Chapter 405: Dispute among Neutral Organizations
The deep sea is dark and lonely, with almost no sound, as if it is a forgotten corner of the world.
The oceans in this world are very different from those on Earth.
On Earth, the average depth of the world's oceans is no more than three thousand meters. Areas with a depth of more than two hundred meters are considered deep sea, and areas with a depth of more than four thousand meters are considered the abyss.
The Mariana Trench, also known as the Challenger Deep, is located in the western Pacific Ocean and has a total depth of only about 11,000 meters.
On this planet, the average ocean depth is close to eight thousand meters, almost twice that of Earth.
The seabed is deep and quiet, which makes people yearn for it.
"Captain, the Nautilus has dived to a depth of one thousand meters." The housekeeper spoke and reported the real-time situation of the submarine to Su Xia.
At this moment, Su Xia was in the command cabin at the front of the top floor of the submarine.
The command module is not large. There is a circular operating table inside, which is covered with various instruments and equipment. There are more than a hundred buttons of various colors, and display screens and instrument panels are hung all around.
Su Xia stood in front of the circular operating table, listening to the housekeeper's explanation while learning the meaning of every button, every string of data, and every prompt on the table.
"Captain, the area on your left is the weapon control system of the entire submarine. These buttons represent..."
"The data on this display screen indicates the oxygen content in the submarine at the moment..."
"Here, it shows the current water pressure and depth..."
“…”
"You don't need to pay attention to these things at ordinary times, because I am here. I will take care of all matters in the submarine for you. You only need to give instructions, but... the intelligent system is not completely reliable. If I fail one day, you will need to manually control the submarine, and it will be too late to learn by then..."
Manual control?
When Su Xia saw these densely packed buttons, her scalp went numb just thinking about it.
For such a large submarine, even if he had three heads and six arms, it would be impossible for him to control it manually by himself. He would need at least a team of helpers.
The housekeeper's voice is omnipresent and is part of the entire submarine's intelligent system.
She can also project her virtual body in special compartments such as the command compartment, captain's rest compartment, missile control compartment, mess hall, torpedo compartment, and power reaction compartment.
Her position is similar to Hal's.
The only difference is that Hal's projected body was a blurry red dot, while she was in human form, wearing a white coat, glasses, and had delicate features. She looked like a young female scientist.
At this moment, she was standing beside Su Xia, explaining to her step by step the use of each button.
"This is the button for turning on the backup energy source. The yellowish button represents the backup diesel engine, the red one represents the backup nuclear reactor, and the blue one represents the backup psychic drive. There are three types of backup energy sources in total..."
She was very patient and had a gentle voice, like a diligent female mentor.
Su Xia has a very strong learning ability. He is a top student on Earth. He is extremely interested in cutting-edge scientific research and technology. His ability to accept and understand is among the best among his peers.
Many contents can be remembered just by explaining them once.
"We have dived to 1,200 meters and have left the continental shelf in the southern part of the continent. We are now in the continental slope area." She explained while reporting on the situation of the submarine.
"Butler, have you discovered the deep-sea troops of the Mechanical Clan?"
“Not yet.”
She replied: "The ocean is vast and deep. In non-wartime, the probability of encountering another submarine is very small."
Su Xia nodded: "Have you found any strange creatures?"
"Yes, I detected some psychic fluctuations. They should be mutated aquatic creatures on the seabed. They are not a big threat to us."
About two hundred meters below the sea, human eyes can basically no longer see sunlight.
One thousand meters below the seabed can be called the deep zone, because here, not only humans, but almost any known creature cannot perceive the existence of sunlight.
The seabed we are in is cold and silent, full of unknowns, and surrounded by invisible darkness. It is extremely depressing, as if some horrible creatures are hiding in the surrounding darkness.
Many people feel an inexplicable sense of panic and suffocation when they take a look at pictures of the deep sea, as if they will fall into the endless darkness at any time.
That's classic deep-sea phobia.
Even Su Xia had some, but the symptoms were very mild.
The first time he had this feeling was when he was in high school, he accidentally saw a video about Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas.
The blue hole was deep and cold, like a huge mouth of the abyss that could swallow all living things around it.
And that blue hole is actually only about two hundred meters deep.
And now, Su Xia is in a dark area more than a thousand meters below the sea, floating in the endless darkness.
Some people say that going deep into the seabed is like entering a world on an alien planet.
Because, in the deep ocean, there is no light, and people cannot see each other. The creatures here all look very random, weird, ugly, deformed and horrible, like monsters from another world.
"What is there in the deep ocean?" Su Xia would occasionally think about this question.
Probably one without SpongeBob and Squidward.
If one day humans could explore the entire seabed at will, there would surely be many amazing discoveries.
"Butler, how deep are we now?"
"One thousand two hundred and fifty meters." The housekeeper answered patiently, and said, "Captain, you can call me by my real name."
"Do you have a name?"
Su Xia was surprised for a moment, but then she was relieved. After all, Hal had a name, so it was normal for the housekeeper to have a name.
The housekeeper smiled and replied, "You can call me Sarah. "
"Sarah? That sounds weird." Su Xia said.
"This name comes from a famous deep-sea explorer." Sarah spoke softly about the origin of her name.
She was a very famous female explorer who loved to explore deep into the seabeds of various planets. She had published many books, and her books had even been selected into the imperial education system. She was highly respected.
She has experienced countless dangerous situations in her life and encountered life-and-death crises on many planets, but she was able to escape danger every time.
Therefore, she also became the spokesperson for bravery and luck.
With her authorization, Orlok Technology named the smart butler of its submarines after her, hoping that she can bring luck to every deep-sea explorer.
"Is she still alive now?" After listening to the story, Su Xia felt a burst of sincere admiration and suddenly wanted to meet this legendary explorer.
"He should still be alive, probably close to a hundred years old," Sarah replied.
This planet has no contact with the outside world, so like Hal, she cannot update the information in the starry sky in real time.
All the information she knows now was what she had when she left the factory.
…
At this moment, it was already past six in the morning.
Outside, the sky was just beginning to brighten.
While Su Xia was studying submarine technology seriously, the news of his presence in Conch City had spread all over the world, sparking a wave of heated discussion.
Even on the other two continents, countless people are curious about what kind of creature can survive after provoking the mechanical race time and time again?
"Masked Stranger, this isn't the first time I've heard this name."
"It is said that he might be the Iron Fist Golden Wolf that disappeared three years ago."
"The Mechanicals have suffered at his hands again."
"Hey, why do you say 'again'?"
“…”
Subsequently, another piece of news quickly swept across major platforms.
The shock brought by this news was no less than the previous news about the masked man, and even more so.
“Oh my God, everyone at the media company above me has been killed!”
Some people horrifiedly asked for help on social media and posted bloody pictures.
The pictures showed some extremely bloody scenes. The media company's information was scattered all over the ground, blood was splattered everywhere, and rolling human heads and headless corpses could be seen everywhere.
The strong smell of blood spread to every corner of the world with the wind this morning.
Soon, more and more similar news came out.
Many media companies were wiped out overnight. Even employees who were resting at home died. Even the employees' families were not spared. One by one, they all fell under the butcher's knife.
Moreover, the headquarters of these media companies were engulfed in flames, with thick smoke billowing into the sky.
Blood and fire are entangled in the cruelty of death, bringing infinite terror to people.
Some people were frightened and went to the law enforcement agency to report the case.
However, what they didn't expect was that the one who started the killing was actually the City Law Enforcement Bureau!
The clothes of many law enforcers were still stained with blood, and they looked extremely terrifying, like executioners who had just returned from hell.
When they saw someone report the crime, instead of accepting the case, they laughed and said, "We killed the person. Go back. It's no big deal!"
"Eat when you should, drink when you should. It's just a few deaths. Don't let it affect your mood for work today!"
After this news came out, there was another sensation!
Many people realized that the mechanical race must be behind this bloody incident.
If it weren't for the permission of the Mechanical Clan, how could the law enforcers in these cities dare to be so arrogant?
"Well, let me tell you, in these peaceful years, those news media have really gone too far. They dare to make up anything for traffic, and sooner or later they will cause trouble. Now it's true..."
Many people sighed, as if they had expected this scene.
Fabricating fake news about humans is not a big deal, but they actually dared to fabricate fake news about the mechanical race, and about Lord Mercer. Isn't this courting death?
Some people feel that too many people have been killed and their families should not be harmed.
Others think that killing is a good thing and that severe punishments should be used in troubled times.
Those who make money from traffic with a guilty conscience and take advantage of others' misfortune should all be killed!
"The Mechanical Tribe is so angry this time, it's probably related to the Masked Stranger."
"The repeated failures have made them lose face."
Some people realized that this killing was probably just because the mechanical race was holding their anger and wanted to find a suitable excuse to vent it.
And those unscrupulous media just happened to run into the trap.
Of course, we can only say that they deserve to die.
Even if you don't collide this time, you will collide one day. It's just a matter of sooner or later. You will die sooner or later.
"By the way, have the Mechanical Tribe lost us again in Conch City?"
"I heard that the masked man escaped again."
"No, someone saw the masked man being forced into the sea. He is probably in danger this time. The entire coastline has been blocked. He can't just float on the sea forever..."
Not long ago, many dock workers saw Su Xia being chased into the sky over the sea.
Some people risked taking some blurry photos, while others shot a few short videos.
"The Masked Man's ability to fly is achieved by controlling the metal pieces with his psychic power, but his psychic power will eventually run out."
"When that happens, he will surely fall into the sea."
"Therefore, he now has only two options... Either fall into the sea and drown, or surrender to the Mechanical Tribe."
On various platforms, people are analyzing the situation of the masked man this time.
Among them, Luo Xi, the head of the Southwest Mercenary Union, said: "The sea area is the base camp of the mechanical divers. The masked man has no chance of escaping this time!"
"Brother Luo, what you said is too absolute." Someone stood up to object. His name was Wang Shi, and he was the head of the Black River Mercenary Union.
Both mercenary guilds are considered large forces, second only to the Midnight Tavern.
They are both members of the mercenary guild and have many internal connections. They used to have the same views on many things, but today they actually had a disagreement on the matter of the masked monster.
"Brother Wang, don't you agree with my opinion?" Luo Xi said on the platform.
"Brother Luo, the masked man cannot be viewed with common sense. He himself is the representative of miracles." Wang Shi said.
"What miracle?" Luo Xi said disdainfully, "He was just lucky. The mechanical tribe didn't take him seriously the previous times, but they started to take him seriously this time."
"Brother Luo, you seem to have a problem with the masked man?"
"No, I'm just expressing my personal opinion. Aren't you also expressing your opinion, Brother Wang?"
"Um."
The two of them exchanged a few words in a non-committal manner, seemingly just discussing an issue.
However, some people have noticed that the views of these two people are not neutral and they each have their own biases.
Wang Shi obviously favors the masked man and believes that he can escape.
Luo Xi seemed every word he said was derogatory.
"Strange, Luo Xi is the general manager of the Southwest Mercenary Union. What he says represents the entire union. He shouldn't be so obviously biased... Could it be that he was beaten by the masked weirdo?"
"Indeed, the bias is too obvious. The leader of a large organization should not say such things."
Many people were puzzled and smelled an unusual smell.
At this time, someone provided some gossip: "It is said that this Luo Xi knows Wang Teng and has private contact with him."
"Ah? The Southwest Mercenary Union is a formal organization. How could it be connected with a scumbag like Wang Teng?"
As everyone knows, Wang Teng and the various mercenary organizations under his command are illegal, brutal and bloodthirsty. Every member is a serious criminal who makes a living by looting and killing, and is not officially recognized.
The Mercenary Guild is a real and formal organization, and every member has a registered identity.
"Does Luo Xi want to recruit Wang Teng's mercenary organization?"
"That's impossible. The Southwest Mercenary Union is not controlled by Luo Xi alone."
"Maybe he received some benefits from Wang Teng?"
“…”
Everyone was talking about it and had different opinions.
This morning, in addition to the two mercenary unions, the leaders of other large organizations also expressed their opinions one after another.
The head of the Blazing Suicide Squad said: "The Masked Man is a brave man."
The head of the Northern Sailing Club said: "The war has finally ended, and the world is at peace. The mechanical race is an important force in maintaining world order. The masked man is setting off a new round of disputes. I don't know how many people will die because of him... If I were him, I would give up resistance and contribute to world peace with my life."
The leader of the wilderness survey team laughed and said, "Huh? Are the bones of the sailing club members made of seawater? Why are they so soft?"
The vice president of the Aurora Research Institute stood up and said: "Captain Liu is not right. No matter how hard the bones are, they cannot be stronger than steel."
“…”
This morning was quite exciting. The major organizations that were previously neutral actually showed a certain bias today.
Some people favor Su Xia, while others favor the mechanical clan, as if they are taking sides.
This situation makes people think more.
What happened to these neutral organizations?
