At Sea (Part 2)

It's normal for the sea to be relatively calm when there's no wind.

But no matter when, even if it loses power, a ship adrift on the sea cannot remain completely still.

At this moment, the water around the ship remained completely still, without a single ripple. The surrounding water surface seemed to have turned into ice, completely flat and frozen, and the entire ship was like an object embedded in this ice, firmly fixed in place.

But when the people on the ship looked further out at the sea, they discovered that the anomaly was only in the area where their ship was located.

The Burmese crew members who were originally in charge of piloting the ship all lay prone on the deck, their foreheads touching the ground, chanting something incessantly. They clearly attributed their current predicament to something beyond human control—unable to resist, only able to pray.

"What's going on? What's happening?"

"Move the boat! Why isn't it moving?"

What's wrong with it?

Brother Kui, Scarface, and the others were still thinking about "solving the problem," either lying by the gunwales to observe the sea or dragging the Myanmar crew members to the engine room for inspection.

Scarface also threw a wrench into the water, but miraculously, the wrench didn't splash at all; it was as if it had fallen into a thick muddy swamp and was "swallowed" directly into the sea.

This scene shocked and terrified Brother Kui and the others, sending chills down their spines as they realized just how bizarre the situation was.

"Brother Kui, we don't know what's wrong with the engine, and all the power is off. Our ship... is completely immobile now. What should we do?" A tall young man, covered in sweat, rushed back to "Brother Kui" after leading the Myanmar crew to check the engine room.

Standing on the deck, there wasn't a breath of wind.

It was the hottest time of the afternoon, around three or four o'clock, with the sun blazing overhead, the weather was great, and the temperature was very high.

Those on deck felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

The air you inhale is warm, but it brings a cooling sensation once it enters your body.

The people on the boat, whether Myanmar or Chinese, had never encountered or even heard of such a situation before.

The ship they were on, and the sea they were in, seemed to have been suddenly transported to another world.

Just as "Brother Kui" gritted his teeth, preparing to say something to encourage the people on the ship and get them moving, another unexpected event occurred.

The sun was still high overhead, and there were no clouds to block it, but the surrounding light suddenly dimmed.

Immediately afterwards, a huge figure climbed out of the water and onto the stern of the boat.

"Brother Kui" tilted his head back, widened his eyes, and slowly opened his mouth, watching the figure gradually appear above the driver's seat.

It was a humanoid monster that was over five meters tall, with eight arms and eight eyes. Its body was like the rocks on the seabed covered with a lot of algae and shellfish. It rose from the seabed, bringing up a lot of seawater. You could even see several fish hanging on it jumping, struggling and falling.

After the enormous monster boarded the ship, the ship, which hadn't moved an inch since it had just come to a stop, began to tilt slightly under its immense weight.

Now, not only were the Myanmar crew members lying on the deck, too afraid to look up, but even Scarface and the other Brother Kui knelt on the ground, shouting words they themselves couldn't understand.

Only "Brother Kui" remained motionless, his head tilted back, mouth agape, eyes wide open, staring at the monster.

It wasn't that he was braver; rather, he found that he couldn't muster any strength and was limp against the ship's railing, unable to move at all.

The eight-armed, eight-eyed sea monster that was slowly approaching him opened its mouth wide. Although there were no sharp teeth, long tongues, or other terrifying things inside, only a dark void, from which blood occasionally oozed out and dripped down the corners of its mouth onto the deck, to "Brother Kui," just seeing that mouth made him constantly imagine himself being swallowed into it and slowly ground into flesh and blood.

The sea monster finally reached him, lowered its head, and its enormous head faced him. Suddenly, the black pupils in its eight eyes transformed into eight human faces struggling to break free.

Then the sea monster opened its mouth wide and swallowed "Brother Kui". From the dark depths of its mouth came faint, yet familiar, screams.

One after another, indistinct heads rolled out of the sea monster's bottomless throat, mingling with his own.

Before my eyes was the azure sky, in my ears the sound of the sea lapping against the hull and the faint roar of the engine.

"Brother Kui" was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that he had somehow ended up lying on the deck.

He sat up on the deck and looked around. The terrifying eight-armed, eight-eyed sea monster was no longer to be seen. Some of the Myanmar crew members around him were still lying on the ground, while others were lying on their backs like him. His men also looked distraught, some sitting and some lying on the deck.

At least it seems no one is missing or injured.

The light seemed to have returned to normal, as if they had emerged from the mist or darkness.

"Brother Kui" didn't know when the eight-armed, eight-eyed sea monster disappeared, nor how much time had passed between its appearance and its disappearance.

However, judging from the sun's position, it shouldn't be long.

He checked himself over and found that apart from being drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled out of the water, he was otherwise unharmed.

It felt like I was sprayed on the face by blood from the sea monster's mouth, but upon closer inspection, there were no blood-like stains on my face.

He spurred his still-weak body to his feet, then called over Scarface's men to go check the spot at the stern where the sea monster had boarded the ship.

At first, the two of them were a little apprehensive and uneasy, after all, the sea monster they had just seen was indeed very terrifying.

But after walking only a few steps, they all noticed something was wrong. When the sea monster rose up, seawater poured off its body, along with various algae, shellfish, and fish, all of which fell onto the boat.

But now, after traveling this far, the deck is spotless; there's not a single algae or fish, not even seawater.

"It's a hallucination, it must be a hallucination, damn it, I've seen a ghost!" Scarface muttered, though his tone was much lighter. Although every detail was incredibly real to his senses, he could still clearly remember the stench emanating from the monster.

"Brother Kui" frowned as he carefully inspected every part of the stern.

Then he discovered that there were no traces left at the stern either. It was impossible for such a huge monster, five or six meters tall, to climb onto the ship from the seabed, with the entire hull slightly raised, without leaving any trace.

The only possibility... is that it's a hallucination! It's fake!

But... that feeling was too real. The ship tilting up was a fact too. Could the changes in the ship's shape have all been an illusion?

He recalled how their ship had suddenly come to a complete stop, the engine and all equipment had ceased functioning, and even the surrounding seawater had become still.

Could it be... that everything was just an illusion?

"Slap!" Brother Kui couldn't help but slap himself hard.

Scarface was startled and instinctively staggered back a few steps, almost hitting the gunwale and falling into the sea.

"If what just happened was a hallucination, it felt fucking real." Brother Kui licked his mouth, which had been chafed by his teeth, and shook his head.

The two compared their observations of the eight-armed, eight-eyed sea monster and discovered that, in addition to the similarities of having eight arms and eight eyes and being covered with algae and shellfish, the sea monsters they saw also had many differences. For example, the sea monster that Brother Kui saw had no teeth and its mouth was deep and dark, while the sea monster that Scarface saw had a mouthful of sharp teeth and a dozen or so octopus-tentacle-like "tongues" in its mouth.

This further convinced them that what they were seeing was an "illusion."

But if it's a hallucination, why do they all see the characteristic of having eight arms and eight eyes? They couldn't figure it out.

Back on the forward deck, the two found the Myanmar crew arguing with Brother Kui's men.

"What are you doing?!" Scarface roared as he charged forward, kicking a short, dark-skinned Myanmar crew member to the ground. He then glared fiercely at the other two. "What's all the noise about? Want to die?"

"Brother Kui, they're clamoring to go back, saying they're quitting," one of his men said, frowning.

"Go back?" Brother Kui said coldly, "How do they want to go back? Do they want to swim back?"

"This boat is ours! We quit, we want to go back!" The Myanmar crew member who had been kicked to the ground by Scarface shouted at Brother Kui in broken Mandarin after getting up.

Another Myanmar crew member joined in, shouting in a mix of Burmese and Mandarin: "That's a warning from the Sea God! The evil deeds we've done have angered the Sea God!"

"This is the opportunity given to us by the Sea God, we must go back!" shouted the remaining Myanmar crew member.

"If you've taken the money, you'd better do a good job. You'll get your share of the benefits when we get there." Brother Kui pulled out a revolver and fiddled with it, saying coldly, "If you want to go back now, swim back yourself!"

These Myanmar crew members were actually the owners of the ship, or rather, its former owners. They knew what Brother Kui and his men did, and they knew that the big man tied up and locked in the cabin was a wealthy man being kidnapped. They weren't law-abiding fishermen; when there was profit to be made, they never hesitated to harm people. This time, they had only joined the ship because they had received Brother Kui's "ship purchase money," and they had only been frightened by the sea monster earlier.

"That thing just now was an illusion, like that storm, a mirage, understand?" Brother Kui raised his voice, brandishing the revolver in his hand. "Illusions can't kill you, but this can!"

After temporarily subduing the Myanmar crew, Brother Kui and Scarface entered the cabin one after the other.

Suddenly, Brother Kui's mind flashed to the image of Scarface behind him with a ferocious and savage expression, pulling out a short knife and stabbing him in the back. His heart skipped a beat, and he turned around abruptly, raising his gun to Scarface's forehead.

Suddenly, the man in front of him turned around and pointed a gun at his forehead. Scarface was stunned, not afraid, or rather, hadn't had time to be afraid yet. He just asked blankly and confusedly, "Brother Kui, what...?"

"You..." Brother Kui was also stunned for a moment, because the scarred man's expression did not match the scene that had just flashed through his mind, and he was not holding any weapon in his hand.

So Brother Kui forced a smile, put away his revolver, and said, "Just kidding. You've got some nerve, kid."

Scarface laughed and said, "Because I know you won't kill me, Brother Kui!"

However, Brother Kui then made an excuse to have Scarface walk in front, while he stayed behind.

They went straight to the driver's seat. Brother Kui wanted to see their current location and then use the satellite phone to contact the Indonesian side to confirm some things.

However, just as they entered, another tall, thin subordinate followed them in.

"Why did you come here too? Didn't I tell you and A Shui to keep an eye on those guys first?" Brother Kui asked, frowning.

"Brother Kui, I think... why don't we just go back to China? I heard before that fugitives abroad who voluntarily return to China and surrender are treated leniently, maybe even get their sentences reduced... I only committed minor crimes, so if I get a reduced sentence when I go back, I'll only serve two or three years at most... My dad is getting old, and my brother injured his leg the year before last, I'm thinking... ah!--"

Before the tall, thin young man could finish speaking, Brother Kui had already smashed his head open with the butt of a revolver, leaving him covered in blood. Kui Ge's left hand was gripping the young man's neck, the revolver pressed against his temple, and he growled in a twisted expression, "Confess? Lenient treatment? You committed a minor crime? Then can you also report the rest of us, earn some merit, and get your sentence reduced to zero?"

The tall, thin young man hesitated to speak, and Brother Kui beat him a few more times before stopping after being persuaded by Scarface.

Brother Kui, holding the revolver, sat down in the driver's seat, panting. He didn't know why, but he was very nervous. He felt that something was about to happen, and that everyone around him had ill intentions towards him. Even Scarface, who had always followed him and taken a knife for him, seemed to have something to hide.

Scarface said with some worry, "Brother Kui, Little Five is just being silly, don't be angry with him. I've talked to him, and he understands. We brothers share the good times and the bad... But tonight we're going back to pick up 'Pigskin Kid' and the others. What about those Burmese crew members...?"

Brother Kui said coldly, "Talk to them properly later. If they don't listen, just kill them. We'll pay to find someone else tonight. These ingrates were never meant to be spared anyway."

Suddenly, the ship's loudspeaker started playing, and Brother Kui's voice came through intermittently. "In a moment... just kill... these ingrates... I never intended to spare their lives anyway."

Originally, there were four people on the boat, including Brother Kui, while there were only three Burmese crew members. Moreover, Brother Kui and his men were all tall and strong, and had been brave and fierce since childhood. Brother Kui also had a revolver, so their fighting ability was completely overwhelming.

But now, Brother Kui, Scarface, and the tall, thin Little Five are all in the cockpit, while only one person is outside with the three Burmese crew members.

The conflict broke out very suddenly, with screams, cries of agony, the clanging of metal, and even gunshots all mixed together.

Unbeknownst to anyone on board, a bald man silently leaped from the water, clinging to the gunwale at the spot where Brother Kui and Scarface had just inspected the stern, and gently landed on the deck.