30% for option 1, 5% for option 2, 30% for option 3 and 35% for option 4.

……

[Option 4]

[Immediately enter the depths of the ancestral hall and try to block the hole with all the tools you can find (cranes, detectors, plasters, etc.)]

……

"Something is approaching you! Run inside! Plug the hole with everything you can find! Don't let it in! ”

Zheng Zhuo yelled at the radio talkie.

“…… Rustling ...... 'it'? …… Something's coming...... Feed? …… Zheng Zhuo? Zheng Zhuo—"

"Do it first!"

Seeing that "that thing" had disappeared around the corner of the coast, Zheng Zhuo's forehead quickly saw sweat.

Does that thing hurt? What happens if it kills the target person? Failed rescue of the target person? The world is starting to fall apart? I'm stuck here?

“…… Now is not the time to think about that! ”

Zheng Zhuo immediately cut off communication with Chu Huairen. He jerked open his tent and ran down the cliff, dialing the number again over the radio.

This time, he called the emergency contact number on the research ship.

……

"Do it first!"

After Zheng Zhuo said this, he hung up the communication.

And Chu Huairen inside the ancestral hall didn't know what was going on.

"What's wrong?"

Professor Lin Wen turned his head from the front.

"Zheng Zhuobo has a radio call, Professor." Chu Huairen put down the brush in his hand. He grabbed the metal detector and cautiously made his way to the hole, "He told us to seal the hole...... Something is coming. ”

Zheng Zhuo's words had no beginning or end, but his tone didn't seem like a joke. Chu Huairen felt a chill in his heart for no reason, and looked towards the entrance of the cave.

At the mouth of the cave is a pitch-black sea. The sun had long since set, and only the sea breeze was whining, and there was a slight fishy smell in the wind.

He told me to plug the hole...... What can plug the hole?

Chu Huairen looked at the entrance of the cave. There, only a few pieces of plasterboard were piled up scattered to pour the mold, and there were buckets of plaster that had not yet solidified.

(Seal the hole with plaster?) Unlikely, right...... The rest of the larger stuff...... That's all...... Crane...... ）”

"Professor, can you help push the small equivalent crane over?" Chu Huairen shouted two words into the cave, and then walked out tentatively.

And then.

He saw it.

In the darkness illuminated by a high-powered flashlight, in the crevices of mountain walls and reefs.

There's a humanoid thing.

The thing was hunched on its back and stood behind the nearest reef. It has hands, feet, a body, and a long, scaly ridge on its back. Its face, directly facing Chu Huairen, exhibited vague features like a human, and it also had the characteristics of a fish: a large head and bulging eyes. The body that peeks out from the side of the reef has a dirty green color like eutrophication of the water. Underneath that green, mottled scales grow in irregular clusters like skin moss.

The bulging giant eyeballs rolled. The light of the flashlight shone at it, and it didn't respond.

This is not the reaction of any living creature. However, it is definitely alive.

Because on both sides of its neck, its throat and the sides of its neck were split. Grayish-white, bloodshot gills bulge out from there, trembling slightly.

"--Oooo

What- Stuff-

Chu Huairen screamed uncontrollably.

The next second.

The thing suddenly opened its mouth.

A mouth full of fine, dense, spiral-shaped fangs.

“——————！！！”

A high-pitched, hoarse scream.

That monster actually pounced on Chu Huairen!

……

Worst!

Chu Huairen immediately kicked the gypsum board next to his feet towards the monster! However, the monster's strength is far greater than expected. Its barbed and webbed feet easily shattered the drywall, still closing in on it.

"Don't come here!!"

Chu Huairen swung the metal detector vigorously and smashed it towards the monster's head. I only heard the sound of a "bell", and the long steel rod of the metal detector was bent - it felt like it had been smashed on a stone.

“——！”

The monster screamed again, swinging the pole away with ease. The detector suddenly flew like a hollow product into the distant sea.

"Oops—"

That's when it happened.

With a thud, a thick wooden stick that had been lit flew in from a distance and landed in the sea.

It's Zheng Zhuo!

Because of Zheng Zhuo's attack, the monster hesitated for a moment.

"Quick! Crane! Plug it with a crane! ”

Zheng Zhuo shouted.

Crane......!

Chu Huairen didn't dare to let go of this opportunity. He gave a hard push, throwing the liquid plaster on the monster. Gray-white plaster splattered on the monster's waist, abdomen, and legs.

“——！”

The monster screamed more violently than ever. It violently and frantically swings its long, twisted hands and feet, trying to break free from the sticky plaster slurry.

Chu Huairen took the opportunity to run to the cave.

"Jean, Professor!"

Near the exit, he pushed away the fear-immobilized professor and pushed the small-yield crane forward.

Gala la la la –

The wheels of the small-yield crane make a tooth-aching sound and crash into the hole. Eventually, it managed to get stuck between the two pillars at the entrance of the cave.

"Stand back!"

Chu Huairen pulled the professor and ran back. They heard the monster approaching—it jumped forward, trying to squeeze into the entrance to the passage. However, the crane jammed its chest and abdomen.

The entire passage was filled with creepy writhing, struggle, and screams.

Crunchy.

“……”

Crunchy.

Chu Huairen and Professor Lin Wen didn't dare to come out, and waited with bated breath.

The voice sounded louder and louder, louder and louder. Little by little, little by little...... In despair, they saw that more and more of the monster's body parts were squeezing into the passage......

That's when it happened.

“…… Hurry up ......"

Loud human voices came from afar.

……

It's the rescue that's coming!

Zheng Zhuo's radio signal summoned the ship's sailors on standby. Armed with torches and steel forks to prevent birds, the sailors rushed here as fast as they could.

They ran towards Zheng Zhuo.

That's great! Seeing the familiar crew members who had not been seen for a long time, Zheng Zhuo was overjoyed.

However, at this moment, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

The stench of dead fish in the wind became heavier. And this taste......

Like, it came from the crew.

The fire is getting brighter. Zheng Zhuo saw that the crew members were all yellow, their eyes were red, and their eyes were bloodshot. On many people's necks, Zheng Zhuo saw red rashes like skin diseases and scratch marks.

"How ......"

"Where's the monster!?"

That's right! Now is not the time to ask this!

Zheng Zhuo immediately commanded the sailors.

"The monster is at the entrance of the ancestral hall - Professor Lin Wen and Chu Huairen are still inside!"

"Got it—"

The sailors shouted loudly and rushed forward. They threw torches and steel forks near the hole.

At first, Zheng Zhuo was worried about whether these weapons would have any effect on the fish-man-like monster. Thankfully, after being hit by a steel fork, the monster moved a few times before sliding out of the hole.

It took a few steps backwards, fell into the sea, and quickly disappeared without a trace, leaving only a series of tumbling bubbles.

……

The sailors rushed to the entrance of the cave. They worked together to push away the small-equivalent crane stuck in the hole, and Chu Huairen and Professor Lin Wen immediately climbed out of the gap.

"Thank you......"

"Don't rush to say thank you! That thing might come back! Let's go! ”

"Crane ......"

"There's no way to care about that much!"

The professor hadn't forgotten to pick up his suitcase, which contained the pottery shards he had brought with him, as well as some peeling fragments he had collected here. He held them firmly as if they were as important as his life.

That's all you can take away from here. Everyone really didn't have the power to take the crane anymore.

One by one, the sailors held hands and pulled everyone ashore.

Everyone immediately withdrew towards the research ship.

……

Zheng Zhuo and everyone ran all the way back. They must have run the fastest speed in their lives: an hour's journey, and everyone only ran for about twenty minutes before they saw the moored research ship in the distance.

"Hurry up!"

Everyone pulled Professor Lin Wen and Chu Huairen, who were out of breath, and dragged them onto the boat.

"What's the situation!?"

The captain and four students waited at the boarding gate, and when they saw that everyone was so nervous, they rushed all the way to the boat, and they knew that something was wrong.

"Yes...... There are monsters ......! ”

Zheng Zhuo gasped and said.

"Captain, there's something strange on this island—"

However.

Zheng Zhuo couldn't finish this. His face changed.

Because he saw underneath the research ship, among the gloomy reefs......

Shadows appeared.

One, two......

Many.

"It's down there!!"

He screamed.

And at the same time as he screamed.

The fish-man monsters began to pounce on the ship.

……

“——”

The monsters screamed and jumped onto the ship's moorads and gangplanks that connected to the coast and climbed up the hull.

"-Quick-stop them!"

Everyone is scrambling to wave their birdproof forks, trying to prevent these monsters from boarding the ship!

"No! There are too few of us! ”

However, the number of monsters is much greater than the number of people on board! No matter how much you slap the tethers, the gangplank, and the hands that fall on the railings of the ship, there are still more and more fish-man monsters climbing upwards - and they are about to climb up!

"No way!"

Zheng Zhuo's forehead was full of sweat, and he held the anti-bird fork and yelled.

"Sooner or later, they'll climb up! Captain! Can you drive a boat? ”

"It's low tide!"

There was a shudder in the captain's voice. He shouted.

"With the current draft...... It will take at least 8 hours to leave! ”

"Can't wait that long!"

Zheng Zhuo shouted.

"There are too few people! We're going to have to cut off some of the boarding methods! Otherwise, it can't be stopped at all! ”

……

【Question】

[The fish-man monster is trying to board the ship!] A way of boarding the ship must be cut off in order to hold the ship with the existing manpower! What are the ways to cut off? 】

[Option 1: Cut the tether connecting the coast]

Possible problem: Unable to dock securely to shore on the next call

[Option 2: Cut off the springboard for personnel to get on and off the ship]

Problems that may arise: After that, personnel can only use life-saving soft ladders to get up and down the research ship

[Option 3: Pour oil along the hull and ignite the fire]

Possible problem: It will burn the lifeboats on both sides of the research ship

[Option 4: Do not give up any way of boarding the ship, and hold it with the existing personnel]

Problems that may result: Some people are injured ~ killed