I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 181: Adrians Meets the Chinese Captain

Beneath the water, two surviving nuclear navies watched each other carefully through sonar arrays and combat systems capable of starting another war if somebody made the wrong decision.

Inside the Combat Information Center aboard the lead destroyer, the atmosphere remained tense despite the agreement for surface contact.

Nobody trusted the situation completely.

And honestly, nobody should.

The destroyer captain looked toward Adrian again.

"Sir, Changzheng-418 is ascending slowly."

One of the sonar operators immediately added, "Depth passing seventy meters."

Another voice followed.

"No targeting sonar detected. Reactor output stable. Their propulsion remains low."

Adrian nodded once.

"Maintain readiness."

"Aye, sir."

Outside across the destroyer’s deck, sailors moved back into visible combat positions. Marines armed with M4 carbines and machine guns took positions near the rails while CIWS systems remained active above them.

Even though this was supposed to be a diplomatic meeting—

Everyone understood the truth.

Both sides were heavily armed.

Both sides were nervous.

And both sides had nuclear submarines.

Ryan stepped beside Adrian while adjusting the sling of his rifle.

"You really going personally?"

"Yes."

"You sure that’s smart?"

Adrian looked toward the sea outside the bridge windows.

"If humanity still has organized survivors left, then we need to know."

Ryan sighed quietly.

"That’s not exactly reassuring."

Far beneath the water, the Chinese submarine Changzheng-418 slowly ascended through the darker layers of the Philippine Sea.

Inside its command compartment, red operational lighting reflected across exhausted faces.

Captain Liu Zheng stood near the center console silently while his officers monitored the ascent carefully.

"Current depth fifty meters."

"Surface group maintaining position."

Another officer looked toward Captain Liu.

"Captain... are we really doing this?"

Liu remained quiet for several moments before answering.

"We spent months believing the world above us was dead."

He slowly looked around the compartment.

"And now we discover an operational fleet in Philippine waters capable of killing sea monsters."

Nobody disagreed with that statement.

The Kraken carcass still floated several kilometers away.

Even the Chinese submarine had detected its biological remains through sonar and seawater contamination.

Captain Liu crossed his arms slightly.

"If they intended to destroy us, they already had opportunities."

The executive officer frowned.

"Unless this is a trap."

Liu looked toward him calmly.

"Then we die."

Nobody spoke after that.

Because honestly—

That was simply reality now.

The apocalypse had reduced every surviving military force into isolated pockets struggling blindly across a dying world.

The submarine continued ascending.

"Depth thirty meters."

"Twenty."

"Ten."

Captain Liu grabbed the side rail lightly.

"Surface the boat."

"Yes, Captain."

Compressed air systems activated immediately.

Massive ballast tanks vented seawater while the submarine slowly rose upward through the ocean.

Then finally—

The Changzheng-418 broke the surface.

Back aboard Adrian’s destroyer, sailors immediately spotted it.

"Contact surfaced!"

The atmosphere across the fleet tightened instantly.

Machine guns rotated.

Targeting systems adjusted.

Several Marines raised rifles instinctively toward the dark shape emerging from the ocean.

Ryan stepped toward the railing beside Adrian.

"Damn..."

The Chinese submarine surfaced approximately six hundred meters away from the Philippine fleet.

Its hull looked worn from months at sea while portions of its outer surface showed visible scrape marks and repair patches. The sail tower slowly emerged above the water while seawater poured down its sides beneath the morning sunlight.

For several long moments—

Nobody moved.

The destroyers floated in cautious formation around the surfaced submarine while helicopters circled overhead.

The Chinese submarine crew finally began emerging slowly from the upper hatch.

Armed sailors stepped onto the outer hull first carrying QBZ rifles while carefully observing the surrounding Philippine fleet.

Then more crew members followed.

Thin.

Exhausted.

Sleep-deprived.

Ryan noticed it immediately.

"They look like hell."

Adrian nodded slightly.

"So do we."

Eventually another figure climbed out onto the hull.

An older Chinese officer wearing a dark naval uniform.

Captain Liu Zheng.

He looked toward the destroyers carefully while seawater dripped down the sides of the submarine behind him.

The two fleets stared at each other silently across the calm Philippine Sea.

No gunfire.

No missiles.

Just tension.

The destroyer captain looked toward Adrian.

"We can prepare the RHIB now."

Adrian nodded.

"Do it."

Minutes later, a rigid-hulled inflatable boat was lowered carefully into the water from the destroyer’s side.

Adrian climbed aboard first alongside Ryan and four heavily armed Marines.

The Marines carried rifles but kept them lowered for now.

Still—

Everyone remained alert.

The RHIB engine started shortly afterward.

The small boat moved slowly across the water toward the Chinese submarine.

As they got closer, Ryan quietly muttered—

"This feels like some Cold War movie."

Adrian kept his eyes on the submarine.

"Except the world already ended."

That shut Ryan up for a moment.

The closer they approached, the larger the Chinese submarine felt.

Its dark hull towered above the RHIB while water still drained slowly from its ballast vents. Several Chinese sailors watched them cautiously from the upper surface with visible tension in their posture.

Nobody smiled.

Nobody relaxed.

When the RHIB finally reached the submarine, one of the Chinese sailors lowered a rope ladder carefully toward them.

Captain Liu remained standing near the sail tower watching silently.

Ryan looked upward.

"Still weird climbing onto another country’s nuclear submarine during the apocalypse."

Adrian grabbed the ladder.

"Try not to fall."

Ryan sighed.

"Very reassuring."

One by one, Adrian’s group climbed upward onto the submarine hull.

The steel surface felt wet and slightly unstable beneath the ocean swells while armed Chinese sailors stood nearby maintaining cautious distance.

The atmosphere felt strange.

Not openly hostile.

But extremely tense.

Captain Liu finally stepped forward slightly as Adrian approached.

For several seconds, both men simply looked at each other.

Two surviving commanders.

Two military forces.

Two strangers meeting in the middle of a dead world.

Then Captain Liu spoke first.

"You are not what I expected. You look young."

His English sounded rough but understandable.

Adrian answered calmly.

"Looks doesn’t matter."

Ryan quietly glanced around the submarine while the Marines maintained overwatch nearby.

The Chinese sailors looked equally curious about them.

Captain Liu studied Adrian carefully.

"You command the fleet?"

"Yes. So can we talk?"

"We are already."