Colonel Kiyan stood up from the screen, looked at Martin, and let him handle the problem.
"We all agree on this, Quinner. Let's talk."
Martin appeared on the screen, asking Quinner to have a talk with him.
Quinner looked back at the workers, who wisely retreated.
Ten minutes later, Quinner emerged from the communication room. It was unclear what he and Martin had discussed, but his first words were: "Everyone, prepare to move out."
The workers exchanged glances, shrugged, and turned back to their work.
Quinner explained nothing, but they only wanted to earn this money, and they trusted Quinner deeply.
Thirty minutes later, towed by two deep-sea submersibles, the semi-submersible offshore drilling platform slowly proceeded underwater.
"First, let's turn five degrees to the left."
Quinner sat in the control room, observing the seabed and directing the submersible.
"Uh, the typhoon's official name has been announced, fans." In the tugboat's command room, Martin sat in front of a screen, opening his communicator. "The name is Federer."
"In a little over ten hours, this ocean will become very interesting."
Martin put a photo of the typhoon on the screen for Quinner to take a closer look.
"Federer?" Quinner shook his head upon hearing this and chuckled, "Shouldn't typhoons have female names?"
Martin shook his head, put down the photo, and stood up to go outside the command room. He looked at the deck outside.
A deep-sea submersible was hoisted by a crane and, with a "thud," lowered into the seawater, stirring up a large splash.
"Submersible Three is in the water."
Morel and the special forces personnel were inside the submersible, beginning their descent.
"Waverider, this is Submersible Three. We are submerging," a special forces operator responsible for operating the submersible reported. "Waverider, we are beginning our descent with the umbilical."
"Received, Submersible Three."
A few minutes later, Submersible Three, carrying Morel and the special forces soldiers, arrived at the seabed.
"Drilling Platform, this is Submersible Three. Respond, please."
"Drilling Platform received, Submersible Three."
Submersible Three approached the drilling platform. With a "clank," they tightly connected.
Morel and the special forces opened the hatch and entered the decompression chamber.
"Hey~ everyone, welcome to our world, the Abyss Ocean."
At the window of the decompression chamber, a chubby man wearing a yellow baseball cap appeared. He greeted the people inside, and as everyone's gaze gathered on his face, he left the hatch.
"Alright everyone, decompression is starting now."
The chubby man's voice sounded again from outside. Inside the decompression chamber, there was a "hiss" and decompression began gradually.
Morel and the special forces couldn't help but raise their hands and pinch their nostrils.
And at this moment, the chubby man's voice sounded again from outside.
"You need to watch each other to prevent anyone from showing signs of HPNS."
"High-Pressure Nervous Syndrome. Muscle tremors, usually starting in the hands. Nausea, increased excitement, and gradual disorientation."
"Approximately one in twenty people will experience these symptoms, unable to cope, and then go mad."
"Hey." Suddenly, Lieutenant Coffey spoke, interrupting the chubby man, "Listen, we've all reached these depths before. No problem."
"However, there's one person..." Lieutenant Coffey said, turning his gaze to Morel, this white-haired man of unknown origin.
"Don't worry, I won't have any problems," Morel said confidently, noticing the special forces' gaze. He cracked a confident smile.
"Hiss~"
No sooner had Morel finished speaking than the decompression ended, and the hatch opened.
"You're all well-cooked. Come out."
The chubby man opened the hatch. The special forces withdrew their gazes, picked up their cases, and walked out.
Morel also gripped his large pipe and walked out of the decompression chamber. But as soon as he stepped out of the decompression chamber, a man blocked his path.
The man was a head shorter than Morel. He could only look up at him and said,
"So, you're the... 'Ocean Hunter' Martin mentioned?"
"That's right, one-star Ocean Hunter, Morel."
"Oil worker, Quinner."
Morel extended his right hand. The two shook hands, introducing themselves. Quinner then led him to the pressure-resistant steel cabin. The special forces were already preparing.
"What are you doing down here? Or rather, what do Ocean Hunters do?"
Quinner took out a diving suit from a box and tossed it to Morel.
"Anything and everything in the ocean, I pay attention to."
"And you need me."
Morel caught the diving suit Quinner handed him and immediately took off his upper body shirt, revealing his muscular physique.
Full chest muscles, eight-pack abs, thick arms, broad back muscles.
"This guy... he's practically a Terminator."
The special forces, who were changing their gear, looked at Morel, especially his physique, and couldn't help but exclaim.
"Alright, stop staring at other people's muscles like little girls." Lieutenant Coffey moved a large silver-white box to the center of everyone.
"We have limited time. We must complete the mission before the storm arrives."
"Otherwise, once the time comes, if we leave the Waverider, we'll have to face the storm alone."
Speaking of this, Lieutenant Coffey looked up and scanned everyone, paying particular attention to Morel, and said.
"By then, we old men probably won't survive a single one of us."
With that, Lieutenant Coffey pulled out a sea chart from his pocket, slammed it onto the box with a "thud," then took out a red marker and drew a curve on it, saying.
"We are here now, at the edge of the Koman Trench."
"And that 'Sea Dragon' class nuclear submarine is here, underwater over two hundred meters away, but this is just an estimate."
"It's possible that it's already deeper, having sunk further."
"Most likely..." Lieutenant Coffey removed the sea chart he was holding, replaced it with another sea chart, drew a circle on it, and then a straight line. "They slid down along the sea wall and stopped on the seabed."
"So, we'll follow the rock wall down and arrive here."
Lieutenant Coffey finally drew an 'X' on the sea chart, stood up, opened a box behind him, and took out a pile of small devices, handing them to everyone.
When he handed one to Morel, he specifically explained.
"This device can be used to detect the radiation level around you, preventing you from unknowingly being exposed to radiation."
"Don't worry, I won't have any problems."
Morel said confidently, took the device, which was smaller than a palm, and attached it to his arm.
"I hope so." Lieutenant Coffey nodded, then clapped his hands. "Okay, everyone ready. We're going down in ten minutes."
Immediately, everyone except Morel became busy.
After Morel put on his diving suit, he wandered around with his large pipe.
"What's this?"
Morel saw a special forces soldier release a lot of water from a strange box. The soldier put this water into a small rectangular transparent box.
"This is a liquid breathing system, the latest equipment designed specifically for deep-sea diving."
The special forces soldier glanced at him, took out the small box, tightened the outlet, and closed the strange box.
"How deep can it dive?"
"Classified."
"Don't be so cold, little brother." Morel's large hand rested on the special forces soldier's shoulder, acting as if they were old friends.
"In short, you can breathe this liquid in the deep sea. It won't crush you," the special forces soldier said, swatting his hand away.
"You mean, you're going to put this thing in your lungs to breathe?"
Morel, carrying a pipe in one hand and with the other on his hip, asked with a smile.
"This is oxygenated fluorocarbon emulsion. Do you want to see it?"
The special forces soldier casually asked, opening a large silver-white box in front of him. He took out a small cage, inside which was a white mouse.
"What are you trying to do?" Morel frowned and asked.
"You'll know soon enough."
The special forces soldier smiled mysteriously, directly placed the white mouse into the fluorocarbon emulsion in his hand, then picked up the transparent lid and covered it, preventing the white mouse from escaping.
Morel stopped speaking, just silently watching.
The white mouse struggled wildly in the water, its small head continuously bumping against the transparent lid. As the oxygen in its chest cavity decreased, it began to continuously choke on the liquid.
"It's going to drown."
Morel reminded.
"No, look closely." The special forces soldier's lips curled up. "Look closely at its chest. Its chest is moving. It's inhaling the liquid into its lungs, breathing oxygen."
Morel squatted down, observing carefully. Indeed, he saw the mouse's chest rising and falling. It was actually breathing oxygen underwater.
"Not bad."
Morel's lips curled up. He patted the special forces soldier. The special forces soldier, seeing his belief, took out the white mouse and put it back into the cage.
"Are you going to take this large pipe with you when you go underwater?"
The special forces soldier looked at the huge pipe Morel was carrying on his shoulder and couldn't help but ask.
"Of course. This is my underwater breathing apparatus."
Morel replied playfully, tapping his pipe, which gave a clang-clang sound.
The special forces soldier shook his head, not taking him seriously.
Ten minutes later...
"Passing above the cliff face, reaching coordinates 065."
"Platform, do you copy?"
"No problem, very clear."
Three deep-sea submersibles detached from the platform and plunged into the seabed.
"We are beginning our descent. We will soon enter the trench."
"Divers, is anything wrong with your bodies?"
"No problem, everyone's in good condition."
"Be careful, everyone. It's all downhill from here." The first submersible began to descend along the edge of the trench cliff and warned.
"How deep is it down here?"
"Probably about five kilometers deep."
"Five kilometers!? That's an abyss!"
The special forces soldiers, during their descent, continuously communicated with each other.
Even for them, special forces trained in such extreme conditions and with strong willpower, facing such a deep, dark, and silent deep-sea environment, it was inevitable to feel a sense of fear.
"Submersible One, have you sighted the target?"
After an unknown period, Lieutenant Coffey on Submersible Two asked.
"The magnetometer has a reading, but I can't see anything." Submersible One's operator replied, "Wait, I'll try using the flashlight."
Soon, white lights flickered in the deep, dark sea trench.
"Submersible One, did you see anything?"
"Not yet. I will continue."
The deeper they went, the more nervous they became. A sense of pressure and agitation simultaneously rose in their hearts.
"Gurgle gurgle..."
Clusters of bubbles silently emerged, floating up from in front of Submersible One.
"What is this!?"
Suddenly, Submersible One's operator exclaimed in surprise.
He found that bubbles were emerging ahead, and they were very large bubbles, ultra-large bubbles at least one meter in diameter.
"Submersible One, what did you find?"
Lieutenant Coffey, who was attached to the outside of Submersible Three, asked.
"No, nothing."
"I will continue my descent."
Submersible One's operator replied. He operated the submersible to accelerate its descent into the trench, continuously using the flashlight.
After descending an unknown number of meters, Submersible One, continuously using its flashlight, finally discovered a huge submarine propeller.
"Lieutenant, I found it."
Submersible One's operator called out, operating the submersible to bypass the propeller ahead. The two submersibles behind slowly followed.
"Submersible One, what's the radiation index?"
"The neutron recorder has no reading."
"Good, continue along the hull."
"Submersible One received, continuing forward." Submersible One's operator operated the submersible to continue its descent. "Lieutenant, do you need me to photograph the hull?"
"You may. Record everything as much as possible. But remember, we have limited time."
"Received."
Submersible One continued its descent along the hull. Submersible Two and Submersible Three arrived at the submarine's central hatch.
"Ocean Hunter, have you seen the hatch?" Lieutenant Coffey called out.
"I'm not blind yet," Morel replied.
"You shouldn't wear sunglasses in a place like this. Otherwise, you'll really go blind."
Someone on the communicator joked. Morel heard that the voice was from the special forces soldier who had demonstrated liquid breathing to him earlier.
Even in the deep sea, Morel still wore his unchanging sunglasses.
The two submersibles stopped above the central hatch.
"Lieutenant, we can proceed."
"Okay, Group A, follow me. Group B, follow Morrison."
"Morel, you'll follow Group B."
"No problem."
At Lieutenant Coffey's command, the Dragon Abyss Special Forces soldiers, one by one, released the handrails on the submersible and swam towards the nuclear submarine's central hatch.
And just as they entered the submarine, Submersible One made another discovery.
"Something's glowing?"
Submersible One's operator blinked, operating the submersible to continue its descent.
"What is this?"
As he approached, he discovered that the glowing object was on an underwater mountain range. On the mountain wall, two circular lights were flashing, emitting a faint blue glow.
They would light up and then go out, as if breathing.
And most peculiarly, these two circles were connected, forming a strange pattern.
Submersible One's operator was curious. He immediately pressed the flashlight button, and with continuous flashes of white light, the submersible captured this scene.
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