Chapter 189
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Under the Black Water (7)
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Beep, beep, beep—
Joanna's body twitched faintly. She trembled as if chilled. In the pitch-black silence, her ears had grown sensitive. The faint electronic beeps rang out with eerie clarity alongside her breaths. The watch beeped steadily for a full minute. The fear Winter felt was like an ice shard embedded in his brain—cold and sharp, stabbing at every thought.
Silence returned at last.
All around remained dark and heavy. But the experimental sector might already be ablaze outside. Amid this, 「Survival Instinct」 and 「Crisis Detection」 felt vague and unsteady. Both were influenced by Winter's own suspicions, anxieties, and convictions. Distinguishing true warnings from false ones that merely pricked at his nerves was difficult.
Ten minutes passed, then twenty, then thirty....
The air was still cool. Winter found it strange. There should have been vibrations and explosions by now. Even if it was a fire in another section, how could it be this quiet? The expanding hull should groan, pipes burst, and toxic smoke pour through vents—that was normal.
Dawn reached 1 a.m. Joanna asked,
"How could this be happening?"
Her voice was utterly exhausted. The fearful wait had drained her body and mind.
"Who knows. Maybe the shockwave knocked out Pequod's entire power grid?"
"That can't be.... Even if it did by some miracle, this situation doesn't make sense. The longer they leave the ship unattended, the higher the risk of leaks. They should've switched to other measures right after deeming self-incineration impossible. Most likely a torpedo strike."
"Hmm. So either way, withdrawal's been delayed for some reason."
"Or possibly scrapped altogether.... No reason for the government's final solution to change now, so maybe trouble erupted on the seabed along the withdrawal route...."
The rift between China's hardliners and moderates in the former military was sharp. The clash between Army Major General Yang Yongbin and Navy Vice Admiral Xie Lu. If accidental conflict broke out between the two factions, a seabed withdrawal would have to halt. They couldn't blithely pass through waters where hostile subs pinged sonar at each other, claiming it was none of their business.
"Someone might really be acting on our behalf. Just like Anne hoped."
"...."
For the weary woman, hopeful speculation was needed. Every prediction was equally uncertain.
"Not hungry by any chance? We should eat something now."
Winter stayed alert to the ceaseless trembling at his back. Tension alone wore away stamina. Especially after being trapped here for half a day already. No hunger or fatigue would be abnormal.
"Not at all. And I have nothing anyway. I'm fine, so you eat, Winter."
Soldiers who might face supply shortages always carried extra energy bars from combat rations as routine. But the FBI supervisor, mainly deployed on short ops, had no such habit.
"Don't say that—take these. We can't risk lacking strength when an chance comes."
Winter pulled out two energy bars and handed them to Joanna.
Worst case, suppose they opted for torpedoes over incineration, tearing the hull. Even if luck granted a wide crack right in front, escaping would require another miracle. Immense stamina.
Rustle, rustle. The sound of unwrapping. The crushed contents felt a mess even in the dark. Jeffrey would've marveled that this was true excrement. Part of the tales left behind by the crude-humored lieutenant. Winter thought of Fort Roberts the whole time he chewed. A place where he'd dreamed human-surpassing dreams in their finest form.
He'd finished one and half of the second when 「Crisis Detection」's warning spiked.
'What is it?'
A vague signal. Something was about to happen.
"Winter? What's wrong?"
Joanna sensed the movement, but with no clue to the anxiety's source, no good answer came.
"Just feels off."
That sufficed. Winter felt her tense.
Winter lit his lantern and scanned around. The FBI agent winced, eyes pained by the sudden light. But she lit hers too. The two beams revealed the same scene as before. Whatever threat approached, it didn't seem to originate inside the experimental sector.
'Torpedo maybe? Or incineration starting?'
The instant he thought it,
Kuuuung—
A directionless roar. Everything visible shook. Objects poured, crashed, flew in the clamor. In the biased inertia, the deck seemed to kick at their feet—Winter nearly lost balance too. He steadied himself, grabbing Joanna to keep her from sliding down the slant. Thud, tap, tap. Her dropped lantern scattered light as it rolled away.
"What...?!"
Staggering up, Joanna gaped at the deck bent clean through.
Even amid this, lingering vibrations ground at the ship like aftershocks. Kiiiuuung—kikikikik—the hull wailed high and shrill. The volume and pitch were agonizing; Joanna plugged her ears in pain. Winter fared little better.
After the shaking passed, the ship rocked massively once. Then, replacing the high roar, a low, ominous rumble resonated deep in their bodies. Joanna cried sharply,
"This.... Sounds like the ship's breached!"
The waterfall-like rush was flooding from unseen spots.
"Look for a way out!"
Winter dashed toward the entrance. The impact had acted one way, inertia biased—the deck shoved from starboard to port. So damage likely hit internal frames and bulkheads over the outer hull. Especially between doors and walls of differing strengths.
'Doesn't seem like a torpedo.'
Accounting for the metallic scraping after the initial hit, another vessel of notable displacement had probably rammed Pequod. But was that possible? Pequod was hemmed in by residential areas. Could something plow through countless ships stern-to-bow to reach it?
"I see light!"
As Joanna said, the massive pressure door and frame had crumpled a thinner bulkhead. Both thick, but differing density and material. Thus, a narrow, deep gap formed between the folded wall, doorframe, and deck.
The leaking light suggested the EMP hadn't escaped the experimental sector.
'From the start, indoor blast meant narrow range even without shielding.'
No relays meant even radio waves stayed trapped in the hull.
The sector was half a deck layer. So only one bulkhead touched other sections. Scanning left and right of the door, light entered only here. Winter's enhanced senses felt the deck's shifting tilt even now. No time to meticulously probe weak spots.
"No other way. It's tight, but.... We'll have to strip gear and try."
"...."
The FBI agent looked doubtful.
Winter tossed his gear across first, then eased in cautiously. The narrow width was bad enough—the razor-sharp tears in the bulkhead and depth were deadly. Jagged everywhere. Better sliced by a blade, at least that left clean wounds.
Screech. Tough fabric scraped. The boy moved inch by inch, carefully. Even with utmost caution, his forearm got cut. His combat suit grew hotly wet. Remembering the depth and shape invading his flesh, Winter pressed on. Not just passing—he twisted, extended limbs, groped ahead. Thus, several more stabs and slices before fully through.
The next door, past the security room, stood open.
Geared up again, Winter faced the FBI agent across the gap.
"Anne. Still got the det cord and demo charges?"
"Yes, but to smash all these edges...."
"Just the most dangerous ones. I checked each passing through."
Accounting for body differences. Joanna's mouth fell open.
"You planned this from the start?"
"Yeah."
Winter pointed out the deepest prickers in sequence. Visually subtle, but rubbing through made them distinct.
Demo placement was quick. Flash. The black gap glowed white an instant. Post-blast and smoke, the gap looked much the same, but lethal parts were blunted. A few shots mashed minor bumps.
"Come on over. I'll tell you how to move with least cuts."
Even seeing it couldn't match actual passage feel. Bad luck on the thigh could sever an artery.
'But this smell....'
From the corridor beyond where all light flickered precariously, two faint stenches wafted—barely detectable without sense correction. Rot and fish. Both familiar. Familiarity heightened dread. Former was infected mutants' signature reek; latter, premature threat.
'No. Rear one's overthinking.'
In a rotting sea, fish smell wasn't rare. Maritime city rations leaned heavy on fishing hauls over airdrops. Lines strung ship-to-ship drying fish was daily life. Odd to smell it inside, but with hull breached, outside air had paths aplenty.
Thud, thump. Sharp but smaller shocks rocked underfoot in succession. Joanna, midway through the crack, let out a thin groan.
"You okay?"
"Fine. Just scratched slipping in the shake. But I don't get what's happening. What on earth...."
Spreading infection, rampaging maritime city. This was crisis over escape chance. Winter kept his guess silent. No clue on infection scale yet.
Instead, he focused aiding her safe exit. While wary of the corridor beyond.
"Tilt your upper body left there. More, bit more. Yeah, extend half a handspan."
Thud! The hull lurched again. Tilting diagonally, now markedly sloped.
"Now push with your elbows. I'll pull. It'll hurt a bit."
"Ungh."
No escaping unscathed. Joanna snagged multiple times, taking big and small wounds each. Blood streaming down the slope formed ever more rivulets. Halfway out, past the last hurdle, she eased her hips free. She wiped sweat from her brow with a sigh, donned vest and plate carrier.
She glanced briefly at the closed-circuit camera.
"Better move fast than dodge surveillance."
Winter agreed. If his hunch held, ops room would be busy elsewhere—Chadwick or not, tricks would be hard. Better deny time. They'd never lose a straight fight.
Retracing the path up, Winter raised a fist. Halt.
Light and shadow draped from railing and stair gaps. The shadow dangling from the upper landing was a lone figure. Hearing their steps? Clang, clang—slow descent.
Revealed at last, he.... Joanna blurted unwittingly,
"Oh, God."
Bang! Winter's single shot pierced the head of the blue skull strike team mutant. Blood and brains splattered the hull wall. Winter's gaze swept the corpse quick. Relatively clean skin hadn't changed much from human days. But veins now vivid atop skin with corrupted blood— no mistaking for human.
"Infection time's roughly three to four hours."
"My God. Perimeter breached, I guess. How could...."
Pequod sat well inward from the maritime city's edge. If infection reached here, elsewhere was obvious.
The agent shuddered, reaching Winter's prediction.
============================ Author's Note ============================
#Publication
Everyone, the paperback is coming out now. I got mine early as author-gifted copies.
Was supposed to get 10, but paid for 10 more. Planning to send to those who've written reviews, gifted fanart and music.
Signatures on request, but I'd rather not—feels bad for the book.
See announcement for details.
Thought about a review event, but it'd spam the board hurting other authors, and those who've reviewed already would feel what? So no.
#Q&A
Q. Cheon-nim: Feels repetitive. Same action patterns... Combat, missions lack difference. Give protagonist new powers... Fantasy or overtech, or DLC!!! Needs different developments. Cheers.
A. Fantasy, overtech, DLC... I get what developments you want, but it doesn't fit this novel's concept. If so far felt like sameness, likely continues. Consider for reading.
Q. Carpis-nim: @Ga-eul can't learn gunsmithing? Making guns would be cool.. Like Big Semen Act Gun 9000. And calling the next special mutant "pretty good" means full of innocence??
A. No, making Ga-eul a slutguy would doom this novel's future...
Meant the next special mutant's design turned out well.