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墨書 Inktalez
I finally managed to deal with these sailors. It didn't matter whether what I said was true or false, as long as it worked. Whether it was against my conscience or if I felt sorry for them, at this point, there was no other choice.
I smiled and nodded at Big Guy. At that moment, Mai Lao quickly said, "Alright, alright, since there's nothing more to discuss, you all should go back, grab something to eat, and then rest. We'll handle the rest."
The four sailors headed back to their quarters. Once they left, Mai Lao turned to me with a smile and said, "Well done. The morale is low; it's hard to lead a team like this. Without your few words, I doubt they would have stayed."
I forced a smile and replied, "It's not that simple going back. In this vast ocean, finding land is quite difficult."
Jenny looked at me with gratitude and said, "Loyalty and Righteousness, thank you."
I rubbed my nose, feeling a bit embarrassed as I said, "There's no need for thanks; I just spoke the truth."
"Well, I must thank you. Without you, we wouldn't be able to proceed with the work ahead," Jenny said with a sweet smile that came from the heart.
"No need to be so polite; I'm just thinking of the bigger picture. By the way, Mai Lao, what should we do with the sailor's body?" I asked as I looked at Mai Lao.
Mai Lao glanced at the body lying by the edge of the deck. It was unrecognizable now and emitted a strong smell of blood. He sighed helplessly and said, "Let's wrap up the body for now and give him a sea burial tomorrow. Sigh... another young life lost."
Indeed, it was a very young life—just over twenty years old—and it felt tragic to see it end like this. Anyone would feel pity and sorrow upon witnessing such loss. We first performed some basic handling of the body to make it look somewhat presentable. However, given how torn apart it was, we could only do so much.
After wrapping up the body neatly so that only its head was visible—making it appear peaceful in death—we placed it aside on the deck. Tomorrow morning, we would give him a sea burial. In truth, no matter how we handled it, it felt pointless; he was already dead. What significance did our actions hold? As Mai Lao put it, we were simply showing respect for the deceased.
Once we finished dealing with the body, we had a quick meal before Mai Lao called us over to Jenny's quarters to discuss matters. A lot had happened recently; if we didn't seriously strategize about our next steps, I felt it would be very difficult to continue.
I changed into clean clothes and got up to invite Jiao Ba and Shunzi to join me.
"Brother Yi, you go ahead; I'll catch up later," Jiao Ba said without looking up from the book he was flipping through.
"What are you so engrossed in?" I glanced at the book in his hands—it looked more like a worn-out notebook—and wondered what it was about. The cover was green and seemed quite old-fashioned; it must have been from before the liberation era.
"Check on some things; you all go ahead. I'll catch up with you later," Jiao Ba said without looking up, waving a hand at us.
I exchanged a glance with Shunzi, and we decided to let him be. We made our way to Jenny's rest cabin, where Mai Lao was already waiting. He glanced at me and asked, "Where's Jiao Ba? Is he asleep?"
"No, he's checking on something. He'll join us shortly; we don't need to wait for him," I replied as I sat down and lit a cigarette, taking two deep puffs.
Mai Lao was the first to speak up. "Loyalty and Righteousness, we need to come up with a plan this time. We can't afford any more casualties; the crew is getting smaller, and the work is becoming increasingly difficult."
I squinted, exhaling smoke as I said, "I know we need a solution, but what can we do? Mai Lao, you know that down in the deep sea, it's not like being on land. Often, we have no control over the situation. Just look at what happened today; if it weren't for being underwater, that young man might not have died."
What I said was the truth. Activities in the deep sea are heavily restricted; movements are significantly slower compared to being on land. When unexpected events occur, it's hard to evade them in time. That's the crux of the problem—no matter how meticulous our preparations are, we're often caught off guard.
Mai Lao looked at me and nodded. "You're right. Even if we're fully prepared, we might not avoid danger. I just really don't want to see anyone else get hurt." It was rare for Old Man to show such sentiment today; from his eyes, I could sense a hint of compassion and sympathy.
"I don't want to see death anymore either; my heart can hardly take it," Jenny chimed in from the side, her complexion noticeably pale. Four people had already died since we set out to sea; it was no small feat for her to hold on.
I smiled helplessly and took another drag from my cigarette. "For safety's sake, we can only do our best. There's nothing more we can do for now. Let's not dwell on that. Mai Lao, what exactly was that Black Fish we encountered earlier? Is it a type of fish?"
I quickly shifted the topic back to serious matters.
"Honestly... I really don't know. It's my first time seeing such a creature. I just checked the marine encyclopedia, and there's no record of this organism. I can't figure out what it is," Mai Lao said earnestly, clearly having done his best.
"Could there really be Sea Monsters?" Li Xin's voice piped up beside me as if she were talking to herself; I didn't respond.
"I doubt it. Mai Lao, could it just be an undocumented species?" Jenny asked with an innocent expression.
I scoffed lightly and replied, "It's not as simple as you think."
At that moment, Shunzi suddenly said, "By the way, Brother Yi, I just remembered something. Could this Black Fish be the same shadow you mentioned before?"
Shunzi's words reminded me; I had been pondering what it was but had forgotten about encountering the shadow before. Upon reflection, there were significant similarities between the two: both were fast-moving, large in size, and both were black in color—there seemed to be a connection between them.
“Listening to you, it does seem like that. This Black Fish might really be the shadow that killed Landmine.” Although I felt similarly, I still couldn't be completely certain.
Mai Lao quickly added, “Could the roar you heard deep underwater also have come from this creature?”
Mai Lao's words reminded me of not just the massive roar from the depths but also the beast-like panting I had encountered in that area. However, I couldn't figure out if these were related to the Black Fish. If it was one entity, then that would be manageable; at least for now, there would be no danger. But if they weren't the same thing, that could spell trouble.
I shook my head lightly and said, “I don't know. There’s really no connection; I only heard some sounds. Whether they are related or not, I can't say for sure.”
After pondering for a moment, Mai Lao said, “We have a general understanding of the situation in Underwater, but we still don’t know if there’s any dangerous entity present. If we could confirm it was this Black Fish, that would make things easier. But if we can’t determine that, going underwater tomorrow could still be quite dangerous.”
Shunzi looked worried and said, “This is bad. What on earth is that thing?”
Just as we were struggling to reach a conclusion, Jiao Ba hurried in. As soon as he entered, he shouted, “I found out! I know what that Black Fish is!”
His words lit up our faces with hope. Mai Lao quickly asked, “What is it?”
The rest of us chimed in with questions as well. Jiao Ba took a sip of tea from the table and then said seriously, “It’s a very evil creature called Sting Horse Colt.”
What? Sting Horse Colt? After Jiao Ba finished speaking, we all stared blankly at each other, unsure of what to say. What on earth was this thing…
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