Belazov completed the inspection of Dagger Island and the supervision of research work, and now it is time for the military representative to leave.

Near the pier of the port in the bay area of Daggerhead Island, Professor Melson, who came to see him off in person, raised his head and looked at the "Haiyan" who was preparing for departure.

Sailors are embarking, port officials are checking formalities, and clergy in robes and incense burners are walking around the cables, gently shaking the incense in their hands while praying for the ship's mechanical parts.

Today is a fine day, a good day to set sail.

Belazov stood on the dock, watched the batch of sailors return to the Petrel, and turned to Professor Melson and said: "Professor, I am very impressed with your research work, but I still need to remind you - the project on Dagger Island is progressing slowly, and some people on the city-state side are already unable to sit still. ”

"The order I received is to understand the various properties of that submersible under the premise of safety, try to decipher its material composition, and try to figure out how it appears in the next stage," the old professor said calmly, "Now we are moving forward according to the schedule, if the big people on the government department really have ideas, they can try to find those blueprints left by the Frost Queen to build submersibles No. 4 or even No. 5 - it is much more convenient to send someone down directly than to scrape samples in the laboratory every day." ”

"They won't like your reply—but I'd be happy to relay it for you," General Belazov laughed, "and they won't have the guts to build submersibles, which will make their expressions even more exciting." ”

Professor Melson shrugged, then was silent for a moment, and said in a somewhat complicated tone, "It's a joke, but to be honest, I'm quite worried about the progress of this matter. ”

Belazov did not speak, but calmly looked at the old professor, who had experienced the "queen's period".

"Scraping samples day after day and analyzing physicochemical properties is an essential part of the formal research process, but you can also see that there is only so much we can analyze from those samples," the old professor sighed, "and even if we do open that hatch one day, we probably won't get more secrets from the submersible—the real secret is not here, General, you know what I mean." ”

“…… Below a kilometer, Professor, your ideas are dangerous. ”

Malson sighed, "I thought a soldier like you would be more inclined to those dangerous ideas than a scholar like me. ”

"My duty is to keep the city-state safe, and this mission prefers me to a cautious and conservative approach," Belazov said lightly, "so you actually want to restart the ...... What 'diving equipment'? ”

"You'd rather say 'Restart the Abyss Project', right?" The old professor smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry, I'm not reckless enough to this extent, but there is an unavoidable fact here-the key to the whole thing is under deep water, and a replica of the diving bell in the laboratory can't solve any puzzles, we may really have to think about the 'reserve plan' - not necessarily an active dive, but if a ninth or even tenth replica does surface, we should at least have some means to deal with it." ”

“…… I'll pass your suggestion to the government department," Belazov sighed softly after a slight sigh, "and until a clear order is given, the project on this side of the Chamber of Secrets will proceed as usual. ”

The old professor nodded: "Thank you." ”

The Petrel departed.

Steam-powered clippers split the gentle waves, leaving a beautiful trail of spreading across the vast sea, and the steep and winding shores of Dagger Island faded into view and disappeared into the misty depths of the northern seas.

Belazov, who was on deck, withdrew his gaze from the island and turned to walk in the direction of the captain's quarters.

Dagger Island was not far from Frost Island, but it was a few hours away, and during this boring journey, he had to gather his thoughts and think about how to report to the city-state's administrators about Submersible Three—and how to mention Professor Melson's advice at the end.

Project Abyss...... This half-century-old case has left so far-reaching and terrifying effects that it has gradually become a no-boo without thinking, but now that new replicas have begun to emerge from the depths of the sea, I am afraid that it is really time to take a more proactive response.

A sailor waited near the captain's quarters, nodding to the general, "The steam core is working properly, and we'll be at Frost One in four hours." ”

Belazov glanced at the somewhat unfamiliar sailor and nodded slightly: "I need to rest for a while, don't bother if I have nothing to do." ”

"Yes, General."

Belazov returned to the captain's quarters, sat down at his desk, and breathed a sigh of relief as he listened to the low sound of machinery coming from deep within the floor beneath his feet.

I will be able to return to the island soon.

He settled down, opened the desk drawer, and took out the notes that had been placed in the secret compartment of the drawer in advance.

There was nothing unusual about this trip to Dagger Island, and the return journey was smooth, but some procedural things still cannot be omitted, which is an order and a duty.

After opening the note, the first sentence above came into view:

"Even if everything is normal, you must confirm your sanity and judgment, and even if there is nothing suspicious around, you must verify the following."

Belazov turned the pages of the book and performed a series of operations with great skill.

The sound of turning pages kept ringing in the room—

"You're left-handed, now confirm that......"

Recall a color, then turn to the next page...... It should be blue or black. ”

"Keywords, daggers, imagining, making sure that the picture in your mind matches the picture on the next page."

"Your name, Belazov, try to spell it in the margins of the next page."

"The entourage has been streamlined for this departure, and there are only thirty-two people on board—including yourself. If there is a significant deviation in personnel, roll call will be carried out immediately. ”

"The deputy brought in this time is Benjamin Jotun, who has a burn scar near his right eye."

Belazov flipped the pages of the book and repeated it in a simple reminiscence, or subconscious repetition, but suddenly, his movements stopped.

His gaze fell on the last sentence of the notebook on this page.

"There is a burn scar near the right eye......" Belazov repeated the sentence silently, an inexplicable doubt floating in his mind.

Right eye?

He slowly closed the notebook, put it back into the compartment, got up with a calm expression, and pushed open the door to the captain's quarters.

"Benjamin!" He shouted the name of the adjutant.

A middle-aged officer quickly pushed the door out of a nearby room and came to Belazov.

"General?"

Belazov looked at Benjamin's face.

In the center of his face is his eye, and there is only one.

A faint sense of disobedience beat in his heart, and Belazov's intellect told him that there seemed to be something wrong with what he saw, but a hazy curtain seemed to envelop his mind, he did not know what was wrong, and felt that everything was reasonable.

This slight deviation of consciousness made the general's heart gradually more and more vigilant, and he stared at Benjamin for a long time, trying to find the source of the sense of disobedience in his heart, until the adjutant's voice came into his ears again: "General? What's wrong? ”

“…… Benjamin, how many eyes should a person have? Belazov asked suddenly.

The adjutant was suddenly stunned, as if his mind had gone blank before this question, and seeing this, Belazov immediately spoke: "Forget about this question, just ask casually - you go back to the room to rest first, and I'll go down and have a look." ”

The adjutant blinked, and although he was puzzled, he nodded: "Yes, General." ”

The one-eyed human named Benjamin returned to the room, and Belazov looked at the other man's back, first relieved, then turned around and walked quickly towards the end of the hallway.

He knew that he had been a little reckless just now—he shouldn't have asked such a strange question to someone who seemed to be a little wrong when he was already suspicious, even if the other person was one of his most trusted lieutenants.

But without the questioning he had just asked, he couldn't be sure if the strangeness he vaguely perceived really existed.

Now, he's confirmed.

Something wasn't quite right on board, there were some ...... Something hidden from danger is on board.

He hurried through the hallway to the sailor's cafeteria.

The cafeteria was full of sailors, and the soldiers looked at the general who suddenly appeared with some astonishment and nervousness.

Belazov's gaze swept over everyone here, then waved at them, and sped off to the bridge.

It's all people, too.

There were also many people on deck.

The Haiyan was downsized, with only 32 people at the time of departure.

The number of people is wrong, very, very wrong.

However, the "everything is normal" mentality is still constantly jumping in my mind, as if I am fighting against the facts that have been laid out in the open.

Belazov stood on the stairs leading to the mechanical cabin, calmly staring at the downward ramp.

The torn consciousness was fighting, but he didn't need to care about the details of the difference between the two consciousnesses.

There are still more than two hours before arriving on the main island of Frost.

The ship was heading straight for the city-state.

He took a soft breath and strode towards the mechanical cabin in the deepest part of the ship.

(End of chapter)