She felt happy and delighted about this, but at this moment, when she jumped out of the sea again and was about to fall, the gray fog on the sea changed.
Something was different. She seemed to have passed through something out of thin air and yet it seemed not to have. She did fall back into the water, but she was in the water - in the shallow sea area she saw some unprecedented and horrible monsters that she had never dared to imagine.
This is the “maybe” that Hitzfeld describes.
This kind of "possibility" is not one-way - if things on this side can go through, then naturally, things on the other side can also come over.
If the gray fog connects the two worlds, and there are really many such passages in the fog, then the species of the two worlds may have intermingled over hundreds of years.
This means that the deep sea, which people didn't know much about, may have been polluted from the moment the gray fog descended. All the research they conducted on the ocean during this period deviated from their original intention.
Isn't this a bit exaggerated? Madeline instinctively didn't want to accept this possibility.
She initially wanted to protest, saying "Then why haven't we seen sea monsters yet?"
The giant octopus doesn't count. It's a bit big at best, but it's not a scary monster. After all, according to Hitzfeld's hypothesis, it's a species from the evil god's world. How could those things look the same as local species?
Because of the existence of anchored channels, there are still ships that can explore deep into the ocean. If this situation really exists, then there should be no new discoveries over the years.
But Madeline soon thought: Indeed, in recent years, there have been more and more gossips... that is, articles published in the corners of various newspapers and magazines saying that fishermen in certain places have caught strange fish.
The news was so funny that even the newspapers themselves didn't pay much attention to it, judging from the marginal positions where it was published. Madeline might be the only one who paid attention to and collected this information. She had a treasured notebook filled with these reports.
"You come with me!"
Impatiently, she dragged Hitzfeld to the room where she and her companion lived and took out a brown leather notebook from a large box.
"Look at this... Do you think these things can prove it?"
Hitzfeld opened the notebook and looked through the old news one by one.
[Joe Grealish, a fisherman from West Cinna, caught a fish today. This fish is really different from what most people think. Take a look. This is a photo of the fish——]
In the black-and-white photo below, a wrinkled man with a dry grin on his face is pinching the fish's gills with one hand and the fish's tail with the other, holding a half-man-tall fish firmly in his hand.
...if that thing can still be called a fish.
It looks like a combination of a silver line fish and a sea urchin, only roughly retaining the outline of the fish, but all of its fins have become structures similar to sea urchin spikes, and there are 10 pairs of such fins on its body.
The strange fish in the photo stares at the camera with wide eyes, its lips slightly open, and the "fin spines" all over its body are curling and wriggling.
[This amazing creature is truly unprecedented. We later tested it and found that its eyes can pop out like a crab... Our Mr. Grealish decided to make it his dinner tonight. Oh, we have already notified the local parish about this. I don't want this thing to be contaminated by any evil.]
There is no follow-up, after all, it is just a cut. From the fact that the report did not alarm anyone, it can be seen that the fish is indeed edible, which proves that it is harmless and may just look strange.
"It's not harmless." Madeline took back the notebook and turned to the middle, pointing to another piece of news for the girl to see, "Look here... their whole family is dead!"
Hitzfeld looked closely and saw the news that "Four members of the family of Sisinna fisherman Grealish died one after another from infectious diseases."
The two pages were marked with time, and the interval was about half a year. Because the time span was too long, no one attributed their deaths to the strange fish, but only speculated that they might have been infected with a series of diseases such as colds and tuberculosis.
"And here... here!"
Under Madeline's instructions, Hitzfeld browsed a series of reports, most of which were similar to the first one. The difference was that the strange fish looked different, and not everyone was willing to eat it.
Some people released the strange fish, and Madeline also kept records of these people. She must have specially asked someone to conduct an off-site investigation. The results of the investigation showed that these people, without exception, died of unnatural causes, and the cause of death was identified as illness.
"I have no evidence."
Facing the girl's questioning eyes, the curly-haired woman shook her head, her voice actually carrying a hint of despair at this moment: "It's not like I haven't mentioned it before... but there is indeed no sign of contamination. The bureau can't possibly waste energy on this."
“Is there no pollution limit of a certain nature?”
"no!"
"Nothing on a small scale? Only those who have come into contact with or eaten have had accidents?"
"That's right!"
Hitzfeld frowned and held the notebook a little further away.
"Can you let me take this home and look at it?" she asked Madeline.
She seemed to hear some noise outside and guessed that the people who had gone diving for the second time had returned.
"Of course!" Madeline knew that she needed to prioritize the outside matters, and nodded vigorously: "We'll talk after you've rested."
"Don't leave so quickly." Hitzfeld closed the notebook and handed it to her.
"Hold it for me first, and give it to me after it's over."
Madeline was stunned, and then her heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
"After it's over" means that she allows her to participate in all topics?
This was not a treatment that all crew members enjoyed. Even though she was not a sailor but an agent, they did not know each other before. She could indeed sense that Hitzfeld was slightly wary of her.
Hitzfeld ignored her, opened the cabin door and went back the way he came. Before he saw the isolation cabin, a group of people came out from the corner and rushed towards him.
Some of them were wearing casual clothes, some were wearing diving suits, and the traces of sea water had not yet evaporated from most of their bodies. They were carrying a person together, and their faces looked extremely anxious.
Hitzfeld realized something was wrong and quickly leaned over: "What's going on?"
"Pilsen was stung by a weird fish."
"Stinged? Not bitten?"
"That fish has a lot of spikes on it... I can't explain it to you right now, let me go for a moment, Captain... Bilson is my best friend."
The last explanation was an apology for the offense. Under normal circumstances - whether to normal people or to Hitzfeld himself - they shouldn't have made things more difficult.
But the girl did not forget her duty.
"stop!"
The sound was not loud, but the cold anger contained in it made people stop unconsciously.
They all turned their heads to look at her, and saw her take a breath, then walk over and point to the corridor ahead.
"If there is a one in ten thousand chance that this behavior will cause 'infection', you guys are just trying to save your own lives... Are you trying to kill everyone on the ship?"
Several people immediately showed signs of realization and shame - they had practiced these precautions many times before, but they forgot them the first time they encountered them.
But some people were not convinced and argued back, "Shouldn't the prevention and control of evil spirit pollution be implemented only when we get close to the coast of Elsa?"
"It's just a strange fish... Captain, even if it's poisonous, it won't spread, right?"
"Find a nearby room, clean it up, and put him in solitary confinement." Hitzfeld didn't even look at the guy who was refuting him, and began to issue orders: "Everyone else, make two calls to notify the manual control room and have them broadcast the news to the entire ship... Have them notify everyone to leave the restaurant and return to their rooms, and then seal the passage connecting the front to the restaurant... Go and close the gate!"
When she was speaking the first part, people were still in a daze. It was not until she growled at the end that they woke up as if from a dream and rushed to carry out the order.
"Wait! What's wrong with what I said? She wants to be put in solitary confinement? Is she crazy??"
The noise faded away and the gate was closed, which meant that from now on, the passage from the isolation cabin to the restaurant became a temporarily closed area, and all those who were still here would share the same fate.
That's probably why they were willing to listen to her.
Madeline followed the girl and witnessed everything. She looked at the sailors running around at her command, her chin lowered in thought.
She did describe a low-probability event to everyone and explained the danger of that event...the dire consequences it could cause.
But even so, she did not rush to hide in the restaurant, but chose to stay and face it with everyone, and solve this "disaster" together...
Madeline originally had complaints about the power distribution in the team. After all, she was used to working under Xia Yibing, and always felt that the current security director was more suitable to be the captain, both in terms of ability and qualifications.
She didn't understand why Xia Yibing would accept such an arrangement unconditionally, and she didn't understand why other agents were the same as her. It was as if this girl with gray eyelashes had some kind of magic that could make everyone gather around her voluntarily.
If these people did this because they knew her - Madeleine could naturally see that, then the others, the crew members and sailors, actually accepted her leadership, which seemed really incredible to her.
Madeline didn't understand at first, but now she thought she almost understood.
This was a subtle influence, not only in terms of responsibility but also in terms of morality. For the first time, she really brought herself into this group and suddenly felt that she was no longer opposed to some arrangements.
I still think that letting the director do a better job...Yes, the director can do all this.
But that's not bad either.
I underestimated her before.
Hitzfeld had no idea that her "routine treatment" had actually changed Madeline's opinion of her. She was half-kneeling on the ground, ignoring the blood that stained her skirt, and was checking the wound with others.
Diver Bilson's wound spanned half of his chest and even tore his thick diving suit.
From the upper left chest to the center of the chest, his skin was cut open, the flesh was turned outward and slightly white, and was bleeding uncontrollably.
Hitzfeld placed his palm over the wound, using it to conceal it and summon the ice needle.
This action was very short, and when they moved away, the others were surprised to find that the wound was no longer bleeding rapidly.
It's still bleeding, but the speed has been controlled... There's really no need to rush at this point. As long as the wound doesn't get infected, Bjergsen can at least survive.
Then her next action was puzzling: she took out a white candle from somewhere and asked the person next to her for matches.
With a "hiss!" the candle was lit. They watched her holding the candle, circling the unconscious man a few times at close range like a torch, and finally flicked her hand to extinguish the candle: "Open the door... carry him to the dining room."
After another moment of silence, they realized that she had unilaterally declared the injured person to be fine.
He is not contaminated by evil!
Everyone then breathed a sigh of relief and quickly carried the person to the dining room and found a sofa to sit him down.
The rest can be left to professionals. Dr. Dougley, who was accompanying us, arrived quickly and began to provide follow-up treatment for the injured.
Xia Yibing didn't go out this time. She rushed back from the room and saw Hitzfeld at a glance. She was holding old Lani aside to question him, and following behind her was... Is that Madeline?
When did this little wild deer become so well-behaved?
She was a little surprised, but she said nothing. She just moved closer silently and gradually heard their conversation.
"Apart from this, were there any other accidents during the collection process?"
"No, those fish are quite afraid of people, they will avoid us if we get close to them."
"What's going on in Pilsen?"
"He was... a little playful. He seemed to have seen a strange fish and took the initiative to chase it. Then I saw them helping him back. The sea water around them was dyed red... I was afraid that the smell of blood would further stimulate those carnivorous fish, so I immediately asked them to stop and return."
"You did the right thing."
Hitzfeld praised him, then asked for more details, such as "Have you seen more strange fish?", "Fish that don't conform to conventional knowledge?", "They may not even look like fish."
Madeline was listening from behind, her eyes growing wider and wider.
She didn't understand - from this inquiry, Hitzfeld, their captain didn't seem too surprised by this result?
Did she predict this outcome from the moment she made the decision to send people out?
Combined with what she said to me, it's not surprising... She had long felt that there was danger in the sea? There were things "beyond common sense"?
Doesn't that mean she admits there are real sea monsters in the sea?
Madeline was shocked by this speculation.
Even though they had accepted this, they still insisted on sending people out to investigate, and even parked the Pierre here with the lights on...
This behavior is simply——
Isn't she afraid?
"We have a heavy mission on this trip, and we probably don't have time to be afraid of something."
Hitzfeld seemed to notice her confusion and turned back to smile at her.
“Think about how big the ocean is.”
"If we don't face these threats head on, we won't even be able to reach the coast of Elsa."
Chapter 38 Arrival at Goliath
Before the show ended, Hitzfeld took the bulging notebook from Madeline.
Madeline looked at her, seeming to be hesitant to speak. She wanted to ask her how she had the confidence to do such a thing. You know, although the Pierre was the strongest ship she had ever seen, their enemy was also "unknown".
The unknown is the most terrifying thing, isn't it... She had no idea which opponents she would face, nor did she know if there would be any evil gods among them. Madeline felt it was too reckless to rashly start planning to go fishing.
However, Director Imaar was listening to the entire speech just now. She didn't say anything, and as the team leader, I was not qualified to speak either.
After Madeline left and sent the others back to their rooms, only the core group of the team, Hitzfeld and the elite detectives she knew, remained in the restaurant.
"You really need to explain yourself clearly." Darent looked at her and said, "Do you think you have the confidence? Did His Majesty give you some special treatment before he left?"
"That's about right." Hitzfeld replied as he flipped through the notebook. "The Pierre isn't the first submarine, and this isn't strictly speaking the deepest part of the ocean. I don't think there are likely to be any tricky monsters here."
"Is... because there are scattered waterways nearby?" Torres said a little confusedly.
The existence of sporadic shipping lanes means that merchant ships will use them to transport goods every quarter. As long as there are no accidents with the ships for a long time, it basically shows that this sea area is safe.
