Previous | TOC | Next |
June 14th, the eighth year after transmigration. Clear weather.
"Recently, the vague murmurs in my ears have returned, those sounds that aren't like sounds, chaotic and dark. This place is really not fit for humans to stay in.
My first mate, Old John, told me I could try his method, which is to find some lovely ladies at the Red Lips Inn.
I admit that I was tempted, but in the end, I held back. I can't waste the echoes that I worked hard to earn in such a place. I can't slack off even for a moment if I want to go back.
Humans are a species that lives on the ground. If humans can appear in the underground sea, it proves there must be a way to return to the surface, and I must find it!
I dreamt of my family again yesterday. I miss them, but I'm starting to forget what they look like..."
The sudden shaking of the Rat interrupted Charles Reid's writing.
The old oil lamp beside the diary illuminated its owner's face, a normal Asian face with black pupils and black hair. However, his face was extremely pale, like a vampire from a movie.
From the perspective of a modern person, Charles looked quite handsome, but at this moment his expression was heavy and tired, making him appear exceptionally haggard.
After listening attentively to the sound of the waves outside the porthole for a while and finding nothing unusual, Charles picked up his pen and started writing again.
"I don't need those prostitutes, writing in my diary can also improve my auditory hallucinations. I have been able to sleep for 5 hours every night recently, and it's been a long time since I've had such a peaceful sleep."
Of course, taking a lesson from the predecessors who wrote diaries, I deliberately wrote in a script that only I can understand - Chinese characters.
"Screech~" The grating sound of metal outside the porthole interrupted Charles's writing again. It was as if something sharp was constantly scratching the bottom of the ship.
"Snap." The diary was closed, and Charles, with a furrowed brow, walked towards the round porthole.
He leaned out and saw the same sight he had seen 8 years ago: the lightless sky and the dark green sea forming a dark curtain in the distance.
The darkness ruled over everything on the sea, and it seemed as though something monstrous was brewing within its depths. Everywhere was filled with an eerie and foreboding atmosphere, as if the very darkness itself was alive and waiting to pounce on its prey.
Here, there was no starry sky, no moon. If someone were to look up with night vision binoculars, all they would see were the rugged layers of the underground rock.
This was the underground sea, a vast ocean beneath the earth where endless darkness was the main melody, and the darkness proved that everything was normal.
As Charles looked out of the window at the seemingly normal view, his frown deepened. Years of seafaring experience had taught him that there must be something amiss somewhere. He decided to go and take a look.
Charles opened the bedside table, where hundreds of golden bullets rolled back and forth with the swaying of the waves. He drew his revolver from his waist, deftly loaded it with fresh rounds, and walked towards the bridge.
"Captain, why are you up so early today? It's not yet time for your shift," greeted someone.
The wheelhouse was manned by a scruffy, chubby old man, and a young sailor, only seventeen or eighteen years old, was dozing off in the chair to his left. Their faces were Eastern European and, like Charles, devoid of any complexion. Their sailor uniforms identified their positions on the ship.
"First mate, is everything alright with the Rat? It feels a bit bumpy. Is the course normal?" Charles asked John, who was at the helm. After finishing his questions, he walked over and kicked the leg of the chair, startling the sleeping teenager on John's left.
When the teenager realized it was his captain who had come over, he quickly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, scrambling to get up from his chair.
"Ha ha, I reckon it's something underwater that caught wind of our flesh again. As you know, there are more disgusting things in the sea than just fish. But don't worry, the Rat is a ship sturdy as iron, they won't be able to knock us off course." The chubby old man chuckled before taking a step back and ceding control of the helm to his captain
Even after Listening to the first mate's report, Charles still did not relax his guard.
In this eerie place, humans were no longer at the top of the food chain. Survival depended solely on one's caution and vigilance
Charles pressed a button on an old device, switching on the searchlight ahead to illuminate the darkness with a powerful beam. His eyes darted back and forth across the inky sea, peering through the translucent glass for any signs of danger.
The space between the sea and the wheelhouse was cluttered with stacks of cargo, and despite its sturdy build, the ship appeared rather diminutive, measuring a mere thirty meters in length.
"The course to Coral Islands has been traveled by numerous cargo ships, so those creatures could not have followed us here out of mere curiosity. Something isn't right," Charles stated, tightly clutching the worn steering wheel and furrowing his brow in deep concern.
Old John was taken aback and replied, “Have we strayed from our intended route? That cannot be, as you can see the navigation markers are still visible in the distance.”
He pointed his finger towards a faint, blurry light in the distance, as he spoke.
In the starless depths of the ocean, the compass and the luminous navigation markers were the only guiding lights. As long as the markers remained visible, it proved that the course was a safe route previously explored by other ships.
At that very moment, Charles, whose gaze fixed on the sea, felt his pupils contract as he struggled to swallow. “That... that navigation marker, how long have you been observing it?”
"I'd say a few minutes. I've been staring at it intently the whole time,” Old John replied. His voice trailed off at the end and a hint of fear appeared on his chubby face.
After sailing for so long, they still hadn't passed that navigational marker. Clearly, the marker was also moving at the same speed as the steamship! There must be something wrong with it!
Out of nowhere Charles suddenly spun the steering wheel frantically, as if he had been wound up like a tightly-coiled spring, yanking it all the way to the left.
Accompanied by screeching metal, the steamship beneath them began to turn, but fortunately, their small boat was agile enough to quickly turn around. The Rat began to distance itself from the strange navigational beacon.
Before Charles could even catch his breath, the teenager next to him pointed behind him to the glass window with a look of terror on his face.
"Captain... Captain! That thing is approaching us! It's so fast!! It's going to catch up with us!"
"Damn it!" Charles yelled at a nearby speaking tube, "Second engineer! Set the turbine to maximum power! Something is chasing us!!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" a simple and honest voice came from the iron pipe.
Thick black smoke kept billowing out of the ship's chimney, and the steamship began to pick up speed.
"It's still getting closer!! It's so fast! It's about to catch up to us! God! What kind of monster is that?!"
The teenager's voice rose several octaves due to extreme fear, and he trembled all over as if he was about to go into shock.
"Deep! Close your eyes!!" Charles, under tremendous mental stress, kicked Deep's leg, causing him to fall to the ground.
John beside them grabbed Deep's head and pressed it tightly to the floor, his face turning red as he shouted frantically at him, "Don't look, don't listen, don't think!! The captain will take us back!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a loud bang, and the ship shook violently. The two on the ground rolled into a ball while Charles held onto the helm tightly to prevent himself from being thrown out.
"Captain, it's coming at us!"
Charles's face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth tightly, causing his cheeks to bulge. He leaned towards the speaking tube and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Second engineer! Overload the turbine for thirty seconds!"
"Captain! We can't do that! This thing is too old!! If we do that, it will explode!"
No comments:
Post a Comment