Chapter 88: Forgotten Creatures of Time (Part One)
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Several consecutive disappearances occurred this month, causing anxiety among local fishermen. In fact, news reports were not entirely accurate. Only the crews and passengers went missing; most of the ships were found, but the people on board seemed to have vanished into thin air.
The Maritime Search and Rescue Center dispatched five warships and three helicopters for a comprehensive search at sea, involving 31 missing individuals. Currently, only three partially mutilated bodies and a few empty ships with no one aboard were found. There were no signs of combat on the ships, and there were no debris at sea, making the search progress very slow.
An Bu sat on the fishing boat heading to New Sea, accompanied by four volunteers who participated in the search voluntarily, having joined similar rescue operations many times before.
When An Bu arrived at the harbor, her first glance fell on this boat because everyone on board exuded a strong death aura, with only six hours left before their deaths. If she wanted to quickly uncover the truth of the disappearances, joining them to find death was undoubtedly the best choice.
Leaning against the railing, An Bu scanned the sea while listening to others discuss the search situation and the cause of the incident.
“I’ve been sailing on the sea for nearly 30 years, and nothing like this has ever happened,” said an old sailor. “For sailors, the ship is as important as life itself. Even in a storm, they will coexist with the ship. There’s no reason for sailors to abandon their own ship at sea.”
“I’m afraid it’s not voluntary, but encountering an irresistible force,” said a volunteer.
“The saying among our crew is that we angered the sea god or encountered sea monsters.”
“Haha, how many people still believe in such legends now?”
The old sailor looked at the distant sea and sighed, “People, they have to believe in something, or else they easily lose their way.”
While everyone was talking, a catamaran suddenly approached from a distance. On the deck, five or six men and women in swimsuits were sitting or standing. They seemed to be here for leisure, but the timing of their choice for this sea area was unclear whether it was intentional or unintentional.
As the yacht approached, the old sailor, holding a wireless device, reminded them, “There have been several missing incidents in this area. It’s not suitable for recreation at the moment. Turn west for several dozen miles; that area is safer.”
A young man in his twenties with dyed hair laughed, “Haha, it’s because this side is more exciting that I deliberately came over.”
The old sailor and a few others frowned at the same time, restraining their displeasure and advised kindly, “Young people, this sea area is indeed unsafe. Don’t play with your lives. Choose another place.”
The dyed-haired young man looked unconvinced, “Aren’t you all strolling around here too? If there’s real danger, let’s all be unlucky together.”
The old sailor was speechless. He had said what needed to be said, but if the other party wouldn’t listen, there was nothing he could do.
An Bu’s gaze swept over them one by one. Unfortunately, all eight people on that boat were already on the list of the dead.
“Woohoo!” The dyed-haired young man shouted excitedly. The yacht, like an arrow, shot past the fishing boat where An Bu was. It splashed a large spray of water but quickly went beyond a few hundred meters.
Watching their retreating figures, An Bu thought to herself, “Hurry up and reincarnate.”
The people on that boat had three more hours to live, while those on the yacht had only an hour and a half left.
An Bu didn’t know what danger laid ahead, and for now, she couldn’t take any action. However, the accident undoubtedly occurred along this route.
The boat maintained a steady speed, regularly exchanging information with nearby rescue ships.
An hour later, An Bu and the others encountered the catamaran again. At this time, it was parked about a sea mile away from them.
“Hey, why is that sea area so dark?” A crew member looked at the sky. “The weather is clearly sunny.”
“It’s indeed strange, like someone spilled ink.”
“Get closer, throw an electronic flying fish down for exploration.” (Electronic fish: a type of underwater camera)
An Bu’s pupils contracted slightly. What she saw was completely different from what others saw. In that sea area, it was covered with a large amount of death energy, like black flames burning on the sea surface. The catamaran in the midst of the sea of fire appeared and disappeared, as if it could be turned into ashes at any moment.
This death energy was not the aura of the dead but a sign of impending death. In other words, beneath that sea area, there was a peculiar creature about to die. An Bu encountered such a substantial death omen for the first time. This creature must have been alive for a long time to trigger such a phenomenon.
“Captain, I think it’s better not to approach hastily. Let’s contact the people on that yacht first,” An Bu suggested to the captain.
The captain had no objections. He picked up the communication device and called the yacht. After several attempts, there was only static on the other end, no response. He frowned, then called nearby other boats, all of which received signals.
“What’s going on? Is there something interfering with the signal over there?” The captain stared at the observation screen, zoomed in, and found that people on the yacht were moving from time to time, seemingly without any abnormalities.
“Could their communication equipment be damaged?” the first mate asked.
“It’s unlikely. If the communication equipment is damaged, the ship’s intelligent system would report an error promptly.”
An Bu looked at the yacht and said, “Captain, give me a speedboat. I’ll go over and check the situation.”
The captain waved his hand, “I’ll send a crew member over.”
“Take me with you.” There were only twenty or thirty minutes left before the people on that boat would die, and An Bu wanted to try to save them. If she succeeded, saving the others would not be difficult.
This time the captain did not object, and a speedboat was sent down. A crew member and An Bu set off towards the yacht.
The people on the yacht were having a great time. Seeing the speedboat approaching, someone joked, “Come and see the clownfish.”
The speedboat An Bu was on was red and white, indeed resembling a clownfish.
She ignored their teasing and shouted, “It’s not safe here. Leave quickly.”
“Why are you here again?” The dyed-haired young man walked over, impatiently saying, “Whether it’s safe or not, I decide. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Check your communication equipment, see if it can’t receive messages,” An Bu stared at them without blinking, with about 10 minutes left until death.
The dyed-haired young man looked puzzled, glanced back at the empty cockpit, and then ordered someone to check.
Seven minutes later…
“Master Yan,” the person who had just checked the equipment ran back, a bit nervous, “indeed, we can’t communicate with the outside world. The signal seems to be interfered with.”
“Are you sure it’s not a device malfunction?”
“It shouldn’t be. This set of equipment was recently updated.”
Five minutes…
“Let’s leave here first,” An Bu urged, “We have a repairman on our ship, you can let him come and inspect your communication equipment later.”
“Why rush us?” the dyed-haired young man glared at An Bu displeased, “You have a repairman, so why won’t we have one?”
Three minutes…
A faint layer of death energy slowly appeared in An Bu’s eyes. Suddenly, on the calm sea surface, fine ripples emerged, like a regular oscillation frequency, expanding outward in concentric circles. No sound could be heard, but the people on the ship, as if summoned, had vacant gazes, smiling, one by one, jumping into the sea, allowing the water to engulf them without seeking help or struggling, sinking into the depths.
However, after a short time, the ripples on the sea surface gradually disappeared, everything returned to calm, as if nothing had happened. But on the ship, not a single person remained…
An Bu’s pupils refocused, slowly detaching from the vision. She turned to look at the sea surface and indeed saw faint ripples.
“Cover your ears!” she loudly reminded the crew members around her.
The crew members looked puzzled and didn’t comply.
Without a second word, An Bu delivered a chop to the neck of one crew member, sending him to meet his maker.
On another ship, the dyed-haired young man and others witnessed this scene, all wearing bewildered expressions. Why knock someone out with just a few words?
At this moment, the ripples on the sea surface became more and more dense. An Bu couldn’t save the people on the yacht in time. She could only watch as they, influenced by the sound waves, smiling, one after another, jumped into the sea, letting themselves be submerged without seeking help.
An Bu grabbed the life-saving rope on the ship, jumped into the sea, and with each person she caught, she punched them, then tied them with the rope, hanging them on the speedboat like sausages. After tossing around for a while, she finally hung all eight people. However, each person’s face was swollen, looking particularly plump.
When the sea surface returned to calm, the death energy on these people gradually dissipated, successfully avoiding a catastrophe.
An Bu ignored them, plunged back into the sea, and swam towards the source of death energy.
After a while, she saw a vast and undulating continental slope in front of her, with a slope of about 30 degrees, and it seemed bottomless below. The death energy emanated from this place.
An Bu hesitated about whether to go down and investigate. As a corpse, she was food for many marine creatures, such as oil cones that particularly liked her. There was no guarantee that the creature below wouldn’t develop an appetite for her.
An Bu had never seen this kind of creature before. It could emit special ultrasonic waves, affecting people’s consciousness, somewhat resembling the legendary sea monster. If she weren’t an undead with heightened senses, she would also be affected.
In the past, similar incidents had not occurred in the New Sea, indicating that this creature was usually gentle. Could it be attacking others because it was near death?
While pondering, two points of light suddenly flashed in the dark depths of the sea. The lights were separated by tens of meters. At first, An Bu couldn’t figure out what it was, but later discovered that it was a pair of eyes the size of light bulbs.
An Bu flipped and swam quickly towards the sea surface.
However, her movements were still a step too slow. Just as she swam out less than three meters, she was pulled into the seabed by a suction force and disappeared in an instant.
An Bu: D*mn, things got out of hand…
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