Volume 2: The Undersea City Chapter 69: Underwater Mystery City
The engine on the back of the diving suit began to emit a slight humming sound, and the air in the airbags on both sides was discharged at a uniform speed. With the decrease of buoyancy, Ke Lan began to slowly sink to the depths.
"Beep - the first communication test begins now."
Liao Zilang gently moved his arm to create some distance between himself and Ke Lan, and the communication signal between the two began to weaken rapidly in the process, until about 25 meters away, only the crackling noise of electricity remained in the channel.
"Test completed. At a water depth of ten meters, the maximum distance of the AF-6 one-to-one communicator is twenty-two meters."
The AF-6 is the most powerful portable wireless communication device they can purchase. On land on Alpha, without strong interference sources and without the aid of communication base stations, the maximum distance for one-to-one communication can reach over 1,400 meters. However, underwater, this distance is compressed to only 22 meters.
Electromagnetic waves will be severely attenuated in water. In addition, the sea water of Alpha Centauri contains a large amount of radiation interference. It is not easy to get a data of 22 meters.
As for acoustic communication equipment, it will also be affected. For example, the effective distance of the miniature sonar carried by Ke Lan is only about one hundred meters. This is why they chose the number of one hundred meters for the test diving depth.
Liao Zilang swam over and made a "everything is normal" gesture to Ke Lan, and the two continued to dive.
Less and less light can penetrate the sea water, and the surrounding environment has become pitch black.
Neither Ke Lan nor Liao Zilang turned on the lighting equipment. In this environment, the light source was too conspicuous and would easily attract hunters who were very sensitive to light. Although darkness was full of unknown dangers, it could also serve as their camouflage.
Of course, they still carried lighting equipment, but this equipment was not meant to be used handheld. This method was too dangerous as it was equivalent to actively exposing one's position. The correct way to use it was to use compressed air to shoot out flares. If necessary, this method could even be used to attract the attention of sea beasts, allowing them to escape.
But the lack of light doesn't mean Ke Lan has become completely blind. Underwater, hearing is far more important than vision...
The miniature sonar hanging on the belt would emit ultrasonic waves in all directions every three seconds, and by analyzing the received echoes, it would depict the surrounding environment in a three-dimensional image on Ke Lan's eyepiece. But so far, there was nothing but sea water around, and the only "abnormal object" was Liao Zilang who was diving with Ke Lan.
"It's already eighty meters deep, how are you feeling?" Ke Lan asked Liao Zilang. Although the other party was not wearing a fully enclosed helmet, he relied on a modified underwater throat microphone and could communicate through the vibration of the larynx even without opening his mouth.
"Fortunately, I don't feel this much water pressure at all." Liao Zilang lay with his head down, his arms pressed tightly against both sides of his body, and his legs together swinging up and down like the tail fin of a fish - unlike Ke Lan who needed external force, for him, whether floating up or diving, it was as if there was no resistance at all. His body was like a part of the sea water, and the sea water was an extension of his body.
"Ninety meters." Ke Lan glanced at the depth gauge and began to fill the air bag with gas. Only when gravity and buoyancy are in a relatively balanced state can he maintain a stable depth in the water.
"Did you find anything?" Liao Zilang swam behind Ke Lan and grabbed the buckle on the shoulder of the diving suit. Although this was far from his limit, he had to maintain his strength as much as possible out of caution. After all, the diving suit was propelled by a propeller , and as long as the crystals were not used up, the power would never be exhausted.
"No, the sonar didn't pick up anything. We are still a long way from the seabed." Ke Lan stared at the image in front of him and said, "Now let's start the second step and explore the horizontal layer."
"Although this is a 'relatively safe area', we still need to remain vigilant—"
Suddenly, Ke Lan froze in place. The word "提" in "惧惧" was stuck in his throat and he couldn't say it out.
Less than two meters in front of him, a huge eye was staring at him, and the pupil, which was as big as the wheel hub of a heavy truck, emitted a dim dark green light.
"Gudong."
Ke Lan swallowed with some difficulty. His finger was already on the trigger of the "Shark Hunter" machine gun, but he knew very well that for a creature of this size, the weapon in his hand would hardly cause any substantial damage...
"Liao Zilang... run away quickly. I will find a way to hold this thing back." Ke Lan said in a very low voice.
There was total silence in the darkness; even the green eye remained motionless.
"Liao Zilang?"
There was no answer... Liao Zilang, who had been sticking behind him, had disappeared at this moment.
"Damn it..." Ke Lan gritted his teeth. He believed that Liao Zilang would never escape alone without making a sound. This situation could only mean one thing - Liao Zilang might have encountered something before him, and had lost the ability to issue a warning before he noticed anything unusual...
Ke Lan stared at his giant eyes without making any movements, but he felt that the black sea water around him seemed to become more and more viscous. He seemed to have fallen into a swamp. The thick peat wrapped around his torso and limbs, dragging him into the abyss little by little...
It was as if a hand was tightly grasping his throat. The pain of suffocation kept coming up. Ke Lan wanted to struggle, but his hands and feet were completely out of control. Some strange hallucinations flashed before his eyes. Indistinctly, he seemed to see the pyramid-shaped altar under the glacier... the huge sarcophagus, the broken stone tablet, and the humanoid monster covered in blood...
No! It's an illusion! All of this is an illusion!
Ke Lan was shocked, and the feeling of falling and suffocation disappeared without a trace... However, the huge eye was still there, less than two meters away from him.
"This is……"
Ke Lan moved a little closer and discovered that this huge eye was actually a sculpture made of rock!
The dark green light came from a luminous mineral embedded in the pupil of the statue.
The craftsmanship used to make this statue was very delicate. No matter from which angle Ke Lan looked at it, this giant eye seemed to be looking at him. Even when Ke Lan went around to the back of the statue, there was an identical giant eye there, staring at him quietly in the darkness.
The main body of the statue is a stone pillar that is as thick as four or five people can hug together, but what puzzles Ke Lan is that the depth here is only one hundred meters. If the bottom of this stone pillar is on the seabed, then this stone pillar is too high, right?
Out of curiosity, he fired a flare towards the bottom of the statue -
The strong light released by the burning metal immediately illuminated a large area of water, and the ruins of a huge city appeared right below Ke Lan!
"How can it be?!"
Ke Lan subconsciously held her breath, her face filled with extreme horror.
This is impossible!
The ruins of the underwater city were in the deep sea at a depth of more than 2,800 meters, but now, Ke Lan was less than 50 meters away from it!
Moreover, the sonar system did not detect any echo...
When Ke Lan thought of the sonar, she realized that the three-dimensional image that had originally appeared on the eyepiece had long since disappeared. All electronic equipment except the thrusters, including various cameras, recording instruments, and micro-sonars, had stopped working. The depth gauge was completely out of order, with the numbers jumping wildly between zero and several thousand meters...
Ever since the stone pillar with the giant eye carved on it appeared and Liao Zilang disappeared, nothing has been normal anymore.
Could this be the remains of the underwater city?
Could it be that I accidentally passed through a small wormhole or something and was teleported directly here?
No, absolutely not!
If this is the underwater city, then the current depth should be between 2,800 and 3,000 meters. Logically speaking, this depth is more than twice the limit of the diving suit. The strong water pressure will directly press the diving suit into a thin discus, and Ke Lan inside will turn into a mixture of plasma, meat paste and broken bones.
But now, apart from those electronic equipment, there was no problem with the diving suit itself, and Ke Lan did not feel any discomfort.
This is definitely not an underwater city, at least not the one located in the deep sea!
