Before falling into the water, Zhaniya tried her best to hold on to the wooden boat so that she could continue to float on the sea. But she must have missed, because when she came to in a biting chill, she found herself sinking in the water.
The sea water was so cold that it made people shiver, but it didn't make her body lose its control. So Jania began to swim upstream hard. She must not have been unconscious for long, maybe just a few seconds, so she didn't feel suffocated, and she could even see the grayish-white light floating on the sea. The underwater world also looks gray, like condensed gray fog.
Zhaniya squinted her eyes in the water, trying to find the location of the wooden boat first. She did not forget the thing that capsized the boat because she fell into the water. Lenny Klein—or something that looked like Lenny Klein—actually knocked down the boat with three people in it in the sea. Overturned. She didn't know how much strength it took, or how the thing exerted its force in the water, but one thing wasn't confusing to her: she couldn't handle it, even if she didn't lose her swinging stick. If that thing attacked her in the water, she was doomed.
She turned her neck as much as possible as she floated up, searching for anything that looked like a solid outline. But the visibility in the sea was very poor, so she could only temporarily believe that the thing was not close to her. Is it still on the sea? Is it wise to float up now? Or she should pretend to be drowned first and try to swim as far away as possible to get a better look at the situation nearby.
This idea did make Zhannia feel safer, but when she thought about it, she already felt her lungs burning. She didn't have time to hold her breath when she entered the water, and the cold water was quickly eroding her strength. It was impossible to complete the submersible swim in this situation. She knew that she had to take a breath before she could say anything.
Jania suddenly shot out of the water. The gray fog that shrouded the night seemed to have dissipated somewhat, but the raging waves made her sway with the waves and she couldn't see anything clearly. She swallowed the air greedily, feeling that she had never missed land and bed so much. She reminded herself not to relax, and plucked up the courage to look around. The gradually dissipating fog allowed her to see the situation about ten meters away.
She couldn't find the monster's shadow in the fog, but the small wooden boat was also missing. The discovery of this made Jania's heart sink to the sea. The structure of the boat was too simple, and she estimated that it would not have a sealed cabin. If it is swallowed by the waves, or if there is a hole in the bottom, it will sink to the bottom of the sea.
Maybe there would be some debris left behind, maybe she could find a piece of driftwood or a plank. Jania searched back and forth in the waves a little desperately. Just give her an object that she can rely on to support and float, and she can hold on to the sea for a while while waiting for the rescue team to launch a search. It was impossible for Akarahama to row very far with human power, and the possibility of her being found was not too small - as long as the monster didn't appear again.
Black waves are not as easy to spot as mist. Amidst the interference of water splashes and flickering moonlight, Zhannia thought she saw something several times, but when she stretched out her hand, she missed it until a long, straight object landed in her peripheral vision. The object was overall slender and straight, much like a rough piece of wood that had not been polished.
She really didn't see clearly what that thing was, but she vaguely felt that it didn't look like the wreckage of a small wooden boat, because every plank on the boat was shaved very flat and not that thick. But she didn't think it was a living creature, because it was impossible for any animal to maintain that upright appearance in the sea. This weirdness made her feel a little hesitant and wanted to wait and see. But then she saw a bright and strange light flashing under the sea, and a long and narrow black shadow. The shadow was three or four times as long as her height, and Zhaniya almost choked. She blinked twice, but the scene disappeared again.
Jania's heart was pounding. She didn't think she had seen it wrong just now, so she quickly patted her hands and feet, which were almost freezing and cramping, and swam towards the floating object with all her strength. She actually saw a sea monster. No, that thing didn't look like a sea snake. She had never heard of a sea snake that big and had a pair of glowing eyes.
If it bit her in the water, it would definitely eat half of her body. This thought made Zhaniya feel horrified. She swam towards the straight object regardless of her own safety. Several times, the oncoming waves covered the back of her head, and it felt like the monster's huge mouth was about to close on her head.
She stretched out her arms and grabbed the long floating object into her arms. The thing felt hard and cold to her, and it was only wrapped in a layer of rags, which made Zhannia's chest hurt. But she felt comforted in her heart, because she didn't want to see any unfamiliar living creatures tonight. When she forced herself to lie down on the surface of the thing and gasped from exhaustion, she began to think about other people and things. She did not find Chi Labin or Zhou Wenxing, and estimated that they might have drowned. This matter was a bit ridiculous, but she didn't have the energy to develop feelings to evaluate it for the time being.
She held the object with her left hand and reached into her coat pocket with her right hand to search for her phone. Fortunately it didn't fall into the sea, but it was obviously filled with water. Jania wanted to unlock it, but whether because of a glitch or because the screen was covered in water, she failed to enter the correct password several times. She still tried the emergency call button, but there was no response at all. With her last hope, she used the shortcut key to turn on the flashlight, and was almost grateful to see a bright light on the back of her phone.
Light is always a good thing. She stuffed her cell phone into her sleeve to make the illumination range smaller, hoping that things under the sea would not notice it. In the light, she finally noticed a black tarp clutched on her fingers. The surface of the fabric feels sticky, as if it has been soaked in water. She dug at it with her nails and found that the fabric was so thick that she couldn't tear it apart for a while.
Now Jania finally had the energy to pay attention to the strange object that had saved her life. It was not the remains of a small wooden boat made by Akarahama. It looked really strange. Is this a floating object that originally existed in the sea? But she didn't see it that time before, and what exactly was wrapped in this cloth? Why is it necessary to wrap it up so tightly? Jania banged her lifeline through the tarp a few times. It feels dull to the touch, like some kind of wood. Where did this thing come from? Is it possible that, like Klein, he was "summoned" from a place that didn't originally belong to this area?
This puzzle is actually not urgent at all right now. But Jania found herself with nothing else to do. Even if there was something under the sea waiting to attack her, she could only wait patiently while holding this mysterious object wrapped in a tarpaulin. It was always better to take action than to wait for death, so she fumbled with her hair and pulled out the hair tie she had used to braid it.
When Jania was little, Malcolm and her brother would do her hair in complicated styles. But she actually doesn't like it because her scalp will ache if her hair is tied up for a long time. Once she started tying her own hair, those troublesome styles rarely appeared on her head anymore. As an alternative, Malcolm gave her several simple hair ties woven with wool, each with a butterfly-shaped metal piece hanging on it, because it was said that she liked it very much when she was a child, but the beauty is not the beauty of these metal pieces. The only function of the tablet. The trick lies in the two tentacles that curve outwards: pinch the two tentacles inward, and the small serrated blades under the butterfly's wings will be pulled out.
Malcolm may have made these gadgets just to cater to his daughter's dream of being a secret agent. He certainly didn't expect that she would use it in such a place. Jania had only used it to cut tape ropes and gangsters' arms before. While thanking her father for his skill, she used a small blade to cut the thick tarpaulin. There was no need to untie all the cloths, she just wanted to take a look at what was inside.
It was not an easy task as her lower legs were still in the water and she only had her mobile phone as light. She held the small blade and rubbed it back and forth, then tore it with her nails and teeth, and finally managed to make a hole. The thing wrapped in the cloth is indeed made of wood and feels very smooth and soft. She took another photo with her phone and found that the color of the wood was very green. When she found a long and narrow leaf in the tarpaulin, she suddenly realized: what was inside was bamboo, a large bundle of bamboo tied into a pile.
No matter how this pile of bamboo appeared on the sea, it was good news for her, because the bamboo itself was very suitable for making rafts. After daybreak, she might consider cutting the tarp into strips, dismantling the pile of bamboo, laying them flat, and tying them into a raft that she could sit on. If she could tell by the sun, she could paddle in a rough direction toward the coast instead of waiting.
Jania hopefully put her fingers into the holes in the tarp and felt carefully. She wanted to determine how thick the pile of bamboo was roughly so that she could estimate how many pieces she would need to build a raft. But when her fingers slid over the bamboo, she touched a symbol that was obviously engraved on it. No. Not a picture. She touched it again and again. It's text, like kanji or Japanese.
Due to the indispensable need for communication, Zhannia already speaks Chinese very fluently, even her brother's fellow countrymen can't have a problem listening. But Chinese characters are not something she uses often. She had to rely on translation software to find out what was on her brother's phone. If it was Japanese, she knew nothing about it. She could only try her luck and imitate the mural bit by bit with her fingers. A horizontal line. One vertical. A left slant. A right slant. What is this word?
A wood. She read in her mind. Then he took out another piece of wood. The two are very close to each other. Well this is a "Lin". She still recognized the word. But she had no idea what to say next. Two horizontal. Maybe it's "two", but there's something else underneath. This may be a personal name - Lin Erxiao. Zhannia tried to pronounce it gently, trying to find inspiration from its pronunciation.
"Uh..." a voice beside her said slowly, "You're completely illiterate, are you?"
Jania turned to look at the sea. She had been mentally prepared when she heard the high-pitched sound, so she was not frightened by what she saw. The figure in Lenny Klein's skin was near her perch, his upper body sticking straight out of the water, as if he were standing on a submerged reef. It tilted its head and looked at Zhannia, the center of its forehead was obviously sunken, and the broken left eye was now black, as if it had something growing, but it was definitely not a normal human eye.
The thing and Jania stared at each other in silence. Jania briefly considered throwing it with her phone, but decided that would be less sensible than staying still. Her head kept spinning, thinking about this thing talking to her just now - this thing could speak human language, what language did it use?
"...Who are you?" she asked in Chinese.
"Oh oh oh oh oh!" the thing said, "You little girl can say things that make people fall into the water! It's not like you can't! You are an illiterate little girl! But your bag looks okay... Wait until you drown If you die here, I can consider using yours."
Zhaniya shrank slightly to the other side of the bamboo pile. She was indeed scared, but this thing's words made her feel a little more at ease. It sounds like this thing is waiting for her to drown, which means it won't attack her right away with its strange power. She hoped to maintain this situation as long as possible, so she did not completely hide behind the bamboo pile, but carefully looked at the thing, thinking about how to divert its attention.
"Who is the face in the water?" she asked, "Who is the person you just mentioned?"
"It's the bastard who threw this pile of bamboo on me." The monster said lazily, "What kind of bastard is he! I was thrown into his territory by a group of shiny and black things. It's not my fault. I just did what I should do, which is what stars usually do. You know. As a result, the idiot next to him pointed at me - I'm not flying in the sky just to be loved by you. These little biscuits are pointing! Is this polite? Huh? Would you point at stars you don’t recognize, little girl? You should comment on this!"
Jania shook her head slowly.
"Really?" the thing said angrily, "I'm not that stupid piece of metal that swallows my anger, or a ball of air conditioner that's busy running away. I definitely want to show that idiot a little bit of skill. But I fell into the water. Stop it! He dragged me down from the sky, put me under the water, and put a bunch of wooden things on top of me."
"He imprisoned you."
"That's the word, little girl! The face in the water carved the words on this pile of broken wood, and I even asked him to read it to me - but what's the matter with you, ah? I see that you are also a pretty complete little biscuit. , why are you illiterate?"
"Well..." Zhannia said, "I have been locked up and have never learned to read."
"Really? Who are you being held captive by?"
"Those two people just now. They originally wanted to imprison me on the island, but you saved me."
"Whoa! You're welcome! Does that mean you're willing to thank me with your body?"
"Can't you use theirs? They're adults and physically stronger than me."
The thing's head shook. It was clearly considering Jania's proposal.
"Hmm... uh uh uh uh uh uh... no. No, that red thing is annoying. I don't like the color of his skin. The other one is too dark. I don't see clearly what he looks like. Like that. No, little girl, I think you are the most suitable. I don’t want to have to go down hard to find two soaked meat bags.”
"Okay," Jania said calmly, "We can discuss this later, and maybe you'll change your mind. So can you tell me what the words are on these bamboos?"
"Oh, this is simple. The words the bastard carved are: There are no fish here, fishing is prohibited. Listen to what he said!"
"What did he prohibit salvage from?"
"Of course it's me, me, me, me, me! That bastard locked me under the water and didn't allow others to fish me out! How could there be such an impolite cookie like him in the universe!"
"Can't you come out on your own? You said before that you could fly in the sky, but you were locked under the water? I see that you are very skilled in swimming now, but you can't fly. Can you really fly? I don't think you are. What kind of star? At most it’s just a starfish.”
"You're the stinky starfish!" the thing screamed.
Zhannia raised her head slightly and made a dismissive look: "Flying stars will not be trapped in water."
"That's because he made a cage for me!"
"What cage can contain you? I've never heard of a cage that can contain stars."
"That's on his territory! How do I know where he got these damn bamboos..."
Its words stopped abruptly. But Jania had caught the key word. She hugged tightly the pile of bamboos wrapped tightly with tarpaulins under her, and a bright window suddenly opened in her heart. She continued to look at the monster with a blank expression, no matter how violently the other person's head twitched.
“So,” she continued, “why didn’t he allow anyone else to salvage the bamboo?”
"These bamboos are highly poisonous, little girl. Put them down now."
"No. I'll drown."
"Then you just become more swollen! Haven't you soaked the biscuits in milk? But if you are poisoned, you will be very, very, very, very ugly! You will become the ugliest little biscuit in the world !”
Jania shook her head firmly.
"Do you want to become the ugliest cookie in the world?"
"No one can be uglier than you are now, Klein."
"I'm going to find a bunch of big fish to bite you!" the thing threatened, "I'll bring them over right away!"
Jania already had no choice. She could only ignore the threat, and the thing plunged into the sea. She lay down exhausted on the bamboo pile and desperately dialed the emergency number. If there was even the faintest signal in this area, if the rescue helicopter was already on its way... She prayed to all the gods she knew or didn't know, but got no answer.
Maybe ten minutes, or at most half an hour later, the monster wearing Colin's skin reappeared. At this time, Zhaniya was almost asleep on the bamboo pile, but was awakened by something he held in his hands. She saw the black triangular dorsal fin, the snow-white belly, and those ferocious sharp teeth. damn it.
