Chapter 310: Chapter 310: Conrad’s Past
6:24 PM.
The Endurance had been sailing for four hours and was still steadily floating in the sea area closed off by the Administration Bureau, as if the terrifying descriptions of this sea area were nothing but a joke.
The only unsettling thing was that as soon as they entered this sea area, all radio signals were imdiately cut off.
Conrad stood next to the helmsman, checking the vessel’s various navigation readings to ensure that nothing strange would occur.
His greatest concern was that sothing might erge from beneath the sea to attack the ship, and he had long since installed a series of protective equipnt on his own.
These safety devices included military-grade sonar and a full-ship surveillance system; the monitors kept watch not only inside the ship but also captured key external structures like the hull and propellers, directly connecting to a laptop in the captain’s quarters, allowing him full situational control of his ship at all tis.
Yet even with such preparations, Conrad was still uneasy.
Because no matter how many 7.62mm bullets he had, they wouldn’t be able to kill those things, especially at sea, where loss of the ship ant loss of life.
He picked up an antique bullet-hole spyglass and stood beside the bed, gazing out at the horizon where low clouds almost kissed the sea level, with white foam churning and sparkling white under the blazing sun.
Everything seed perfectly normal; the closed sea area wasn’t very large, and in fact, with the Endurance’s speed, they had already completed half of the journey after four hours of sailing.
It seed there was nothing to worry about.
Conrad put down the spyglass and saw Chen Ke standing on the deck, who seed to be lost in thought, staring at the deck in a daze. He didn’t know what Chen Ke was thinking but just hoped he wouldn’t get scared at this crucial mont.
In fact, Chen Ke wasn’t thinking about anything in particular; he was just scanning the entire ship with his Spiritual Vision.
Like Conrad, Chen Ke was very concerned that sothing might silently infiltrate the ship. In many horror movies about oceans and space, that’s how the terrifying events unfolded.
However, in this world, many strange things that can’t be explained by science can all be attributed to the realm of Spiritual Energy.
Those monsters weren’t created out of nothing; either they were native creatures from the Great Void or reality itself infected by Spiritual Energy. If sealing off this sea area was just because of monsters underneath, that wouldn’t make sense.
Containing monsters in a part of the sea wasn’t an easy task; Chen Ke was more inclined to suspect that this sea area possessed a strong magnetic field, or perhaps disturbances from Spiritual Energy factors, causing malfunction of the ship’s instrunts and leading to shipwrecks…
If that were the case, it would an this voyage was dood.
At least for now, the sea was calm, and he hoped the remaining journey would stay that way until he reached Norton City.
Without any incidents along the way, everyone spent ti idly playing cards in their cabins to pass the ti. As night fell, the rciless moon stared at the sea, sweeping away the day’s heat and bringing a cold breath of air.
Many crew mbers put on coats and queued up at the kitchen window for their als. Chen Ke, carrying a tal tray, watched the chef use an oversized ladle to dollop mashed potatoes on the top right corner of the tray, then add a grilled fish and so vegetables.
Although the food didn’t look particularly appetizing, it slled rather good. Laura and Nathan hadn’t eaten anything at noon, and they imdiately dug in with gusto upon receiving their als.
Chen Ke also took a few bites; the silky texture and rich flavor of the mashed potatoes made a lasting impression on him, so delectably savory and sweet that even he, soone without the need for food, couldn’t help but eat with relish.
Not needing to eat was convenient, but enjoying good food was one of life’s great pleasures.
“It looks like this sea area isn’t as terrible as we thought. Maybe our luck is turning,” Nathan approached and ca over to Chen Ke’s corner.
“What do you think is under this sea? Monsters?” Chen Ke asked.
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. I’d rather spend my whole life not knowing,” Nathan said with a smile.
“I feel the sa way. I hope to wake up after a sleep and be told by Conrad that we’ve reached shore. That’s what I want,” Chen Ke also smiled.
Nathan bade Chen Ke farewell and carried his tray back to his cabin.
Chen Ke slightly lowered his head, his pupils emitting a blue glow, and swept the ship again, discovering that in the captain’s quarters, Conrad was drinking alone.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
Running up to the bridge, Chen Ke knocked on the door.
“Chen Ke, I know it’s you,” a voice ca from inside.
Chen Ke pushed the door open to see Conrad holding a bottle of alcohol in his right hand, sitting and drinking while looking at a small picture fra. There were four empty bottles on the table—it looked like he’d had quite a bit to drink.
He closed the picture fra and then took a glass from the table and opened a new bottle to pour a drink.
“We haven’t left this sea area yet, and you’re already drinking like this. Aren’t you afraid sothing might happen?” Chen Ke asked.
“You just need to stay sober, right? Anyway, I wouldn’t be of much help by then,” Conrad’s face was flushed red, and he was already drunk.
“This ship needs its captain,” Chen Ke said.
Conrad sighed, slid the glass full of alcohol across the table towards the opposite side as a gesture for Chen Ke to co and sit down.
“Did I ever tell you about the Gulf War? The one in 1991…” Conrad asked.
Chen Ke pulled a chair and sat opposite Conrad, lifted the glass and drained it in one go, and asked, “The Gulf War… I rember it being a one-sided war.”
In Chen Ke’s world, that was a landmark modern war, the first large-scale ard conflict after the Cold War, showing the entire world what is called equipnt suppression…
“I think you’re joking… Chen Ke, it was a nightmare,” Conrad said with a smile.
Apparently, the Gulf War in this world was completely different.
“That was in Suss Bay, a beautiful seaside city. But the locals were conducting secret research into Spiritual Power Injection Skill there, trying to create Spiritual Ability Users to fight against the Administration Bureau. The United Nations and the International Spiritual Power Bureau commissioned the United Federation to send troops, hoping to nip them in the bud before things got out of control,” Conrad said indifferently, his eyes half-closed as he gazed at the desk lamp, his thoughts seemingly drifting to the past.
The Gulf War Conrad spoke of was entirely different from what Chen Ke had in mind, it was a version of the war involving spiritual abilities.
He recounted in fits and starts, talking about the hell on earth caused by the Air Force’s indiscriminate bombing of Suss Bay.
In order to maximally and effectively kill the target in the first wave of attack, the United Federation Air Force dispatched hundreds of B52 bombers, disregarding human rights laws, and dropped white phosphorus bombs over Suss Bay.
The bombs had extrely low ignition points and would ignite instantly upon contact with oxygen, reaching temperatures up to 1000 degrees. Besides the high temperature, they were difficult to extinguish, burning until nothing was left, not going out unless they were spent, and they could even consu the air in certain areas creating a particularly grueso killing effect.
When the first round of bombing was over, the Marine Corps that Hainerd was a part of landed first. As a regular army force, their main role was to enter the urban area to deal with conventional enemies.
Following them, the real primary force, the Spiritual Abilities Regular Army.
Their abilities were similar to P.W.A.T, stronger than investigators but not up to the level of the Administration Bureau agents, using Spiritual Bullets, facing the world’s spiritual threats with the scale of a military and inexhaustible ammunition.
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