Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 858 Seeing
We live on a tranquil island called Ignorance, surrounded by an endless black ocean, and we should never have set sail in the first place.

Science, each science, strives forward in its own direction, and therefore causes almost no harm.
But sooner or later, certain seemingly unrelated pieces of knowledge will come together to reveal a terrifying vision of reality, exposing the terrible predicament of humanity within it. We may go mad, or we may flee from this deadly light and hide in a new dark age, enjoying its tranquility and safety.

-

For the people living in the 97 parishes today, Nanwei City is probably that peaceful little island called "ignorance".

They will never know how many unknown eyes are watching their every word and action from the surrounding black ocean. Perhaps one day someone in this city will be able to glimpse a corner of this terrifying truth, or perhaps never.

They were unaware that they and their world had already experienced destruction.

Undeniably, at least for the time being, this place is indeed peaceful and safe.

But if you wade across that dark sea, things might be different.

...

Will anyone actually wade across that murky sea?
I mean, among the "native" Nanwei people, is there really anyone who can discover the dark secrets beneath the eastern docks?
It has been proven that humans, at any stage of evolutionary history, are a species with an extremely high thirst for knowledge; to put it simply, they are prone to courting death—occasionally, frequently, and occasionally.

Whether it's the piercing screech of birds in the suburban cemetery at night or the terrifying face that flashes by at the bottom of the canal, these moments not only fail to quell human curiosity, but instead fuel it.

So, some students from Nanwei Academy stole a fully isolated diving suit designed by Chinese people at the beginning of this century from the library, pieced it together from various relatively cheap raw materials, and barely managed to make this diving suit that kept them warm but not safe. Then they plunged headfirst into the sea without hesitation.

Michael Summers.

That's his name.

A highly creative and inquisitive soul was born into a middle-class family whose material conditions could not provide him with perfect support.

He had already received an acceptance letter from that mysterious university in the Miskatonic River Valley, but by some strange twist of fate, the letter he had carefully kept mysteriously disappeared. No one knew why, and Michael himself couldn't explain it either.

He clearly remembered it, because Miskatonic was the school he had longed for most during his youth, but everyone had forgotten about it, including himself.

Michael will never again dwell on where that acceptance letter and the inquiry letter he sent to the University of Michigan went.

Now he just wanted to see what unspeakable secrets were hidden in that sea area filled with all sorts of strange rumors.

Michael was quite certain that he had witnessed a black cylindrical object, thicker than the supporting columns of the Garnier Opera House, emerge from beneath the sea some time ago. The object was beyond his comprehension, as it seemed to be something alive, and it disappeared into the cargo ship debris piled up at the dock at an extremely fast speed.

Michael still remembers that scene, but that's all he remembers, because he fainted after that and when he woke up again, he was already in a hospital room.

...

All misfortunes and suffering often originate from a thought that pops into your mind unintentionally.

Those seemingly reasonable ideas can often lead to the death of a person, directly or indirectly, or even bring about more terrible madness.

……

So, on a morning with plenty of light, Michael took his homemade wetsuit and went to the eastern coast.

He didn't even need to find a quiet place, because this was Nanwei City, and no one would bother to stop someone from going into the water.

Now, fifteen minutes have passed since they entered the water.

…His inner monologue at this moment was like this—

I think I'm probably dead... or about to die.

Seawater has seeped into my wetsuit and submerged my snorkel... Maybe I really shouldn't have chosen such unreliable and inferior materials, but it seems too late to say anything now.

It is said that suffocation can cause a person to briefly fall into hallucinations before losing consciousness, and that people also have a moment of delusional time before they die. I think I am probably in such a state now.

Otherwise, there would be no way to explain what I am seeing.

...

……

Michael found himself not swept away by the underwater currents, but completely submerged in the cold mud and sand.

He surfaced from one direction, but this was no longer the familiar coastline of Nanwei City. As far as the eye could see, there was no coastline at all. He was like a lonely soul who had fallen into the underworld, drifting on the vast sea surrounded by stars, being scrutinized by all distant gazes.

But he quickly forgot about this breathtaking scene, because there were other, more terrifying things on the sea besides him.

He saw flames.

The flames transformed into a gigantic beast.

The behemoth's form constantly shifted and changed, as if it could easily touch the starry sky. The gaze emanating from its magma-like eyes caused the seawater to boil, and made the blood and flesh on Michael's body ripen and boil.

He also saw mechanical constructs as large as warships.

That creation was larger and more terrifying than the fiery behemoth; its pitch-black, non-reflective shell had enormous chimneys that spewed out black smoke.

The two colossal creatures stood across Michael's field of vision, locked in a fierce battle on the sea.

...

Michael wasn't sure what kind of behavior it was either. His understanding told him it was a battle between wild beasts, but he also knew very well that what he saw was neither a wild beast nor any kind of creation within his understanding. Therefore, it was unreasonable to make a judgment based on his past shallow knowledge.

But Michael was content to see such a scene before he died, even though it was very likely a hallucination he experienced due to oxygen deprivation.

...

In the end, the mechanical behemoth spewing black smoke crushed the fire beast into pieces.

Countless sparks exploded in the sky above the sea, turning into dazzling fireworks. For a moment, Michael couldn't even see the brilliant starry sky anymore, as the broken sparks of fireworks filled his vision.

I could almost hear the beautiful string melody in my ears.

He never imagined that the end of his life would be such a mysterious and dreamlike scene; perhaps this was the final solace that death offered him.

...

(End of this chapter)