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The sea gently lapped against the hull of the massive tanker, which swayed rhythmically with the water. Lin Yi stood at the bow, feeling the sea breeze as he gazed out at the endless expanse of ocean. The gloomy mood that had plagued him for days due to the relentless wind and rain began to lift. The number of people aboard this tanker was relatively small. Aside from the crew and a few support staff, it was rare to encounter any other passengers. For quite some time, Lin Yi had been holed up in his cabin, passing the time by playing games. He had hoped that, given his current status, he might have a chance to chat with the captain about life at sea. However, he found that even the sailors on this ship treated him with a cold indifference. What troubled Lin Yi the most was his inability to contact Wen.
"Tian Qingqing, Aqua Blue, watching the sunrise, watching the moon..." Just as Lin Yi was about to zone out and think about lunch, he suddenly heard singing nearby. However, judging by the lyrics, it seemed inappropriate for such a coarse male voice to be singing them.
Curiosity got the better of him, and Lin Yi turned around to see a man wearing black-rimmed glasses. The man's expression was somewhat vacant, yet he didn't appear completely out of it. As Lin Yi wondered how someone like him ended up on this ship, the man spoke first: "The main dish today is still not good; it's terrible without rice."
It seemed he truly was a bit eccentric; Lin Yi hadn't even asked him a question, yet here he was answering one. Thinking this, Lin Yi decided not to engage further. However, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly realized that he recognized this person from somewhere. In a flash of memory, he recalled seeing this odd character at a dinner party a few nights ago.
"What are you doing here?" Lin Yi asked, feeling strange to see someone else after days of solitude.
"Why are you here?" The man replied with an air of nonchalance.
"I have my reasons!" Lin Yi felt an inexplicable irritation rising within him.
"I have my reasons too," came the man's response.
"You're insane!" Now feeling hungry, Lin Yi didn't want to waste any more time talking to a lunatic and waved his hand dismissively as he prepared to leave.
However, it seemed that the man wasn't ready to let Lin Yi go; he suddenly grabbed his arm. Lin Yi winced in pain and shouted, "Who are you? Do you want to fight?"
To Lin Yi's surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, the man suddenly held onto his hand firmly and said earnestly, "Hello, I'm Wu Hao. I don't want to fight; I just want to talk. No one has spoken with me for so long."
"I'm not in the mood!" Lin Yi shook off his hand and walked away. Logically speaking, he should have been glad to finally meet someone to chat with after being bored out of his mind. But encountering such an obviously unhinged person made any conversation feel like a headache.
The food in the dining room was simple—bread and milk. Lin Yi took a double portion back to his cabin and settled down to watch a movie while munching on bread. Life had become too leisurely for comfort; it was almost a source of frustration. With no way to pass the time effectively, Lin Yi decided to take a nap despite it being midday—he would treat it as an afternoon rest.
The weight of his suppressed emotions kept Lin Yi in a half-asleep state. In this haze, he thought he heard distant shouting from far away. Since the tanker had set sail days ago amidst heavy rain and howling winds, those sounds had accompanied him throughout. But today’s noise felt different; it was unsettling and gnawed at him. Frustrated and unable to sleep now, Lin Yi got dressed.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Suddenly there came a series of loud knocks on his door that startled him awake. Rubbing his head groggily, he slipped on his slippers and moved toward the door as the knocking grew more frantic.
Before Lin Yi could fully open the door, a figure burst in and slammed it shut behind him. Before he could express his anger at being interrupted, he recognized that it was none other than Wu Hao—the eccentric man from earlier that day. Lin Yi felt like he might lose his mind; after days of silence, he'd finally met someone only for them to be so bizarre.
Before Lin Yi could react further, Wu Hao began flailing his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs: “They want to eat me! It's terrifying! So terrifying!”
Listening to that hoarse voice, Lin Yi felt a chill run down his spine. After a moment of thought, he asked, trembling with fear, "Them?"
"Yes, them! So terrifying, so terrifying!" Wu Hao continued to shout, his voice growing increasingly hoarse, as if his throat had cracked.
"Have you seen them? Do you know where they are?" Lin Yi forced himself to suppress the fear rising in his heart and spoke formally for the first time to someone he considered a madman.
"They're right below us, so many of them!" Wu Hao's emotions had stabilized somewhat.
"What are they?" Lin Yi's legs began to shake; he felt as if something was crawling up from beneath him, ready to devour him whole.
"Um, I think they're called sharks!" Wu Hao paused for a moment before slowly revealing the name.
"You need to get out of here as fast as you can!" Lin Yi was momentarily stunned, then shouted at Wu Hao like a furious woman, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Suddenly, Lin Yi noticed that Wu Hao touched his face, and his expression was no longer the vacant look Lin Yi had seen before. Then he inexplicably smiled at Lin Yi and actually walked away. However, as he got closer to Lin Yi, he lightly nudged him. Lin Yi instinctively took a step back, genuinely disgusted and afraid of any further strange actions from him.
An absurd scene ended just as absurdly, and the cold sweat on Lin Yi's back told him that he had indeed been frightened. When he regained his composure, he realized he was hungry. It was time to eat; this was important. Lin Yi turned and hurried to the dining hall.
The dining hall was still as tidy as ever, but it remained empty. He couldn't understand why none of the crew came to eat during mealtime. Eating alone felt boring, and Lin Yi inexplicably felt abandoned by the world. The simple meal was quickly finished. What should he do next? With nothing else to occupy himself with, Lin Yi decided to take a stroll on the deck. Habitually putting his hands in his jacket pockets, he noticed something unusual; his fingers brushed against an object.
Lin Yi pulled it out in surprise—it was a playing card with some lines drawn on it by a sharp blade. Being a detail-oriented person most of the time, he took a closer look and saw that these lines formed a sentence that sent another wave of fear through him: "I am from the Eight Departments. Destroy this ship; it is very strange." The handwriting was messy and looked hastily written.
Though anxious and uneasy, having experienced quite a bit already allowed Lin Yi to control his emotions. After calming himself slightly, he put the playing card back in his pocket and went to the restroom.
Following his original plan, Lin Yi headed directly to the deck for some fresh air. It was still afternoon; the weather remained clear. However, Lin Yi furrowed his brows tightly, wearing a gloomy expression as he pondered what to do next. Although Li Qiweng's department was relatively mysterious, as her fiancé, Lin Yi knew some details. Li Qiweng had mentioned that there were nine unknown departments in total. Among them, the Eight Departments was the most enigmatic place; even Li Qiweng wasn't entirely sure what those inside did. Now it seemed like someone from the Eight Departments was warning him that he was in danger while appearing like a lunatic.
Lin Yi didn't have to worry for long before Wu Hao—the one he had always thought of as insane—approached him.
"I know you're curious about who I really am right now," Wu Hao said calmly, sounding completely different from how he had spoken before. "But I can tell you that we are on the same side now."
Lin Yi prepared to ask a few questions when Wu Hao gestured for him to hold on: "Don't speak yet; let me finish. You may have already realized that we are being watched all the time. So for now, it's just me here; I hope it won't attract too much attention from them."
"Unless something unexpected happens, we probably don't have much time left." Perhaps noticing Lin Yi's anxious expression, Wu Hao pulled out a cigarette and offered it to him. But at that moment, Lin Yi was too preoccupied to smoke, so Wu Hao just laughed and lit one for himself.
"Since we boarded the ship, they haven't interacted with us at all, which is already quite strange. Even stranger, after some investigation, I found that most of them are not professional crew members; they seem more like soldiers."
Wu Hao exhaled lightly and continued, "This is information I've gathered while pretending to be foolish. I'm curious why a tanker would have so many military personnel on board. What are they really up to?"
"I didn't know who you were at first, but later I realized you must be like me—someone who knows things they shouldn't. That's why I think we're on the same side. You might wonder how I know what you're thinking, but believe it or not, I can read minds."
The more Lin Yi listened, the more astonished he became. Although he felt he had already experienced enough bizarre events, he still struggled to accept such mysterious matters that he couldn't comprehend.
"Because I can read minds, I learned about things my superior thinks I shouldn't know. And here we are meeting. I believe only a few people know the true purpose of this ship, but given my current situation, I can't get close to them. However, I can assure you that we need to take action; otherwise, we will both die!" Wu Hao's last statement was heavy and did not sound like a joke at all.
"Why should I trust you?" Perhaps having been in a comfortable environment for too long, even after experiencing a life-and-death trial, Lin Yi still found it hard to believe he was facing a dead end.
"I know you're scared right now; you're afraid you might never see her again. As for who she is, I don't think I need to explain further."
Suppressing his shock, Lin Yi nodded. "I believe you!"
"I believe you too!" Suddenly, a cold and unfamiliar voice echoed in their ears. Immediately afterward, Lin Yi felt two arms pinning him down and something being placed over his head. Darkness engulfed him.
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