The wind didn't get stronger; the white line swayed twice on the horizon before dispersing into small waves. The boat rocked gently, as if it could finally catch its breath.
Chen Hao untied the bandage, revealing a dark red scab on the wound on his finger. He applied some ointment to his palm, winced in pain, and casually pulled a bag of potato chips from the box, taking a bite.
“You actually have the appetite to eat this.” Susan squatted by the boat, cleaning the sampling tube with a brush in her hand.
"How can you have the energy to wait to die if you don't eat?" Chen Hao chewed on potato chips. "Besides, that gust of wind didn't even come. Maybe Nana miscalculated."
Nana stood in the middle of the deck, her eyes flashing: "I didn't miscalculate, it's just that the storm's path has shifted by seven degrees. Now it's bypassing us and heading north."
Carl peered out from the stern: "So all our tension was for nothing?"
“It’s not like we were worried for nothing.” She turned around. “The air pressure is still dropping, the humidity is rising by 18 percent, and there are signs of increased ozone in the air. The storm is just delayed, not canceled.”
Chen Hao stuffed the last potato chip into his mouth and sighed, "I knew it."
Susan suddenly stopped what she was doing and stared at the water.
The ripples at the stern were originally spreading outwards, but now a stream of water has entered from the side at an angle, turning the originally neat ripples into irregular rings.
“Wait,” she said. “This isn’t right.”
She leaned over the gunwale and reached out to splash some water. The moment her fingertips touched the surface, a dark shadow flashed past, reflecting a faint light, like glass sliding through a deep well.
"There's something down there!" she exclaimed, looking up sharply. "It just passed by; it was huge, and it was running close to the bottom of the boat!"
Chen Hao choked, spraying half of his potato chip crumbs out. He quickly threw away the packaging and rushed over, clinging to the wooden plank to look down. The water was calm; there was nothing there.
"Are you sure you're not seeing things?" Karl ran over as well, squinting as he scanned the sea.
“I can see it clearly.” Susan pointed to the area. “It doesn’t move like a fish, nor like an ocean current. It’s too fast, and it’s straight, without any tail wagging.”
Nana had already started the scanning program, her eyes flashing continuously. A few seconds later, she spoke: "Within three minutes, an abnormal temperature zone appeared on the seabed. Its length is unknown, its width is about six meters, and it runs from southwest to northeast. The water temperature is one degree lower than the surrounding area, and it is continuously moving."
"Low temperature?" Chen Hao frowned. "Won't the fish make the water cold?"
“This is not a bio-cluster thermal effect,” Nana said. “It’s a cooling trail caused by a single heat source being dragged along. And…” she paused, “it averaged 15 kilometers per hour and made one dive, reaching a depth of 87 meters.”
Carl climbed the mast and looked into the distance through his binoculars. After a few seconds, he shouted, "There's a V-shaped watermark to the right! It's long and it's still extending!"
Chen Hao looked in that direction and indeed saw a shallow groove carved into the sea, as if plowed by some heavy object, which lingered for a long time.
"Shall we follow them and see?" Karl was eager to try.
"Are you looking for trouble or answers?" Susan turned to look at him. "What if it's a big guy and we anger it?"
"Don't get close, just track it." Chen Hao grabbed the helm. "Adjust course and maintain a distance of 500 meters. Too close and we might startle it; too far and we'll lose it."
The ship slowly turned, the sails caught the crosswind, and the speed increased.
Nana pulled up a thermal image and projected it onto the deck. A thin red line ran across the image, extending intermittently forward.
"It floats and sinks intermittently," she said. "Each time it rises is about four minutes apart, and each time it lasts about thirty seconds. It is currently judged to be an autonomous movement, not drifting with the current."
While steering the ship, Chen Hao chewed on his nails and said, "Do you think it might be a submarine? The military kind?"
“No metal signal feedback,” Nana replied. “The hull material is an organic composite structure, and the outer layer appears to be covered with a keratin-like membrane, which is waterproof and flexible.”
"I don't understand." Chen Hao waved his hand. "Speak human language."
“It’s not a machine,” she said. “It’s alive.”
The air suddenly became quiet.
Susan looked down at the sampling tube in her hand and suddenly noticed something sticky and translucent on a piece of wood on the side of the boat, like dried snot.
She carefully scraped off a small piece and put it into a test tube. "There's some residue here," she said. "It's odorless, not sticky, but very elastic."
Nana took the sample and scanned it with the built-in analyzer. Data scrolled across the screen, and her voice became slower than usual: "Protein accounts for 62%, containing silicon-based particles with a complex molecular chain structure. No matching entry found in any known biological database on Earth."
“What do you mean?” Karl jumped down from under the mast and stood next to her.
“I’ve never seen one,” Nana said. “It doesn’t belong to any existing species classification.”
Chen Hao swallowed hard: "So, we're now following... something we don't even know what it is, drifting around at sea?"
“Accurate.” Nana nodded.
Susan took a half-step back while holding the sampling box: "Can we stop following it? I think if it wants to do something, our little wooden boat won't be enough to satisfy its needs."
“I also think it’s a bit risky.” Carl rubbed his arms. “How big would that mark have to be to create such a long ripple? At least ten meters long, right?”
Chen Hao remained silent, staring at the faintly visible V-shaped ripple ahead. The wind was light, the boat moved steadily, and the sail billowed gently.
He suddenly laughed: "Do you guys remember why we came out in the first place?"
"To escape?" Susan said.
“Yes, but we also want to see what else is out there.” He patted the rudder. “If we retreat at the slightest disturbance, we might as well stay on the island and eat compressed biscuits. What we’re doing now is exploration. And since it’s exploration, we have to accept ‘not knowing’.”
Nana looked at him: "Your pulse is quickening."
“Nonsense, who isn’t afraid?” Chen Hao admitted, “But I’m more afraid of never knowing what’s hidden at the bottom of the sea.”
Susan pursed her lips and didn't object anymore.
Carl scratched his head: "So...should we take a picture? As evidence?"
“Okay.” Nana activated the recording mode. “But I recommend turning off the active sonar to avoid stimulating the target. Use passive monitoring and navigate silently.”
Chen Hao ordered: "Lower the sails to half capacity, reduce the oar frequency, and minimize disturbance to the water. Everyone move quietly and don't shout."
The boat slowed down, and we even had to walk on tiptoe.
Nana's eyes remained bright as she monitored the data stream in real time. She whispered, "The target continues to move forward, direction unchanged. The latest segment appeared 29 seconds ago, 11 seconds shorter than the last time. It may be entering an active period."
"Active period?" Susan asked softly, "What do you mean?"
"That means it might accelerate, or change depth," Nana said. "It could also be preparing to hunt."
“Prey?” Karl’s eyes widened. “What does it eat? Fish? Or… boats?”
No one responded.
Chen Hao gripped the helm tightly, his knuckles turning white. He stared at the sea ahead, saying nothing.
Suddenly, the ship shook slightly.
It wasn't an impact; it was more like some kind of vibration coming up from underwater, like a subwoofer blasting in your ear.
“It’s here again.” Susan gripped the gunwale, her voice low.
Nana immediately pulled up the image: "Distance reduced to 300 meters. Thermal signal intensified, body temperature rose by 0.7 degrees. Floating upwards."
Carl climbed back up the mast and peered through the telescope: "The ripples have changed! They're no longer moving in a straight line; they're starting to curve!"
"Have they discovered us?" Susan asked.
“Uncertain.” Nana stared at the data. “But it has changed its behavior pattern. The current trajectory forms a closed curve with a radius of about four hundred meters, suggesting it is circling.”
Chen Hao slowly turned the rudder, guiding the boat to glide along the outer circle. "Don't get too close, but don't fall behind either. Just stay like this."
Time passed second by second.
The V-shaped water mark remained not far ahead, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Occasionally, a ripple could be seen on the surface of the water, as if something had turned over underneath.
Susan stayed close to the sampling equipment, tapping her fingers incessantly against the test tube wall. Carl climbed the mast every few minutes to confirm the location. Nana's data reports became increasingly frequent.
"Body temperature continues to rise, reaching 39 degrees Celsius. Muscle activity frequency increases. Assessment: Entering a state of alertness."
“It knows we’re watching it,” Chen Hao murmured.
“Not necessarily,” Nana said. “It could be an instinctive reaction triggered by changes in the environment, such as light, salinity, or magnetic field fluctuations.”
“But the way it circled around us has completely surrounded us.” Carl jumped down from the height. “Look at the route, doesn’t it look like a hunting party?”
No one spoke.
The wind stopped, and the sails were lowered. The sea was as smooth as a sheet of glass.
Just as Chen Hao was about to speak, another tremor came from the bottom of the boat.
This time it was clearer, like something was brushing against the bottom of the boat, slowly and heavily.
Everyone froze.
Susan slowly crouched down, her fingers pressing against the deck. She could feel the rhythm—one beat after another, like a heartbeat.
Nana's voice broke the silence: "It's below. Fifteen meters away. Length... estimated to be over twenty meters."
Chen Hao opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he did.
The water surface suddenly cracked open.
A dark shadow swept past the side of the boat, moving so fast that it left only a blur. It didn't leap out of the water, but the wave it created made the whole boat rock.
Chen Hao lunged at the rudder to stabilize the direction.
Susan slumped to the ground, the test tube slipped from her hand and rolled into a corner.
Carl grabbed the mast rope and was nearly thrown off.
Nana stood still, her eyes flashing wildly, and the recording system started automatically.
“Recording begins,” she whispered. “First sighting confirmed. Target is a large, unknown creature with a smooth, dark gray body, longitudinal ridges on its back, and a flat, paddle-like tail. It swims in a wave-like motion, not like a fish wagging its tail, similar to an eel but much larger than usual.”
Chen Hao was panting, his palms were sweaty.
He stared at the disappearing watermark, his voice trembling slightly: "What...what exactly is this thing?"
Nana stared at the screen for a long time before saying:
"I have no idea."
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