I Killed the Hero and Took His Achievements-Chapter 39: The Abyss Stares Back (And It’s Expensive)

Chapter 39: The Abyss Stares Back (And It’s Expensive)

[Location: HMS Profit Margin - Dock]

[Time: 08:00 AM]

"You want to turn the spaceship... into a submarine?"

Sparky looked at me shockingly like I had grown a second head.

"It’s a Space-Cruiser," I corrected him. "Space is a vacuum. The ocean is just... wet space with pressure. It’s the same principle, to keep the outside out from inside."

"Water pressure is not the same as vacuum!" Sparky waved his robotic claw frantically. "At 10,000 meters depth, the pressure is at approximate 1,000 atmospheres1! The whole ship will be under compression and will be imploded by the sheer pressure."

"Then reinforce the ship with this," I said while tossing him an ingot of True Ice (harvested from Sylvia’s old chamber). "Use this. It hardens the material when under pressure."

Sparky caught the ice. He examined it, then calculated.

"It... it might actually work. If I mix it with Adamantite alloy... it would create a thermal-sensitive frame, then reinforced the alloy to be harden when under pressure... Get to it. We’re going to dive in 4 hours."

I walked out of the engineering bay.

The ship was parked at the "Deep Sea Harbor" on the coast of Zimara.

Gallywix was overseeing the loading of the material supplies to be constructed. "Torpedoes!" Gallywix screamed at a line of Orcs. "Load the Mana-Torpedoes! Be careful, you idiots! Those cost 5,000 gold each!"

He saw me and ran over. "Boss! The market is currently volatile! The demolition of the Moon Base had caused the price of Aether to be skyrocketed! Our stocks are currently up 200%!"

"Sell," I said. "Liquidate 50%. Buy stock in Fish Oil and Water Breathing Potions."

"Oh? An inside information?" Gallywix grinned, his gold teeth were sparkling.

"Market manipulation," I corrected him. "We’re going to create a demand for underwater breathing." I walked onto the deck.

Ahri was sunbathing. Meanwhile, Sylvia was reading a book about "Aquatic Warfare Tactics."

And Seraphina was blessing the torpedoes. "May these underwater missiles blast through and... um... blow up the people," she prayed.

"Amen to that," I said.

I looked at the vast ocean. It was like an ominous dark blue. The map indicated that Atlantis was located in the Maria Trench1.

"Boss," Sylvia looked up. "Atlantis isn’t just an underwater city. It’s completely inhabited."

"By Merfolk1?"

"Yes," Sylvia shivered. "They worship the Monarch of the Marine. Another Interstellar Species that historically appeared ages ago.1"

"Great," I sighed.

[System Notification]

[New Faction Discovered: The Deep Ones.]

[Reputation: Hated (Default).]

"Prepare for the dive in," I ordered.

We boarded in. The ship then submerged. It wasn’t a smooth dive. It was a direct plunge. The sky disappeared. It was replaced by blue, dark blue, then completely black.

[Depth: 1,000 Meters.]

"DETECTING BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES, BIG ONES," Sol’s voice announced over the intercom. Outside the glass, massive structures moved in the darkness.

[Monster: Kraken]

[Level: 45]

A tentacle slapped the window hardly. It was thick as a tree trunk.

Ahri pressed her face onto the glass. "Food?"

"Not yet," I said. "We need to go deeper."

[Depth: 5,000 Meters.]

The pressure was immense. The True Ice plating was glowing in faint blue, reacting to the pressure stress. The ship dived further

[Depth: 10,000 Meters.]

Lights suddenly appeared below. Bioluminescent monoliths, glowing coral reefs. It was a city that encased by a massive bubble.

[Location Discovered: Atlantis - The Sunken Capital.]

"It’s beautiful," Seraphina whispered.

"It’s a fortress," I noted.

The city was surrounded by defensive turrets, not with cannons but with sonic emitters.

"Sonar ping detected!" Sparky yelled. "They know we’re here!"

A squadron of Shark-Riders rode out from the city gates rampantly. They weren’t just riding normal sharks. They were riding Megalodons with armor plating. The leader, a massive merman with a trident, pointed at us.

[Mini-Boss: General Aegir]

[Level: 65]

"SURFACE DWELLERS!" His voice was amplified by magic water currents. "YOU TRESPASS IN THE DOMAIN OF THE DEEP!"

"Why does everyone yell at us?" Ahri yawned.

"Because we don’t knock the door, we barged in forcefully," I said. "Open the torpedo tubes."

"Fire warning shots?" Sparky asked.

"No. Fire the actual shots. Target the Sharks."

WHOOSH. WHOOSH.

Two Mana-Torpedoes streaked through the water. They left trails of bubbles. They hit precisely at the Megalodons leads. BOOM. Underwater explosions are bizzare. It’s a shockwave.

The sharks were exploded in pieces. The riders were thrown off, spinning in the strong turbulence.

General Aegir roared. He raised his trident. [Skill: Hydro Cannon.] A jet of pressurized water hit our shields. The ship rocked from the jet.

"SHIELDS HOLDING," Sol reported. "BUT THAT GUY IS ANNOYING. REQUESTING A PERMISSION TO EXTERMINATE HIM."

"Denied," I said. "I need him to talk. Sylvia. Freeze the water around him."

"At this depth?" Sylvia frowned. "The pressure makes it hard to freeze1."

"Use your Dragon Heart."

Sylvia closed her eyes. Her wings glowed in brilliance. [Skill: Abyssal Freeze.] A pulse of absolute zero shot out. It didn’t freeze the whole ocean.

Instead, it froze a sphere of water around the General. He was trapped in an iceberg.

"Bring him in," I ordered. I used the ship’s beam1 (reverse-engineered gravity magic). We pulled the iceberg into the ship’s airlock. The water inside drained. The airlock door finally opened.

We walked in. General Aegir was glaring at us from inside the ice. "Thaw him out, Sylvia. Slowly until he adapted the low pressure," I said. Sylvia melted the ice just enough to free his head.

"LOTS OF YOU WILL BE DROWN!" Aegir screamed piercingly. "THE OCEAN MONARCH WILL CONSUME YOUR BEINGS!"

"Listen, fish-stick. I’m looking for the Star-Forge artifact."

"The Holy Forge artifact?" Tsunami scoffed. "It is in the Imperial Palace! Guarded by the Ocean Leviathan Guard! You will never reach it!"

"Imperial Palace," I nodded. "Thanks for the heads up."

I turned to Ahri.

"He’s useless now. Do you want a snack?"

Ahri licked her lips. "I’ve never had a Merman let alone Merfolk."

Aegir paled (turning a lighter shade of green). "Wait! I... I can guide you! The currents are treacherous! There are mines!"

"I have sonar," I said. "And I have Sol."

"I have already mapped the minefield," Sol chimed in. "It is pathetic. Even child could navigate it."

"See?" I smiled viciously at the general. "You’re no longer in use."

I left him in the ice.

"Let’s go steal a workshop."

We moved the ship toward the city bubble. The Sonic Turrets fired. High-frequency waves that rattled our teeth.

"Sol. Counter-frequency."

Sol emitted a reverse sound wave. The turrets shattered themselves.

We passed through the bubble membrane. The ship switched from water-mode to air-mode. We flew over the city of Atlantis. It was... utterly disappointing.

"It’s a slum," Seraphina noted.

The outer districts were deteriorating. The Merfolk looked starving. The "Deep Ones" (mutated elites) were whipping the commoners.

"Classic feudal oppression," I analyzed the surrounding. "The Monarch hoards all resources. The people starve."

"Can we save them?" Seraphina asked, her [Saintess] instincts kicking in.

"We can employ them," I corrected her.

"Sylvia. Drop the pamphlets."

"Pamphlets?"

"Yes. The ones Gallywix printed. ’Job Opportunities at Avarice Inc. Competitive Wages. Free Surface Air.’"

We bombed the city with paper. The Merfolk looked up. They grabbed the papers, then read them. There were hope and greed.

"Now for the Imperial Palace."

The Imperial Palace was a gigantic conch shell that was made of pearl, emerald, and gold. We parked the ship on the rooftop. CRUNCH.

"Knock knock," I said.

We jumped down through the hole we made from the rooftop. We landed directly in the Throne Room.

Sitting on a throne of coral was the Emperor of Atlantis. He wasn’t a Deep One. He was... an Android? He looked like a robot that was made of brass and glass, filled with swirling water.

[Boss: Emperor Poseidon (Vessel)]

[Level: 75]

[Status: Possessed.]

"YOU DARE?" The voice didn’t come from the robot, but it came from the water inside him.

"Monarch of the Depths," I greeted. "Nice suit."

"CAIN CROSS," the Monarch roared. "THE SURFACE RAT."

"I prefer Surface Emperor."

"GET OUT OF MY CITY."

"I will," I said. "But as soon as I get the artifact."

"THE ARTIFACT IS MINE. IT MAKES THE WAR-BEASTS."

"War-Beasts?"

Suddenly, the floor opened. Rising from the pit, there was a creature that made the previous Kraken looked like a calamari appetizer. It was a Bio-Mecha-Godzilla, an organic flesh fused with Atlantean metal.

[Boss: The Titan-Shark (Prototype)]

[Level: 80]

"Kill him," The Monarch ordered. The Shark-Titan roared resoundingly formed a sonic blast that shattered the windows.

"Sparky!" I yelled. "Tell me that thing has a weakness!"

"It’s... it’s running on an unstable mana core!" Sparky scanned it thoroughly. "If we hit the chest plate, it might go overload!"

"Might?"

"50% chance of explosion! 50% chance absorb the energy and gets stronger!"

"I like those odds."

"Sylvia! Distract it!"

Sylvia transformed into Dragon Mode. She flew at the Shark. Ice vs. Water. She blasted it with [Glacial Breath].

The Shark blocked with a metal fin. CLANG. It whacked Sylvia. She flew to a wall. "Too strong!" she sighed.

"Ahri! Blind it!" Ahri threw a flash-bang. The Shark didn’t blink. It didn’t have eyes because it used Sonar. "It can see everything!" Ahri yelped while dodging a bite.

"It can’t see the space," I said. I activated [Void Walk]. I disappeared from reality. I walked calmly across the room. The Shark thrashed while trying to find me. Its radar detected empty space. I climbed up its leg. Up its back. I stood on its head. "Open wide."

I placed a Void-Berry in its respiration hole. The Shark inhaled it in. The mana drug hit its system. The Shark froze, its eyes rolled back. It started to tremble violently.

[Status: Overdose.]

[Mana Core: Critical.]

"Now!" I shouted. I jumped off. "Shoot the chest!"

Sol fired the ship’s main railgun through the hole in the roof. BOOM. The bullet hit the vibrating chest plate.

The unstable mana core + the railgun impact = Nuclear Fission.

The Shark exploded. Guts and gears rained down. Emperor Poseidon (The Robot) was knocked off from his throne.

I walked up to him menacingly. "Game over." I pointed my gun at his glass tank head. "Surrender the Forge."

"NEVER," The Monarch seethed. "I WILL FLOOD THE ENTIRE SURFACE. I WILL—"

I shot the glass. CRACK. Water leaked out. The Monarch’s presence faded away as his medium was completely destroyed. The robot body slumped.

"Warning. System Reset," the robot beeped mechanically. "Rebooting... Factory Reset... Default Settings Restored completely."

The robot stood up. It looked disorganized. "Greetings. I am Unit 77. Custodian of Star-Forge. How may I assist you?"

"I love robots," I grinned wickedly.

"Take me to the Star-Forge."

"Certainly, follow me." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He led us to the basement. There it was, a machine at the size of a factory. It glowed with the same blue light as the World Engine.

[Item: The Star-Forge.]

[Function: Mass Production of Custom Build.]

"Can we move it?" Sylvia asked.

"It’s attached to the city," Sparky said. "We can’t lift it at all."

"Then we take the city," I said.

"What?"

"We attach the city to the World Engine’s output. We’re going to turn Atlantis into a Floating Fortress."

"We’re going to float Atlantis?" Ahri asked, her eyes wide open.

"Yes, eventually."

I placed my hand on the Forge. "I’m going to build a fleet of warships, it’s called Death Star."

[System Notification]

[Asset Acquired: The Star-Forge.]

[Production Capacity: 100 Ships / Month.]

"Sparky, let’s begin production. We’re building a frightening fleet. The Foreign Blockade won’t know what will hit them eventually." I looked at the ceiling, the ocean above, and the stars beyond. "This is going to be interesting," I said wickedly.

992 atmosphere to be exact from 100.45 MPa.Inspired from Earth’s the deepest oceanic trench ever.Or merpeople (mermaids for females, mermen for males). A legendary water-dwelling humanoid creatures with the upper body of a human and the lower tail of a fish.Sorry for being blunt. The Interstellar Species actually discovered this planet years before the exploitation and the lore is...The freezing point of water drops below 0°C when under pressure. An increased pressure in water prevents solid structure from forming and requiring a lower temperature to freeze. Think of it like aliens probe going in and out.