The isolation cabin began to vibrate and water filled inside. Seawater soon filled the entire cabin and all 12 people floated vertically.
As the external hatch opened, they finally faced the deep sea world.
[Make sure the flashlight is strapped on.]
The old diver turned around, gestured to everyone, and swam out first.
Xia Yibing followed, jumped out of the shelter, and swam in the vast deep sea.
The sea water was dark blue and visibility was low, but with the Pierre's searchlight and their own flashlights, it basically did not affect vision.
She followed everyone else and the biggest feeling she had during the diving process was the exhaustion.
Being at the bottom of the sea, without any reference points, I couldn't tell up from down, left from right. An extremely depressed and palpitating feeling kept spreading from the bottom of my heart, mixed with a little bit of excitement.
This was not the first time she had experienced this feeling. She had experienced it once in Bartlett.
But there is a difference - she didn't really go into the water that time.
Is there such a big difference between the deep sea in dreams and the deep sea in reality?
Although she had received diving training, the heavy water pressure still surprised her.
All the movements were difficult to perform. She didn't dare to use force. She stretched her body as much as possible according to the instructions she had learned. She moved her flippers slowly and little by little to control the direction of her swimming.
The giant monster's body kept sinking after losing power, and everyone had to keep chasing it. The floating blood caused them a lot of trouble in the process.
The blocked view is one problem, and the other is that it will inevitably attract other predators, although their numbers are small at this time.
While diving, Torres suddenly felt a strong sense of fear.
He stared straight at the seabed and stood firmly on a layer of Xisha. When he looked around, he suspected that there were no companions or Pierre at all. He regained his composure when he looked up and saw the sinking lights.
It seems a bit too exciting.
He regretted it and felt that he shouldn't have run outside with nothing to do.
The body fell on the seabed, stirring up turbidity again, and Torres saw some small fish swimming nearby, probably waiting for an opportunity to get a piece of the pie.
My companions have already started cutting. They are cutting off the flesh and tissue according to different parts. Some are also communicating with each other about whether they can cut open the stomach and get some internal organs out.
At this moment, Xia Yibing had found the monster's head.
This is……
Using the flashlight to see the surface clearly, she frowned at first and then controlled her body to move closer.
A large number of derivatives, such as shells and barnacles, are attached to the surface of the shell.
She broke off one of the pieces with force and used it as a lever to start prying more of the same kind.
As she cleared away the derivatives in an area, the true appearance of the monster's shell was finally revealed - there was actually a layer of rust underneath.
Is this iron sheet?
Iron hull?
The thing has a shipwreck on its head...
In an instant, Xia Yibing sorted out the relationship.
Others floated over to inquire about the situation, and she told them her discovery through gestures, which seemed to shock them as well.
Of course, it was difficult for her to see their expressions, so she guessed them from their dull movements.
The discovery was amazing enough that the leading old diver began to swim among the crowd and gestured to them - go up and return to the submarine with the harvest.
Are you leaving just like that?
Xia Yibing felt surprised but also felt it was normal. While she was impressed by the veteran's caution, she caught a glimpse of words underneath the rust.
I reached out and tried to pry it open, and it felt loose.
She simply put both hands on it, stepped firmly on the outer hull with her feet, and with an effort, she broke off the piece she was holding.
This caused her to lose control, and her body somersaulted twice in the water due to inertia, which looked a bit like slow motion.
Her companion came up and pushed her back to help her offset the force. Then everyone swam up together, returning to where they came from.
"Wow!"
The seawater in the isolation cabin was drained, Xia Yibing took off her glasses and mask, and brushed her messy hair behind her head.
Torres was retching beside him. The change in pressure made him very uncomfortable. He felt very dizzy and nauseous and could hardly walk on his own.
The divers laughed and teased him, and it was in this atmosphere that the old diver Lani walked towards her and asked, "What was the last thing you took?"
Lani Boland, he is everyone's diving instructor. He has many deep sea diving experiences, and this is not even his first time working on a submarine.
"I don't know either." Xia Yibing didn't look carefully at the thing she was holding. When she heard it, she lifted it up and found that it was a piece of iron plate.
After being soaked in water for an unknown period of time, its surface was covered with rust and some fine derivatives. But even so, one could still vaguely see deep scratches on it, and there were traces of white paint that had not fallen off the edges of the scratches.
"Is that a word?" Lani frowned and tilted her head to read with her. "Po-lini-o...Polini?"
Others also noticed the unusual movement here. They came over one by one, carrying the wreckage of the sea monster, and talked about what the "Polini" was.
"Have you heard of this ship?" Xia Yibing asked Lani, who had much more experience in this area than she did.
“Never.” Lani shook her head.
Then, as if he was afraid that she might "misunderstand", he added: "As far as I can remember, I have never heard of any ship with this name."
"I'm not surprised." Xia Yibing gently stroked the surface of the iron plate, "This thing should be bigger than you."
She couldn't help but imagine it - Lani Boland was 49 years old, which meant that at least half a century ago, an ironclad ship named "Polini" disappeared in the sea. And half a century later, a giant octopus used more than half of the wreckage of the ship as a shelter, and was hit on the head by them and killed.
What a coincidence.
Unless there is more than one such wreckage and such behavior.
Hitzfeld was concerned about Xia Yibing, and hurried over from the control room holding her skirt, and soon learned about this latest discovery.
"Take a shower and change your clothes first," she said to them. "The problem of the sunken ship is easy to solve. We'll talk about it after you get out."
When Xia Yibing changed her clothes and came out, she found that she had gathered most of the people for another meeting.
Several files had been spread out on the dining table. This time, they were not something abstract like a map. They were full of words, so densely packed that they were enough to give Darent a headache just by looking at them.
"What is this?" She approached the girl.
"Shipwrecks, or records of disappearances," Hitzfeld said.
"Alwin had thought about this problem a long time ago. Here is the most comprehensive record of shipwrecks since the founding of Sara. I hope we can find some information from it."
"Found it!" At this moment, Baliu suddenly shouted with joy, "Here it is! 1942! Captain Belllake, First Mate Kenson...Polini!"
"I have it here too." Sebert was the second to speak, "1911, Captain Chauvin, First Mate Quill...Polini."
Intermittently, they found a total of three Pollini ships, which lost contact while sailing in 1942, 1911, and 1889.
"The craftsmanship of this hull is not up to standard in modern times." The old sailor Lani pointed at the thing, "It can't be from 1942."
"But if it wasn't 1942, the other two Paulinis that had accidents in those years were too far away from here." Saibot sighed, "One was in the far north and the other was in the far west. I know there are ocean currents, but is it possible that they could drift that far?"
"It may not be the ocean current, it may be that the monster pushed it everywhere..."
They began talking again until Hitzfeld noticed that there was one person who had remained silent from the beginning until now.
"Madeleine."
"Agent, Madeleine Bakinsa?"
She called out twice before Madeline responded.
"Oh! Yes!" She sat up straight and looked at her boss first. As expected, she found that Xia Yibing was squinting her eyes and half frowning, and was very dissatisfied with her absent-minded behavior.
"What did you find?" Hitzfeld continued to ask.
"You are an excellent agent. I don't think you would lose your composure over ordinary things."
The other party's behavior was unusual.
She saw clearly that Madeleine's face turned red and pale, and the fingers that were holding the file were still shaking violently.
Is it fear or excitement?
She was curious about what she thought of.
"Yes, I found out."
Swallowing her saliva, Madeline stood up under everyone's gaze and placed the file in the middle of the table.
"Here." She pointed to one of the entries.
"1836, Captain Kevin Eussellian, First Mate Bolono Fehrman...'Polini'."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they quickly realized what the era number and the two names meant.
"1836...isn't that when the first voyage was planned?"
"Usilian and Feldman are both sailing heroes. They traveled with Bakinsa at that time. Was it the Pollini?"
The restaurant suddenly became extremely noisy, and it was only when Xia Yibing slammed the table that they were stopped.
"Quiet!"
"Everyone shut up!"
When everyone quieted down, she motioned for Hitzfeld to say something.
Hitzfeld looked at Lani, who had the most seniority, and asked, "Were there iron-hulled ships at that time?"
"I can answer that!" Madeline couldn't help but interrupt. "Although the manufacturing technology at that time couldn't be compared with today's, including steel smelting and so on...but there were iron-hulled ships! The several giant ships that went out at that time were all iron-hulled ships without exception!"
"That is to say."
Hitzfeld ignored her offense and picked up the plank to examine it carefully.
"This thing came from the first generation of navigators. They died in the gray fog. Maybe they encountered a storm or were attacked by a sea monster. Something tore the Pollini, an iron-hulled ship, into two pieces, causing them to die in the sea. It was not until today that we found the clues."
This would explain why the outer shell is so vulnerable.
The iron shell from so many years ago... it would be more appropriate to call it iron sheet. Plus, after being soaked in the sea for so many years, the hardness of this thing may not be comparable to that of the organism's own exoskeleton.
Especially for sea monsters that are dozens of meters long.
"We'll continue to assign people later." Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes.
"I need someone to help me analyze the derivatives on the hull surface... their distribution and thickness, and then use this to infer the location of the sunken ship."
"If we're lucky, our other half won't be too far away."
Chapter 36: Conversation with Madeleine Bakinsa
Hitzfeld agreed with Xia Yibing's point of view, that is, she did not think it was a coincidence that the sea monster was killed by the Pierre while carrying the hull of the first voyage plan.
Did they happen to be selected for the second plan? ...No, maybe it was possible that something in the vast ocean was blessing them and letting this brainless beast send clues, but she just didn't believe it when it happened to her.
Quantity, or external factors. She believed that these things must have contributed to the coincidence.
The Pierre was anchored on the seabed to escort the second diver. This was necessary because the giant octopus carcass had begun to attract larger predators, and those who stayed on the boat could see various creatures through the windows, including but not limited to sharp-finned fish, silver tuna, small sharks, schools of pop-eyed fish, and countless small fish and crustaceans that could not be named.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
When Hitzfeld stopped to watch, Madeline quietly came to her right side, followed her to look at the colorful scene in the deep sea and said, "I have been dreaming about the sea since I was very young, and there is no lack of underwater world. This place is more beautiful than I imagined."
"Then why don't you go down with them?" Hitzfeld glanced at her.
"I'm not stupid." Madeline shook her head. "I'm a sailing enthusiast and I taught myself some sailing knowledge. If you were driving a surface ship, I would have no problem being your first mate, but this is deep sea and I don't have enough experience for me to go out and take risks."
Hitzfeld was a little surprised. She glanced at the young priest who was still resting and said, "If only Thores could be half as cautious as you."
"I hope you can be so cautious." Madeline also looked at her and met her gaze.
"The sea is mysterious, deep and unpredictable. The storms on the sea surface alone are worth a sailor's lifetime of exploration, not to mention the seabed... I don't know how many unknown things are hidden here."
"I know that I may not be qualified to say this to you, neither from the perspective of my status nor my experience, but I know the responsibility you shoulder... This job is too important, and I hope you can stay vigilant."
Is she referring to this infiltration mission or the special relationship between Xia and me?
Hitzfeld raised his eyebrows slightly, not sure whether this could be considered as a trick.
If I must say, it is true - it feels like Xia has been stirring since the beginning of this journey. Anyone who is not blind should be able to sense how hot the gaze of those eyes is looking at me.
"If you think I will be a problem for Director Imaer, or she will be a problem for me, then you are worrying too much." After thinking for a while, she replied, "We have a lot of work to do... There are also many things to explore. Before perfecting these things, I will not focus on other things. After all, His Majesty gave us time to relax before we set off... I will not confuse life and work."
