The last time Jiang Ran went to the sea, he was only wearing heavy diving gear, and the deepest he dived was only over a hundred meters.
However, this time it was different. She was driving a high-end submarine produced by Interstellar Era. It didn't even take her ten minutes to dive to a depth of nearly two hundred meters.
When diving to 200 meters below the Pacific Ocean, the light becomes very dim.
Although it was still daytime, sunlight could hardly penetrate the deep sea and shine into here. Jiang Ran drove the submarine slowly forward, and all he could see was a very dim dark blue.
In the Earth Era, this place was called the "Twilight Zone" by humans.
It was in this "twilight zone" that Jiang Ran saw the fireworm.
It was two meters long, taller than Jiang Ranren, but when it was viewed through the submarine's video camera, it did not appear that big.
Although the fireworm's name contains the word "fire", its appearance is actually ice blue, like a piece of transparent glass light tube, with a slightly gelatinous texture.
When the submarine moves forward, a searchlight will be emitted from the front to help the driver identify the direction. The faint light is also ice blue when it shines into the deep sea like dusk.
The fireworm obviously also saw the light from the submarine, and perhaps mistook the searchlight for one of its own kind, so it slowly twisted its body and swam over.
Jiang Ran was inspired and flashed the searchlight, wanting to say hello to it.
However, contrary to expectations, the fireworm seemed to be frightened by this flashing "fake fellow". It turned its head almost immediately and swam away at a speed several times faster than before.
"Why."
"Is it that scary?"
Jiang Ran was very puzzled.
The only thing to be thankful for was that Jiang Ran took photos of the fireworm with the remote control as soon as he saw it.
Although the composition and angle are a little disappointing...it's a souvenir at least.
Continuing to dive deeper, about ten minutes later, Jiang Ran discovered a cross-eyed squid.
Its right eye is always looking downward, while its left eye is always looking upward. Its color is bright red. A closer look reveals two tiny, ice-blue tentacles on the edge of its mouth, slowly swaying back and forth in the pitch-black depths of the ocean.
This time Jiang Ran learned his lesson.
She lowered the intensity of the searchlight and gradually approached the cross-eyed squid, adjusting the position of the submarine to ensure that the imaging result of the tracking ball was the most beautiful and reasonable.
This little squid looked a little stupid and clumsy. Even though the submarine was almost sticking to its body, it still swam slowly in the sea.
"Come, let's take a full-body photo first."
"Alright! Stay still, and take another close-up of your eyes."
“…”
Jiang Ran cherishes this opportunity very much.
She looked left and right at the little squid, took more than a dozen photos from various angles, and finally let go of Mumu's little squid and continued to dive into the deep sea.
When the depth of the Pacific Ocean reaches about 500 meters, light can basically no longer be seen.
In the pitch-black sea water, there is very occasionally a hint of deep blue that is almost black, and you have to be extremely lucky to see it.
It was here that Jiang Ran saw a strange deep-sea creature.
From the outside, it looks a bit like an octopus, but it is much thinner than an octopus, and its tentacles are much thinner and longer than those of an octopus.
Jiang Ran felt that it looked somewhat familiar at first glance. After observing it carefully for a long time, she finally remembered that she had seen this kind of creature in her previous life.
At that time, Jiang Ran saw it on the news.
Because this deep-sea creature, which should live at a depth of 3,000 meters, miraculously appeared in a shallow sea area of about 200 meters, this strange event was widely reported in the news at the time.
After careful observation, the researchers found that this creature is not actually an independent individual, but a combination of many extremely tiny creatures to form a huge whole.
Because of this special property and its pyramid-like shape, which is small at the top and wide at the bottom, many researchers call it the "floating city."
The reason why Jiang Ran was so impressed by this incident and could still remember it clearly after so many years was because she was not the only one who saw the report at that time.
At that time, Zhang Duo was standing next to her.
Zhang Duo is Jiang Ran's classmate and best friend. She also has a nickname, "Jiuyi," which Jiang Ran prefers to call her by.
On weekdays, the two of them always went in and out together, and they always worked together on group projects in their professional courses. After seeing the news report, Zhang Duo was much more excited than Jiang Ran, and she kept talking about going to the deep sea to explore the mysteries together, but unfortunately, they never made it.
Times have changed. Neither of the two people at that time could have imagined that when they actually went down into the deep sea, it would be a new era thousands of years later.
It's really sad.
Jiang Ran controlled the tracking ball and pressed the shutter.
At that moment, the "floating city" in the deep sea finally became part of the countless beautiful scenery under her hands.
"It's a pity you didn't get to see this day."
Jiang Ran muttered to himself in the vast deep sea.
And no one else heard her whispers.
As we moved further down, when we dived to a depth of about one thousand meters, the sunlight could no longer reach us.
The underwater world was pitch black. Jiang Ran saw from the submarine's instrument panel that the water pressure had reached 90 standard atmospheres. This meant that if she got out of the submarine at that moment, even with heavy diving gear, she would die from the compression of her internal organs within minutes.
Potential dangers bring about a higher level of vigilance.
Jiang Ran cheered up and slowly moved forward.
In the ocean at this depth, there are many big creatures living.
Giant squids, sperm whales... are all permanent residents here and often move around in this area.
After Jiang Ran carefully photographed a giant squid and looked at the finished photo carefully, he suddenly remembered something.
In his previous life, Jiang Ran won many annual international wildlife photography championships, but he also had his share of failures.
In a certain competition, she only won the second place, and the winning work at that time was called "Eel Fry". Because that work was very special, she was deeply impressed.
It was a work by a Blackwater School photographer.
The so-called Black Water School refers to a group of photographers who are keen on diving into the water at night and photographing various marine life in the dark deep sea.
The pitch-black deep sea becomes an excellent natural black screen, making the entire photo appear as a simple black background, with only the marine life in the center showing various colors and shapes, which can well highlight the main position of the subject.
Jiang Ran recalled the painting "Eel Fry" which had shocked him so much.
In the pitch darkness, an ice-blue eel larva swam downwards. Its body was long and thin, and as it swam through the sea, its long tail swayed constantly, creating several undulating waves.
Although the photo is static, when people look at it, the dynamic movement of the fry swimming seems to be right in front of their eyes, and is particularly vivid.
Jiang Ran lowered his head to look at the movie on the screen and smiled slightly.
She is now photographing large creatures like giant squids. In terms of the final effect, isn't it similar to that of the Blackwater photographers?
Jiang Ran felt a surge of joy in his heart.
Today I tried a new photography style.
This is the posture of progress!
“Keep going!”
Diving deeper, at two or three thousand meters, Jiang Ran saw a strange big-mouthed anglerfish.
There is a small glowing lantern on its head, extending upward along the dorsal fin of the anglerfish, which looks like a fishing rod. As it slowly swims in the deep sea, the small "fishing rod" keeps swaying in the water, which is a natural tool for catching small fish.
In just a short while, Jiang Ran had seen several small fish and sheep falling into the tiger's mouth and they took the initiative to deliver themselves to the tiger's door.
"You evil-minded thing," Jiang Ran said, trying to focus. "It's fine if you harm the little fish, but don't keep moving around."
When the submarine reached about four thousand meters, Jiang Ran completely reached the bottom of the ocean.
However, she was lucky. After wandering around the seabed for a while, she discovered a deep trench. Generally speaking, the depth of the major trenches on Earth is basically over 7,000 meters, which is the true limit of the seabed.
Going down the trench, when he reached about 5,000 meters, Jiang Ran discovered many fang-toothed fish.
This is a very scary-looking fish with a big face and even bigger teeth. It looks a bit like a car accident scene, making it difficult to imagine how these genes were passed down.
Perhaps because there is never any light here, the fangtooth fish does not have to worry about scaring anyone with its appearance.
If Bian Zhao saw such an ugly fish, she would probably be scared and hide back in the hovercraft. She might even activate the attack device on the spot until the photo was destroyed.
"I'll have to hide the Fangtooth Fish photo when I get back to land."
Jiang Ran pondered and murmured, "Otherwise, who knows who will see this photo and might burn it. Tsk."
Eight thousand meters below the sea is the survival limit of living things. Jiang Ran tried for a long time before diving into this depth.
Here, any living thing would be crushed by such enormous pressure.
The deeper Jiang Ran dived, the more he realized that there was a misunderstanding in his previous understanding.
She used to think that the deeper the underwater world was, the larger the living creatures would be. For example, at a depth of two hundred meters, most of the creatures seen were small creatures like fireworms, but at a depth of one thousand meters, you could see many large creatures like sperm whales.
However, it was not until he dived into this nearly 10,000-meter deep sea trench that Jiang Ran discovered that this statement was not entirely correct.
After reaching a certain depth, the further she went down, the fewer creatures on the seabed there were and the smaller they became.
When the depth displayed on the dashboard jumped to five digits, the underwater world Jiang Ran saw looked like a "desolate hell."
There are almost no living creatures here, only the lifeless deep sea like the eternal night. If the submarine had not moved slowly enough, Jiang Ran would even have the illusion of traveling in space, as if what surrounded him was not water at all.
Very occasionally, some living creatures are seen, which are also small amphipods.
They look like shrimps, with shells on their backs and very white bodies, but they are very small, only about two or three centimeters each. If Jiang Ran hadn't looked carefully, he would probably have mistaken them for small pieces of sand floating in the water.
Jiang Ran swam around the bottom of the sea ten thousand meters deep and took pictures of many of these little things. He was finally satisfied and decided to return.
Although the floating process is slow, it is much easier than sinking.
At this point, Jiang Ran no longer needed to observe carefully, fearing that he would miss some special and valuable creatures. He just had to adjust the automatic operation mode, lean leisurely in the cabin, and wait for the submarine to return automatically.
Jiang Ran almost felt that he could take this opportunity to take a good nap, but after thinking it over, his vigilance prevailed.
So later, although her hands left the control panel, her eyes were still open, and she kept watching the water conditions ahead on the display screen.
And a few hours later, Jiang Ran was extremely grateful to himself for making this decision.
When rising to a shallow sea area of about 200 meters, Jiang Ran's half-open eyes suddenly lit up. In an instant, he switched the submarine back to manual mode and personally controlled the direction to sail towards a place not far away.
If she saw it correctly, it was a shipwreck on the seabed.
As it turned out, Jiang Ran was not wrong.
There isn't even just one shipwreck here, but a whole cluster of shipwrecks!
At a rough glance, there are probably seven or eight ships!
Jiang Ran piloted his submarine through the wrecks and discovered that their hulls bore the marks of time. Seaweed-like growths covered the surface, and in many places, red and gray coral reefs grew.
The shipwrecks were all gray and looked like old junk, but this did not dampen Jiang Ran's enthusiasm at all.
Who hasn’t dreamed of deep-sea treasure hunting when they were young?
No matter how dilapidated and old these shipwrecks look, they are still antiques!
Jiang Ran searched again with great interest and soon found some new good things.
On the seabed beneath the sunken ships, there were several old boxes scattered around. Jiang Ran moved closer and used the tracking ball to capture the inside of the boxes.
Good job!
These must be a few military ships, right?
I don't know which country sank it here, but at least it's a good thing for her now.
Unfortunately, the preparations for this trip were not sufficient. Jiang Ran thought about it over and over again, but he still couldn't find a way to salvage these antiques, so he had to decide to come here again tomorrow.
She excitedly made double marks with the submarine and the tracking ball, and then looked around carefully to make sure she recognized the overall environment and special signs here, before reluctantly driving the submarine away.
Immersed in excitement and joy, Jiang Ran felt that he was really lucky.
She almost wanted to adjust the submarine's ascent speed to the maximum, return to the big ship on the island shore in the next second, change into deep-diving equipment and come here to search for various antiques and touch the warmth of history with her own hands.
That's where she came from.
However, considering what the production crew had repeatedly warned us about: ascending too quickly would cause a huge pressure change in a short period of time. If the body couldn't adapt well, it would likely cause internal bleeding...
Jiang Ran decided to float up at a normal speed.
However, as the submarine moved, Jiang Ran had already begun to imagine returning here to hunt for treasure.
All in all, there wouldn't be anything in the shallow water area above 200 meters to attract her to stop, right?
Jiang Ran thought confidently.
Unfortunately, it turns out that self-confidence is useless.
After entering the shallow water zone of more than 100 meters, Jiang Ran saw the submarine that was exactly the same as hers. If nothing unexpected happened, it was basically confirmed to be Xu Yang's.
Xu Yang kept his promise. Not only did he not chase her into the deep sea, he also stopped others from chasing her. He just drove the submarine by himself, slowly wandering in the shallow water.
Jiang Ran watched from afar, very confused.
If Xu Yang just wanted to tour in such shallow waters, why would he exchange for a submarine?
Wouldn't it be better to just change into a set of light diving equipment?
Confusion gave rise to curiosity. Jiang Ran even temporarily put aside his impulse to go back and look for treasures and antiques, and followed Xu Yang slowly for a while.
However, not long after, Xu Yang's submarine stopped in front of a huge coral reef and seemed to be observing carefully.
If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move.
Jiang Ran, who was following behind, also stopped.
Ten minutes later.
Jiang Ran had carefully examined the appearance of the coral reef, confirmed that the species of the coral reef was a large star disk, and estimated that the height of the coral reef was about ten meters.
Twenty minutes later.
Jiang Ran discovered a small depression in the coral wall, which was the entrance to the coral reef. Colorful soft corals covered the top of the reef, and a variety of colorful tropical fish swam around the coral reef, the whole scene was magnificent.
Jiang Ran wanted to wear a diving suit and pass through the holes in the coral reef, and he also wanted to drive a submarine close to it and take pictures of its most beautiful side.
Unfortunately, she had not yet figured out what Xu Yang was doing, so she could not reveal herself at this time and had to continue hiding miserably.
Half an hour later.
Jiang Ran finally couldn't bear it anymore.
She drove the submarine forward and started taking pictures of the beautiful and huge coral reef.
It has a narrow spire at the top, and looking down, you can see colorful soft corals covering the reef. From a close distance, it looks like a beautiful underwater garden.
Large numbers of barracudas and elegant manta rays swam around the coral reefs, pink, orange, blue and black, all stretching out before your eyes.
Jiang Ran exclaimed as he filmed.
If the Earth were still the same as it was thousands of years ago, this would definitely be a favorite for underwater photographers.
Jiang Ran's movements were so big that Xu Yang certainly wouldn't have failed to notice her until now.
The submarine behind him paused for a long time, finally breaking the silence of more than half an hour and slowly moving. It wanted to approach Jiang Ran, but before it could get within five meters, Jiang Ran sailed away without hesitation, leaving behind only a long trail of arrogant bubbles.
Oh!
Why care about Xu Yang?
He likes to stay in front of the coral reef and stay motionless, so let him stay!
Maybe he is sleeping?
But later, Jiang Ran finally found out what Xu Yang was doing.
Shortly after Jiang Ran sent the submarine back, Xu Yang's submarine also slowly surfaced.
When Jiang Ran took out a thick stack of photos from the ball and went to the big ship to find Zhou Kangbo for an appraisal, Xu Yang also followed with a few boards.
Jiang Ran completely ignored Xu Yang's intention at this time and let him glance at him several times. Jiang Ran saw it but pretended not to see it.
Xu Yang endured for a long time: "You..."
"Teacher Zhou!" Jiang Ran approached with a smile on his face, "Would you like to see my new baby?"
Zhou Kangbo was a little puzzled: "Why are you so special today..."
"Exceptionally outstanding?" Jiang Ran asked.
"...It's nothing, just pretend I didn't say anything."
Zhou Kangbo had heard from the staff on the first floor early that Jiang Ran had gone underwater today in a submarine. He knew full well that what Jiang Ran had brought this time was definitely even more extraordinary than before, but upon actually seeing the actual item, his astonishment didn't diminish in the slightest.
"This...this is all what you just took pictures of?"
"Yes." Jiang Ran nodded.
"Oh, you really make it difficult for me."
Zhou Kangbo's tone was tinged with melancholy, yet also with obvious joy. "I can't consult my friends in the design department this time. Every single one of these pictures are of Earth's native deep-sea creatures... I'll have to ask an expert at the Federal Academy of Sciences! Preferably one from the School of Biology!"
As soon as he heard the words "Federal Academy of Sciences", Xu Yang immediately raised his eyes.
"If you want to find an expert from the Academy of Sciences, I might be able to help."
Jiang Ran subconsciously glanced at him when he heard that.
Now that she thought about it, she still remembered that Xu Yang came from a wealthy family and his uncle was the president of the Federal Academy of Sciences.
In that case, it would be very convenient to contact people.
"No, no," Zhou Kangbo waved his hands repeatedly. "It's just talk. I can find someone if you need me. You two wait here for a moment. I'll be right back."
Having said that, it was not an easy job to find someone and talk things over, so Zhou Kangbo did not just leave for a short while.
Xu Yang and Jiang Ran, who were left behind, could only stand there, looking at each other, speechless for a moment.
Jiang Ran looked towards the cabin several times.
She was full of confidence and had everything planned out when she had the works in her hands, but at this moment, all the photographic works were suddenly handed over to others, and she rarely felt a little nervous.
After a while, Jiang Ran turned around and asked, "Mr. Xu, after this game is over, the treasures we handed in should be returned, right?"
"Of course, these are all items collected by the players themselves, and ownership will belong to you," Xu Yang said. "We've collected all the items on the boat now, firstly to make it easier to organize, and secondly to prevent someone from using the same items to redeem points multiple times."
"That's good." Jiang Ran felt relieved.
She really liked these photos and couldn't bear to give them all away.
After asking the question, the two were silent for a while.
Xu Yang looked at her repeatedly for a while before he couldn't help but ask, "Why did you suddenly start calling me Boss Xu again?"
"Ah, I think it's more respectful this way," Jiang Ran laughed with him, "Don't you like it?"
Xu Yang looked at her meaningfully.
After a pause, Xu Yang did not answer directly. He turned and asked, "When we were underwater earlier, you clearly saw me. Why did you leave without stopping?"
"I see you're busy and don't want to disturb you."
After Jiang Ran said this, Xu Yang had to remain silent.
He knew very well that although these words made sense logically, they could not possibly be Jiang Ran's true words.
But what was Jiang Ran's true feelings? He had no way of getting inside her to dig them out since she refused to speak.
But Xu Yang was somewhat puzzled.
Doesn’t Jiang Ran have a crush on him?
Why don't you even want to talk normally?
While Xu Yang was thinking hard, Jiang Ran was looking up at the sky beside him.
Of course, she couldn't tell him that she had followed Xu Yang around like an idiot, not moving at all for more than half an hour.
That's just too embarrassing...
Not long after, Zhou Kangbo finally walked out of the cabin with a smile on his face.
Jiang Ran went up to him and asked, "What did your friend say?"
Zhou Kangbo patted her shoulder with relief. "He wants to buy the rights to these photos from you, and asked me to ask for your opinion on his behalf."
The implication is that it means that one highly approves.
However, Jiang Ran politely declined: "I don't have any plans for the time being."
"Okay, you can tell me anytime you're interested."
Jiang Ran: "You haven't told me how many points these photos can be redeemed for!"
Zhou Kangbo gave a meaningful smile: "Guess?"
"I'm not guessing," Jiang Ran said expressionlessly, "Why are you trying to do this?"
Xu Yang next to him was very interested in this game.
Before Zhou Kangbo could speak, he took the initiative to guess, "Two thousand points?"
Zhou Kangbo smiled and shook his head: "Not bad, not bad, we're getting closer."
Xu Yang: "Three thousand?"
Zhou Kangbo: "Closer, closer."
Jiang Ran couldn't bear to watch this and slapped Zhou Kangbo on the shoulder: "How much is it?"
"Ouch, why are you pushing so hard?" Zhou Kangbo rubbed his shoulders, finally letting go of the suspense. He shook his head triumphantly for a moment, then slowly uttered a shocking number.
"Five thousand points!"
"What?"
"Is this true?"
Zhou Kangbo was unhappy: "Why would I lie to you?"
Jiang Ran looked at his expression for a long time before confirming that he was not lying.
After calming herself down, she let out a long breath and patted her collarbone dreamily, "Five thousand points... I'm really amazing."
Xu Yang: "Congratulations."
Jiang Ran: "Thank you, thank you."
"Okay, it's getting dark, let's speed up."
Zhou Kangbo extended his hand to Xu Yang: "Where's the treasure you found? Take it out and show it to me."
Xu Yang did not hesitate and handed over the boards he had been holding.
Previously, the boards had been held in Xu Yang's arms, and from Jiang Ran's perspective, he could only see a blank board. But until now, when the boards were turned over, Jiang Ran discovered that there was a different world on the other side.
They were actually some exquisite paintings.
The first painting was of the coral reefs that Jiang Ran had previously viewed with Xu Yang for a long time.
On the pristine white paper, the soft corals depicted by the brush resemble giant, multicolored fans. They appear to be woven from intricate lace, dotted with dreamy spots, inviting a glimpse into their beauty.
Jiang Ran suddenly understood why Xu Yang had to use a submarine even though he had been staying in shallow water.
If he was painting, then a simple diving suit would not be able to support it.
While Jiang Ran was pondering, Zhou Kangbo took the drawing board from Xu Yang and sighed with difficulty: "You two really have a tacit understanding. You both went to the extreme in making things difficult for me... I'm going to trouble my friends again."
"Sorry to bother you and your friend." Xu Yang said politely.
Jiang Ran didn't look at Xu Yang until Zhou Kangbo walked back to the cabin with the drawing board.
Jiang Ran was a little embarrassed: "You just stopped in front of that coral reef for more than half an hour without moving, just to draw?"
However, Xu Yang did not answer for a while.
Just when Jiang Ran felt strange and was about to ask again, Xu Yang spoke slowly.
"How did you know so accurately... that I stopped in front of the coral reef for half an hour?"
The author has something to say:
"Eel Fry" is the work of Blackwater photographer Galice Hoarau. It won the Best Close-up Award in the Close-up Photographer of the Year Competition. It is really beautiful.
【Irresponsible Mini-Theatre】
Xu Yang: She ignored me on purpose, just to get my attention.
Jiang Ran: It's the interstellar age now. If I want to move to Mars, it shouldn't be too difficult, right?
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