I return to my room and close all of the windows. After making sure that nobody is near, I make a call to Issac.
The call is also encrypted to avoid any third parties, just in case. After a few seconds, the other side picks up the phone.
- Hi, Issac. What happened?
- Yuusha. This sounds a bit weird, but...
Is my secret exposed?
- Yes? - I hesitate a bit.
- There is a group of armed people visiting the university, and they specify that they want to visit the head of the department of Applied Science. I do not think that something bad may happen, but, do you have any idea?
- I do not have any. But why do you ask me?
- These armed people asked about the Huntly Mine incident.
I freeze for a few seconds. Issac continues.
- But no worries. I am not, like, suspecting you or something. I am just a bit concerned for your safety.
- Oh, thanks for that. - I sigh in relief.
I feel the other side of the phone pause for a bit.
- By the way, I just want to confirm something. Who was the person who guided you on the first day visiting the Huntly Mine?
- Albert. I thought you deploy him?
- Oh, it is nothing. He said that he had a stomachache early that morning, so he may ask another person in place of him. But well, it is him who guided you anyway.
- You freak me out for a second...
- Haha, sorry about that.
- Is there anything else?
- Nope. That is all I want to ask. Thanks for responding to my emergency call.
- No problem. Bye!
- Bye.
The phone call ends.
Only after the call ends, I can express my thoughts.
I sense that Issac is lying.
Anyway, worrying excessively does not help. I figure out that I should just go around and chill. When push comes to shove, I will deal with them later.
And once again, I find myself mindlessly loitering the little city on the ship. After all, this luxurious cruise ship advertises that it can offer any form of entertainment, and if it is true, I can find something else to kill time.
At one corner of the cruise ship, I can see a large area, where many people are gathering. I approach the crowd and ask a crew member standing there. He is also a young man in his thirties, like me, except that the ocean life makes him look like a giant compared to me.
- Hi, can I know what activities are we conducting here?
- Yes. Some people on the ship are currently having a fishing competition.
At first, it sounds reasonable, but as mentioned...
- Wait, I thought there are no aquatic creatures here?
The crew member laughs as he swings his arm across my shoulders.
- That is the point, after all. I am impressed you realise.
- What do you mean by that?
The man points at the two people sitting in the centre of the arc of people who are very focused on fishing.
- These two people over there just had a conflict or something at the casino. As far as what I heard, I think one of them accused the other of cheating. But then, he cannot detect what kind of tricks his opponent is using, so he went on a losing streak. Due to that, he caused a ruckus in the casino, which disturbed other visitors. And I am quite sure you understand how lucrative this casino is. If we do not kick them out, we will lose many customers, but at the same time, we need to satisfy them.
- So, the fishing competition?
- Yep. One of the staff in the casino suggested they compete in another domain, such as fishing. They just agree. But the staff is fully aware of the characteristics of Point Nemo, so he is buying more time by asking them to do something which supposedly will take them lots, lots of time. Sometimes, I feel lucky because of how unwitting these people are, and they do not even bother to research where they are going.
- That is brilliant. But, if this trip is designated to Point Nemo, where does the fishing equipment come from?
The man laughs again.
- This is not the first time this kind of commotion happens during cruise trips. We always store those stuff to deal with these troublesome customers.
Experiences sure hit hard.
- So, what if none of them fishes anything and they realise they are scammed?
- The crew can just borrow a fish or two from the cruise ship's kitchen and throw it somewhere nearby. Since the only food for the fish comes from the bait, it will be caught by either one of the competitors.
Elegance at its finest.
I thank the man, who then leaves after receiving a call from the administration to be deployed somewhere else, and then I find a higher place where I can watch the crowd from above.
One of the very few times I can look down on those rich people, both literally and metaphorically. I zoom in using my spectacle vision to better observe the ruckus. I can hear the sound of people arguing about who is going to win, as well as hearing the ridiculous amount of money they are betting. Money is just paper to them anyway.
After a few hours, the drama has yet to die down for some reason. At this point, I am just impressed with their patience. I am also surprised with my patience in sitting still and watching them fishing nothing without getting bored.
In a brief moment, I feel that I am being observed. It is not something new to me anymore, but getting spied on is something one can never get used to.
- Not again, huh?
In front of me, though very faint, I can trace the shape of a drone in midair, which is staring at me. I flick my hand to call a photon pistol and point at the flying object. After I press the trigger, an electromagnetic blast pierces through the air silently, disabling the drone. It shows its true shape and falls into the water, making a little splash that I am sure none of the people nearby can notice.
Anyway, this place is no longer safe for me anymore. I take out the EMP device, tune it for a while and trigger it with the remote. Disruptive signals sent from the device quickly disable every espionage mechanism around me, making a safe and tactical retreat.
It is already the evening, which means Mirai should have also been done with her tasks. I return to the hotel room, and as expected, she is already there.
- Ah, Yuusha. Just in time.
- Yes. I am always on time.
Mirai connects herself to the big screen in the room. There is a more detailed map of the underwater town now. She points at the highlighted spots on the map.
- So, here. These are the coordinates that we can attack. Then, according to the scans, these buildings here in the middle are the most critical parts of the whole town, so we will use this way to infiltrate and gain easy access to this central area. After that, we launch a full-scale attack that will bring this place down.
- That is all, right?
- Yea, but one more thing.
- And what is that?
- We will start our operation this midnight?
Now, that is weird.
- Why?
- I do not feel like this cruise ship is safe anymore. Just after you left the laboratory, or maybe half an hour later, my instincts suddenly spiked, which means incoming Intruders, so I hid under the table. Then, I squeezed the sound wave sphere, which I think you also remember, and to my surprise, drones are patrolling. I know that there is no reason for the crew members to deploy drones, so after they left the area, I sneaked back into this room and disabled all potential connections. I just finished my data analysis when you came.
So it is true. Our identity has been exposed.
However, very untimely, at the exact moment, the caffeine rush ends, and strong exhaustion strikes my body like a hopeless bowling pin. The sudden sleepiness arrives like a tsunami, swiftly and unprecedentedly.
- Sorry, Mirai... I think I need to sleep...
I fall onto the bed. In my half-consciousness, I barely hear Mirai responding.
- Can, but I will wake you up before the next morning arrives. We depart at three or four o'clock tomorrow.
I can feel the warmth as a blanket is laid on me. The unusual second day on the cruise ends at eight in the evening for me.