A cargo ship sailing through the night cut across the sea.
Perhaps because it was close to the windless zone, there was not much wind along this sea route at night.
The sea lay calm. Only the rumble of the cargo ship's passage could be heard, along with the occasional murmur of undercurrents flowing beneath the surface.
The sailor on night watch yawned. Perhaps because the night was so peaceful and the sea so still, countless thoughts drifted through his mind. One moment, he thought that there were no islands nearby and thus no pirates, so he could safely steal a nap. The next, he thought of his wife and daughter back home—were they asleep too? Would they meet in their dreams...
As he thought, the sailor felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier.
Drowsiness clouded his mind.
Suddenly, a droning sound rang in his ears.
The sailor snapped his eyes open and hurriedly looked around, terrified that something had happened because he had dozed off.
But after looking around, he found nothing amiss aboard the ship.
Then, a column of water spouted from the distant sea, and a milky-white back emerged above the waves. Seeing it, the sailor smiled faintly. "So it's a White-whiskered Whale."
White-whiskered Whales were gentle creatures. Though massive in size, they had no interest in ships sailing on the sea. They usually fed on small fish, shrimp, and plankton.
The Whisker Whale Sea was called "Whisker Whale" because great numbers of White-whiskered Whales lived here.
To those who made their living in these waters, encountering a White-whiskered Whale was not a disaster at all. It could even be called good fortune.
Sure enough, not long afterward, the White-whiskered Whale made another droning call, exactly like the one he had heard before.
The sailor relaxed, secretly