Chapter 73: Undercurrent

late at night.

After a tiring day, most of the sailors had fallen asleep.

Even on the return flight, the daily workload is still heavy.

Plus, there are only a few entertainment activities on fishing boats, and Internet access charges are shockingly expensive, so it’s better to rest early.

But old John couldn't sleep and tossed and turned in bed.

The lounge was small to begin with, and his tossing and turning would inevitably disturb others. He couldn't sleep anyway, so he might as well go out for a walk.

After saying hello to the engine room crew on duty, he walked onto the deck, intent on seeing the strange fish he had caught today.

The captain said that even the experts didn't recognize such an abstract fish. The boss even gave a strict order that the fish must be sent back safely, and everyone on the boat would be rewarded.

Such a serious instruction made the captain quickly arrange two people to take turns to watch over it and add water every once in a while, hoping that the fish could survive the last two days of the voyage and not die.

It was cloudy tonight, obscuring the stars and the moon.

The lights on the fishing boats could not illuminate the gloom in the blind corners; they were either too bright to be eye-catching or too dark to be seen.

But this was not a problem for old John, who was familiar with the place.

He can find the direction even with his eyes closed.

Walking into a deck cabin specially prepared to release the strange fish, Old John looked around and saw no one.

"Peter, where have you been slacking off again?"

He called out, but no one responded.

"Did he go to the bathroom? Well, why is the door open?"

He could see that there was a crack in the cabin and it was pitch black inside, but vaguely, amidst the background noise of the waves, there seemed to be some faint movement.

Old John immediately understood, it seemed that they were putting water in there to feed the fish.

"Peter, can you see clearly without the light?"

As he said that, he pushed the door open and walked in. He found the switch based on his memory and turned it on.

The cabin was not big, with a bucket in the middle and some sundries around it, but there was no one.

The lid of the bucket also fell to the ground. The so-called noise was just the sound of the water in the bucket splashing onto the ground due to the shaking of the ship.

Old John carefully approached the bucket and slowly looked inside.

You can see the bottom at a glance.

There are no fish.

The strange fish is gone!
Old John was heartbroken, but he was not worried about the money. After all, he had half the credit for this fish, and he didn't even have time to take a photo!

After all, he was indeed fishing at that time, and the fish did come from the sea. By packaging it with this description, people outside would think that he caught the fish.

Heartbroken!

No, he wants to find out who stole the fish!
Old John had also watched several episodes of "Hannibal" in his past, and he quickly discovered clues from the water stains spreading on the floor.

Picking up a mop as a weapon, he quietly followed the water trail out the door and headed for the corner.

The light at this location was blocked and very dim. Old John took out the mini flashlight he carried with him, turned it on, and continued to follow the water trail.

Soon, he heard sounds of movement ahead.

Old John held his breath and quickened his pace.

But the person in front seemed to have heard his footsteps and quickened his pace.

Old John didn't care about anything else and just ran.

There was a thud, as if something heavy had fallen on the deck.

When Old John looked over, he saw Peter lying on the ground and the strange fish.

"Peter?"

Old John asked tentatively, he was more inclined to think that this guy was pretending to be unconscious. "Hey, you stole this fish, it's a serious matter, I will report it to the captain."

Peter, who fell to the ground, did not respond.

And that strange fish behaved unexpectedly docilely, just lying there, its eyes seemingly staring at Old John.

No, it was staring behind me!

Old John heard a heavy breathing sound, rising and falling with the waves.

Covered in a cold sweat, Old John was about to run away when he suddenly felt a heavy blow on the back of his head. He immediately lost consciousness and fell prone on the deck.

The creature that attacked him was a one-eyed monster that looked like an alien.

The strange fish opened and closed its mouth, as if speaking some silent language.

The one-eyed alien walked silently to Peter and picked him up.

It can be seen that Peter's entire face and brain have disappeared, as if they were eaten alive by something.

Gulu.

Peter's body was swallowed by the alien's enlarged mouth.

The strange fish's mouth kept opening and closing, and slowly, a ball of strange and twisted stuff as black as ink was spit out by it.

As this thing left the body, the body structure of the strange fish quickly collapsed and shrank. In just a dozen seconds, it turned into a dried fish.

The one-eyed alien picked up the black ball with both hands and slowly put it into his mouth.

Cuckoo roar.
Along with waves of indescribable sounds and body changes, the eyes of the one-eyed alien seemed to have a hint of wisdom.

Its long tail and abdomen began to wriggle, and a football-sized "egg" was born and attached to the ground.

The one-eyed alien spat a mouthful of black saliva at the egg. In a moment, the saliva was absorbed by the egg. Then, with a tremor of the eggshell, the contents broke out of the shell.

It was a monster that seemed to have the genes of a crab, spider, and scorpion, and its body was bigger than a human head.

As if driven by instinct, the insect groped for the head of the unconscious old John, fixed his neck with its tail, forcing him to subconsciously open his mouth, and then inserted a certain organ into his mouth. With a roll of old John's throat, something entered his body.

After the injection was completed, the insect fell to the side as if it had lost its life.

Throwing the insect's corpse into the sea, the one-eyed alien followed the darkness, quietly groped his way into the cabin, and lurked quietly.

More than an hour later, old John slowly woke up from his coma.

He gently touched the back of his head and felt a blood scab, which hurt so much that he throbbed.

Peter and the strange fish that were lying in front of him were nowhere to be seen.

He had a guess in his mind.

Peter was teaming up with someone to steal fish, but was caught by himself, so the two of them split up. Peter pretended to be unconscious in front to attract his attention, while the other person came up behind him and gave him a hard blow.

At the same time, I was also thankful that this was the high seas. If I died and was thrown into the sea, there would be no evidence.

"Is it a warning for me not to tell anyone else?"

"But if I don't say anything now, I will become the number one suspect. It will be even worse if Peter bites back. No, I have to report it to the captain immediately."

Covering the wound on the back of his head, the dizzy old John staggered back to the cabin and applied for an emergency report to the captain.

Fortunately, Peter didn't frame him first, so Old John felt a little relieved. However, he didn't know if his chest felt stuffy due to some kind of sequelae.

The captain, who was awakened, took the report very seriously and immediately launched an investigation. He found that the strange fish had disappeared and Peter himself had also disappeared.

So the entire ship began to search.

We searched until dawn, but couldn't find any trace of Peter.

Now that there is no evidence to prove the truth, Old John's confession does not seem so true.

Moreover, several sailors were inexplicably attacked by someone and were unconscious when they were found, which caused panic among the people.

Finally, the captain used his prestige to appease everyone. Anyway, there was still one day left before reaching Maicheng, and he believed that he would be able to find out the truth once they reached land.

(End of this chapter)