Chapter 114

Episode 114. The Sixth Supernatural War (2)

****

For some reason, it feels like nothing’s going to happen. Sitting at my desk, I spread out the papers I need to review and adjust the sugar level for my latte—

*Knock knock knock.* Paper enters the Director’s Office.

“Director. An urgent document came through the Director of the Ministry of Defense’s Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau via the Coast Guard. A Chinese fishing vessel tried to salvage a sunken Foundation ship, so they chased it away for now.”

“Since when do fishing vessels salvage warships?”

“It’s more likely a disguised warship or a special-purpose vessel. The possibility is low, but it could also be a Foundation ship with scrambled communications.”

“Any other unusual details?”

“The Cheonghaejin ship and another Foundation vessel are already heading to the scene. They said they didn’t even know such ships existed.”

“This is the first I’m hearing of it too.”

The ocean is unimaginably vast. There are tens of thousands of shipwrecks scattered across the Pacific. It’s not impossible that we’re only finding out now, but something feels off.

“What kind of ship is it?”

“We don’t know. Let’s go see for ourselves.”

Probably a relic from a bygone era.

“Do we have the coordinates?”

“Yes.”

“Understood. Once our ship arrives at the scene, we’ll send out a helicopter. Please wait a little longer.”

A lot has changed since the Jeju Island suppression.

There are three major Foundation facilities in Korea: Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island. When the Seoul Branch’s command was unstable, the three facilities were on equal footing.

But not anymore. After the suppression, the Jeju Island Branch was intervened by Headquarters. Most of the Jeju Island Branch’s assets were dispersed to Incheon, Mokpo, Taean, and Ulleungdo.

This reorganization has centralized the Foundation’s command structure around the Seoul Branch. It’s now more accurate to call it the Korea Branch rather than just the Seoul Branch.

Of course, to fully establish the Foundation’s Korea Branch, we’ll need cooperation from local—no, the Korean government and major corporations. But that’s something to work on slowly.

“Will you be going yourself, Director?”

“I’m planning to.”

“I’ll relay that to the team.”

Wait a second.

“Can we contact the Coast Guard at the scene?”

“Ah, yes. I’ll get the phone numbers of the Coast Guard members on-site through the Support Department.”

I nodded.

****

Coast Guard patrol ship Han River-1.

*[Static noise.]*

The captain of Han River-1 was puzzled. He was sure he had turned off long-range communications, so what’s the problem? Is there an issue with the communication equipment?

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“I’ll check.”

An engineer began inspecting the communication equipment. But the static noise from the equipment only grew louder.

A moment later.

*[Ah, ah. Is this Captain Kim Cheol-sang of the Coast Guard patrol ship Han River-1?]*

“Identify yourself.”

*[Sir. Your daughter’s school dismissal is in an hour. She’s in the 6th grade, Class 4 at Namil Elementary, right?]*

“What the—”

*[Just kidding. It’s two hours. And she’s in Class 3, not 4.]*

“……”

*[Anyway. Our people and the Navy are heading your way, so please report the situation on-site until then. What’s going on?]*

The captain pondered for a while before speaking.

“A Chinese fishing vessel crossed the West Sea boundary, so we mobilized as a warning. We thought it was just a fishing vessel, but it looked suspicious. When we got closer, it submerged.”

*[Submerged?]*

“Yes. We assumed it was part of some military operation, so we fired warning shots and began a search. We still don’t know what they were doing.”

I think I know. I received a report from the Support Department a few days ago.

*[What exactly were they doing?]*

“They were attempting to salvage something from the seabed. We don’t know what they were looking for, but there’s some kind of structure down there.”

*[Captain. Does the Han River-class have a helipad?]*

“No.”

Ugh, I don’t want to rappel. This is a problem. Guess I’m not boarding that ship.

****

And so, three ships arrived at the scene.

I stood by the helipad of the Pine Man Ship, looking out at the scene. Last time I went diving, I passed out from decompression sickness.

This time, I’ll avoid that. I touched the syringe case in my pocket. If something goes wrong, I’ll revive myself with the Popo Serum.

The side effects…

Honestly, I don’t know. Hasti seems fine, though she’s a bit mentally off, but that’s probably more Dr. An’s influence than Popo’s.

“Support Department Head. What do you think?”

The Support Department Head tilted his head. He’s not someone you usually see around, but he managed to come to the scene today.

“If it’s really a hostile group’s ship that sank during World War II, there’s no way to know what it was carrying. Whether it has biochemical weapons, bombs, or supernatural phenomena…”

“We’ll have to go see for ourselves, right?”

“Exactly.”

****

Special Forces ‘Catfish,’ mission begins.

“You’re here, Director.”

“Yes.”

“This mission is similar to the last one. Fortunately, this time it’s the West Sea, so the water is much shallower. We’ll search the sunken ship and, if possible, salvage it.”

I nodded.

“We still don’t know what it is, right?”

“There’s no record of this ship’s identity anywhere. If the Chinese hadn’t tried to steal it, we wouldn’t have known either.”

Weird.

“Then let’s gear up and dive.”

The equipment was similar to last time.

A latex wetsuit, oxygen tank, diving helmet, fins, and an underwater bag. I was also given an underwater observation device.

“This is a new gun.”

“It’s a needle gun for underwater combat. It’s not much different from other guns, but let’s hope we don’t have to use it.”

****

A few minutes later, it’s time to dive.

The Special Forces members descended the ship’s side ladder, disappearing one by one beneath the waves. I was staring at the dark sea.

“Director. Let’s dive.”

I zoned out for a moment.

I tried to dive but slipped, falling awkwardly into the water. The Special Forces members dove in as smoothly as seals.

Pushing aside my embarrassment, I followed the Catfish Team Leader underwater.

This time, we didn’t set up a wired communication link with the ship, as there might be combat. From now on, we can’t expect any help.

The underwater radio doesn’t reach beyond a few meters. If something goes wrong here, the only thing I can rely on is the augmented reality function of my diving helmet.

The water was darker than I expected. Whether it’s because of the clouds, the naturally murky waters of the West Sea, or the influence of a supernatural phenomenon, I don’t know.

“Ah, ah. Team Leader, can you hear me?”

*[Yes.]*

Thank goodness.

I was worried the communication wouldn’t work underwater. Of course, my breathing is much louder than the communication noise, but that’s just how diving helmets are.

*[There’s an unimaginable amount of marine life. Is it always like this?]*

I looked at the wreck. The massive ship was covered from bow to stern with barnacles and coral, leaving no gaps.

“Supernatural space readings are within normal range.”

Though I’ll have to think about it a bit.

“Iron is chemically active. The steel forming the ship’s skeleton becomes food for iron-decomposing microorganisms, which form the foundation of this ecosystem and attract other marine life.”

*[Ah.]*

“It’s normal for there to be a lot of life.”

We reached the seabed.

*[Let’s move forward slowly.]*

I placed one hand on the ship’s side and slowly moved forward along the hull. It was at least a hundred meters long. There was a large gash in the middle, possibly from an explosion, with debris still scattered around.

“Do you know what kind of ship this is?”

*[No.]*

I climbed up a few meters and looked down at the deck. The long deck had no notable structures, just a bizarre-looking turret near the center.

What kind of ship is this? When I placed my hand on the railing, it crumbled immediately. Startled, I shook my hand.

The presence of guns confirms it’s a warship, but the narrow deck makes it feel off. It’s different from a normal ship.

*[It’s likely a submarine cruiser launched during the interwar period. The Foundation often used this type of ship for secrecy.]*

That sounds about right.

The ship’s doors are probably rusted shut. Since we didn’t bring equipment to break through underwater, we’ll have to enter through a hole in the side.

*[Then let’s enter the ship.]*

I checked my watch.

It’s already 6 PM. Captain Kim Cheol-sang’s daughter must have finished her after-school activities and gone home by now. The sun must be setting.

The sea was pitch black.

Thinking they had found new prey, eel-like fish began circling the Special Forces. Watching the swarm of tentacle-like eels made me nauseous.

Disgusting.

“Entering.”

In the distance, a large, unidentified fish was scraping the seabed.