Chapter 1 The Captain's Diary

It was sunny on June 14 in the eighth year of crossing

"Recently, the vague whispering sound in my ears appeared again, that kind of sound that didn't sound like a sound, chaotic and dark, this garbage place is really not for people.

My first mate, Old John, told me that I could use his method and try the pretty girls in the Red Lips Hotel.

I admit that I had thoughts in my heart, but I finally held back, I can't waste my hard-earned Echo Coins in such a place, and I can't relax for a moment in order to go home.

Human beings are species that live on the ground. Human beings can appear in the underground sea, so it proves that there must be a way back to the ground, and I must find it!

I dreamed about my family again yesterday. I miss them, but I can hardly remember what they look like..."

A sudden jolt of the Mouse interrupted Charles Read's writing.

The old oil lamp next to the diary illuminated its owner's face, with black pupils and black hair, a normal Asian face, but his face was so white that it was almost transparent, like a vampire in a movie.

From the eyes of modern people, Charles is still a little handsome, but at this time his expression is heavy and tired, and he looks extremely haggard.

After listening to the sound of the waves outside the window for a while, Charles found nothing unusual, picked up the pen and started writing again.

"Without those special service workers, writing a diary can also improve my auditory hallucinations. Recently, I can sleep for 5 hours every night. I haven't slept so peacefully for a long time.

Of course, because of the lessons learned by those who wrote diaries, I deliberately wrote in a language that only I can understand, Chinese characters. "

"呲~~" The ear-piercing sound of metal rubbing outside the window interjected, the sound was like something was constantly scratching the bottom of the boat with sharp nails.

"Crack." The diary was closed, and Charles, who was frowning, walked towards the round porthole.

He poked his head out and found that the outside of the porthole was the same as what he saw 8 years ago. The lightless sky and the dark green sea formed a dark curtain in the distance.

Darkness ruled everything in the Earth Sea, and there seemed to be some monster brewing in the darkness, with weirdness everywhere.

But here, there is no starry sky and no moon. If someone looks overhead with a night vision telescope, they can only see the uneven underground rock formations.

This is the Earthsea, the subterranean ocean, where endless darkness is the main theme, and darkness just proves that everything is normal.

Looking out of the normal window, Charles frowned even tighter. His sailing experience over the past few years told him that there must be something wrong, so he decided to take a look.

Charles opened the bedside table, and there were hundreds of yellow bullets inside, rolling left and right as the waves rose and fell.

Pulling out the revolver at his waist, and deftly reloading it, he walked towards the cab.

"Captain, why is it so early today? It's not time for your shift yet."

At the helm of the cockpit is a fat old man with a beard. On the chair on his left side, there is a teenager who is only 17 or 18 years old. The sailor suit on his body shows his identity. People, like Charles, have a face without a trace of blood.

"First officer, why is the Mouse a bit bumpy, is the route normal?" Charles asked John at the helm.

After he finished speaking, he walked over and kicked on the leg of the chair, shaking the boy awake.

When the boy saw that it was his captain coming, he quickly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth with his hand, and hurriedly got up from the chair.

"Haha, it's probably something underwater that smelled our meat again. As you know, there are more disgusting things than fish in the Earth Sea. Don't worry, the Mouse is an iron ship, and they can't break it." As the fat old man spoke, he took a step back and gave up the helm to his captain.

Listening to the first mate's report, Charles still did not relax his vigilance.

In this weird place, human beings are no longer at the top of the food chain, and the only thing they can rely on to survive is caution.

Charles pressed a button on the old equipment, and the forward searchlights were brightly lit, and his eyes scanned back and forth across the transparent glass on the dark sea.

Between the sea surface and the cockpit is a deck full of cargo. The whole ship looks small, with a body length of more than 30 meters.

"The route to the Coral Islands has been taken many times by various cargo ships. Those things can't pass by to make fun of themselves, which is a bit abnormal." Charles held the polished reflective rudder wheel, and frowned tightly.

Old John was taken aback, "Could it be that we deviated from the course? Impossible, you see the buoy is still far away."

He pointed to the dim light spot in the distance with his finger and said.

In the starless underground ocean, apart from the compass, the only thing that can guide the way is the bright beacons placed on the route. As long as you can see the beacon, it proves that the route is a safe route explored by the exploration ship.

At this time, the pupils of Charles, who was looking at the sea, suddenly shrank to the smallest size, and swallowed hard. "Then... that buoy, how long have you been looking at it?"

"I guess it's been a few minutes. I've been staring at it and not moving." At the end, Old John's voice slowly trailed off, with a trace of panic showing on his fat face.

After sailing for so long, they still haven't passed this navigation mark. Obviously, the navigation mark is also moving at the same speed as the steam ship. There is something wrong with that thing!

Suddenly, Charles seemed to wind up the clockwork, and he turned the rudder wheel frantically with both hands, and the rudder was fully pulled to the left.

With the sound of metal creaking, the steamship below them began to turn. Fortunately, the boat turned around quickly, and the Mouse began to distance itself from the weird buoy.

Before Charles could heave a sigh of relief, the boy next to him pointed to the glass window behind him, his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

"Boat...captain! That thing is approaching us! So fast!! It's about to catch up!"

"Damn it!" Charles yelled loudly at a communication channel next to him: "The big tube wheel! Turn on the turbo furnace to the maximum! Something is chasing us!!"

"Obey, Captain!" A simple and honest voice came from the iron pipe.

Thick black smoke continued to rise from the chimney on the ship, and the speed of the steamship began to climb.

"It's still approaching!! It's so fast! It's about to overtake us! God! What kind of monster is that!"

The boy's voice was raised several degrees because of extreme fear, and his whole body was shaking like a sieve, as if he was about to go into shock.

"Dipper! Close your eyes!!" Charles, who was so tense, stared at his calf and kicked him to the ground.

John next to him pressed his head firmly to the floor with his hands, and yelled at him with a blushing face: "Don't look, don't listen, don't think!! The captain will take us back."

As soon as the words fell, there was a loud "bump", the cabin shook violently, and the two people on the ground rolled into a ball. Charles grabbed the rudder tightly so as not to be thrown out.

"Captain, it's crashing!"

Charles' face was livid, and the cheeks on both sides were slightly raised due to the gritted teeth.

He put his mouth next to the pipe and hissed, "The big pipe wheel!! The turbo furnace is overloaded for 30 seconds!!"

"Captain! No way! This thing is too old!! It will explode!"