Volume 2: The Undersea City Chapter 77 Liquid Cliff
If this is true, then it won't be the turn of the deep-sea giant eels to besiege the Pioneer...
The tentacles of the fusion body can extend beyond the underwater plateau, so it is naturally easy to drag the icebreaker on the sea surface into the abyss.
Could it be that this underwater city was covered by an isolating detection "barrier", which resulted in the fusion body not attacking the icebreaker and the people on the icebreaker not discovering this underwater city?
This hypothesis is somewhat possible, but...
"What?!"
Ke Lan suddenly felt his feet go empty, and he fell down again!
"What's going on..." Ke Lan subconsciously looked at the drainage airbag beside him, but the surface of the airbag was intact and there was no leakage. However, just a second ago, gravity and buoyancy were still in a state of balance, but now, Ke Lan was sinking rapidly into the deep sea -
"…It's a liquid cliff!" He suddenly realized that this was a not very common natural phenomenon. In the ocean, due to the different salinity, water temperature and water pressure of seawater at different depths, as the depth increases, several layers of "density jump layers" will appear in the vertical direction of the seawater. These seawater layers are clearly defined, and there is almost no circulation or blending between them… But in some places, the boundaries between these jump layers disappear, forming a "buoyancy fault" like a cliff.
In the old era, liquid cliffs could be said to be the number one killer of submarines. However, ever since humans applied "light-sensitive density meters" to diving operations, submarines rarely strayed into liquid cliffs... But it happened that all the detection equipment on Ke Lan had failed. Faced with this liquid cliff that could not be detected by the naked eye, it was simply impossible to defend against it.
"We must surface immediately... otherwise, if we exceed the critical depth, we will really be buried at the bottom of the sea!" Ke Lan took out the compressed gas cylinder again, trying to inflate the drainage airbag to gain greater buoyancy. However, when he was doing so, the airtight valve of the drainage airbag suddenly burst, and the gas inside was immediately squeezed out by the huge water pressure, forming a long string of bubbles!
"Fuck!"
Obviously, in the encounter with the fusion body, the thrusters were not the only equipment damaged - first, they were sucked into the seabed by a huge force, and then all the gas in the air bag was released in just a few seconds... These actions would cause irreversible and serious damage to the airtight valve. Even if these parts are very strong, they still have a tolerance limit...
"Today is really... misfortunes never come alone." Feeling the pressure around him getting stronger and stronger, Ke Lan sighed with some regret in his heart.
He has tried his best, and in this situation, perhaps only a miracle can save him.
It seemed as if a pair of big hands were kneading Ke Lan's internal organs vigorously. His eyes began to go dark and his ears were full of buzzing sounds - the effect of the muscle strengthener had ended, and the unbearable bloating and pain reappeared. A fishy and sweet taste surged up from his throat. In addition, he could also feel some sticky liquid flowing out of his nostrils and ears.
“I’m so unwilling.”
He closed his eyes, but at this moment, he suddenly saw a strong white light - the light was as bright as the sun, and it hurt his eyes even through his eyelids. All that was left in his vision was an extreme pure white!
"How is it possible... that there is a sun... at the bottom of the sea..."
Ke Lan tried his best to open his eyes, but he could see nothing except white.
"Could it be... a hallucination during near-death experience?"
He stretched out his hand, but he couldn't see his arm, as if even his body had melted in the blazing light.
"What the hell is this... If this is an illusion... I hope to see... an angel sister with big breasts and long legs... to take me to heaven..."
"Oh, I almost forgot... I'm an atheist... There's no place for me in heaven..."
Gradually, Ke Lan's consciousness began to blur. He could no longer feel the existence of his own body, and even his thinking began to become sluggish.
…
…
"Why did I faint again... Hey, I'm still alive?" When Ke Lan regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was a pile of wet sand. Then he found himself lying on the beach with his butt sticking up in the air...
beach?!
Ke Lan wanted to jump up immediately, but the heavy diving suit on his body restricted his movements - not only did he fail to jump up, but he fell to one side, creating a human-shaped shallow pit in the mud and sand.
"What the hell is going on?!... Didn't I... didn't I fall into the deep sea? Where is this?" Just the action of turning over almost used up all his strength.
Behind him was a bare beach with nothing but mud and sand soaked in sea water. Further , there was a long strip of exposed bedrock that had been eroded into strange shapes.
Is this land... or an island?
When Ke Lan turned his head and looked at the sea, the scene on the sea made him freeze in place -
A city, a typical Alpha civilization city composed of countless high towers, was standing on the sea in the distance... Moreover, above this city, countless aircraft that humans had never seen before were shuttling back and forth. A series of routes constructed by holographic projections formed a sophisticated and complex transportation network above the city...
This is not some relic, but a "living" city of Alpha civilization!
"This... is absolutely impossible!" Ke Lan gritted his teeth and spoke word by word.
If such a city existed, it would have been discovered by humans long ago!
Soon, he discovered something wrong - as time went by, some buildings mysteriously disappeared, while some new buildings appeared silently on the other side of the city.
"So that's how it is."
This is not a real city, but a mirage... As the clouds move, the light is disturbed, causing those seemingly strange changes in the city - the lower half of a tall tower has completely disappeared, while the upper half is still steadily "suspended" in the air. What's worse, the entire building has been turned upside down, and it looks as if it is in a time and space that is completely disordered from the surrounding area.
The scene shown by this mirage is probably tens of thousands of years away from now - on Earth, there have also been mirages "from ancient times".
Compared to this mirage, what Ke Lan wanted to know more at this moment was what happened to him after he fell into a coma, why he did not sink to the bottom of the sea but appeared in this strange place.
At that depth, he could only sink deeper and deeper, and even if he encountered an undercurrent, it would be impossible for him to be washed above the sea surface... What's more, the nearest coast to the Pioneer icebreaker was hundreds of nautical miles away. Even if he had a smooth journey, he would have to drift for more than ten days before he could reach the shore.
The diving suit is a fully enclosed type. After more than ten days, the oxygen generator had been used up, and Ke Lan had been suffocated to death long ago. But now, there is still about one third of the oxygen generator left.
He was unconscious for no more than eight hours.
