Chapter 64: Fate of the Deep Sea
Below the organization headquarters, on the third underground level of the containment vault, inside sealed room 001.
The roller of dangerous object S-001 (World’s Listening) stopped spinning, the clamped parchment covered in twisted script. Su Xiao had never seen this type of writing before, but the moment he laid eyes on it, he understood its meaning.
S-001 could not predict Su Xiao’s future, but it predicted the future of someone who had intersected with him—Colonel Ge Wei.
Or rather, this was one of countless possible futures for Colonel Ge Wei. For Su Xiao, this held significant reference value.
By reading the first few paragraphs, Su Xiao gleaned considerable information. In this future timeline, the Eastern Alliance and the Southern Alliance would break apart in the near future, erupting into a brutal war.
Seven years after the war began, the Southern Alliance would fully unify power and establish an empire, with Ge Wei serving as a colonel in that empire.
“Seven years have passed, and Ge Wei still hasn’t been promoted?”
Baha found this hard to understand. Given Colonel Ge Wei’s personal ability and military acumen, after the Western Continent War ended, he should at least have secured the rank of major general.
If he had backing from above, being promoted to lieutenant general within two or three years wasn’t impossible. His achievements were plain to see—during the Western Continent War, Colonel Ge Wei commanded the Second Legion, the veteran legion that charged on the front lines.
Ignoring Baha’s question, Su Xiao continued examining the parchment in his hand. In the future, Colonel Ge Wei sank into the deep sea and, using a pressure-sealed canister, left behind a record. The contents were as follows:
‘Imperial Calendar Year 1686, August 23rd. My ship, under General Kant’s orders, set sail today from ‘Dolphin Port’ to transport military supplies to ‘Lighthouse Island.’ This island borders ‘Wofengdon Bay’ to the west and connects to the ‘Second War Zone’ to the east, serving as a strategic choke point for our army’s front lines. It must not be lost. With frontline supplies running low, upon receiving the secret order, my ship immediately set sail.’
‘My ship was damaged nine days prior, the propulsion mechanism malfunctioned, and the entire bottom compartment’s compressed air valve detached, causing a loss of power at the stern…’
‘After only a few days of emergency repairs, we were to sail far to ‘Lighthouse Island.’ The soldiers on board were uneasy. Seeing such cowardice, I immediately reprimanded them. After personally executing three engineering soldiers who tried to undermine morale, my ship set sail smoothly. This mission was critical; within the nearby sea area, only my ship could barely manage the long voyage. Even if it meant sinking into the sea, we had to set sail.’
‘What I feared most did not happen. The bottom compartment’s compressed air valve, which constantly emitted noise and disrupted morale, did not detach. Every time I saw it, it reminded me of my late aunt. They shared a common trait—always chattering noisily.’
‘Two days after setting sail, my ship was attacked. After just a few rounds of shelling, the Eastern Federation’s navy cowards abandoned their ships and fled, trying to escape my ship’s range with those pitiful, ridiculous lifeboats. How laughable. Oh, this is understandable. Since the empire declared war on the Eastern Federation, I have never captured a single enemy soldier. They call me the ‘Sea Butcher.’’
‘Perhaps not all of the Eastern Federation’s naval forces are cowards. Three days after setting sail, my ship encountered enemy vessels at ‘Wofengdon Bay.’ The constantly noisy bottom compartment compressed air valve finally detached. In such intense naval combat, the fate of my ship sinking was inevitable. This made me feel, from the depths of my heart… fear. Yes, I am afraid. My ship’s military supplies cannot reach ‘Lighthouse Island.’ The garrison on our island will face multiple crises: insufficient supplies, depleted ammunition, and more. They have been fighting bitterly on ‘Lighthouse Island’ for months, holding off the Eastern Federation’s scum. Such brave warriors should not fall due to a broken supply line. This is the only thing that terrifies me.’
‘The enemy’s screams are as pleasant as ever. The Eastern Federation’s scum underestimated my ship’s desperate combat capability. Of the four enemy ships, three have been sunk, and one fled in panic. My ship can no longer complete its mission and has failed the empire’s trust.’
‘Seawater has already flooded the deck. The ‘Fearless Vanguard’ is about to have its funeral. This old-model steel warship has served for nine years, participating in the Western Continent War, the Island Campaign, and the Six-Zone Landing Cover Operation… It has given its all for the empire.’
‘Is this the empire’s protection? As I was about to be buried at sea, my adjutant saved me and brought me to the bottom compartment of the ‘Fearless Vanguard.’ The bottom compartment should have been fully sealed, but that damned compressed air valve, like a mocking mouth, was sucking in seawater.’
‘This is a dead end. As an imperial soldier, I cannot be captured. The enemy’s supernatural beings could extract our secrets from my brain. Just aim at my jaw and pull the trigger. The special bullet, with its rotational force, would turn my brain into paste, evenly spread across the compartment ceiling. This is good.’
‘In the sinking ‘Fearless Vanguard’s’ bottom compartment, three Eastern Federation engineers sneaked in. They claimed they could urgently repair the compressed air valve. Ridiculous! Our engineers spent nine days and still couldn’t fully fix it. With seawater filling the bottom compartment in at most half an hour, repairing the valve in just thirty minutes? Absurd. Besides, they are the enemy. Kill.’
‘As I raised my gun, my adjutant, that cowardly fisherman, knocked me unconscious with a pressure pipe. When I woke up, an hour had passed.’
‘The accumulated water in the bottom compartment was collected into sealed barrels, only reaching my ankles. This meant I was still alive. Those engineers had actually repaired that damned compressed air valve. Our military has invested too much in airships. As an imperial navy officer, I can’t help but feel jealous, but this decision is correct. The sky is broader than the sea.’
‘I retrieved my sidearm and executed the three enemy engineers, along with my traitorous adjutant. The few sailors in the bottom compartment, along with Fleet Officer Salina, stared at me in terror. They didn’t understand why I did this. Because I’m bloodthirsty? No. This sea area is swarming with enemy submarines. If the enemy captures my brain, the ‘Sudden Rain Plan’ would be exposed, and I would become a traitor to the empire.’
‘When I again pressed my sidearm against my jaw, something unexpected happened. The bottom compartment began to spin. Based on my years of navigation experience, this was caused by an underwater whirlpool. When everything stabilized, the inner armor layer of the bottom compartment rapidly bulged inward. How deep was this? The armor dented to this extent, meaning I had reached a depth even submarines couldn’t achieve. This brought me some comfort.’
‘I felt like I was inside a twisted, deformed tin can. Why hadn’t the bottom compartment been crushed by the water pressure? This defied my understanding. There was no food, only fresh water. I decided to postpone suicide. Among the five surviving sailors, one showed signs of ‘aberration.’ Black, hair-like, smooth-skinned tendrils grew from his body. If he had enlisted in recent years, he wouldn’t know what this was. I had seen such tendrils in the Western Continent, growing on parasitic insect warriors. Strangely, in the darkness, these tendrils emitted a white glow, solving the lighting problem to some extent.’
‘I used my sidearm to restore military discipline. I kept a small amount of fresh water for myself and distributed more to the five sailors and Fleet Officer Salina. Compared to hunger, thirst is harder to endure. As an imperial officer, I should care for my subordinates in dire straits.’
‘On the first day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Fleet Officer Salina came to me and talked about her hometown. I didn’t respond; listening was enough. This imperial female soldier just wanted to say something, nothing more.’
‘On the third day trapped at the bottom of the sea, the soldier with tendrils had cloudy eyes. This confirmed he was transforming into a parasitic insect warrior. I ended his life. Observing to this extent was sufficient.’
‘On the fifth day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Salina was silent. She began counting her hair. Among the four remaining sailors, two more grew tendrils. I let them retain the last dignity of imperial soldiers. Those still alive had more drinking water.’
‘On the ninth day trapped at the bottom of the sea, I personally ended the last sailor. He cried and begged for mercy before dying, but tendrils had already grown on him.’
‘On the sixteenth day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Salina believed in a god—a god she had imagined, a god called the Supreme Insect. From her behavior, I could tell she was no longer sane. What puzzled me was, in such a confined space, why hadn’t the oxygen run out? According to my calculations, it should have been depleted on the first day.’
‘On the eighteenth day trapped at the bottom of the sea, in this confined, narrow, oppressive space, Salina was nearing her limit. I was also drifting in and out of sleep, unable to distinguish dream from reality. Salina tempted me to join her in worshipping that god called the Supreme Insect. I refused outright. If not for her being a fellow imperial soldier, I would have blown her head off with my gun.’
‘On the twenty-first day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Salina returned to normal. Her eyes were bright, and she no longer muttered like a witch. But her desire for me to worship that god with her grew stronger. Not only that, she prayed every day until, with a calm face, she tore out her entire tongue and held it in both hands, as if offering it to some entity.’
‘On the twenty-second day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Salina grew a new tongue. I decided to observe her and record her behavior. If possible, I would use the only pressure-sealed canister to store this record and, when the bottom compartment cracked under water pressure, throw it out. The bottom compartment being crushed was only a matter of time. The space was limited; soon, I would have to sit on the corpses to stretch my legs.’
‘On the thirty-sixth day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Salina, who hadn’t spoken to me for nearly half a month, took the initiative to speak. She asked me only one question: Colonel Ge Wei, are you a monster? Why haven’t you gone mad yet?’
‘On the forty-second day trapped at the bottom of the sea, Salina let out a scream and then exploded like a rotten tomato. My observation ended. As a price, the threadworms from her explosion landed on me. I had no strength to dodge. Hunger was actually harder to endure. I could feel my organs absorbing nutrients from my body to keep me alive. It felt like… my organs were slowly eating me alive.’
‘On the fifty-second day trapped at the bottom of the sea, the bottom compartment grew even smaller. My body from the chest down was submerged in corpse fluid. My numb sense of smell couldn’t detect the stench. The threadworms inside me swam between my organs, always trying to burrow into my brain. As long as I didn’t submit, they couldn’t succeed. I… might not hold out much longer.’
‘On the sixtieth day trapped at the bottom of the sea, I felt my own cerebral cortex. It started when a threadworm crawled onto it. They greedily attached themselves, waiting only for me to submit. This feeling was almost maddening, but in return, I began to ‘see’ the outside—the seabed scene outside the bottom compartment.’
‘Countless threadworms coiled around the exterior of the bottom compartment. They were what kept it from being crushed by water pressure, and they extracted oxygen from the seawater and delivered it inside. Just as I observed Salina, some entity was observing me. I also saw, beneath the vast, boundless sea, a dense, hair-raising mass of threadworms. Any rational human, upon seeing this, would experience both physical and psychological discomfort. They used their bodies to form twisted, grotesque, towering structures underwater. Even with all the words I’ve learned in my life, I couldn’t describe the grandeur and horror of these structures.’
‘I heard a ‘voice’ from some entity. It acknowledged me as its servant. I no longer knew if this was a hallucination from hunger or a mad delusion. Until it appeared before me. My record can only end here…’
‘Submit, and I could continue to survive. For a moment, I wavered. My lips and tongue seemed beyond my control, about to utter the cowardly words that would drive me mad. But before that, I released the pressure-sealed canister in my hand, used my last strength to raise my arm, and pressed the rusted sidearm firmly against my jaw. I can be sure my expression was calm. As an imperial soldier, I will speak the last words of my life, then pull the trigger.’
‘Go to hell, you vermin.’
‘Bang!’