When the Manta Ray amphibious submarine surfaced from under the water again, it was only two hours before Chinese New Year's Eve.

This was the third search and rescue of the manta ray near the waters where the Sunset Goddess sank, but there was still nothing to be found, except to watch the freighter break in half in the explosion and sink to the bottom of the sea with the whirlpool, but no trace of the living was found.

"! Dive again! Nakahisa angrily ordered.

"Lieutenant Colonel, a blizzard is coming...... said a member of the team on the console timidly looking back at Nakahisa, the radar in front of her showing a huge blizzard approaching the sea not far away.

"What nonsense! Dive in! Zhong Jiu shouted, one hand slamming down on the counter.

"Lieutenant Colonel Nakahisa." The red-haired Arya held down Nakahisa's hand, "We'll have to retreat for now." ”

"What do you say! I didn't find my sister and Hong Yuesheng, no one was allowed to leave! Nakaku shook off Arya's hand menacingly.

"Do you think I don't want to save them?!" The red-haired Arya also became unusually emotional: "The upcoming snowstorm will bring unpredictable waves, the manta ray is a lightweight raid submarine, and it is not capable of dealing with this kind of weather at all, and the safety of the entire crew will be difficult to guarantee at that time, I need to be responsible for everyone!" ”

"Did you say enough!!" Nakahisa interrupted her, looking ahead to the window, and the snowflakes on the water outside were getting bigger and bigger, sweeping in the cold wind.

"First Class Master Chief Arya, the blizzard is expected to arrive in our area in ten minutes." The ship's AI is reported based on the latest monitoring data, and unlike Lisa, the AI (artificial intelligence) of the first generation of manta rays, the AI of the second generation is set to an adult male called Jack, with a more rational and mature personality, but less sense of humor.

"Zhongjiu!" The red-haired Arya looked at Nakaku who was carrying her back again.

"......" Nakahisa gritted his teeth and rattled, and when he looked at the screen next to him, the image of the wounded who had participated in the previous mission was shocking. There are only three survivors left in the Lionheart team, and the manta ray team has also suffered a lot of casualties.

"Nakahisa! If you don't leave, you won't ......."

"Arrange for the injured and those willing to leave to be evacuated by lifeboat." Absorbing the shortcomings of the Manta Ray generation, the second generation of Manta Rays is equipped with emergency lifeboats on the left and right sides of the body. "But I'm not leaving."

"You ......"

"I, wait, in, this!" Nakahisa turned his head to look at the red-haired Arya and said word by word, "Until I see the two of them!" ”

His tone was so resolute that the red-haired Arya couldn't refute it for a while.

"Please note that there is an urgent notice: all wounded please go to the rescue boat immediately. Other crew members who are willing to evacuate can also leave with the approval of the person in charge. Please note ......"

Hearing the whole ship's announcement, Emily, who was originally dressing the wounds of the white tiger in the emergency rescue center, lowered her head and sobbed sadly, she knew that even if Hong Yuesheng and Brunhilde survived now, they would not be able to hold out much in the ice sea of the approaching snowstorm. If the number of personnel is reduced now, the speed of search and rescue will be slower, and it will be more auspicious. A wide, heavy hand gently patted her on the back, and she looked up, it was a white tiger. The white tiger man is like his name, but he is stupid and can't persuade people, so he can only comfort her silently, and his eyes are full of innocence and sadness. Emily finally couldn't help it, and fell into the arms of the white tiger and cried.

Bonnie on the side was also snuggling with the green snake, quietly looking out of the hanging window, sad.

Nakahisa watched on the console screen as the wounded had all boarded the ship under the proper arrangement of the red-haired Alya, and as the order was given, the No. 1 and No. 2 rescue boats were ejected one after another. From the bottom of the command room where he was, it could be seen that the originally bustling control room had also become crowded, and he couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Several heavy footsteps came from behind Nakaku, and he turned around to see that it was the tank girl. "Hey, big guy, why haven't you left yet?"

The tank girl snorted: "I'll go, see who else can carry you back from the bottom of the sea this time." ”

"Cut!" Nakahisa raised his hand and pointed at the Tank Girl, then giggled. When he turned around, he found that Bonnie, Green Snake, Emily, and White Tiger had all returned to the submarine control room below the command room.

"Hey! Who told you all to stay and drag me back! "Zhong Jiu's habit of a foul mouth has not changed at any time.

Bonnie looked up at him and crossed his hands: "You're alone, see how you make the manta rays move!" ”

"Enough of the noise, Crusaders!" The red-haired Arya's voice came from behind the crowd.

"Master Chief 1st!" Everyone saw Arya quickly stand upright, and their hearts were happy. Following Alya, more of the team returned to their posts.

"Get ready now!" Red-haired Arya ordered. "Green Snake, White Tiger, I also need your help!"

"Yes!"

Nakahisa watched from the command room above as the red-haired Arya commanded the returning members to fill in the missing operational positions, with a rare smile without any sarcasm. And the red-haired Arya only glanced at Zhongjiu for a moment, and then ignored him and stopped paying attention to his busy work.

"A blizzard has entered our area." Artificial Intelligence Jack Report.

"Prepare for a blizzard!!"

Jack opened the external armor of the second generation of the manta ray, and it fell in unison to envelop the entire fuselage.

Zhong Jiu looked at the huge waves dozens of meters high brought by the blizzard in front of him, and raised his hand: "Wait!" (Wait!) ）”

The waves are getting closer, and everyone is on the lookout.

“Wait!！ (Wait!!)"

Just as the huge wave was about to hit down, all the power was concentrated on the peak of the wave, but when a moment of calm was exposed at the bottom of the wave, Nakahisa shouted, "Dive!" ”

As the manta ray struggled with the rough waves, just below it, a pair of birds composed of dazzling white light flapped their wings and glided through the deep sea, the streamer at the end of the wings dragged a white trail, and at the same time hummed a strange song, the frequency of which was very special and direct to people's hearts.

"Huh? What is it? Seems to have seen ...... somewhere before," a voice said.

Hearing the voice, Shiratori drew a charming arc in the blue sea and turned back to the owner of the voice: "Are you talking?" Stranger, would you like to stay and talk for a while? I've been at the bottom of the ocean for a long time. "It can talk!" I'm sorry, I don't have time right now, I'm in a hurry to do something. The voice replied.

"Do things? What to do? ”

"What's the matter...... That's right, I'm looking for my friend! ”

"Your friend? What kind of friend is it? As if there was finally someone to communicate with, Shiratori shook his head woven of light, full of curiosity.

"What kind of friend...... Somehow I can't remember it for a while. The owner of the voice felt as if he had suddenly lost his memory and became slurred.

The white bird flapped its wings a few times, and the streamer that emerged from its body slowly outlined the Lingzi in the seawater, and then the appearance of the phoenix, and the image fluttered with the seawater, looming: "Is it them?" "Yes, that's them! Have you seen them?! ”

"No, they're just phantoms created in your mind, partners in your mind."

"That's right...... They're all dead, and they'll never come back, they're just phantoms in their minds. ”

The shadows of Lingzi and Butterfly slowly dissipated into the dark waters, replaced by the reflection of Brunhilde.

"Is she your friend too?" Shiratori asked.

She ...... She's not a friend. There was some hesitation. I'm looking for her, though. ”

"If you're not a friend, why are you looking for her?"

One day in the cold winter,

Met people you didn't know on the road,

Cold, huddled in a dark corner.

I don't know why, I feel so uncomfortable.

"I don't know, maybe I don't want to see anyone alone in the dark anymore."

The white bird turned its head sideways, it only had one eye, and it was not like a real eye, but more like a black hole reflected in the gorgeous light, with a rotating galaxy in it, looking at the owner of the voice through the galaxy whirlpool: "You, you have done a great thing." ”

Then it flapped its wings and sang again at a strange frequency, and a strong light burst out from inside and out of the white bird's body.

Hong Yuesheng woke up suddenly, gasped, and then gasped violently, and the artificial heart in her chest still emitted the warm current brought by the gathering of light. Then he found that he was still in the Lionheart mecha, but there was a red alarm on the panoramic display, the mecha had basically been invalidated in the explosion just now, fortunately, the emergency air supply device was automatically activated during the coma, although the Lionheart mecha is a land combat model, but in order to prevent poison gas attacks or unpredictable emergencies, it is also equipped with a short-term air supply device. And although the Lionheart mecha itself was in tatters, he was still holding another red mecha that was also badly damaged in his arms, motionless, and his life and death were unknown.

"Brunhilde!" Hong Yuesheng shouted, only to find that the communication device had been completely damaged, and because he was still in the water, the sound could not be transmitted from the outside. The strange thing is that the strange frequency of singing in the dream just now has been transmitted from the dream to reality, and it is floating in the deep sea.

Hong Yuesheng struggled to turn his body in the mecha, looking out through the few still working display screens. They were sitting on a large gray-white platform that dragged them through the sea. Looking ahead, Hong Yuesheng actually saw an eye on the side of the large disproportionate square head in front of the platform!

The first thing Hong Yuesheng understood was that the so-called platform was actually the back of a sperm whale, and the song came from the cry of the sperm whale. Looking around, you can clearly see the huge circular scars on the back of the sperm whale, which were once left by the sucker serrations of the king squid.

"It's you! ......" Hong Yuesheng recognized that this was the whale when he was fighting against the king squid on the day of the Alliance's escape, and it actually swam into the sea from the maritime canal!

The pupils of the sperm whale also turned to look at him, and the spinning stars appeared in the pupils, and then gathered into a white bird flapping its wings, and Hong Yuesheng's mechanical heart also fluctuated, and a familiar feeling came to his heart.

"Lisa?" Hong Yuesheng blurted out. During the rescue operation on Alliance Day, the scene of the collapse of the Manta generation submarine is vivid:

―――――

"Goodbye." Hong Yuesheng heard Lisa's goodbye voice from the helmet.

"Why did you say goodbye?" Hong Yuesheng asked, "You are artificial intelligence, can't you exist anywhere?" ”

"I'm from the manta ray's parent computer, and there is no internet under the sea to upload my data. Therefore, if the manta ray is gone, it means that I don't exist either. ”

"But Lisa, there must be something to ......" Hong Yuesheng anxiously shone the headlamp back to the sinking manta ray.

"You've done something amazing." Lisa said word for word.

The manta generation suddenly struggled to swing its triangular fins, ignoring the fact that more movements would accelerate the demise of its limbs - it used its two wings to spread out in the shape of two wings, imitating the movement of a pigeon spreading its wings, and at the same time, the lights were fully turned on for the last time, as if to release the last brilliance of life, and an energy beyond a simple creature or machine burst out of the manta fish's body, flew towards Hong Yuesheng, and merged with him, and for a moment, Hong Yuesheng felt that his artificial heart was as hot as a red-hot iron core.

After exhausting the last of its strength, the light system around the manta fish stopped, and with the intense electromagnetic radiation, the body cracked and shattered.

―――――

"Lisa! Is it really you? Hong Yuesheng looked into the whale's eyes and shouted, but the light in the whale's eyes gradually disappeared, and the heat in Hong Yuesheng's chest gradually weakened. Is it the whale you brought with you, Lisa......"

The two mechas, which were once incompatible, are now like two people in rags, snuggling up to each other, sitting on the back of a whale, swaying towards the sea level in the distance. Under the waters behind them, among the large number of containers that were sinking to the bottom of the sea due to the collapse of the Sunset Goddess, several of them suddenly struggled......

(our_underwater_detector_discovers_a_specific_frequency_in_the_area_of_accident Report, the underwater detectors set up by our army detected a signal of a special frequency in the area of the accident. ）”

As soon as Rupert returned to the Intelligence Service, a staff member came to report. From the very beginning of the mission, Rupert gave orders to the team led by the Intelligence Department to maintain 24-hour detection and full support for the rescue work in the sunken sea area of the Sunset Goddess.

“52_hertz? Neither_human_being_nor_the_hull_of_a_ship_emits_sound_waves_in_that_frequency_range. (Fifty-two hertz?) This is not a band for humans or hulls. Rupert looked at the report and said, he immediately walked to the monitoring station and picked up headphones to listen: "Is_it_singing...?" (…… This is...... Song? )”

“Actually,we’ve_noticed_this_sound_when_chasing_the_Sunset_Goddess.But_now_it’s_particularly_strong,we_speculate_that_it_should_be_a_whale_ (Actually, this sound was discovered during our tracking of the Sunset Goddess, but now it is so strong that we speculate that it is the song of a whale.) ）”

“Whale? Normally, whales_typically_call_at_frequencies_between_15_and_40hertz, don't_they? The normal call of a whale is between fifteen and forty hertz, isn't it? ）”

“True.So_we_suspect_this_is_a_mutant_creature_severely_affected_by_underwater_electromagnetic_interference,which_is_the_reason_why_it_use_unusual_sound_ (You're right, so we speculate that it is a special product that has been mutated by severe undersea electromagnetic interference, so the call frequency is different.) Staff debriefed.

"A lonely whale, singing all day long but without the understanding and resonance of the same kind, can only be found in the lonely song, we all call it "Wandering_Minstrel (lonely bard)" ~ "The new young female assistant next to the staff added excitedly next to her that she used an allusion to Gu Yaning. But when he saw Rupert's serious gaze, he quickly lowered his head and remained silent. ”

"Sorry, she's_newbie (Sorry Captain, she's new here.) The staff quickly apologized, "We_immediately_to_investigate_other_clues (we'll go search for other information right away)." ”

"Wait_a_second (wait a minute)." Rupert made a gesture: "Send_me_the_tracks_of_the_" Wandering_Minstrel". (Send your 52 Hz "Bard" tracks to my computer.) )”

“Yes_Sir!” The staff and the female assistant immediately stood up and saluted, and the female assistant lowered her head and snickered.

Rupert entered his office, and through the transparent glass, he could see the inspectors outside the room busily working at work, whispering and greeting each other with "Happy_new_year (Happy New Year)" and exchanging New Year's gifts, and even an executive cart pushing up a tray of small cakes with small burning candles on them. Yes, there is only an hour left until the New Year's countdown.

Rupert sat in the shadow behind his computer, took out a cold fast-food sandwich from a drawer and put it in his mouth, while watching the real-time transmission of "52 hertz singing" trace the track, thoughtful.