novelraw Chapter 51: Sea of Darkness - (51)
Chapter 51: Sea of Darkness - (51)
“Lan Lan? Lan Lan!” Shu Xuyao repeatedly called through the communicator, “Please respond! Lan Lan! Please respond!”
Silence filled the communicator.
“When monitoring of Security Officer Lan Lan’s heartbeat ceased, I heard the sound of steel striking against a human body,” Yadang said. “In the event that a security officer may have encountered danger, we can initiate a Level One Alert.”
Yadang’s programming dictated that if there was no response from a squad member after repeated three-time notifications, it should report to both teammates within the same squad and other teams involved in the mission. This setup existed because, during missions, some irrelevant background noise needed filtering out, and having many people simultaneously on the same channel could easily lead to communication confusion. Only for exceptionally urgent tasks would multi-channel real-time communications involving multiple squads be activated; typically, single-squad communications were used.
No one anticipated any mishaps on this mission. They all believed the danger originated from pirates roaming at sea—why would anyone suspect the crew aboard The Kraken? The cargo company associated with The Kraken had numerous collaborations with the Federal Government; otherwise, the Investigation Department wouldn’t have been dispatched for maritime escort duty.
“Initiate Level One Alert.” After Shu Xuyao gave the command, he signaled Kui Xin and Liu Kangyun with a gesture, indicating it was time to move. The trio sprinted down the corridor immediately.
The ship’s artificial intelligence machine room was located on the second deck below, heavily secured, with only one entrance. The captain is required to access biometric scanning. The entry point was within the captain’s office above the deck; there was no way to descend directly to the second underground level via the stairs on the deck.
“A first-level alert was initiated,” Yadang said. “The alert will be sent to all mission participants’ communicators.” He continued, “Eleventh Squad has received Captain Shu’s collaboration invitation and is preparing to board.”
“Jiang Ming,” Shu Xuyao spoke up, “how’s the situation at your location? Can you stay on deck to support the Eleventh Squad?”
“The situation here is normal. I’m at the observation point and can provide assistance.” Jiang Ming’s voice came through the communications channel.“Stay hidden and avoid acting alone for now. Be cautious of enemies lurking in hiding,” Shu Xuyao warned.
Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, each step on the metal floor producing a heavy sound. Every reverberation seemed to strike their hearts.
In such tense circumstances, Kui Xin remained increasingly calm.
“Everyone…” Suddenly, Lan Lan’s voice came through the communications channel. He seemed to be enduring pain. “While I was fixing the machine room, a falling steel plate struck my head. But now it’s okay.”
Kui Xin slowed her pace, and Liu Kangyun let out a sigh of relief.
“Dude, you scared me half to death!” Jiang Ming exclaimed over the communications channel. “I thought you were dead!”
“A bit unlucky.” Lan Lan grimaced with a wry smile. “But I’m fine now.”
“Lan Lan, are you sure you’re alright?” Shu Xuyao asked. “What about the captain?”
“The captain just left the machine room to go to the electrical circuit room and activate the backup power source. The machine room is currently without electricity,” Lan Lan said. “Honestly, I’m really okay.”
“Security Officer Lan Lan, may I ask if your life status monitoring equipment is still with you?” Yadang queried. “I cannot detect your heartbeat or physical condition.”
“It’s still there… Ah.” Lan Lan replied, “The equipment got damaged from the fall. Wait, it’s the captain coming!”
“My goodness, what happened to you?! Your head is covered in blood!” Captain Anton’s warmly concerned voice entered the communications channel. “Quickly, come here—I’ll take you to the infirmary for treatment!”
“Sigh. It seems like I won’t be able to repair the machine room tonight,” Lan Lan said. “Captain, I’ll head to the infirmary first. You all rest well.”
“Go ahead,” Shu Xuyao replied.
There was silence on the communications channel for a few seconds as Shu Xuyao appeared deep in thought.
“Voice pattern analysis complete: belongs to security officer Lan Lan, identity confirmed.” Yadang switched the communications channel, isolating and shielding only Lan Lan from it.
Liu Kangyun is visibly relaxed. “False alarm. We can now stand down from the level one alert status.”
“No, please hear my analysis before making any judgments,” Yadang interjected. “The voices on the communications channel indeed belong to security officer Lan Lan and Captain Anton, but the audio analysis indicates that when Captain Anton spoke, he was addressing the communicator directly rather than standing at a distance—this is illogical.”
Yadang could determine whether a team member was speaking directly into the microphone or standing farther away based on their speech volume and pitch fluctuations within the communications channel.
These differences were challenging for human ears to discern, but artificial intelligence could analyze them accurately.
“Lan Lan is lying?” Kui Xin whispered softly. “The captain never left; he was right beside her, even directing his words straight into the communicator.”
“If the captain had already left, he should have been speaking from at least one step away or even farther, causing his voice to transition from distant and louder to closer and softer. However, there were no such subtle changes in the audio,” Yadang explained simply. “I believe we cannot lower our guard yet. Security Officer Lan Lan has no reason to lie to his fellow teammates. In the past few seconds, I compared the communication audio with the recordings stored in my database of Security Officer Lan Lan’s typical speech patterns. His voice tone did not correspond to his usual habits. I conclude that the person speaking to the communicator was not Security Officer Lan Lan but someone else.”
Shu Xuyao said, “Proceed with our original plan.”
“… Acknowledged.” Jiang Ming’s solemn voice echoed over the communications channel.
Liu Kangyun lowered his head, gripping his gun tightly.
With Lan Lan’s fate unknown, they, as his teammates, were more anxious than anyone else.
“From now on, I will individually shield Security Officer Lan Lan’s channel. If any situation arises, I will promptly inform all teams. Eleventh Squad has secured their rappelling cables and is ready to board; backup will arrive shortly,” Yadang stated.
Instead of easing the nerves of Seventh Squad’s members, the recent communication with Lan Lan heightened their vigilance further.
If it wasn’t Lan Lan speaking through the communicator, then who was it? They had even managed to imitate Lan Lan’s voice! Has the real Lan Lan already been harmed?
Captain Anton is definitely not normal—what exactly does he intend to do?
On the visor attached to their helmets, a schematic of The Kraken is displayed, showing all areas at a glance.
Now they had two objectives. First, confirm Lan Lan’s status—whether alive or deceased. Second, investigate the Kraken thoroughly.
To access the machine room, they needed to leave the lower deck and head towards the captain’s office on the main deck. With Yadang present, they should be able to bypass authentication and forcibly open the door to the machine room.
Kui Xin, along with two teammates, sprinted around a bend and arrived at the crew quarters. These quarters were not far from where they rested earlier, consisting of communal dormitories housing four people per room.
Their resting area was situated behind the crew quarters; they had passed by this spot when they initially descended to the lower deck. Captain Anton mentioned that at this time, most of the crew members would be asleep.
“Considering the loud noise we’re making while running, hasn’t anyone woken up to check?” Kui Xin stopped after covering some distance. “This isn’t right.”
Shu Xuyao and Liu Kangyun also noticed the strangeness. They slowed their pace, instinctively raising their guns alongside Kui Xin to kick open the door of the crew quarters.
With a loud bang, the door swung open, revealing an empty interior.
Kui Xin redirected her gun barrel and kicked open the next door, finding it similarly vacant. The trio split up, swiftly kicking open five or six doors in succession. Each room was devoid of occupants as if the crew members had vanished into thin air. The vast crew living area showed no human presence whatsoever.
“Where did everyone go?” Cold sweat trickled down Liu Kangyun’s back. “We clearly saw people when we boarded the deck!”
“Bump! Bump-bump!” Suddenly, knocking sounds emanated from one of the dormitory doors, while all other doors remained eerily silent.
“I sense danger behind that door,” Kui Xin whispered. “This particular door feels different.”
The three members of the Seventh Squad gathered close, exchanging glances, their fingers poised on triggers, ready for action.
Shortly after, the knocking behind the door ceased.
“Let’s take a look.” Shu Xuyao lowered his voice, switching out his pistol for an assault rifle strapped to his back.
Kui Xin stepped forward, and gave a swift kick, and the door burst open. Dark red tentacles surged forth, enveloping several around Kui Xin’s legs!
Surprisingly, these tentacles had hook-like barbs resembling fishhooks, secreting a substance that could dissolve materials. The Investigation Department’s bulletproof vests proved utterly ineffective; the barbed hooks instantly tore Kui Xin’s thigh, causing blood to flow profusely.
Kui Xin’s tactical boots screeched against the ground as she swiftly braced her legs against the door frame, engaging in a tug-of-war with the tentacle to prevent it from pulling her inside. She promptly raised her gun and fired.
Having teammates nearby was advantageous, as she didn’t have to face dangers alone. Without hesitation, Shu Xuyao stepped forward and riddled the dark red tentacle with bullets, temporarily forcing it back. Liu Kangyun detached a microbomb from his waist, pulled out the pin, and tossed it into the room.
The Investigation Department’s micro-bombs had an explosion radius of approximately two meters, so at an appropriate distance, there was no risk of harming their own team members.
“Close the door!” Liu Kangyun gripped the doorknob tightly, bracing himself against the door frame, veins bulging on his forehead.
Kui Xin grasped the doorknob, followed by Shu Xuyao, and together they exerted force to shut the door. Several tentacles caught between the doorframe continued to wildly thrash.
In the very next moment, a powerful explosion erupted within the crew member’s cabin. The blast’s impact sent all three squad members staggering and falling to the ground. The trapped tentacles twitched a couple of times before going still.
After a few seconds, the blast-deformed crew member’s cabin door swayed and clattered to the ground, revealing the horrifying creature behind it.
From the shattered human torso, one after another dark red tentacle emerged. The highly distorted parasitic body was barely recognizable as “human” anymore.
Within the cabin lay several corpses, withered as all their nutrients had been drained away. This alien creature must have switched hosts multiple times.
“How could a Red Thorn Hunter be on this ship?” Liu Kangyun exclaimed, crawling up from the floor in shock. “It’s even in its growth phase, significantly larger than our Investigation Department’s specimen!”
“It resembles a Red Thorn Hunter, but this is a mutated version. A Red Thorn Hunter only has tentacles; they shouldn’t have backward-facing barbs!” Shu Xuyao, disheveled and grimy, accepted Kui Xin’s support to stand upright. He took a deep breath, coughed twice, and commanded, “Yadang, inform everyone immediately! There’s an unidentified alien creature aboard The Kraken!”
Kui Xin sustained the least damage; the wounds inflicted by the barbed hooks on her thigh were healing, as were the burns on her forehead caused by the explosion’s fire wave.
Her expression turned grim. “Is the captain a member of a secret cult? Is he a Variant Blood? Otherwise, why would he harbor a Red Thorn Hunter and even take action against Lan Lan? “Is there more than one alien creature here?”
Kui Xin cautiously scanned each tightly closed door, his muscles tensing as immense pressure spread within his heart.
Shu Xuyao said, “After leaving the lower deck, we may need to retreat to the escort ships… Before departing, at the very least, we must confirm whether Lan Lan is still alive.”
“I advise you not to do this, Captain Shu. The probability of Security Officer Lan Lan’s survival is less than fifty percent. With such low chances of survival, I believe you should not risk confirming his status, as doing so would instead place yourself in danger,” Yadang stated. “I have already informed all group leaders, including the Minister and Deputy Minister, about the situation on the ship. They’ve just issued orders for all squads to quickly evacuate Kraken. Seventh Squad, please return to the deck and head back to the escort ships under Eleventh Squad’s assistance.”
Yadang’s speech manner was truly human; it could even simulate human thought patterns while “thinking.” However, its robotic tone and cold judgments and suggestions constantly reminded others of its identity as artificial intelligence.
Because it was a machine, it naturally employed absolute rationality in thinking and made choices that were most aligned with maximizing benefits. When necessary, it would persuade people to abandon their companions.
Before Shu Xuyao could make a decision, an unfamiliar male voice suddenly interrupted the communications channel.
“Shu Xuyao,” the man said, “go to the deck and immediately retreat. This time, it’s not a suggestion but an order. As your superior officer, I command you to withdraw at once.”
“The Deputy Director?” Liu Kangyun recognized this voice.
After a moment of silence, Shu Xuyao struggled to respond, “… Yes… We will retreat.”
“I need to check the icebox in the kitchen.” Kui Xin continued her movements without pausing to load bullets. “Tang Guan deliberately left that note, indicating that something in the icebox is unusual. I want to know what it is; it must be significant.”
“We haven’t encountered a single living person along our journey.” Liu Kangyun’s eyebrows twitched. “Where do you think the crew member you mentioned has hidden?”
“Don’t know.” As Kui Xin spoke, she retraced her steps and arrived at the kitchen door.
They had just passed by the kitchen, which was very close to their current position. Due to the urgency to find Lan Lan, Kui Xin didn’t go inside. Now, with Yadang determining Lan Lan’s chances of survival to be slim and the Deputy Director ordering them to directly retreat, Kui Xin decided to seize this opportunity and inspect the contents of the kitchen’s icebox.
The kitchen door was locked; she shot off the lock mechanism and kicked the door open.
Inside the kitchen, there was no one present. Various cooking utensils were neatly arranged, but the hygiene standards were concerning. The smell of spoiled food permeated the space, with assorted can packaging scattered on the floor, indicating it hadn’t been cleaned for quite some time.
Kui Xin rushed straight to the icebox, relieved that it wasn’t secured by a password system. After opening the outer lock, she effortlessly swung the door open.
Liu Kangyun and Shu Xuyao followed her, their guns raised cautiously as white mist billowed out from the opened icebox.
Having just survived the perilous ambush at the door, everyone’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point.
As the icebox door opened, a foul odor mixed with cold air wafted out, nearly causing Kui Xin to retch upon smelling it.
“Clunk…”
A frost-covered head rolled out of the icebox, hitting the ground with a crisp sound, frozen solidly hard.
Kui Xin recoiled fearfully, her eyelids twitching.
With the icebox fully opened, a chilling sight emerged—a scene of carnage hidden behind the icy expanse.
Over a dozen corpses were piled together, forming a small mountain.
Frozen blood stained the ground red, even creating icicle-like crimson formations on the corpses.
Judging by their attire, they were unmistakably sailors from The Kraken.
The expressions of the three Seventh Squad members froze.
Kui Xin’s steps stiffened, accidentally kicking the head near his feet. The skull spun around, revealing its face.
Sideburns, broad features, Caucasian…
“Captain Anton!” Liu Kangyun exclaimed involuntarily.
A part of Captain Anton’s body was here. Then who did the Seventh Squad speak to when they boarded the ship? In this world, was there another Anton besides the deceased one?
“Withdraw!” Shu Xuyao gritted out between clenched teeth.
No further words were needed; Kui Xin and Liu Kangyun immediately started running, and once again, all three sprinted down the corridor.
Just as they reached the exit leading to the deck, Liu Kangyun, who was ahead, slipped and tumbled onto the floor. Shu Xuyao also slid and fell with a thud, losing his balance. Kui Xin felt something underfoot, narrowly avoiding a similar fate.
The ground was covered with a layer of viscous, slippery liquid, slowly flowing down from the deck stairs and spreading across a vast area.
“Engine oil!” Kui Xin recognized the scent.
The cargo ship typically carried this odor, but it was faint. Now, the smell of engine oil had become more intense, and their feet were covered with it.
Looking up, they noticed that at some point, the entrance to the deck stairs had been locked.
They were trapped!
At that moment, footsteps sounded from above on the deck.
With a click, a lighter ignited and fell to the ground.
When the engine oil came into contact with fire, it would ignite! The flames began spreading rapidly. The worst part was that Shu Xuyao and Liu Kangyun, having fallen on the oily surface, were now drenched in it. Fortunately, drawing upon their experience, they immediately started crawling backward as soon as they stumbled, narrowly avoiding being engulfed by the blaze.
Their expressions turned grim as they watched the fire intensify. If they had delayed even slightly, they would have become blazing infernos.
“There’s water in the washroom! Hurry, go!” Kui Xin urgently exclaimed.
No reminder was needed; Shu Xuyao and Liu Kangyun swiftly rushed towards the washroom.
Thick smoke billowed, making it difficult for them to breathe. Thankfully, the corridor was predominantly metal, which slowed down the spread of the fire. However, despite this, the scorching heat, amplified by reflection and conduction through the metal surfaces, became increasingly unbearable. To make matters worse, the smoke generated by the burning increased the risk of suffocation at any moment.
Kui Xin pulled off the shower curtain from the bathroom, intending to wet it and drape it over herself, but when she turned on the faucet, no water flowed out.
“Damn!” Liu Kangyun, who rarely swore, burst out with profanity. “There’s no water in the bathroom! Did that bastard shut off the valve?!”
“The kitchen has a water dispenser with half a barrel of mineral water remaining; it should suffice,” Shu Xuyao calmly stated.
Kui Xin circled around the bathroom and found a bucket used for rinsing mops. “The kitchen is somewhat far away. Use this instead! Take down the shower curtain and soak it in water!”
They draped the dampened shower curtain over their bodies, covering their mouths and noses, then returned to the corridor to observe the raging inferno.
“Bomb that thing open!” Liu Kangyun detached a miniature explosive from his waist and hurled it towards the staircase area.
With precision, the bomb landed on the barrier at the stairway entrance, exploding the very moment it touched the stairs.
A deafening blast echoed, yet the barrier remained undamaged.
Liu Kangyun was distraught. “How can this thing be so sturdy?!”
“When The Kraken was initially designed, various anti-riot tests were conducted to withstand attacks by pirates and other unlawful armed groups,” Yadang explained. “In theory, the deck doors can endure rocket fire without deforming or shattering. I recommend everyone move to an area with sufficient oxygen and await rescue. The weapons you carry cannot open this door.”
Jiang Ming’s urgent voice reached their ears: “Don’t panic! We’re already here and attempting to open the deck door. Please step back significantly.”
The thick smoke made Kui Xin cough violently, and even through the sturdy soles of her tactical boots, she could feel the heat emanating from the floor.
She remained composed because, at any moment, she could escape using Shadow Shuttling, allowing her to bypass spatial barriers.
However, Shu Xuyao and Liu Kangyun couldn’t flee that easily.
As teammates and someone aiming for a long-term career in the Investigation Department, Kui Xin knew she couldn’t act too unscrupulously; it was her survival strategy.
In any case, the rest of her team members were already outside the deck door, so she could afford to wait a bit longer. Unless absolutely necessary, she would never reveal her trump card.