After taking such a concentrated barrage, others might not realize it, but Abyssal Yamato knew full well she had no chance of survival.
As panic surged through her, her first instinct was to dive underwater.
Diving wouldn't necessarily evade an airstrike—but it gave her a shred of psychological comfort.
Once you break through the bottom line once, it becomes easier to repeat. That was the "broken window effect."
With no more time to think, Yamato squeezed her eyes shut and plunged into the sea.
From a distance, Abyssal Zumwalt saw this and nearly ground her teeth to powder.
Deserting in the middle of battle—how could such a freak exist among Abyssal flagships!
But there was no time for scolding. This bombing wasn't aimed at just one—it was aimed at all the Abyssal flagships present.
Zumwalt's eyes locked on the incoming bombs, watching their trajectories, preparing to dodge at the last possible moment.
Too early, and she'd run out of room to maneuver—the bombs had homing capabilities. Too late, and they'd slam straight into her.
And who knew if this was the armor-piercing type or the high-explosive type? The former was single-target: devastating if it hit, but dodgeable. The latter was unavoidable but not as lethal to a flagship.
Even so, Zumwalt was deeply on edge.
Her ship type was a guided-missile destroyer. Her durability was only 68, and her anti-air was only 50.
As a flagship, she had stat boosts—roughly double that of Changchun, another missile destroyer—but against one of the deadliest bombings in the world, even she risked sinking in an instant if she slipped.
Other Abyssal flagships also braced for the air raid. In the chaos, no one even paid attention to St. George and the others surrounded in the middle.
Left standing with her arms wide in a tragic pose, St. George's face twisted in confusion.
Wait—aren't you supposed to finish me off first?!
Terror gripped Yamato's heart as she forced herself deeper.
For someone like her, the sea was as yielding as air—no resistance, free movement.
But Lexington's carrier bombs were the same.
Diving underwater gave her both dread and a false sense of relief.
In truth, it was completely useless. The proper way was to stay on the surface, using equipment and armor to withstand the bombing.
Instead, fear had driven Yamato to behave like a spearman under arrow fire—throwing away her shield, turning her back, and fleeing with her unguarded chest exposed.
Of course, she couldn't escape.
A moment later, needle-like pain erupted across her back.
Half her body went numb. Straining to look, Yamato saw part of her waist had been blasted open.
Shipgirls rarely suffered bodily injury. When they did, it meant catastrophic damage—a state of being on the verge of sinking.
Just like Abyssal Kaga, who had died beside her earlier when Bismarck blew her head off with a single shot.
That memory still haunted Yamato with long-lasting terror.
Seeing no further bombs fall, Yamato exhaled shakily with relief.
So the attack hadn't singled her out. Musashi and the others were utterly useless—commanding an army that still couldn't block an enemy airstrike.
She had no idea Lexington and her group had risked everything, committing their reserve squadrons for this one assault.
As Yamato grumbled, a blinding flash erupted just a few miles away.
Over a dozen fireballs, each several kilometers wide, exploded across the sea, vaporizing millions of tons of seawater.
Caught in the shockwave, Yamato turned pale, forcing her equipment to its limit to avoid being blown away entirely.
Submarine strikes!
The enemy had discovered the three hundred Abyssal submarines lying in wait, and used high-explosive bombardments to annihilate them!
Submarines were among the rarest of Abyssal forces—even rarer than carriers. They were invaluable.
There was no time to grieve. Yamato immediately understood the enemy's intent.
This wasn't about cutting off one finger—it was about crippling ten.
Scattered strikes, devastating the Abyssal submarines, all to force the Abyssal fleet into disarray—
And in that moment of chaos, rescue the four-girl squad.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 30+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]