The research vessel’s compartments were divided into three lower decks and seven upper decks, with the deck located on the fourth level. The dining hall, boarding hall, and work area were all on that level. Just moments ago, everyone had been leisurely enjoying the view from the deck.
Now, in a hurry, they scrambled into the boarding hall. Li Weiyi, though facing such an unexpected situation for the first time, displayed extraordinary calm. In the face of danger without a hint of panic, he ensured all the research team members entered through the hatch, and he was the last to leave the deck, locking the hatch behind him.
In these brief two minutes, that purple-black bear-like creature had already crossed three or four kilometers of icy plain and reached the underside of the Longji.
“Whoosh—” It leaped into the air.
Its massive and powerful body jumped onto the ship’s side several meters high, and with a heavy “thud,” it landed on the deck. The floor of the boarding hall shuddered from the impact. Up close, one could see its long, luxuriant fur, draped like a coat of purple-black iron.
Its eyes, larger than a man’s fist, shone a purple-red, and its teeth were sharp as a saw’s edge. Its facial features had grown disturbingly human-like. Even through the thick, specially-made glass, one could feel its ferocity.
Li Weiyi couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart. Fortunately, the window was small, so there was no worry of it breaking in.
“Boom!”
The bear-like creature suddenly charged out and slammed into the hatch that had just been closed. The entire boarding hall reverberated with crashing sounds, and the special glass was riddled with cracks. Many research team members screamed.
The boarding hall descended into chaos. Some raced up the stairs, while others took the elevator, hoping to escape to the higher decks. The hatch on the Longji polar research vessel was built with alloy material and a multi-layer design to keep out the cold and resist strong winds.
Even with the purple-black bear-like creature’s immense strength, it couldn’t break it open outright. But Li Weiyi noticed that the area around the hatch was beginning to deform. It was only a matter of time before it was forced open.
“Move everything you can over here—block the hatch!”
Li Weiyi shouted. Amid the noisy chaos of the boarding hall, everyone only cared about escaping the most dangerous area as quickly as possible, and no one answered him. All the storage units and equipment on the vessel had been fixed in place to withstand rough seas.
Li Weiyi finally managed to dismantle a storage cabinet in the hall, planning to push it to block the hatch, when Xie Jin, who had just arrived, barked, “What do you think you’re doing?” Xie Jin, along with seven members of the security team armed with stun guns, protective shields, tear gas, and other weapons, had reached the boarding hall.
They were tall, robust, and had determined, piercing gazes—the elite selected through multiple rounds.
“Is he trying to tear the ship apart?” someone joked.
“It’s only a bear, and you’re all so scared?” …
“Boom!”
The purple-black bear-like creature slammed into the hatch for the fourth time. The area around the hatch was severely deformed, with signs of tearing. The deafening sound was like cannon fire battering the ship’s hull.
Even Xie Jin and the other eight security team members, upon seeing the colossal creature outside their window, turned pale with fear, feeling suffocated and terrified—as if their very blood was being squeezed. What kind of bear was this? It was no ordinary bear at all; it was more like a prehistoric monster—massive and ferocious, beyond anyone’s comprehension.
If someone recorded it and reported it…
“Click!”
The sound of a camera shutter rang out awkwardly in the boarding hall. The short, stocky trainee who liked to recite poetry and tell mythical stories did not escape. Instead, he stayed near the window taking photos.
When all eyes turned to him, he sheepishly put away his camera and explained, “I study ecology and environmental biology. This is absolutely a new species that has never been seen on Earth—a truly earth-shattering discovery. With this find, our polar expedition will definitely become the talk of the whole nation… of the entire world…”
“Boom!”
The creature struck the hatch for the fifth time, and the metal around it began to shatter and tear apart, the largest crack as wide as a palm. Cold air rushed in, and everyone in the boarding hall was filled with horror.
“I’ll help you push it,” said the short trainee.
He trembled with fear as he hurried to Li Weiyi’s side, and together they pushed the storage cabinet to the hatch to form a barrier. But clearly, it wasn’t enough. Xie Jin had already reacted.
He quickly ordered all the security team members to dismantle and move all the cabinets and tables and chairs. This bear-like creature, almost like it had mutated from nuclear radiation, was something that none of the weapons on board could really counter.
If it charged in, everyone on the research vessel would soon become nothing more than its flesh and blood food.
“Rumble, rumble!”
The sound of the propeller began outside. As the creature crashed into the hatch, a helicopter was already pushed out of the hangar. Now, the helicopter hovered mid-air, with Zhao Meng wearing sunglasses, holding a rifle, and aiming directly at the purple-black bear-like creature.
“So there’s an American-made net on board. Now we’re set; that was just a false alarm,” the short trainee cheered, feeling relieved.
On the deck, the bear-like creature, which possessed surprising spirit, sensed danger. Its fur stood on end like steel needles a foot long. It stood on its hind legs, letting out a fierce roar toward the distant helicopter.
Its cry was louder than that of lions and tigers, high-pitched like peals of thunder.
“Bang!”
Gunfire rang out, and a bullet hit the creature’s head. Before the crew could celebrate, the bear-like creature let out an even angrier roar that echoed across the icy plain. It clenched a piece of metal equipment from the research vessel and hurled it into the air, threatening to bring the helicopter down.
Fortunately, the helicopter climbed sharply in time, narrowly avoiding disaster. The area of the creature’s head that had been hit seethed with blood, though it wasn’t seriously hurt—just a light injury.
“My rifle can’t even pierce its skull. Is it still a carbon-based lifeform?”
The short trainee’s scalp went numb, and his legs trembled, his earlier confidence in the American net completely gone. Li Weiyi showed a worried look. This bear-like creature was very intelligent and could counterattack.
If the helicopter were hit, the consequences would be unimaginable. His senior brother was on that helicopter, after all. Li Weiyi scanned the surroundings and noticed the weapons on Xie Jin and the other security team members.
He urged, “Why isn’t the tear gas in use yet?” Without waiting for further discussion, he snatched a canister from Xie Jin, opened it, and tossed it out through a gap in the hatch. Instantly, a thick cloud of smoke billowed outdoors.
Although Xie Jin was not pleased, he understood the gravity of the situation and held his tongue. He calmly ordered everyone to use all available tear gas. Meanwhile, on the helicopter, Zhao Meng grew angry too.
He kept firing his rifle in rapid succession.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The bear-like creature, having already suffered, now knew better than to try to withstand bullets with its body. It began to dodge quickly. It could sprint like a cheetah at top speed for three or four kilometers and its reflexes for jumping and evading were naturally very agile.
Fortunately, Zhao Meng was an excellent marksman, and combined with the tear gas interference, before two magazines were completely emptied, the creature was successfully driven away from the research ship. Li Weiyi rushed to the helipad at once, helping Zhao Meng and the others push the helicopter back into the hangar.
“It’s not leaving—it’s watching from afar. At any moment, it might launch a second attack,” Zhao Meng said with a grim look.
The Longji was a research vessel and carried very limited ammunition; only three bullets remained in its magazine.
“Now we can only rely on the heavens! I saw from up high that in the distance the clouds had darkened, the wind was fierce, and a blizzard was coming.”
Zhao Meng reminded Li Weiyi to stay careful, then hurried to the cockpit to discuss borrowing a gun with the captain. There was also a shotgun in the 705 Laboratory. Yet Zhao Meng wasn’t at all sure if it would even harm that bear-like creature. …
The cockpit was located on the tenth level of the ship’s compartments, the highest point of the entire research vessel. When Zhao Meng entered the cockpit, Captain Gao Xin, Second Mate Xie Tianshu, and five of the research group leaders including Professor Xu had already gathered inside. The atmosphere was very solemn.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the electronic nautical chart and the underwater monitoring system screen. On the screen was a three-dimensional image of the underwater marine life beneath the ship’s hull. There it was: a marine creature even larger than the Longji itself, moving slowly along the direction of the ship in the ocean some hundred meters below.
It must have been about two hundred meters long, with nine thick tentacles. It was unimaginable that such a massive creature moving underwater could stir up such powerful undercurrents.
“A mutated bear-like creature just emerged, and now there’s another in the deep. How can there be such gigantic life forms on Earth?”
Everyone in the cockpit was stunned.
“Could it be the giant squid?”
“This one is many times larger than a giant squid!”
“We know that the largest marine creature, the blue whale, is only about thirty meters long and weighs nearly two hundred tons. But compared to that, this deep-sea giant looks like a newborn baby. I’d say it weighs at least ten thousand tons.” …
Professor Xu, a biology expert, adjusted his glasses and stared intently at the screen. Shaking his head, he said, “Look at its nine tentacles—each ends in a human-head-like structure. Its torso resembles that of a giant bull.
It’s simply incredible, absolutely a new species never before seen on Earth.”
“That’s the Nine Infants.”
At the doorway of the cockpit appeared an old man in a dark blue Zhongshan suit. He was the head of the 705 Laboratory. No one knew his real name; they all just called him Director Yang.
“Nine Infants?”
Professor Xu had never heard of such a creature before. Director Yang walked into the cockpit and stood in front of the screen. In a low voice he said, “The Nine Infants are fierce beasts from myth and legend, recorded in the ‘Ben Jing Xun’ of the Huainanzi.
According to the legends, they roamed the North Sea, their cries resembling those of infants, and they had nine heads. Upon seeing a person, they would devour them, and they could spit fire and water. But no one expected them to be this enormous.”
Just then, as the research group leaders were about to criticize him for not being scientific and talking about myths, Director Yang bowed deeply to everyone with apologetic eyes.
“I’m sorry, everyone. These fierce beasts were very likely attracted by something from the 705 Laboratory. I apologize for bringing you all into danger.”
Zhao Meng, straightforward by nature, had been boiling with anger for a long time.
“What exactly is the 705 Laboratory researching? Today we must get some answers.”
Captain Gao Xin clearly seemed to know some inside details. He turned to Director Yang and said, “The situation is incredibly dangerous now. Both on land and sea, we are being stalked by these abnormal fierce beasts.
No one knows what we will face next. I think it’s time to tell everyone the truth.” Director Yang nodded, “Everyone, let’s go together to the 705 Laboratory… you’ll understand everything once you see it.” … …………
Li Weiyi returned to his cabin and retrieved from a wooden box under his bed an ancient sword, four feet in length. It felt heavy in his hand, its scabbard made of ebony. He drew the sword out about half a foot, revealing a blade that looked as if it were made of brass.
Li Weiyi knew very well that this sword was not actually made of brass; it was a treasured item from the Chan Sect, second only to the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish’s treasure. From his childhood, he hadn’t seen the Old Sect Leader ever grind or polish it, yet it always remained sharp and rust-free.
The Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish was merely the symbol of the Sect Head’s authority to him. The true first divine weapon of the Chan Sect was this Yellow Dragon Sword. After sheathing the sword, Li Weiyi took it and descended the stairs to the boarding hall.
Although Zhao Meng had told him that he did not need to consider himself part of the security team, once he had enjoyed the privileges afforded to them, he could not simply hide when danger arrived. How long could one hide, when the whole nest was in peril? The boarding hall’s hatch was now tightly jammed with cabinets and desks.
Most of the security team members were stationed there, holding various weapons and standing ready. When they saw Li Weiyi walking down the stairs, their faces showed surprise.
“This university student certainly has some guts and responsibility!”
For the first time in over a month, they gave him a sincere, approving nod. The light dimmed as the sky grew gloomy. A blizzard was approaching.
Outside the broken windows, the wind started as a whisper, then gradually turned into a roar that swept across the entire icy plain.
(End of Chapter)