Chapter 934: All Set For a Showdown
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Faced with 52 Hertz’s encirclement and interception, Zhang Zian knew that he had miscalculated some aspects of his plan. Thirty years of longing could not be eased by just a few sounds.
Years of loneliness had caused 52 Hertz to separate from the whale species entirely, making it eccentric. Its actions were not entirely the same as that of normal whales.
It had come by a response easily. It was like it had managed to grab something lifesaving… How could it let it go? Even if it was not malicious, its huge size in itself was a threat.
When Zhang Zian tried to drive north, it chased him to the north side, and when he drove to the south, it chased him to the south side.
The horsepower of the a.s.sault boat was not enough, and the fin whale was known for its speed; it had the reputation of being the “deep sea greyhound.” 52 Hertz, which had inherited the bloodline of the fin whales, also had a shocking swimming speed. It could easily reach more than 20 miles per hour over short distances. As long as it wanted to chase Zhang Zian, he would not be able to leave.
Time pa.s.sed by, and Zhang Zian was still entangled by it. He was not able to get out of the troublesome situation no matter what he did.
Zhang Zian was in a dilemma. Its actions were dangerous to both him and itself because the sea water was already very shallow. There could be a sunken s.h.i.+p or construction waste on the sea bed and masts or steel bars could cut its belly.
If he drove out towards the sea it would be safe, but then he would be in danger.
The small boat was shaking more and more vigorously, and the breakfast in Zhang Zian’s stomach was queuing up to air itself.
It could not go on like that. Sooner or later, the little boat of friends.h.i.+p would turn over.
He could not help but secretly regret not borrowing a bigger fis.h.i.+ng boat, which, was still unlikely to make it through the chase, but it could have at least held on for a little longer.
There was no such regret medicine sold in the world. He remembered what Sihwa had said to him before: good luck. He gritted his teeth, decided to take an unconventional gamble, and made every possible effort to get out of the situation.
He quickly put on the headphones and put the underwater sound device into the water.
As expected, 52 Hertz was singing again, but since the distance was too close, its song overrode all the other sounds. Both ears of the headphones echoed with its whining song. It was like it was cheering, like it was crying, and like it was complaining…
It could not hold itself back; it wanted to say all the words it had acc.u.mulated its whole life.
Zhang Zian could not understand its words, but he knew who could understand.
While holding the side of the boat, he tried to dial the phone, but the boat was being rocked so violently by the waves. He was so dizzy from the b.u.mpiness that he couldn’t see the screen clearly.
Just at that moment, his phone suddenly rang.
He did not have the time to think further; he instinctively swiped on his phone. He did not even see clearly who called him; he just hoped that it was not some hara.s.sment phone call to sell him insurance.
“h.e.l.lo?”
“…h.e.l.lo?” The voice in the telephone really deviated from the voice in real life. Zhang Zian was stunned for half a second before he responded. The voice was actually Sihwa’s. “Sihwa?” he asked loudly.
“En… en, are you still all right? I’ve been hearing the sound of whales from the east since you left. A whale said it heard a restless whale and a trapped boat… I’m a little worried. Of course, I’m not worried about you! So I called to ask ask…” Sihwa’s nervous voice came from the receiver.
Zhang Zian raised his eyes and quickly looked around the area. In the sea not far away, he saw two grayish black backs. Although he could not see them clearly, he thought it might have been the mother and son minke whales. However, he did not know where the male whale went.
They could have also been attracted by Sihwa’s song, but his concentration had been on 52 Hertz… He did not even know when they had appeared.
After suffering losses the last time, they did not even dare to go near to 52 Hertz. They could only sing their whale songs from afar.
There were many whales around the thousands of kilometers of the area. Most of them were concentrated in the sea off the coast. They were like a noisy banquet hall, talking about practically everything. It was very difficult to tell what they were talking about exactly.
Sihwa did not recognize the mother and son minke whales, but she had heard their songs. In their songs they had mentioned a giant whale and a small boat, and although she was not sure where the situation was happening, she linked it to Zhang Zian’s situation. He had not returned, despite it being quite late, and she had begun to worry in her heart for some reason.
She wanted to find people to help, but she could not expose herself, and the rest of the elfins could not speak… The only one who could speak, Richard, could not be taken seriously.
Furthermore, she was not able to confirm whether the person stuck was Zhang Zian or not. The sound could have come from the sea over a hundred kilometers away.
The whale song mentioned how the current situation was becoming more and more dangerous, but the ability of whales to express themselves was limited. It was unable to fully and accurately describe what the exact situation was.
In a moment of desperation, she remembered that her cell phone could make phone calls, so she plucked up the courage to dial the only number in the phone book.
Radio waves jumped between telecommunication base stations, attenuating in the air and increasing by base stations. When they reached the last base station by the sea, they found that there was no way ahead. They jumped towards the sea desperately, and finally reached the target cell phone before the energy fully decayed and was exhausted.
Zhang Zian’s cell phone only had one signal bar left, and the quality of the call was not high. It was even more difficult to access the Internet. The last time he tried to send a photo to Huang, it took half a day before it was sent over. He did not even think that he could receive phone calls in the middle of the sea… When he returned, he would have to add five yuan to his telephone bill to express his grat.i.tude to the telecommunications company.
52 Hertz’s desire was turning into disappointment, and its movement range was getting larger and larger. It was not the time for politeness, and Zhang Zian instantly said, “Sihwa, 52 Hertz is getting very impatient. Can you listen to what 52 Hertz is saying?”
As he said that, he opened the hands-free mode and put his phone between the two ends of the headphones to let Sihwa directly hear its voice.
He was very nervous in his heart; he did not know if there would be enough time. Because of the limited ability of low-frequency sound waves to carry information, Sihwa might have to listen for several minutes to understand what 52 Hertz was so eagerly expressing. What he lacked most now, however, was time.
The weather was quite good and there was not much wind, but the water’s surface was choppy because of the huge body of 52 Hertz. Its movements were like someone was stirring a pot of dumpling soup, and Zhang Zian’s small boat was the only dumpling in the pot.
It definitely had no ill will, but despite that, a sneeze could blow the boat ten meters away.
Zhang Zian’s was very worried in his heart, but he still could not rush Sihwa. He could only pretend to be calm as he asked, “How much longer do you need?”
“You still need to wait awhile more…” Sihwa was also very anxious. Although she was not yet able to fully understand what 52 Hertz was expressing, based on the impatience in its voice and the sounds of the waves in the background, she guessed that the situation was not good.
“No worries. Just listen to it slowly.” Zhang Zian comforted her. His eyes checked out the surroundings of the boat, planning his escape path after the boat capsized.
“Eh?” Sihwa suddenly shouted, shocked.
‘What happened? Do you understand what it’s saying now?” Zhang Zian anxiously asked.
“No… Nope. It’s not 52 Hertz… It’s other whales… I hear a lot of other whales…” she said incoherently. “They… They are here!”
An unexpected turnaround occurred!
52 Hertz seemed like it felt some sort of threat, and suddenly stopped swimming around the small boat. It stared in the direction of the deeper sea.
The surface of the sea around Zhang Zian calmed down very quickly, but the surface of the sea in front of them was very, very choppy.
What is going on? Zhang Zian wondered. Are you kidding? Who could threaten the big bully of the sea?
He followed 52 Hertz’s lead and looked in the direction of the choppy water.
Hua!
One after another, greyish black backs emerged. They stretched out in long lines to seal off the sea… It was at least a dozen adult minke whales, and from time to time there were short water sprays in the far-off distance, indicating that more minke whales were rus.h.i.+ng over.
The one at the head was the male whale that Zhang Zian had met before. No wonder it did not appear by the mother and son minke whales! It had gone out to call the nearby minke whales over.
Minke whales normally traveled alone, but sometimes, they would form large groups, especially when they met with trouble. They would communicate with each other through whale songs to coordinate a group operation. After all, whales were social animals, and when one was in trouble, they would be supported on all sides.
The male whale suffered a solo loss the last time. This time, however, it had been smart and asked for help to fight in a group.
Now, there was a rare and big-scale minke whale gathering.
Minke whales did not have teeth, but they could use the top of their heads and their bodies to hit each other, and they could use their tail to sweep each other. A singular minke whale could become food for the other ferocious animals at sea, but a big group of minke whales could protect themselves.
The mother and son minke whales joined the group of whales, and they could no longer be found. The sea was covered with grayish black backs that loomed over the water’s surface from time to time.
It was no longer three heroes fighting against Lu Bu, but instead, it was thousands of soldiers and ten thousand horses going to flatten Lu Bu…
If he recorded the scene on his mobile phone and posted it on a video website with the t.i.tle, “Legendary 52 Hertz Battles a Group of Minke Whales,” it would certainly draw a lot of attention.
It was a pity that Zhang Zian did not have the time to record it. His phone was being used to let Sihwa listen to the whale song, and even if there was time to record it, he did not plan on recording it. He did not want to disturb the peace of the whales in Binhai City.
No matter how desperate 52 Hertz was, it still needed to deal with the situation in front of it. The surface of the sea had already been sealed off by the group of minke whales, and it was not the deep sea that it could swim into deeper depths in. If it wanted to break out of being surrounded, it had to barge through the line of minke whales.
Zhang Zian and his boat had regained temporary stability. He could take the opportunity to slip away, but he did not want to leave 52 Hertz and the minke whales to fight each other until both sides got hurt. Otherwise, there would be several stranded whales on the beach the next day.
The pair of earm.u.f.fs on the earphones echoed all the different kinds of sounds captured by the underwater sound device. The minke whales’ song was chaotic and noisy, and all kinds of information was being exchanged intensively. The sound of 52 Hertz was more profound. Even if he could not understand it completely, he could feel the sadness of it. The other party could attract a large group of whales when it was met with disagreements, but it would always fight alone. There were no whales of the same species that could respond to its call.
At that moment, suddenly, another melodious song came out between the earphones. The voice rose to the peak and twisted into the trough, corresponding to two different frequencies.
52 Hertz and the group of minke whales instantly calmed down.