Chapter 116

Episode 116. The Sixth Supernatural War (4)

****

A mission where we fought aliens. Back then, we had to dive deep into the sea. It’s shallower now, but the situation is similar.

Endless abyss. Unknown enemies. In the face of nature’s infinite power and supernatural phenomena, we’re just dust floating beneath the waves.

The enemy divers, thankfully, seemed far less skilled than us. How many people have actually experienced underwater gunfights?

In our country, aside from the Catfish team members, probably none. I can’t say for sure, but let’s just do what we can.

“How many enemies are left?”

[Unknown. Five have been killed so far, so maybe one or three remain.]

“There—”

The last enemy, found drowned. The team leader confirmed the sixth body with a needle gun. Eels swarmed the corpse.

I can’t bear to watch.

With that, the combat situation seems to be over.

Now we need to check if anyone is injured outside the ship and start searching inside. For that, we need to find the team members.

[This is Catfish-1. Moving outside the ship. All enemies are presumed eliminated. Please relay this to others.]

Since we don’t know who’s where, we have no choice but to keep transmitting until we get a response. The underwater radio works up to about 5 meters, but beyond that, it gets unreliable.

Not sure how quickly we can find everyone.

[This is Catfish-3. Confirmed. Moving outside the ship. All enemies are presumed eliminated. Please relay this to others.]

[This is Catfish-5. Confirmed. Moving outside the ship. All enemies are presumed eliminated. Please relay this to others.]

So far, so good.

****

We gathered at the turret of the wreck.

“Report any unusual findings.”

[Catfish-2. Found several bodies of what appear to be Chinese individuals. They seem to have been killed by an awl-like weapon.]

“That was me. Anything else?”

[There’s a Faraday cage in the center of the ship. It seems like some kind of isolation room, but we don’t know what’s inside.]

Note: Isolation room inside the ship.

“Anything else?”

[Found ammunition for the ship’s guns. Didn’t touch it in case it’s dangerous.]

“Got it.”

[Catfish-5. Found something that seems to be a power device during the search. It looks like something divers could grab onto.]

“Is it flammable?”

[It is flammable, but… there’s no door. It’s a six-seater, kind of like an open-top submarine.]

Must be equipped with diving gear.

“I see.”

[The enemy divers probably intended to use it for movement. There’s likely a large enemy submarine within a few kilometers.]

Not impossible, but if there was a large submarine nearby, wouldn’t the Pine Man Ship have found it? Do they even have the tech to hide it?

“I’ll go check out that open-top sub. Can you guys investigate the exterior of the ship further?”

****

I went to investigate the open-top sub. A Special Forces engineer accompanied me.

[Catfish-3. Seen this before.]

“What is this?”

[Isn’t it complicated to get on and off a submarine underwater? You need an airlock. So instead of going inside the submarine, you just sit in this open-top car-like thing.]

“Doesn’t seem like it can go far.”

[It’s probably launched from a larger submarine with an airlock, like a torpedo. The US Navy’s Mark 8 submersible is a similar concept.]

Called it an open-top car, but it looked more like a nuclear bomb or torpedo. A kind of underwater propulsion device that six people could cram into. I looked inside. What I was looking for was here.

[Anything coming out?]

“Do the Chinese military use equipment like this?”

[No idea. Let’s collect the equipment the enemy left behind first. If we take it to the lab, we might get some results.]

Two things to do now. First, collect the equipment the enemy was using and take it to the lab. Second, find out what’s inside the ship’s isolation room.

I radioed from the turret.

[This is Catfish-6. Beacon installed at the site. Returning to the turret of the wreck.]

[This is Catfish-1. Beacon installation confirmed. Not sure how trackable it is, but got it. Good work.]

It’s a bit funny to radio when we’re within sight, but there’s no other choice. Talking underwater is hard to understand.

[This is Catfish-6. Two objectives added as of now. First, recover the equipment the enemy was using. Second, find out what’s inside the ship’s isolation room.]

[Confirmed.]

“Catfish 1, 2, 3, 6 will re-enter the ship. The team leader and I will head to the isolation room. 4 and 5, guard the turret. 2 and 3, recover the enemy’s equipment.”

****

I don’t want to go back in.

The inside of that ship is horrifying to imagine. Grotesque sea creatures squirming, corpses floating around.

And maybe the bodies of the people I killed are turning into fish food. The thought made me even more disgusted.

I sighed.

“What do you think is in the isolation room?”

[No idea. But if it’s something that had to be transported by submarine during wartime, it’s likely something practical.]

True.

We’ve already been lost in this space a few times.

The ship looks massive from the outside, but it’s not even the size of a small shopping mall. We quickly reached the heart of the ship.

Well…

The door is rusted shut.

“Think it’ll break if we force it?”

[Let’s try.]

We struggled with the lock for a while, but no progress. It’s so rusted you can’t even make out its shape. Getting into the isolation room normally is probably impossible.

[What should we do?]

“Dunno. On land, we’d use explosives or a thermite reaction. Didn’t bring any explosives, did you?”

[No such thing.]

On land, we’d use thermite. But using fire underwater is tricky. Wish I’d brought a shotgun.

Would it even work underwater?

[Let’s just try forcing it open. It’s been rusting for about 80 years, right?]

The team leader started scraping the door with a crowbar, and soon the isolation room door opened. Or rather, it was torn off. The welding or bolts must have corroded from long exposure to seawater.

[It just opened. Let’s go in.]

We slowly peeked inside the isolation room. It was flooded, but eerily silent.

****

Niguras-4.

The black seed was locked in a box, which was then chained and hung. Something in this isolation room was similarly bound. The chains had corroded, leaving only traces.

[What is this?]

Good question.

I have no way of knowing. The box shows no signs of corrosion and won’t open. Let’s take it to the surface.

“It won’t open. We’ll take it whole.”

The chains around the box crumbled easily.

I put the box in my bag. It wasn’t very big. About the size of a pencil case.

****

[Yeosu Night Sea]

[Author: Research Department Head]

[&Congrats& You guys &Celebrate&]

[It’s almost sunrise.]

[Just standing on the deck is annoying me. How do you maintain a dive for so long?]

[Is adrenaline that good?]

[Thought it might be because they’re superhuman, but not all Special Forces members are superhuman. Maybe they’re just built different.]

[Anyway, I looked into it more.]

[Monitoring the situation from the submersible. All Special Forces members seem to be alive. But they’ve killed a few other divers.]

[Their affiliation is still unknown.]

[Also, found a kind of multi-person underwater propulsion device. Planning to recover it soon. Not sure if it’s possible today.]

[The support department’s scenario is this:]

[During the Korean War, a Chinese mine sank a Foundation ship. The ship was carrying something valuable, but couldn’t be recovered during the war.]

[Not sure if the war was against China or something else. Probably censored.]

[Then forgotten. Later, some hostile group in China tried to recover it, but failed due to the Foundation and Korean Coast Guard’s intervention.]

[Too many unexplained things. Let’s wait for the diving team and the director to return. Hard to know for now.]

[So, what were they carrying? What could the Foundation have used in the war?]