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墨書 Inktalez
As midnight approached, the wind began to rise again.
Ripples, dark as marble, danced across the surface of the sea, expanding in circles that swayed gently with the waves, retreating into the thick night that connected with the horizon. The clouds obscured the moonlight, revealing only half of its face, casting a pale glow that shimmered on the water. Debris floated aimlessly atop the waves, spinning slowly as it drifted along with the current.
Faintly, voices could be heard, mingled with the sound of water splashing gently.
In the darkness, a beam of dim light pierced through the thick fog. The strong wind blew, dispersing the mist, revealing a massive ship that loomed like a silent beast of the night; several kayaks flanked it on either side, their bright beams of light shining steadily. The dazzling columns of light swept across the sea surface in a rhythmic pattern, again and again.
One kayak on the left momentarily paused as its paddler coughed lightly and nudged his companion behind him, who was holding a searchlight to scan the water. He pointed in a certain direction, and his partner followed suit, adjusting the light. The white beam swept across the water and revealed a dark object floating uncertainly.
The kayak changed course and paddled toward the object, closing the distance until its true form became visible. A look of relief flashed in the paddler's eyes as he quickened his movements. In no time, they were close enough to slow down and, with his companion's help, hoisted a large burlap sack onto their kayak.
"It's too heavy," said his partner holding the searchlight, struggling to maintain balance as they pulled up the soaked object from the water. The kayak tilted slightly under the weight, nearly throwing him off.
The paddler wiped droplets from his face and exhaled a cloud of mist as he examined the markings on the sack. In the middle of it was a line of crimson letters that were difficult to read due to prolonged exposure to water; he could barely make out Arabic numerals alongside various Chinese characters.
"Rations," his companion squinted at it for a moment before gasping in surprise. "I can't be seeing this wrong."
The paddler shrugged helplessly and whispered, "Don't talk too much. Let's take it back to show E later. Given this situation, that Short and Stout Captain was right."
His partner nodded in agreement but was about to add something when suddenly his expression changed. He quickly shifted the light to another area and exclaimed, "There's more over here!"
Turning his head to look where his companion pointed, he saw more debris drifting towards them on the dark sea surface not far away. The two companions exchanged glances filled with excitement before raising their paddles and moving closer to retrieve whatever they could find.
Clothes—several pieces of clothing.
"What does this mean?" asked his partner in confusion. "Corpses don’t undress; only living people do that. But it's freezing out here at night without any warm clothes—aren't they afraid of freezing?"
The paddler merely pursed his lips in response to his companion's question and continued moving forward with their kayak for some distance, retrieving more scattered debris along the way. Besides the burlap sack filled with rations and clothing, they also pulled up some cabin ornaments—broken bits and pieces that were hardly intact.
"Go back." The Paddling Frogman glanced at the other search boats. They had already gathered enough findings and there was no need to continue freezing out here. He decisively turned around and sped towards the massive object trailing behind them.
The Engineering Ship was brightly lit on the deck.
A crowd had gathered on the spacious deck, with the searchlights from the Living Quarters and storage compartments all turned on, casting white and yellow beams towards the center of the gathering, completely unconcerned about the glaring lights. In the center of the crowd, Golden Hair was crouched on the deck, her brow furrowed as she stared at a heap of jumbled salvage, lost in thought.
A lively young girl stood behind the Blonde Woman, flanked by the Short and Stout Captain and a Middle-Aged Man along with his secretary.
The Middle-Aged Man looked rather unwell. Ever since he boarded the ship, he had been unable to clear his throat, coughing incessantly, his pale face turning a shade resembling that of pig liver. His Secretary patted him on the back and whispered a few words in his ear. The Middle-Aged Man shook his head, casting a malicious glare at the smug Short and Stout Captain beside him. Their eyes met, sparking a fierce exchange of mockery and anger against the backdrop of the deep night sea.
"King, I need an explanation."
After a long pause, her tightly knit brows relaxed slightly as she clapped her hands and stood up. Her sapphire blue eyes held no emotion as they fixed intently on the sweating middle-aged man.
"Cough, I can explain," the man named Wang coughed again, glancing nervously at his secretary as if seeking help from outside.
"This morning I received news that a ship sank." She took a deep breath, hands clasped behind her back as she slowly paced around a pair of individuals. Her voice was icy: "So how do you explain these things?"
"I—"
"The days at sea are too leisurely." She stopped behind the Secretary, her gaze playfully assessing the delicate figure before her. Her fingertips lightly rested on the secretary's shoulder, causing the Young Lady to shiver involuntarily.
Wang swallowed hard. The searchlights illuminated this area; under their glare, his expression was laid bare with nowhere to hide. His secretary trembled beside him, sending him a pleading look for help. He dared not meet her gaze and could only suppress his unease while anxiously averting his eyes.
She leaned closer between the Secretary and Wang, her red lips brushing against the Secretary's ear. As she spoke softly, her warm breath seeped into the Secretary's collar like a handful of icy seawater, chilling to the bone.
"King, tell me, do you still remember why you stayed at sea?"
The voice of e floated clearly into the ears of the two, while those outside could only see the person in charge and the assistant sweating profusely, unable to discern what was actually happening.
"Do you remember?" e repeated.
Wang steadied himself, finally suppressing the cough that felt like it would burst from his lungs, murmuring, "Yes, I remember."
"The affairs at sea are busy; it's normal to forget occasionally," e said with a slight smile, reaching out to wrap an arm around Secretary's trembling shoulder, whispering as if in a lullaby, "But someone should always remind you, right?"
Secretary's face turned pale instantly. He stiffly turned his neck to look at e's pale profile and timidly said, "E... I will pay attention from now on."
"Your skin is really nice." e pinched Secretary's flawless cheek and smiled gently, embracing him intimately. Ignoring Wang, e strolled back to the deck, pointing at the nearly rotting Sack, and coldly asked, "You're not unfamiliar with the code on this, are you?"
Secretary was taken aback for a moment before hurriedly leaning in to identify it. His trembling fingers looked particularly pitiful.
"I... I recognize it," Secretary managed to focus on the correct answer amidst the chaos in his mind. The tension in his heart eased a bit as he stammered back, "It’s the supply code for the ground forces of The Establishment."
"Are you sure?" e raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure I won't make a mistake," Secretary replied hastily. But as soon as he finished speaking, his face fell again.
e displayed an approving smile and turned his gaze toward Wang. The latter's expression had already relaxed somewhat, but with Secretary's response, the color drained from his face once more.
"King, if I recall correctly, your report stated that there were no signs of The Establishment in this sea area, right?" e sighed with disappointment, slowly straightening up and tilting his head to stare at the sweating man with curiosity. "Can you tell me what you've been doing these past two years?"
“E, this is a coincidence, I can explain,” the Middle-Aged Man finally couldn't hold back any longer. Coughing momentarily healed, he hurriedly explained, “The Logbook, yes, I have the sailing log. The search records and schedule were all handled by the captain; you have to believe me.”
“Sorry.” The Short and Stout Captain interjected at the right moment, raising his hands innocently. “So far, I have not seen the sailing log.”
E lightly coughed, raising a hand to interrupt Wang, who was about to argue. Changing the subject, he said, “Alright, let’s put that aside for now. I want to ask one thing first: can we find that ship?”
“No problem.” The Short and Stout Captain straightened up and said seriously, “These items must have been discarded to lighten the vessel's weight, which means that ship did not sink in the storm; it is still sailing on the Sea Surface. We can catch up.”
“Good, go do what you need to do.” E frowned for a moment before looking at Wang and said, “As for you, I need you to go ashore.”
“Ah, me? Going ashore? What do you need me to do?” Old Wang stammered.
“Contact the transfer station and relay the information back to Kenny as quickly as possible.” E shot him an annoyed glance, shook his head, and waved over a few trusted Foreigners, whispering a few instructions.
Old Wang stood there in a daze for a long time before tentatively asking, “What should I relay?”
E’s face showed a rare look of confusion as he stood there blankly, seemingly not understanding Old Wang's words. His gaze was filled with endless doubt as he stiffly turned his head away in disbelief.
Old Wang was nearly soaked in cold sweat, helplessly looking around. The surrounding crowd dared not intervene and wore sympathetic expressions; even the Secretary’s eyes flashed with disappointment as he sighed softly.
“E, I—I understand now. I’ll take care of it right away.” Old Wang’s gaze swept over the cluttered debris on the deck. A sudden spark of clarity hit him; his muddled mind suddenly cleared. The atmosphere on the deck had become unbearably awkward. Unable to endure the stares any longer, Old Wang grimaced and clenched his fists before turning and running toward the captain's cabin.
Bang!
Old Wang stumbled and fell backward, tumbling down the spiral iron ladder and landing on the deck where he twitched for a moment before becoming still.
E gently shook her head, the smell of gunpowder still lingering in the air as she beckoned to the crowd with a finger.
A tall, thin man stepped out from the throng, adjusting his prosthetic limb before standing in front of E.
"Tell Kenny that there have been sightings of The Establishment at sea. It is currently unclear whether there is any connection between Antibody and The Establishment. We need to be prepared for any eventuality," E's cold words pierced through Gaoyang's ears. In just a brief sentence, there was no repetition, no questions; once she finished speaking, she took the little girl's hand and gracefully left the deck.
The Short and Stout Captain and several other officials followed her, while the rest dispersed back to their posts, leaving only a few assigned Field Duty personnel along with the Secretary and Old Wang's body on the deck.
"Congratulations." The Bearded Man from Foreign Operatives punched Gaoyang lightly in the arm, laughing heartily in broken Chinese.
Gaoyang was still murmuring E's words when he heard the Field Duty personnel congratulating him, momentarily taken aback: "Ah?"
"You’re the new person in charge at sea now." The Bearded Man flashed a grin revealing yellowed teeth, patted Gaoyang on the shoulder as he passed by, and deftly swiped the flask from his pocket.
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