WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 191: Under Black Water (9)

──────

There was no time to search for any other survivors who might or might not be there. More precisely, there was no way to know how much time they had left. How long could the deck hold against the tensile stress? Once it began to split, the ship would tear apart in an instant. The sinking hull would suck in water and people together. Gyeoul let go of his lingering attachment.

'I have to avoid an ending like the novel, at least.'

In 「Moby Dick」, only one person survived to the end.

"Follow me quietly. First, we secure a boat."

There were no objections. Once Gyeoul made his decision, he took the lead. Clack. Joanna, the last one out, shut the door. That alone was enough to keep the mutants trapped inside.

Once they stepped outside, visibility plunged. Through the narrow field of view provided by the night-vision goggles, the fog lit by infrared illumination looked like white noise across a screen. In some ways, it felt worse than seeing with the naked eye. Even so, Gyeoul did not remove the goggles. If they used ordinary lights just to see with their bare eyes, the brightened fog would draw every mutant on the deck to them.

The tilted deck was wet with the pale night wind. Its glossy surface was like a slide, so for everyone except Gyeoul, it was safer to climb while holding the railing. Up to the rope ladder.

Kieeeek-

There was a loud crash as something fell, and then a mutant came sliding straight down. "Aah!" Agent Kelly screamed. She fired in a fit on top of that. Every bullet she sprayed went wide.

The moment the monster tried to stand, Gyeoul shot its knee instead of its head. Crack! The shot shattered the patella and severed the cruciate ligament. The monster lost its balance and fell backward. Kyaak, kyaaaak! It rolled down, shrieking. Gyeoul reached out and stopped any further shooting. This was the moment they had to be quiet.

As expected, the screeches from the one that rolled away drew in other mutants. Black silhouettes whipped past beyond the fog. Thoom, thud! They were sprinting at full speed and crashing into the bridge. Their night vision was just as poor. To them, the wall must have seemed to appear out of nowhere in the fog.

Gyeoul pulled the pin from a grenade and threw it low, letting it roll under their feet on its own.

Flash. Light and blast struck the fog. As the water-soaked darkness was shoved back, countless enraged, blood-colored cries overlapped. The agents crouched low and breathing hard shuddered.

The rope ladder tied to the railing was as precarious as the angle made it. He had to retie the knots to balance it. Down below, where the ladder ended, the rippling pitch-black sea unsettled Gyeoul.

Limited 「Presence Concealment」 is the problem...

Unless it was sensory correction in the superhuman realm, he could not detect Melville Rays underwater from outside the water.

For that reason, the signs of an attack were fairly clear. White foam always rose along their path. In other words, when dealing with them, he had to trust his own eyes and ears more than the warning from sensory correction. But the environment was still bad. Far too much trash floated on this dark sea.

And if one of them was lying in ambush in a single spot, even those traces grew faint.

There was no other choice. Gyeoul hung from the ladder.

"I'll go down first and check. If I decide it's safe, I'll send a light signal."

"Be careful. We'll cover you."

At Talbot's words, two muzzles started to angle downward. From Gyeoul's point of view, though, that felt even more dangerous. They lacked the skill to handle monsters that could leap several meters above the water. The only person he could trust was Joanna, and she had to protect the Intelligence Agency agents.

"I don't need cover. Everyone else, watch the deck. Agent Kelly, wait for my signal."

"...Understood."

They had enough sense to understand. The three of them, led by Talbot, quietly backed down.

Gyeoul gripped both sides of the ladder and slid. He reached the bottom in three seconds, then stepped onto a makeshift pier made by tying small, empty boats into a line. The sea surging on both sides was a suffocating unknown.

Bwaaaaaaaang-

The blast of a giant ship horn made his eardrums throb. How large was the ship? How close was it passing? Splash. Only after ten seconds or so did the colliding wave shake the space beneath Gyeoul's feet. Calculating backward from the wave height, the ship's displacement was at least in the tens of thousands. Maybe over a hundred thousand tons.

Starting with that, different horns rang out from every direction as if competing with one another. Warnings to get out of their path at once. But how were they supposed to see each other in this fog?

As crashes large and small continued, Gyeoul moved forward through the oil-scented waves.

'At least there don't seem to be any ordinary mutants.'

The pontoon bridge forming the pier ended fifty meters from the Pequod's side. The residential area ahead had been smashed so badly that it was hard to find any trace of it. Fragments of boats used as homes floated with countless bodies.

At least the boat he was looking for was intact. It was a small craft Orca Black used to patrol the waterways of the maritime city.

Shrrrrr-

A very faint sound brushed past his ear. Gyeoul flattened himself against the deck. Then he lifted only his eyes over the gunwale. Where? He scanned the waves to the left, tense. About ten meters away, the surface was bubbling white.

Then where was the other one?

Melville Rays did not act alone. They always moved in pairs or more, and if only one was left, it had the habit of calling another group or fleeing. Sure enough, another approaching trail came into view. It resembled the track of a torpedo running at shallow depth. The pair of sea monsters slowly circling looked like evil spirits under black water.

'Should I fight? Or wait for them to finish 「Searching」 and leave?'

Gyeoul hesitated. The problem was his equipment. A rifle did not have enough firepower. Their bodies were thick, tough, and filled with water, so ordinary rifle rounds, 5.56 mm, might barely penetrate even under automatic fire.

If I had an anti-materiel rifle, I could take one out with a single shot.

Gyeoul's gaze moved to the boat. With the heavy machine gun mounted on the deck, he should be able to tear a leaping Melville Ray apart. From the moment it burst out of the surface, he would have less than two seconds to aim and fire, but that much was manageable.

In the end, Gyeoul decided to wait for them to leave. It would be trouble if they chewed up the boat with teeth and bite force that could cut steel plate. At least while the boat was moving, there would be no need to worry about that. Then he would only have to shred anything that left the water.

A moment later, one of them broke out of the circle it had been drawing. As if tied to an invisible string, the remaining one's trail curved and converged in the same direction. The speed at which they moved away far surpassed a human running on land. Their underwater movement was not swimming.

Kwaang! Creeeak-

Another roar as ship struck ship. Judging by the smaller sounds of breaking that followed, the difference in weight class seemed enormous. Gyeoul quickly signaled to the deck. He wrapped one hand around the front of the lantern like a cylinder to aim the light in one direction, then opened and closed it with his other hand.

Agent Kelly was the first to hurry down the ladder.

"There are no mutants ahead! Hurry! To the boat! Run!"

Before they come back. Urged on by Gyeoul, she ran in a rush. But because the pier kept heaving from the chaos beyond the fog, a dangerous scene soon unfolded. As she crossed from one gunwale to another, she staggered. Gyeoul caught up and grabbed her arm, but one leg had already fallen in. When he pulled it out, oil shone across her wet pants.

The weapon she had flung aside had barely caught on the gunwale. Shame spread across the agent's face.

"It's all right. Keep going. Be careful not to fall."

Gyeoul immediately caught the next person. This time it was Agent Tucker. One after another, they sure knew how to fall. He had told them to run, but how were they trying to run as if this were flat ground?

After Talbot crossed, Joanna came down last. But she did not move right away. She hesitated as if she had something to say.

"What is it?"

When Gyeoul asked, she thought for a moment before answering.

"They're sending a distress signal from the situation room."

"A distress signal?"

"Yes. They were shining a laser out the window. The one they used for briefings."

"Any chance it's not a person?"

"It was Morse code. SOS."

The reason she had hesitated was clear. Was rescue even possible in this situation? The situation room was on the top floor of the bridge, and climbing up there and coming back down would take at least ten or twenty minutes. Who knew what would happen in that time? That was what pained Joanna.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you."

"No. I'll go. Head to the boat first."

"What?"

Gyeoul's immediate answer horrified Joanna. She objected.

"It's too dangerous. At the very least, I can't let you go alone. I'll go with you."

"It's really fine. It'll only take a moment. I don't need to use the stairs."

"What does that..."

"The ship is tilted. I'm going to run up the front of the bridge."

The acute angle between the Pequod's hull and the sea surface had now reached about thirty-five degrees. In other words, the bridge that had once stood vertical was now lying at fifty-five degrees too. Even if it was seven stories tall, it was not quite twenty meters. Its smooth surface would be wet as well, but Level 15 「Movement」 was more than enough to overcome that.

"So go quickly. Get there, lock the door, and wait quietly. I saw something moving under the water, so don't turn on the lights. If they can't see you, you should be fine."

"I'll be right back." At Gyeoul's promise, Joanna bit her lip. But her hesitation was brief.

"Understood. Take this. You'll need it."

What she handed him was the same plastic explosive they had used earlier. There must have been a Door Breaching kit among the explosives recovered from the bodies. After giving him the explosive, she immediately turned and ran. Even on the shaking pontoon bridge, she did not lose her balance.

Gyeoul climbed the ladder quickly. The deck was a downhill slope. Even now, groans and shrieks from mutants came from somewhere. Gyeoul raced toward the bridge he could not see. More precisely, toward the source of the beam. A single vivid red line cut through the dense fog. Blink, blink. Flashing in long and short intervals, it was a desperate plea for rescue.

Whoever it was, they had used their head. Inside the relatively dry interior, the mutants would not be able to see the beam. The signal only became visible once the moisture in the outside air scattered the light.

It took barely more than twenty seconds to reach the situation room window after he ran up the bent incline.

Kyaaaaaak!

The monsters occupying the situation room discovered the boy. They hammered on the bulletproof glass from inside. Their countless hands blocked his view into the room. Gyeoul attached the explosive to the window and moved back. Then he pressed hard on the wired detonator.

Bang!

The thick glass exploded, and glittering fragments swept across the monsters' faces. Their bloody faces wept tears of blood from ruptured eyes. Gyeoul charged in through the opening and killed the ones that were still unharmed first.

Dududuk! Duk! Dududuk!

When a blinded mutant threw itself at him, he kicked it in the stomach with his combat boot. That alone sent it rolling down the slope for a long while. He bought time that way and reloaded. Clack. Before the dropped magazine even hit the floor, his resumed fire killed nine of them, and no further threats were visible.

Less than thirty seconds passed from the first explosion to the final kill.

Kieeeeeee-

Perhaps they had heard the commotion, because a swarm came rushing up from the lower floor. He planned to get out before they arrived. Gyeoul confirmed that the beam came from a familiar place. The communications room, separated from the situation room. The person opening the door and coming out was familiar too.

"Agent Kowalski?"

The agent's face brightened with joy for an instant when she saw Gyeoul, then wavered briefly. Despair? Why? As he thought, Gyeoul realized there was one likely reason.

"Is there no one else?"

At his question, Kowalski shook her head.

"I'm alone. The rest of the agents all..."

With a sorrowful face, she glanced over the fallen mutants. The men and women who no longer moved had all been CIA agents. Unfortunately, Chadwick was nowhere to be seen.

Clang, clang. The sound of mutants clinging to the stairs as they climbed rang loudly.

Gyeoul aimed at Kowalski.

"Lieutenant? What are you..."

"You know why, don't you?"

There was no proof. But the despair she had shown a moment ago was suspicious.

That was not all. For Chadwick to contact those comrades, cooperation from the person in charge of communications security would have been necessary. Had Agent Kelly not said so too? That every message going in and out was checked.

With the infrastructure near San Francisco destroyed or shut down, all communications went through satellite orbit. In other words, securing an unofficial communications network was not easy.

'Just from what happened before, it's true that Chadwick trusted her.'

So this was a bluff.

Kraaaaaak-! Keaak! Grrrrr!

The plague swarm asserted itself at just the right time, shaking the agent even further.

"Did Team Leader Chadwick talk?"

"..."

"Haa, really. That bizarre personality is still causing trouble even after death. I was trapped, waiting to die, and then I thought a miracle had come. In the end, I'm dying after all."

From despair to hope, then from hope to despair. After that sharp rise and fall, she laughed hollowly and cried.

Was Chadwick dead? Or did she only assume so?

She could have made the excuse that she had not directly taken part in locking up Gyeoul and Joanna, but she did not. Was it because she believed there was no neutrality on a moving train?

Gyeoul quietly watched her, then lowered his aim.

"Remember that I didn't kill you just now."

"...Are you sparing me?"

"Yes. But I won't forgive a second betrayal."

Kowalski's eyes wavered.

Gyeoul gestured toward the broken window.

"Whether it's a plea deal or something else, we'll talk after we get out safely. Come out for now."

If there was a witness, it would help uncover the true nature of the group that went on about true patriots. This was the balance point between heart and calculation. A way to remove one destabilizing factor from the world with greater certainty.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

#Comment Event Winner

The winner is Cheongnyuryeon-nim. Congratulations. It looks like you'll be able to enjoy some soft, chewy ramyeon from now on.

Please refer to the notice and send the recipient's name, address, and contact information.

That aside, wow, there are so many comments...

Views have dropped a lot these days, so I wondered how many there would be...

For those who did not win this time, please do not be too disappointed.

I'll do this one more time later.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried