Chapter 913: Discussions
Han Lu and Nellie did not stop and rest after returning to the shore, running all the way to the Self-Defense Forces’ base. They rejected the captain’s proposal to ask the Fisheries Association for help, and they did not seek help from the police station.
This was because there was no one could deal with those things underwater except the army. When it came to this matter, Nellie felt more nervous than Han Lu. Other than the fact that Zhang Heng had rescued her earlier, she could not imagine the island she lived in would be surrounded by a larger group of monsters.
Yonaguni Island had was sparsely populated. Most of them were civilians with very little combat experience. Nellie had not forgotten the wall carvings that she saw earlier, where the monsters would ambush the human towns. Yonaguni Island was her hometown, where her friends and relatives lived. She had to protect it at all costs.
Nellie and Han Lu finally arrived at the gate of the military base. The two soldiers guarding the gate immediately raised their rifles and sounded a stern warning.
“This is a restricted military zone. No entry is allowed without permission!”
When they saw that Han Lu was a tourist, they repeated their warning in English.
Nellie raised her hands, showing that she carried no weapons, saying at the same time, “We have urgent matters to discuss with the person in charge here.”
After listening to her request, however, two soldiers appeared indifferent. Instead, they simply repeated, “This is a restricted military zone. You have to obtain permission to enter. Otherwise, I’m afraid that we will have to ask you to leave.”
“Please, this is probably a major event that has to do with the very survival of Yonaguni Island!” Nellie pleaded anxiously.
Yet, the two soldiers pretended that they did not hear her, and at the same time, raised their rifles a little higher.
“Do you know anyone in here? Maybe we can ask him to take us in,” Han Lu asked. She could see that it was almost impossible for them to enter the military base.
Nellie shook her head. “These soldiers are not from this island. Other than military exercises and training, they hardly leave this base. Normally, we don’t socialize with them. But…”
“But what?”
“The people from the Fisheries Association are connected with them, regularly delivering seafood to the base. You are right! The person in charge of the seafood delivery may know someone in the base,” Nellie replied. “We should try to talk to them.”
Nellie then contacted the man who captained the boat earlier. About a quarter of an hour later, a rather accomplished man in his forties in military uniform walked out of the base.
“Are you looking for me?”
“Are you the person in charge?” Nellie asked with expectation.
“No, I’m just a naval chief. I am mainly responsible for the external procurement of the base,” the man said while walking out of the gate. The soldiers on both sides then saluted him with their guns.
“Can you take us to see the person in charge here?”
“Let’s talk about what you are doing here first.” The naval chief did not agree to help them, but neither did he refuse them as well.
“Well, I know it sounds crazy, but we were diving towards the underwater ruins earlier, and the sea suddenly turned red. After that, we encountered the ocean current. When the current was gone, one of our companions disappeared. Hmm… She is Ms. Han Lu. To look for her, we entered an underwater palace.”
“You both?” the naval chief raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, yes. There were initially three of us. I was the diving guide of the diving club on the island, and the other two were tourists who came to visit this island,” Nellie explained.
“Well. Go on.”
“I don’t know how to describe the scene I saw afterward. A monster that looked like the combination of a man and a fish attacked me. However, one of our companions managed to kill it. Uh… After that, we continued to swim ahead, and we found the missing Ms. Han Lu. However, we also encountered more monsters. I could see there were at least hundreds of them… I don’t know their exact numbers… To save us, one of our companions was dragged to the bottom of the sea by those monsters. And now we don’t know if he is still alive…” Nellie’s voice started to tremble at the end.
“So, you are saying that you people were attacked by a group of mermaids?”
“No. They weren’t mermaids. With those hideous looks, they have nothing to do with mermaids. And I’m not talking about fairy tales. They are real. I saw it with my own eyes. I… I was too scared at the time, and I didn’t take a picture of them. But I did take a picture of some wall carvings at the entrance.”
Nellie passed the camera to the naval chief while talking.
The naval chief took it and studied it for a while. However, he did not comment on it. Instead, he asked, “Have you shown these photos to anyone else?”
“No, we came here as soon as we arrived at the shore,” Nellie admitted. “Sir, please trust us. We know the consequences of lying about such things.”
Upon hearing that, the naval chief remained speechless for a while. He seemed to be thinking about everything Nellie had just told him. After a while, he nodded. “Well, this is the base of the Self-Defense Forces. It is indeed true that you are not allowed to enter the base without permission. For the sake of Tanaka, the chairman of the Fisheries Association, I will let my superiors know about this. But I can’t guarantee that he will believe you. I will show him the pictures that you took as well. The photos should make your story a little bit more convincing.”
“Thank you for doing us a favor. This is about the survival of Yonaguni Island. I hope you can persuade your superiors to take this matter seriously.” Nellie bowed with tears.
While the naval chief turned around and walked back to the military base with the camera, Han Lu asked Nellie again in English, “What did he say?”
“The naval chief said that he would tell his superiors about it. If we can make the Self-Defense Forces take action, we might be able to kill all those monsters.”
Nellie did not tell them about rescuing Zhang Heng because two hours had passed since they came out of the sea. Zhang Heng’s hope of returning was too slim. However, as long as the Self-Defense Forces were willing to take action, they could kill those monsters and avenge Zhang Heng. At the same time, they could also save the residents on Yonaguni Island.
When Han Lu heard what she said, there was no joy on her face. Instead, she said, “Something is not right. Did he just take away your camera?”
“Yes. The naval chief said that he would show the photos to his superior. Those photos will prove what we had gone through was real.”
Under normal circumstances, there was nothing wrong with it. However, Han Lu didn’t know why she felt anxious, especially when she saw the naval chief. She even began to wonder if coming to the Self-Defense Forces for help was the right decision.
That being said, since she was now in a foreign country, she did not have too many options to choose from.