Chapter 44

Shuji Tsushima stood on the boat, looking down at the waves rolling past the boat.

"Did you find anything?" Sakaguchi Ango walked over to Tsushima Shuji and followed him to look into the sea, "Like maybe you saw a few fish or something."

"How can we see it? If there are fish that dare to get close to the bottom, it's good that they are not swept away."

Tsushima Shuji rolled his eyes at Sakaguchi Ango: "Weren't you watching from the other side? What are you doing here?"

Sakaguchi Ango: "How can I possibly see anything? I'd rather rely on you."

The young boy leaned against the railing, not hiding his disdain for those greedy adults: "You're not really going to go into the sea, are you?"

"What else?" Tsushima Shuji shrugged. "I can't see anything from just looking at it. What else can I do except go to sea?"

The boat they were on was not big, but the deck was three or four meters above the water. When he looked down, some horrific images popped up in his mind, such as what if he didn't hold on to the railing firmly and slipped down and fell into the sea. Tsushima Shuji looked down for a while, then looked up at the sea in the distance.

They were already some distance away from the port. They were the only boat around, and there were only a few other people on board besides the two of them. The boy let go of the railing and simply sat on the deck.

Sakaguchi Ango: "When are you going down?"

"We'll have to wait a little longer, stay away." Tsushima Shuji replied lazily, "Since you're so curious, why don't you come with me?"

"Huh? No way." Sakaguchi Ango pouted, "I'd better meet you on the boat."

Tsushima Shuji: “Heh.”

The surroundings fell into silence for a while, and the only sounds in my ears were the sound of the boat's engine, the wind blowing past my ears, and the sound of the rolling waves.

Sakaguchi Ango glanced several times at Tsushima Shuji who was sitting next to him. Because they were too close to the edge, the corners of their pants were inevitably stained with water, and it seemed that even the sound of their conversations was damp with moisture.

"Are you hiding something from Mr. Amamiya, Shuji?"

Tsushima Shuji said nothing.

"I don't think you're the kind of obedient guy. After all, I'm the same." Sakaguchi Ango didn't think a good boy would be his friend. "Although I don't know what you're going to do, I think it's a dangerous thing. Are you sure you want to go alone?"

Originally, there was an arrangement for someone to go into the water with Tsushima Shuji, but after getting on the boat, Tsushima Shuji behaved contrary to his usual behavior and refused the original arrangement. He firmly demanded that he be allowed to go down alone, otherwise he would not go down.

Sakaguchi Ango guessed that the people on the ship must have informed Amamiya Keisuke, but even if they did, so what? Amamiya Keisuke couldn't fly over to the ship right now and tell Tsushima Shuji to be careful, so they could only let him do it.

"Of course I have to go alone," Tsushima Shuji said softly. His voice seemed to disappear into the sea breeze and drifted vaguely into Sakaguchi Ango's ears. "After all, whether I found the 'book' or not, I have to say that I didn't find it. If there are others here, it will be hard to explain."

Sakaguchi Ango narrowed his eyes.

Tsushima Shuji stood up, patted his clothes, and said, "Okay, I should go down now. We are here."

"Hey, Shuji," Sakaguchi Ango called out to the boy as he turned around, "You really can't find the 'book', right?"

Tsushima Shuji: "...Who knows? I haven't even started looking."

He tilted his head and looked at the sea beside him. The ship had stopped moving forward quickly, and the waves rolling up beside the ship also calmed down. The deep blue sea was reflected in Tsushima Shuji's eyes. His gaze seemed to see through the water and see something in the deep sea. Even in the daylight, his iris-colored eyes seemed to be flashing with something.

"Ango, can 'books' really make wishes come true?"

Sakaguchi Ango looked at Tsushima Shuji's profile and felt something was wrong. He wanted to say something, but Tsushima Shuji didn't want to talk anymore and just left.

Sakaguchi Ango stood there, he gritted his teeth, and finally took out his cell phone and called Amamiya Ruisei.

"Mr. Amamiya."

The call was connected quickly, and something seemed to have happened on Amamiya's end. The background noise was extremely noisy, and the response was drowned out by the sound of gunfire.

"Ango-kun? What happened?"

"Mr. Amamiya," Sakaguchi Ango held the phone tightly and spoke with difficulty, "Please come over quickly, please..."

"Please save him."

The call was hung up instantly.

…

Shuji Tsushima put on his diving equipment, carried his oxygen tank, and slowly went into the water. He was the only one in the water. As he went deeper and deeper, even the sunlight on the water surface became dim.

The dark sea surrounded him, the water pressure pressed against his body from all sides, and it was so quiet in his ears that even the sound of the water was not clear. The inexplicable feeling made him subconsciously slow down his breathing and gently close his eyes.

What was it like the last time you found pages of a book in a river?

It wasn't something that happened particularly long ago, but it feels so far away. The memories and feelings in my mind have become blurred, as if an invisible hand has erased these things. The only thing left is the impulse to break free from the shackles when I touched the pages of the book in the laboratory of the Special Powers Division.

This impulse drove him to relax his body and let himself swim in the sea as he felt attracted. He didn't even open his eyes to look around once, as if he was not afraid of encountering any danger in the sea.

Is the 'book' really in the sea?

Tsushima Shuji didn't know.

In fact, he thinks that the "book" does not exist in any place, but may exist in every corner. It may not only be a dead object that makes wishes, but also follows the laws of the world that they cannot touch and understand, waiting for the arrival of fate.

If he was destined to get it, then when he felt that the 'book' was in the sea, the 'book' must be in the sea.

I don't know how long I swam, but gradually, a sound rang out in the silent sea and floated to Tsushima Shuji's ears.

He heard the voice of Amamiya Raisei. The young man was questioning him in an abnormally stern tone: "Why do you have to get the 'book'? What is your purpose?"

Tsushima Shuji thought, of course, it was to solve Mr. Amamiya's troubles.

"No, you're just doing it for yourself."

He heard the other party say: "You want to get the 'book' for your own sake. You are just using me as an excuse. Why do you have to make it sound so great?"

"The book page experiment was only carried out twice, and the first time it was interrupted by an accident. How can you be sure that the 'book' can solve my problems? How can you be sure that it can definitely realize your wish?"

"You just want an answer."

That voice was like a sharp knife, cutting open his heart bit by bit and laying all his thoughts on the table.

"——Why are you, Tsushima Shuji, living in this world?"