Chapter 2: A Trial Dive and a Misjudgment

The mist clung to the dilapidated fishing boat like a damp, cold shroud. The narrow cabin was thick with a suffocating blend of briny stench and the acrid smell of burnt diesel; every breath felt like swallowing grit.

Lin Chao gripped the cold bronze Ancient Bell tightly against his chest. The metallic chill seeped through his palm, and his clothes were already soaked through. A bone-deep cold crawled through his pores and settled into his marrow, feeling as if countless icy tentacles were writhing beneath his skin.

From the distance came the muffled thud of metal colliding—the groan of the hull buckling under the pressure of the Undercurrent. Each impact hammered against his nerves, sending waves of blackness across his vision.

On the verge of suffocation, his lungs burned with a searing pain, and the edges of his sight began to fade. In a surge of primal terror, Lin Chao tightened his hold on the Ancient Bell. Its faint, lingering warmth became his only anchor.

The final distress signal from the sunken ship’s fragmented memories exploded in his mind. It wasn't a sound wave, but a resonance of frequency that struck directly at his soul. He forced himself to stay calm, syncing his breathing to the rhythm of the echo. Every inhale felt like he was drawing in the very essence of life.

Using the principles of sonar localization, he neutralized the impact of the turbulence on his eardrums. Amidst the chaotic roar of the water, he captured a faint but steady set of coordinates for the exit.

Old Ghost sat slumped in the pilot's seat, his face as grey as ash, cold sweat carving paths through the wrinkles on his forehead. He lowered his voice, his eyes scanning the pitch-black sea with wary intensity. There was nothing out there but rolling black waves.

His Adam's apple bobbed painfully as his cracked lips parted. "The military just designated the surrounding waters as a temporary exclusion zone. Their radars are wide open, but I know a hidden Undercurrent channel. We can use it to bypass the outer perimeter and head straight for the resource blind spot."

As he finished speaking, he broke into a fit of violent coughing, his body shuddering uncontrollably as if resisting some invisible weight.

The three of them geared up for the dive with mechanical speed, their movements instinctive, as if they had rehearsed this a thousand times. They slipped into the water like eels, sliding along the edge of the Undercurrent. The ocean instantly enveloped them in a suffocating chill, but the Ancient Bell vibrated slightly against Lin Chao’s chest, emitting a faint, warm glow—a lone lighthouse in the dark.

The light pierced through the ink-black water, guiding them to harness the power of the current and glide rapidly toward the dive point. Su Man gritted her teeth, adjusting the angle of her fins, while Old Ghost trailed closely behind Lin Chao, clutching a short knife and staring vigilantly into the void.

Then, disaster struck. An unnatural, highly corrosive turbulence slammed into them, as if an invisible giant hand had reached up from the seabed to seize them all. The flow defied every law of physics, possessing a strength capable of tearing through steel.

A piercing alarm shrieked in Su Man’s diving mask, the sound amplified to a deafening level inside the sealed helmet. Her oxygen line had ruptured, and bubbles hissed violently from the leak. Her body began to sink uncontrollably; she struggled wildly, but it was like being trapped in thick sludge—the more she fought, the deeper she sank.

He lunged forward and grabbed Su Man’s wrist, his grip so tight it nearly crushed her bone. To keep himself conscious, he bit hard into his tongue. The taste of blood flooded his mouth, shocking his fading consciousness back to alertness. He forced himself to drag his unconscious partner, swimming with everything he had toward the exit indicated by the sound source.

Every meter felt like climbing Everest. His muscles spasmed from the buildup of lactic acid, but his will was iron. By the time they broke the surface and collapsed onto the deck of the fishing boat, they were gasping for the thin, cold air, their chests heaving as if trying to inhale the entire sky.

The two of them lay there, shaken and breathless, seawater dripping from their hair onto the deck. But on the distant horizon, several anomalous red dots were flashing frantically on the radar screen—the most direct manifestation of danger. Zhao Kun’s private fleet was closing in, their massive silhouettes blotting out the starlight.

Several searchlights sliced through the thick mist like swords, the beams weaving into a giant net that locked onto the fishing boat's position. The glare hit the wet metal hull, reflecting a blinding halo that made it impossible to keep one's eyes open.

Lin Chao didn't speak; he simply closed his eyes. In the dead silence of his perception, his consciousness sank into the deep sea. The patterns on the surface of the Ancient Bell became clear in sync with his breathing—grooves carved by a thousand years of time.

Deep-sea echoes flooded his mind like a tide. The Keel of the sunken ancient ship let out a shrill, lingering wail—a guide to the flow of the water and a countdown to death. He could "hear" the changes in the speed of the Undercurrent, like blood rushing through veins; every peak and trough signaled a window for survival.

Lin Chao hugged the Ancient Bell tight. As the boat tossed violently, he felt as if his internal organs were being squeezed to the point of rupture. He didn't let go. Instead, the moment he plunged back into the water, he triggered the resonance again, using the low-frequency waves of the Ancient Bell to offset the impact of the fall.

He felt his breathing rhythm align perfectly with the vibration of the bell. Every inhale felt like drawing power from the deep; every exhale brought a momentary release to his frayed nerves. It was the ultimate escape on the razor's edge of death.

Lin Chao analyzed the situation calmly. Though his body still trembled slightly from hypothermia, his gaze was as sharp as a torch, devoid of panic. He looked at the approaching beams of light, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "They miscalculated. That high-frequency signal from earlier... in their eyes, it wasn't a treasure coordinate. It was a military emergency distress code."

"They think we're stealing classified data, which is why they're using force to blockade us instead of a simple civilian seizure." His voice was steady, sounding unnervingly clear in the tension of the night.

Su Man wiped the seawater from her face, her eyes regaining their sharpness. Her fingers slid rapidly across the waterproof tablet, the screen's glow illuminating her haggard but determined face.

She pulled up the current maps and pointed to a complex node. "The patterns of the currents here prove that no military installations have ever been registered in this area. This is an unclaimed resource blind spot in international waters. They have no right to conduct illegal salvage here."

Her logic was airtight, as if she were constructing an invisible fortress.

Su Man’s pupils contracted, but she didn't hesitate. Her fingers flew across the controls, and the roar of the engine suddenly spiked. The searchlights of the giant ship sliced through the fog like blades, locking onto the small boat.

The captain's voice exploded through the loudspeaker again. This time, it wasn't cold—it was laced with undisguised mockery and murderous intent. "Stop struggling, little mice. In these waters, no one can hear you but our sonar."

On the bridge of the distant behemoth, the captain stared at the black silhouette gradually disappearing below the horizon. His lip twitched, and he let out a faint, chilling chuckle. He picked up the comms, his voice transmitting to every compartment, cold as ice: "That guy wasn't using civilian obstacle-avoidance tech just now. That was..."

"Eavesdropping on military frequencies? It seems they've dug up something that was meant to stay buried."

Lin Chao didn't flinch. Instead, he took a step forward. The deck tilted sharply with the waves, letting out a tooth-grinding creak. He gripped the Ancient Bell with one hand and quickly adjusted the frequency knob on his headset with the other.

To anyone else, it would have sounded like static. But to his auditory nerves, which had been tuned by the special resonance, the piercing white noise instantly reorganized into clear, visible veins of water flow.

The giant ship's searchlights remained on, but on the sonar screen, the red dot representing the fishing boat shook violently, became eerily blurred, and finally vanished into a sea of noise. The captain on the bridge froze, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his glass, the contempt in his eyes instantly hardening into an unbelievable horror.

He ordered the guns to fire, but in the chaos, the gunners realized the target was lost and were forced to fire blindly.

Lin Chao let out a cold laugh, a flash of resolve in his eyes. He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness entirely into the vibrating resonance of the Ancient Bell. The wind, the roar of the engines, the hum of the searchlights—everything was stripped away. The world consisted only of the pure pulse of the water.

He felt the Undercurrent that was about to swallow the boat; it was like a giant python lurking beneath the surface, opening its maw.

Lin Chao snapped his eyes open and roared. Su Man yanked the control lever, and the boat skidded violently under the momentum, its hull nearly parallel to the water's surface. Simultaneously, Lin Chao thrust the Ancient Bell out the porthole, his finger tracing a hidden arc across the bell's surface.

It was an ancient resonance technique, using a specific frequency to interfere with the vibration of surrounding water molecules, artificially creating a brief "acoustic silence zone."

The enemy ship's loudspeaker crackled again. The captain's voice, cold and dripping with arrogance, echoed through the night, making the seawater ripple: "Eavesdropping on military frequencies? You're asking for death. Cease all electronic transmissions immediately and prepare for boarding, or suffer the consequences."

The wind tore at the voice, making it fragmented, but it couldn't hide the threat.

Old Ghost, hiding behind a coastal reef and soaked to the bone, cursed under his breath as he tried to cut the boat's communication module. He discovered in despair that the signal had already leaked through the underwater listeners; they were completely compromised. His hands shook, and every attempt to pull the connectors was slow and powerless, as if he were fighting against an invisible fate.

Lin Chao gripped the Ancient Bell, feeling the vibration sync with his own heartbeat. He looked at the approaching giant ship, a cold smile curling his lips. The mist grew thicker, and the sound of waves crashing against the hull intensified. He knew the real game had only just begun, and this dilapidated fishing boat was the only key to breaking the deadlock in this storm.

"Su Man, on my mark," Lin Chao's voice was low, but it possessed an unquestionable authority. "Start the backup engine. Push power to 80%. Veer 15 degrees to port. Don't fear the Undercurrent—we're going to ride its 'spine'."

The fishing boat slammed into the water, and then, propelled by the artificially manipulated thrust of the Undercurrent, it shot forward like an arrow, diving straight into the impenetrable heart of the mist.

Several shells exploded nearby, the massive shockwaves kicking up waves meters high and tossing the boat into the air.

In that instant, the boat vanished from the ocean's sensory radar.

"Now!"

The mist closed in completely, swallowing the small boat whole, leaving behind only a dead-silent sea and the lingering murderous intent in the captain's eyes.