a deep breath, he focused and extended his senses.

He pushed so hard that his brain began to strain. But in exchange, his senses spread wider than ever before. He wasn’t going to hold it for long—but then, finally, he felt something.

‘Something’s at two o’clock!’

In fact, there were two. That meant there might be two submarines, not one. The problem was how to explain it. He couldn’t just say “Let’s go over there.” He had to pretend it was a coincidence.

‘How do I even say that?’

If he could just approach, he could stop them from fleeing with telekinesis. Maybe even randomly cast mental manipulation. As he pondered that, he felt something dripping from his nose. Touching it—he found blood. Just then, his aide, Lieutenant Mardin Gaso, rushed over in a panic.

“Captain! Are you all right? Your nose is bleeding!”

“Ah, I see.”

“Here, please use this.”

As his aide urgently offered his handkerchief, Ian accepted it gratefully, using it to wipe the blood and pinch his nose. The nosebleed was clearly a side effect of having overextended his senses. He had pushed his brain into overdrive, so the bleeding wasn’t unexpected. Just then, the executive officer asked with concern.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just a nosebleed.”

“But still…”

“Rather than heading directly toward where the torpedoes came from, what if we approach at a slight angle? I’m sure they’ll try to escape in a different direction.”

“That does make sense, but… where should we go?”

Still flustered from the bleeding, Ian didn’t find the executive officer’s question strange. After a moment of contemplation, he pointed in the direction where he had just sensed the submarine.

“How about over there?”

“Understood. We’ll head that way.”

Since they were essentially wandering in search anyway, the executive officer didn’t object when Ian pointed decisively. Thus, the battleship Mythos slowly began approaching the location where the submarines were hiding.

Meanwhile, the submarine captain, watching this through the periscope, wore a face full of confusion. He couldn’t believe they were heading straight for his hiding spot. He had considered fleeing but decided to stay hidden and wait things out—which now seemed like a mistake.

‘What is going on? How could they be coming here… is it just a coincidence?’

After a brief internal debate, he decided to dive. Once underwater, they’d be impossible to find. The periscope descended, and both submarines began descending together, exchanging signals as they sank.

They dove to a depth of about 30 meters before halting and switching to standby mode. This deep underwater, they believed, no one would find them.

‘Please… just pass by.’

He waited for the enemy to move on. Based on their speed and distance, this should be the moment they passed. As nothing happened, a relieved expression returned to his face. It must’ve been luck—they were simply passing nearby.

‘Phew, we’re safe. Once this passes, we’ll return to the transport ship, resupply torpedoes, and try again.’

But it wouldn’t be easy next time. The enemy would be far more cautious. He couldn’t help feeling regret about their failure—if they had succeeded, they could have sunk the Mythos and returned triumphantly to the Empire.

‘Once we return, we’ll address the torpedo issues—’

“Hey! What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

The sudden shout turned heads. The helmsman was behaving strangely—he shoved aside a fellow crewman trying to stop him and began operating the controls on his own. The captain felt both confusion and dread. He rushed over, shouting:

“Who gave you permission to move the vessel?!”

“…..”

“You bastard! Restrain that lunatic!”

At the captain’s furious command, nearby crewmen rushed over and dragged the man away. The helmsman struggled desperately, refusing to be taken. Up close, the captain noticed something was very wrong—his eyes were glazed over, and drool was dripping from his mouth.

‘This is dangerous.’

Now that the sub was moving, if they weren’t quick, they could be detected. Without hesitation, the captain drew his pistol and aimed directly at the helmsman’s head. Just as everyone gasped—bang! A single shot rang out. The helmsman dropped instantly. The captain was satisfied—he had aimed precisely at the neck to avoid any bullet ricochet inside the sub.

“You! Take over the helm and stop the sub!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Another crewman rushed to take over the controls, visibly terrified—not only by the strange behavior of his comrade, but by the captain’s ruthlessness. But then, his expression changed.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“What are you doing now?”

“S-sir, the controls… they’re not responding.”

“What nonsense is that?!”

“It’s true! No matter how hard I try, the rudder isn’t responding!”

“You little—are you trying something too?!”

“Please! Don’t shoot!”

With the captain’s pistol pointed at him, the crewman raised both hands and begged for his life. Everyone around was stunned by the surreal turn of events. Just then, another crewman pointed at the controls and shouted:

“It’s true! The rudder’s moving on its own!”

Just as he said, even though the helm was unmanned, it was moving by itself. The submarine was beginning to ascend. The captain’s expression was one of disbelief. What was going on? A submarine moving on its own—how was this possible? The crew began to pale.

“Is… is it a ghost?”

“R-right! What else could explain this?!”

“Silence!”

At the captain’s shout, everyone clammed up. But their eyes remained fixed on the autonomous controls. If it wasn’t a ghost, then what else could explain it? The atmosphere was chilling. The captain was just as rattled as the rest.

‘Is it really a ghost? No—more importantly, how do I stop it? I can’t shoot the controls, right?’

If he shot the control panel, he risked causing even more damage. But doing nothing was also dangerous. Meanwhile, the depth gauge numbers were rising. The submarine was surfacing.

And it wasn’t just the first vessel—the second submarine also burst up from the water in the same manner. From the battleship Mythos, the lookouts clearly saw both submarines surfacing under the bright light of the three moons.

In a way, because they surfaced so soon after the Mythos passed, they were spotted quickly. Reports followed immediately, and the Mythos began an emergency turn. On the water’s surface, the two submarines now floated visibly, revealing their presence for the first time.