West of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, an aircraft carrier fleet was patrolling the area.
In the center of the fleet loomed a gargantuan Constantine-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It measured 399 meters in length and displaced 120,000 tons, making it the largest aircraft carrier in the world.
Above the superstructure of the carrier, a flag with stars and stripes fluttered in the sea breeze—clearly, this was an American carrier strike group.
At this moment, inside the command center, a group of officers had gathered, with a Navy Rear Admiral listening intently to reports from his subordinates, a grave expression on his face.
"General Comlan, we’ve lost contact with the destroyers ’Little Eagle’ and ’Big Bear.’ Our detection systems can’t pinpoint the situation, and there appears to be an anomaly ahead. I request that we halt the flagship and investigate," one officer reported.
"Granted. Signal the fleet to stop advancing and initiate Second Level readiness; await further instructions," General Comlan immediately issued the command. "Colonel Davlon, dispatch an E-2 Hawkeye for reconnaissance and report back on the status of the mission."
Ten minutes later, everyone in the command center stared in surprise at the screen that had once again lost the tracking signal, falling into a stunned silence.
"General! We must have been jammed! I request we strike back immediately!" a young African American man suddenly exclaimed.
A white man beside him revealed a mocking smile, "Shh... Major Dani, would you please figure out the current situation first? Do you even know what’s going on? Where’s the enemy? And with what would you strike back?"
"Hal, then tell me what you propose we do? Just sit here and wait to be hit?"
Before Hal could reply, they heard General Comlan, the fleet commander, speak up from beside them.
"Enough, ECM wouldn’t likely have this effect. It could be something else... Regardless, we cannot afford to be negligent. Immediately commence aviation operations mode, activate Level 1 readiness, switch the observation group to satellite imagery, and Chief of Staff Wei En, contact our country and report the incident," General Comlan coolly issued a series of orders, and everyone set to work amidst the sounding alarms throughout the fleet.
Shortly thereafter, when the satellite surveillance imagery appeared before them, everyone was taken aback. The blue stretch of the Pacific Ocean was now replaced by a large white light spot in the middle—as if a strong light was blocking the captured image.
"What’s going on here!? Why would this happen?" The chief of staff was dumbfounded, his face reflecting utter confusion. In all his years of military service, he had never encountered such an occurrence.
"The area surrounding this spot is our current location, and right ahead should be where ’Little Eagle’ lost contact. Try using physical means for remote observation. Can the telescope see what’s happening over there?" General Comlan pointed at a specific spot on the screen.
"The distance is too great to confirm the location; no targets detected as of now, sir!" one officer replied.
General Comlan nodded solemnly, silently staring at the screen in front of him.
Then, a young officer behind him suddenly took off his headset, turned around, and addressed those at the command console, "Sir! Perhaps you should take a look at this!"
Several people approached upon hearing this, and upon seeing the screen of the instrument the young officer was operating, they were all shocked.
"Is this a microwave satellite image? Why does it look ?" a Major asked.
The image displayed a large anomalous region in the Pacific Ocean location, similar to the optical satellite image they had seen earlier. However, this time it wasn’t a bright spot but a patchwork of irregular shadows.
"This screen, why does it look so much like the ’Sky Light Event’ that happened in Huaxia a few days ago? Could it be the same cause?"
"It looks like strong magnetic field interference. Something must have happened up ahead; we should go and check it out!"
"Captain Kaohsiung and his team are still there. We must launch a rescue mission and find out what happened!"
In the command center, a group of officers engaged in a heated discussion, all trying to find a prudent solution.
Eventually, General Comlan, after communicating with the homeland, issued the final decision.
"There must be some strong magnetic field interference that disrupted the ships’ signals, preventing them from sending us information. We have to go see what happened! Dispatch five destroyers in single column formation at low speed. Maintain spacing, and if there’s a strong magnetic field interference detected ahead, stop immediately and report!"
Following the orders, from the massive fleet, five destroyers lined up in a row, setting off one by one toward the anomaly zone to explore.
"’Black Dragon,’ ’Antoine,’ ’Shark,’ ’Zhuvhire,’ ’Mivela,’ please report status on time, stay alert, and be extremely cautious as this mission is classified as enhanced level!" the Chief of Staff issued the commands.
A few resounding responses echoed through the fleet’s communication channel, accompanied by the real-time visuals observed by each vessel flashing across a row of monitors.
Approximately 20 minutes into the destroyers’ slow voyage, a cry of alarm suddenly broke through the communication channel in the command room.
"Oh my God! We’ve lost contact with the Mivela! But I can see it right ahead of us!"
Everyone hurriedly looked at the monitor screens. There, the display that had been showing the Mivela’s observation feed had turned into a screen of static without signal, and the electronic radar beside it had also lost the vessel’s position share information.
"My God! It just stopped suddenly, and I didn’t even feel the slightest anomaly!"
General Comlan immediately gave the order to the rest: "The remaining ships, stop moving forward at once. Zhuvhire, please send a scout boat to investigate the situation!"
Then, a small white boat was seen dashing out on the waves, but just as it crossed a certain point, it abruptly lost power and eventually came to a stop after gliding a distance.
Seeing this, an expression of shock appeared on the faces of the people in the command room. By now, they had a rough guess about the situation out there.
"It must be a strong magnetic field! But why would it be ? We’ve been to this sea area before and never encountered anything ! And this stark distinction in the magnetic field, how could it truly appear in reality? It’s just too bizarre!"
General Comlan said with a puzzled look, then turned to the intelligence officer beside him and ordered, "Send the message back immediately, get the precise coordinates ready for a rescue operation!"
The intelligence officer, a beautiful blonde woman, expertly operated on the computer, sending the general’s orders back to their homeland.
"Coordinates N22°50’13.01" W174°59’24.84", anomalous phenomenon, strong electromagnetic interference, equipment failure, two destroyers and one E-2 class early-warning aircraft lost communication, preparing for the rescue, requesting command headquarters for advice..."