Twenty F-35C fighters, twenty-four F/A-18F fighters,
Seven EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft and five E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft,
Three CMV-22B Osprey transport aircraft and nineteen MH-60R/S helicopters,
Five MQ-25A refueling drones,
Several armored personnel carriers and other vehicles,
Three small submarines and six unmanned underwater vehicles...
The supplies just replenished yesterday include:
10,000 tons of aviation fuel and gasoline,
6,000 tons of various foods and condiments,
8,000 tons of daily necessities,
50 tons of various medicines...
Zhou Lin was ecstatic, completely unaware of the passage of time.
At 3 PM, the sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt began to "see off" the visitors. At 3:30, the stairs were closed for routine maintenance. At 5:30, the soldiers participating in the celebration began to disembark. At 6 PM, the captain and several officers laughed as they walked down the gangway.
By 7 PM, the ship, which originally had more than 5,000 people, now had less than 300, with the highest-ranking officer being Lieutenant Colonel Magree in charge of aviation.
Although he couldn't participate in the celebration, Magree didn't neglect himself. He invited two female soldiers to his room to drink, chat, and dance... After all, what was there to worry about in the capital port of the island nation?
Just as Magree was getting cozy with the two female soldiers, the seawater at the stern of the aircraft carrier suddenly began to churn! At the same time, the metal cables extending to the shore began to wriggle like snakes, detaching from the mooring posts in a few swift moves and retracting into the ship.
The anchor winch roared as the thick anchor chains rapidly retracted, pulling the thirty-ton anchors out of the water, clattering as they tightened at the bow.
In just ten minutes, the USS Theodore Roosevelt began to slowly turn. The massive commotion finally caught the attention of everyone around, including the personnel on other warships of the Beautiful Country.
"Why is the Theodore Roosevelt moving?"
"No orders received!"
"Quick, contact the Theodore Roosevelt!"
The people on the fleet were dumbfounded by the movement of the Theodore Roosevelt.
An aircraft carrier, no matter how powerful, cannot operate alone; otherwise, it's just a sitting duck! So if the Theodore Roosevelt were to leave, the other warships in the fleet would inevitably receive orders and even set sail before the aircraft carrier!
However, no matter how hard they tried to contact the Theodore Roosevelt, there was no response, as if the messages weren't received at all.
"Damn, contact the Department of Defense and tell them... the Theodore Roosevelt has been stolen!" A destroyer captain slapped the railing in frustration.
Unlike the ever-burning nuclear reactor of the Theodore Roosevelt, large conventionally powered ships take at least three to five hours to get going from the captain's order to actual movement. So by the time the Theodore Roosevelt sailed out of the port, the other warships were still warming up!
On shore, the aircraft carrier's captain and others, having just received the news, arrived. Watching the silhouette of the disappearing Theodore Roosevelt, the captain was stunned. Whether or not the ship is found later, his career is over!
"Notify our military base in the island nation to send out aircraft to track the Theodore Roosevelt, and get the island nation to send theirs too!" The Department of Defense quickly sprang into action, and the hurriedly returning minister issued his orders, knowing full well his time to give orders might be running out.
Such explosive news was uncontrollable. Within half an hour of Zhou Lin "driving" the Theodore Roosevelt away, the news had spread worldwide. Due to the time difference, the netizens of the Great Summer Country were the most active in discussing it.
"Haha, the Beautiful Country's aircraft carrier left without notice!"
"Is it a rebellion? I always said AI couldn't be trusted, but I like the AI on the Theodore Roosevelt."
"Could it be a national operation? If so, I can only say—well done!"
"Aren't you curious where the Theodore Roosevelt is now? Click my profile for real-time updates!"
At this moment, more excited than the netizens were the military and government officials of various countries.
No need to mention the Beautiful Country—the president, infuriated, suffered a myocardial infarction and, after several rounds of medication, could barely utter three words without gasping. The Secretary of Defense, sweating profusely, was drafting his resignation letter.
Other countries, while outwardly consoling the Beautiful Country, were secretly sending signals to the Theodore Roosevelt, eager to know who had the guts to hijack an aircraft carrier!
Everyone assumed it must be a group of professionals; ordinary people couldn't operate an aircraft carrier, let alone the most advanced nuclear-powered one from the Beautiful Country.
However, the Theodore Roosevelt maintained radio silence, not responding to any signals.
On the high seas, the 300-odd people left behind, including Lieutenant Colonel Magree, were frantically banging on doors and windows!
Many had sensed something wrong immediately, but before they could act, they were trapped by swiftly closed and locked doors! The Theodore Roosevelt seemed to come alive, restricting their movements, jamming all communications, and revoking all their permissions, leaving them no choice but to forcefully bang on doors and windows.
"Why all the effort, as if you can break through."
Zhou Lin sat in the captain's cabin, steering the Theodore Roosevelt towards the territorial waters of the Great Summer Country at full speed.
He could theoretically put the Theodore Roosevelt into storage space, but doing so would cause him and the others on board to fall into the water. In the port, he would be surrounded by countless gun barrels in an instant!
Even outside the port, safety wasn't guaranteed. The Beautiful Country would definitely dispatch aircraft for tracking, and possibly...
"They wouldn't use nuclear weapons lightly," Zhou Lin thought to himself.
The Theodore Roosevelt's speed reached an astonishing 35 knots, surpassing the publicly stated maximum speed. At this pace, neither the Beautiful Country nor the island nation's warships could intercept it; only faster aircraft could.
The Beautiful Country had air bases in the island nation and the stick country. Based on the distance and response time, their aircraft could be overhead within an hour.
Once aircraft approached, even if Zhou Lin could expertly control all weapons on the Theodore Roosevelt after symbiosis, it didn't mean he could launch aircraft for interception, essentially making him a sitting duck.
Of course, the Beautiful Country wouldn't immediately attack; after all, this was a ship worth its weight in gold, not to mention the 300 "hostages" on board.
Forty minutes later, several aircraft emerged from the clouds above the Theodore Roosevelt, sending messages from their elevated position:
"This is the Beautiful Country Air Force. Theodore Roosevelt below, respond."
After repeating three times, the message changed: "Theodore Roosevelt, if you don't respond, we will take military action!"
"This is the Theodore Roosevelt."
Zhou Lin's voice transmitted via radio, heard by countless eavesdropping institutions and individuals. No sooner had he spoken than the aircraft overhead demanded he shut down the Theodore Roosevelt's power system and await boarding, threatening air strikes if he didn't comply.
"Air strikes?" Zhou Lin chuckled, immediately broadcasting footage of the Beautiful Country officers and soldiers on the ship online, catching the Beautiful Country off guard.
"Damn it!"
The president of the Beautiful Country swallowed another handful of heart medicine, roaring: "Get a plan together immediately, anything useful except nuclear options, anything!"