Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Bai Yusheng wore mustard colored diving trunks, large goggles, flippers and an oxygen mask. He dove into the water from a white speedboat passing through the Bermuda Sea. He appeared healthy and at most 30 years old, while in reality he was actually almost 50. Although he was was too stubborn to admit it, he was depressed to have fallen from grace from a high official of the Huxia Empire to a traitor now on the run. The Huaxia Special Ops had hounded him and protection from the CIA was the only way he had been able to survive. He had fled from the most prosperous America metropolis to a tiny British island in Central America with a population of just 60 000. It was smaller than a mere county in the Huaxia Empire!
After Bai Yusheng arrived there, he had kept to himself; the CIA agents protecting him did not have much to say to him either. Bored out of his mind, he became obsessed with diving and found that he especially loved deep sea diving. It was as though he could be separated from the troubles of the world once he delved deep underwater. The Bermuda Triangle was regarded as an infamous death zone because ships and planes often disappeared without reason. For that reason, the waters rarely had human contact and the natural landscape had been exceptionally well preserved. It was a paradise for diving enthusiasts. Bai Yusheng dove deeper in the water, schools of vibrant tropical fishes swimming by. The fish weren’t afraid and curiously swam around him.
The sun was especially scorching at noon, but the seawater was a barrier that kept the ocean’s temperature low. While the water’s surface was warm, the temperature and amount of sunlightdecreased as the depth increased. Bai Yusheng turned on his yellow diving flashlight to observe the strange and wonderful sealife as he immersed himself in the tranquility. He felt very safe here and wasn’t afraid at all. He knew that the three powerful CIA agents protecting him were sitting in the speedboat above, and that there were also other hidden ones guarding him. As powerful as the Huaxia Special Ops were, they would never think that he would be enjoying life, hidden in a seabed thousands of miles away. If he had the chance, he would try to go back to university and study marine biology to be a marine biologist one day. His daughter, Bai Shuang, was already with him and the American CIA had promised to protect their identities and give them new lives. Bai Yusheng held the diving flashlight and broke into a smile when he saw a bed of rare white coral appear before his eyes. He kickedhis flippers and swam forward.
Suddenly, two people in navy diving suits appeared from behind a coral reef nearby. Bai Yusheng froze. He had never encountered anyone else while diving in this area. These were the first tourists he had seen here in two months. They swam professionally, and had also donned aqualungs, waterproof masks that concealed their faces, and even giant diving goggles. They were well built and swam like fish. The two people moved towards him. Bai Yusheng raised his flashlight in greeting, but they shot towards him like arrows and left bubbles in their wake as they flanked his sides. Bai Yusheng immediately understood what was going on and horror gripped him from head to toe. The next second, he couldn’t breathe properly. It was the Huaxia Special Ops! They were still after him! Bai Yusheng threw away the flashlight and moved his hand to press the alarm on his arm to alert the CIA agent on the surface to rescue him! However he had underestimated the two divers’ abilities and the larger man on his right clamped down on his arm lightning fast. He was extremely strong and held Bai Yusheng in a vice-like grip as he reached over to rip off his diving mask and pull out his breathing apparatus. The other diver grabbed Bai Yusheng’s other arm. Bai Yusheng wasn’t even able to scream as the powerful underwater pressure compressed and bursted his organs, blood streaming out from his lips. He flailed madly in the two diver’s grips and thrashed in the water. Unfortunately they were over a 100 meters underwater, so there was no commotion on the surface from his struggling.
The two divers who came from behind the coral reef were Huo Shaoheng and Yin Shixiong. With the location information from the Nandou system, they had been able to pinpoint Bai Yusheng’s exact location. It wouldn’t have been easy to eliminate the CIA agents protecting Bai Yusheng, but it was a stroke of luck that he had gone diving alone. This good fortune had Huo Shaoheng secretly praying, even though he never had been superstitious. He and Yin Shixiong had rented two sets of diving equipment on the shore and swam for a full two hours in order to avoid the hidden agents and ambush to Bai Yusheng. Without an aqualung in the deepsea, a person would either drown or be suffocated to death by the high water pressure. It didn’t matter how Bai Yusheng died; Huo Shaoheng only cared that he was eliminated. They had clamped down on Bai Yusheng, who had lost his diving goggles and aqualung, for another half an hour to ensure he was really dead. They then took a photo as evidence and put a skin sample into a special test tube. Bai Yusheng’s corpse floated up to the surface when they finally let go. Huo Shaoheng waved to Yin Shixiong before the two men propelled with their flippers and quickly swam back. Once they returned to the shore, they merged with a group of diving enthusiasts and returned the rented equipment to quickly leave before the CIA agents noticed anything was wrong. The mission was incredibly successful: they had eliminated a large threat to the Huaxia Empire. Huo Shaoheng broke into a rare smile. It was already past five in the evening by the time they finally returned to the Q-Class submarine in the Cuban waters. Huo Shaoheng immediately ordered his men to rent a speedboat for Yin Shixiong and himself to rush to Gu Nianzhi’s cruise ship. The abundant coral reefs in the Caribbean oceans made it impossible for submarines to operate, so they decided to use a speedboat. Just then, the previously brilliant ocean suddenly darkened. Clouds rolled in from all directions, completely botting out the light. The sky dimmed and the wind picked up.
“What’s going on?” Huo Shaoheng’s heart sank as he grabbed a local, asking the question in English. The person only spoke Spanish, and when they finally found someone who spoke English, raindrops the size of pebbles began falling from the sky.
The local anxiosuly gestured to Huo Shaoheng and Yin Shixiong, “It’s going to rain heavily and a hurricane is coming; you’d better not go out to the sea.”
“Hurricane?!” Huo Shaoheng frowned as he rushed back to the submarine with Yin Shixiong to check the weather conditions.
….
At the same time, the Caribbean waters Gu Nianzhi was sailing on were still calm. She stood on the Princess cruise ship and watched a racing speed boat slice through the ocean and approach their ship. Her full red lips curved into a bright smile as she ran to the side of the ship to wave and shout “Hello!” Many people stood on the boat, their faces fully concealed by strawhats. When they heard Gu Nianzhi’s voice, a few of them looked up. All the passengers were black.
Gu Nianzhi widened her eyes and blinked as she looked at the people on the boat again before turning to Wen Shouyi, “Teaching Assistant Wen, did you invite a lot of black people?” She didn’t remember having any black classmates or friends!
Wen Shouyi shook her head in shock. “No, those invited are mostly from the Huaxia, and there are a few from America. They’re all people you know, such as Allan.”
Zhao Liangze walked over to look as well. He had much more experience than Gu Nianzhi and immediately noticed something was wrong. He yanked Gu Nianzhi back. “Let’s go! Those are pirates!”
