The energy fluctuation readings are still rising.

Nana's fingers slid across the control panel, the curves on the screen constantly shifting. She didn't look up, her voice a beat slower than usual: "Eight nautical miles from the target area, jamming intensity increased by thirty-seven percent."

Chen Hao leaned against the control panel, a pen with no dots dangling from his mouth—a habit he made when nervous. He spat out the pen cap and asked, "Where's the hull?"

“Structural stability.” Karl stood by the hatch, holding a testing instrument in his hand. “The outer shell pressure is normal, the seal is intact, and no leaks were found.”

Susan stared out the window. The color of the sea had changed, not because of the sky, but because of the light shining through the water. It was a deep blue, like mist slowly rising from the depths of the sea, spreading along the surface.

“It’s glowing,” she said.

No one responded.

A few seconds later, Nana said, "The wavelength of the light is 482 nanometers, which is a cold light source. But... it cannot match any known biological or mineral luminescence model."

"So, we've never seen this thing before?" Chen Hao put the pen back in his mouth.

“Yes.” Nana paused for a moment. “There is no corresponding record in the knowledge base.”

Chen Hao grinned: "Great, we're already here, we should at least experience something new."

He walked to the driver's seat and pressed the lever switch: "Slow down, keep the course unchanged, and adjust the propulsion power to 40%."

The boat slowly lowered, and the engine noise subsided. The blue light on the water's surface contracted slightly as the boat slowed, like something being startled and retreating.

“It responded,” Susan whispered.

“Not necessarily.” Nana pulled up the data stream. “It could also be that we reduced electromagnetic radiation, and the reduced environmental interference caused the field to shrink naturally.”

"What do you think?" Chen Hao asked.

Nana glanced at him. Robots are rarely asked "what do you think?", but she answered anyway: "The current data is insufficient to support a judgment. But it is indeed changing—and it is changing with our behavior."

Chen Hao nodded and said nothing more.

Susan opened her notebook and wrote down: **10:23, entered an area of ​​abnormal lighting, source unknown, behavior suspected to be a response to external disturbance.**

She closed the notebook and casually put on her headphones. The sound of birdsong from the lake was playing softly, just enough to drown out the hum of the instruments.

After checking the last set of pipes, Carl returned to the emergency control console. He placed his pliers on the table, his fingers resting on the manual valve beside them. That valve connected to the main power compartment; in case of an emergency, he could cut off the power within three seconds.

“I suggest we slow down a bit more,” Susan said. “We don’t know the depth limit of this area yet; what if there’s a fault below…”

“We know,” Chen Hao interrupted her. “Eight thousand meters, the edge of the rift valley. Nana calculated it.”

"But no one went down to check."

“That’s why we’re here.” He smiled. “If you’re really scared, it’s not too late to turn back now.”

Susan glared at him: "I didn't say I was going to turn back."

"That's good." Chen Hao patted her shoulder. "I was hoping you would finish writing the voyage log and publish it. I've already thought of a title—'Me and Three Madmen Go to Their Deaths'."

Susan almost burst out laughing, but managed to hold it in.

Nana suddenly raised her hand: "Attention, the magnetic field shift has occurred again."

On the screen, a red line trembled slightly, deviating from the baseline value.

"How much off-center?"

"0.5 degrees." She quickly operated the system. "Correcting navigation parameters, activating gyro stabilization system."

"Is it related to that crystal again?" Karl asked.

“The frequencies are similar.” Nana pulled up a comparison chart. “But this time the energy peak is higher and the duration is longer. It’s not like passive resonance, it’s more like… active release.”

“Actively?” Susan frowned. “You mean, it’s sending things out?”

"At present, we can only confirm the directionality and periodicity," Nana said. "Every seventeen seconds, a pulse enhancement occurs, consistent with the initially received signal."

Chen Hao stared at the screen and suddenly asked, "What is the angle between our current position and the signal source?"

"The 15-degree offset is slowly narrowing."

"Is it waiting for us?" Susan's voice softened.

“Or it’s trying to lure us in,” Chen Hao said. “In any case, it knows we’re getting close.”

The cabin was quiet for a few seconds.

Carl reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then wiped it on his pants. He didn't say anything, just gripped the pliers tighter again.

"Continue forward," Chen Hao ordered. "Activate silence mode for the entire ship, turn off unnecessary lights, and switch the detection system to low-frequency scanning."

One by one, the indicator lights went out. Only a few screens in the control room emitted a faint glow, reflecting on the faces of the four people.

The ship moved slowly forward, and the blue light on the water grew denser, as if the entire sea was being illuminated by something.

Nana's data refresh rate has increased.

“The energy field’s coverage area has expanded,” she said. “We expect to be fully within the core area within two hours.”

“What will happen then?” Susan asked.

“I don’t know,” Nana answered readily, “but based on current trends, communications and navigation may be severely affected. I suggest setting return coordinates in advance.”

“It’s set up.” Chen Hao pointed to the red dot on the backup screen. “But I don’t think we’ll ever need it.”

"Why?"

“Because so far, it hasn’t stopped us.” Chen Hao looked ahead. “If it really wanted to stop us, it would have done so long ago. But it just turns on a light, gives us a greeting, and at most flashes a light in our eyes—this isn’t an attack, it’s a test.”

“Perhaps we are the ones being tested,” Susan said.

“That’s right.” Chen Hao grinned. “So let’s not pretend to be generous. Just look and don’t touch anything.”

He took another sip of cold coffee, frowned, and spat it out: "This stuff tastes worse than seawater."

Susan couldn't help but laugh.

The atmosphere relaxed a bit.

But no one relaxed.

A warning message suddenly popped up on Nana's screen. She paused, then quickly zoomed in on the relevant data.

"What's wrong?" Chen Hao immediately went over to ask.

"The probe detected underwater movement," she said. "It's about 7,800 meters deep, huge in size, and moving in a direction parallel to us."

"Is it geological activity?"

“It doesn’t seem like it.” She shook her head. “The speed is stable, the trajectory is smooth, which doesn’t match the characteristics of fault slip. And…”

She paused for a second.

"And what?"

"It's following us."

Chen Hao narrowed his eyes: "You mean, there's something down there that accompanied us all the way here?"

“The probability is over 82 percent,” Nana said. “It always maintains the same distance, neither getting closer nor farther away.”

Susan pulled out previous records: "Were there any similar reports before the last unmanned underwater vehicle lost contact?"

“No.” Nana pulled up the file. “The device only transmitted back one sentence, ‘There is light below,’ and then it stopped.”

"So we might be among the first people to see this thing alive?" Carl asked.

“Strictly speaking,” Nana said, “we were among the first to approach it with permission.”

The air seemed to sink again.

Chen Hao straightened up and walked to the window. The sea outside had turned a deep blue, with ripples of light rising and falling like breathing. In the distance, a dark shadow swept across the water, too fast to be seen.

“It’s down there,” he said.

“Yes,” Nana confirmed. “And its movement patterns show that it has a high degree of autonomy.”

“It’s not a rock, not a volcano, and not a fish.” Chen Hao turned around. “It’s something that moves, and it even knows where we are.”

No one spoke.

After a few seconds, Susan asked softly, "Should we change our course?"

Chen Hao looked at her, then at the others.

Carl didn't move, but he tightened his grip on the pliers. Susan's eyes darted around slightly, but she didn't look away. Nana stood quietly, the light from the screen flickering in her eyes.

He chuckled: "We've come this far, why change routes?"

"But we have no idea what it wants to do."

"Then let it reveal its hand." Chen Hao turned around and pressed the communication button. "Attention everyone, maintain the current state and continue to advance. No one is allowed to panic or move around randomly—we're just here to drop by, and since they've turned on the lights, we have to make a good impression."

He released the button and looked at Nana: "How much longer can you hold on?"

"The navigation system is expected to remain operational for 110 minutes," she said. "After that, manual course corrections may be necessary."

“That’s enough,” Chen Hao said. “One hundred minutes is enough for us to see what it really looks like.”

The ship continued forward.

The light on the water grew brighter, almost a deep purple. The shadowy figure in the distance reappeared, this time closer, its outline faintly visible—like a huge, curved structure slowly sinking into the deeper waters.

Nana's finger slid rapidly across the screen, trying to lock onto the target's trajectory.

Suddenly, all the instruments vibrated at the same time.

A red warning flashes on the main screen: **External energy interference exceeds the threshold!**

“It moved!” Susan exclaimed.

Nana immediately switched to backup power and restarted the sensor array. Data was restored a few seconds later.

“Just now, the energy peak increased threefold,” she said, “and the direction was right towards our ship.”

"Is it an attack?" Karl asked.

“Uncertain.” Nana stared at the waveform. “It looks more like… a scan.”

Chen Hao stared out the window and murmured, "It's watching us."

Susan swallowed.

Carl's hand was already on the emergency valve.

Nana looked up, her voice hesitant for the first time: "We are being evaluated."

Chen Hao took a deep breath and grinned: "Then let's make it look good."

He raised his hand and waved to the dark sea.

"Hi," he said, "we're here."