Volume 3 Hello, Eri Chapter 232 Breath of the Deep Sea (V)
It's a pity that my life has been stereotyped. With a height of 159, I can only choose the latter between sexy and cute. If I really want to touch Chu Zihang's head, I can only wait until the day when he is willing to sleep in the same bed with me, and then get up in the middle of the night to secretly check if there is an extra whorl on the back of his head.
"I'm watching the fish." Chu Zihang found an excuse for himself. At this moment, there happened to be a long school of silver fish swimming close to the hull of the submersible. These little creatures were not afraid of this uninvited guest in the deep sea and had no intention of avoiding it.
“What’s so special about fish?” Lu Mingfei didn’t quite understand. When they went to the aquarium together before, Chu Zihang was like a biological knowledge broadcaster in front of all kinds of fish. It was hard to feel that you were here to play with him. You felt more like you were a member of an elementary school spring outing team, and Teacher Chu was patiently taking the opportunity to spread oceanographic knowledge.
"The total amount of organisms on land accounts for less than 1% of the total amount of organisms on Earth, and the remaining 99% of organisms are in the sea." Chu Zihang said, "This is the hometown of all organisms on Earth, so some scholars believe that dragons were also born in the sea and they were born to swim."
"It would be more credible if you said that the dragons are alien creatures." Caesar was very disdainful of this speculation. "If they evolved like other creatures, then there is no doubt that there was a leap process comparable to a chasm in between. Before other creatures showed civilization and high enough intelligence, they were already ahead by more than tens of thousands of years. So far, we have not been able to fully replicate the alchemy of the dragons."
"If that's the case, isn't it the same for humans compared to other creatures? We walk upright, we have tool intelligence, we live in groups," Lu Mingfei said. "Each of these was a dimensionality reduction blow to other creatures when ."
"That's different. Human evolution has a complete development line. At the beginning, we were all primates. Later monkeys and apes diverged, and then apes evolved into humans. Today you can still see gorillas and monkeys. We have a common ancestor with them and look very similar. This is very clear evidence of evolution."
Caesar said, "But dragons are different. There are no fossils of ancient dragons anywhere in the world. They did not evolve from dinosaurs, and modern lizards are not very related to them. At most, they are a little similar in size. They are like an intelligent race that appeared out of thin air. They are born with the element of words and alchemy, and have their own language. Don't you think this is a bit like the alien civilization in science fiction novels?"
"Now that you mention it, it makes sense... Have we always been fighting alien creatures?" Lu Mingfei was convinced by Caesar.
"You are trying to explain the dragon race with science." Chu Zihang said, "The dragon race does not understand science. From our perspective, the candle dragon ignites a huge amount of compressed air to produce an explosion, but from the perspective of the dragon race, it is the fire element that blooms violently, just like Harry Potter fighting the alien predator, magic versus technology."
"You're speaking in a tone of seeking verification, as if you are the dragon, and you're using the dragon's first-person perspective." Caesar teased.
"Only by standing in the enemy's perspective can you understand the enemy's way of thinking." Chu Zihang said lightly.
The atmosphere in the submersible finally eased, and it could even be said to be joyful. Caesar and Lu Mingfei could always find a topic to talk about, and then Chu Zihang would have to interrupt and offer some academic opinions, and everyone would then seize on some excuse to talk and joke for a long time.
But this happiness is only limited to the submersible. Right above the Trieste submersible, there is a blind spot where there are no camera probes. Xiyue grabs the safety rope of the Trieste and slowly falls into the quiet deep sea with this behemoth. In this dark and monotonous world, only the light beam on the submersible is sweeping back and forth monotonously.
After so many years, she finally had the right opportunity and came to the depths of the sea that she had dreamed of many times. Everything in Black Swan Port was the same as it was yesterday. At that time, she witnessed everything with her own eyes but was powerless to do anything. Now the times are different. She has enough power to get back what she has lost.
Xiyue lay flat on the hull of the submersible, fastened her diving suit and safety rope with metal hooks, and relaxed her whole body to ensure that she was in the best condition at all times.
The deeper you go, the greater the pressure of the sea water will be. Even with the help of diving suits and oxygen, there is a limit to the depth that humans can endure. Beyond a certain level, even just a few minutes of activity will kill a person.
But it didn't matter to Xiyue. She didn't even carry an oxygen tank because she could breathe directly in the water. As for the ever-increasing atmospheric pressure, it was even less of a problem because she was born to be a darling of the water.
She closed her eyes, and her infinitely extended hearing covered the sea water for several kilometers around her. She could hear the sounds of swimming fish, the sound of the internal parts of the Trieste wearing out, the voices of those people in the submersible, and even the destination she was supposed to reach. She could hear the movements in the deepest part of the trench.
Even if Caesar activated the sickle-weasel in the water, he couldn't achieve this level. This has already surpassed the sonar radar that humans can use in the sea. Xiyue can feel the powerful beating of the dragon's heart, which represents the vitality of life. Every time it seems to be waving to her, saying come quickly, come quickly... I miss you so much...
Xiyue couldn't tell whether it was an invitation or a temptation. She only knew that the voice was wrong. Chao Chao was not like that. The voice didn't sound like that of a loved one at all. Instead, it sounded like a seductive female ghost hiding behind the tattered gauze curtain of Lanruo Temple, revealing only a pair of charming eyes. The beautiful voice lingered in the closed temple door for a long time and could not dissipate.
Xiyue arrived in Japan from Chicago and worked undercover in the Ghost Clan for more than a year. From the Ghost Clan's information, she found records about the Lenin's shipwreck. When she was still an egg, she clearly saw Asashio being taken aboard the Lenin by a helicopter.
Among the fierce ghosts, many people are keen to talk about the Road to Deification, which can allow mixed-bloods to be reborn and eventually evolve into true dragons. However, no one can clearly explain what is there. No matter whether it is the fierce ghosts or the Eight Clans of Snake Qi, they all call the deepest things gods, and are always very secretive when mentioning them.
Xiyue knew very well that the god revered by the Japanese was the White Emperor, and the White Emperor's ability was to control the spirit. In the shipwreck many years ago, someone deliberately sank the wreckage carrying the Asashio keel cross into the sea in order to awaken the emperor who was sleeping deep in the sea.
This is a terrible practice. Once anything touches the embryo of the White Emperor, it will be controlled by spiritual power. Xiyue has never dared to go to the deepest part of the seabed alone because she is not sure what it has actually become. Now she heard Chao Chao's heartbeat. There are only two possibilities. Either Chao Chao has not touched the White King and is hatching safely, or... she has become the White King's captive.
In the central control room of Kassel Academy, Schneider sat in the middle of the hall. Norma presented different images in front, behind, left and right in the form of holographic projection, including the results of sonar scanning, underwater video footage shot by the Trieste, weather conditions in the Japanese waters...all the information gathered in front of him.
Every time Schneider finished a task, he would flick his hand to the right, and the holographic projection screen would disappear instantly, but a new screen would be projected out, joining the queue of people waiting to be processed. On the surface, Gen Chisheng was in charge of the on-site commander, but he was just Schneider's spokesperson. Schneider was far away on the other side of the ocean, firmly in control of the situation. Norma and Kaguya's support made him feel as if he was there.
Professor Manstein walked quickly into the central control room with a briefcase and inserted a black card into the card slot. In this way, he had the highest authority in the central control room.
"What are you doing here?" Schneider was a little surprised. The Longyuan Project was the business of the executive department. Manstein was just a member of the discipline committee and had no right to participate in this matter. But now he had a black card in his hand. Only two principals or six directors of the entire Kassel Academy could have black cards, which meant that Manstein now had the authorization of one of them.
"I'm here to stop the Longyuan Project." Manstein adjusted his glasses which had fallen off slightly due to his fast running.
"This is a plan developed jointly by the principal and the executive department, and it has the support of the board of directors. You do not have this right," Schneider said.
"According to the academy's charter, if a director votes against a task, the task must be interrupted," Manstein said. "Gattuso's master, Pompey Gattuso, sent me here."
"That's impossible." Schneider shook his head. "When the Longyuan plan was formulated, we didn't know that the academy couldn't build a submersible that could reach the depths of the trench, but the secretary sent by Pompeii raised his hand and said that Pompeii had a collection of the legendary submersible Trieste, and if the academy needed it, it could be delivered directly. The Equipment Department habitually rejected this proposal and said that they would contact them if needed. Those people felt that if they accepted it, it would mean that they were not capable enough and would be embarrassed. But a few days later, the Trieste was sent to Chicago. Pompeii seemed to have known that the Equipment Department didn't have that ability."
"On the surface, the Trieste is just a collection, placed in a museum for people to visit and attend charity events. But when we saw it, we were all stunned. This thing has been carefully maintained, and all the mechanical parts are as brand new as when it was built. It is obvious that Pompeii thought about re-activating this submersible, otherwise there would be no need to spend so much money to maintain such a collection that is of no use at all. He maintained it as a weapon for attacking the deep sea." Schneider continued, "So I tried to propose to include Caesar in the diving team. Unexpectedly, Pompeii expressed that he was very happy that his son had the opportunity to drive his collection to perform the mission, which shows that he thinks diving is absolutely safe. Why would such a person stop the plan he supports?"
"You should know that Pompey rarely attends school board meetings directly. It is always his brother Frost who acts on his behalf," Manstein said tactfully.
"Frost asked Pompey to stop the plan because he was afraid that something might happen to Caesar, the heir of the Gattuso family?" Schneider immediately understood the reason for Pompey's inconsistency. Frost was a well-known poor guy, and Pompey would never tell Frost about many core confidential matters. Frost probably didn't know that the entire plan, including letting Caesar dive together, was all supported by Pompey.
"There are some things I can't say too clearly. After all, there are always invisible eyes watching us." Manstein looked around, especially staying at the monitoring equipment for a few seconds longer, telling Schneider that their conversation would be recorded by Norma.
"Norma, leave the central control room and give us some free time." Schneider immediately understood.
"Understood. From now on, I will not record anything in the central control room for five minutes." Norma's figure echoed in the air, and the monitoring equipment immediately stopped supplying power, and the rotating camera heads were pulled down.
"I can't help it." Manstein shrugged as if he was relieved, showing a bitter smile, "I'm just a civilian. I can't refuse an order from the school director."
"Now you and I both know very well that this is not Pompeo's original intention. He supports the diving plan. Do you still want to continue to stop the operation?" Schneider said.
"I have to have a reason to deal with Frost."
"Then you don't have to do anything. Just watch quietly. Pompey will be responsible for protecting you. Even if Frost uses his power to kick you out in anger, I will explain your itinerary in the report. Pompey will naturally understand what happened when he sees it. Although that guy looks unreliable, he is very good at protecting his own people. If it weren't for him, Caesar wouldn't always do whatever he wants in the academy." Schneider turned back and continued to devote himself to his work. "And I have a feeling that Pompey knows something. He knows what is in the depths of the abyss, so he has that submersible. He hopes that we will send people into the Japan Trench, even if it means putting his own son at risk."
"This idea is a bit of a conspiracy theory." Manstein shook his head. "He is our school director. How could a school director hide the information he knows from the academy? They are the investors of the academy and are extremely eager to gain the benefits of the secrets of the dragon race through the academy."
"Just think of it as my battlefield instinct as a member of the executive department. The Japanese branch, like Pompeii, showed great enthusiasm for the Longyuan Project after learning about it. The Japanese branch's Ganliu Research Institute cooperated with us for the first time, constantly asking for data, communicating day and night for research, and being so enthusiastic as if that thing was their illegitimate child. At the beginning, the Japanese refused to admit that it was a dragon embryo. The day after Caesar's team arrived at the Japanese branch, their attitude suddenly changed, and they expressed their full support for the Longyuan Project. It took only two days for them to obtain the government's ban to control the sea area, and quickly mobilized 6 floating platforms to build a sea surface base. It always makes people feel that they also know something about things in the sea."
"It seems that everyone knows some secrets, but we who formulated the Longyuan Plan know nothing. We are like a group of idiots caught in the middle?" Manstein said, "This idea is even crazier than a conspiracy theory. When did the academy become such a useless place? It's unbelievable that the most elite dragon-slaying team in the world doesn't know what they are facing!"
