Sea of Darkness (Part 8)

Chapter 8: Sea of Darkness 08

Kui Xin flipped through the pages quickly.

“Mission: Completely destroy the Black Sea City port to prevent the giant cargo ship ‘Kraken’ from docking at Black Sea City. This is Mission Plan A.”

“If Plan A is chosen, the port demolition task must be completed by August 11. After August 11, the Kraken will enter the waters of Black Sea City, and the mission will be considered a failure.”

“Mission Plan B: Secretly board the giant cargo ship ‘Kraken’ and install an explosive device to sink it.”

“If Plan B is chosen, the Kraken must be destroyed before it enters Black Sea City’s waters on August 11.”

“The ultimate goal of the mission is to prevent the Kraken from entering Black Sea City’s territory. Repeat, the ultimate goal of the mission is to prevent the Kraken from entering Black Sea City’s territory.”

Kui Xin could sense the urgency emanating from the mission details.

What was the deal with the Kraken? Why was Mechanical Dawn so desperate to stop it from arriving in Black Sea City?

The Kraken was a giant cargo ship. The ship itself should be unremarkable, so whatever was unusual must be the cargo it carried!

What kind of cargo could make Mechanical Dawn so concerned—or rather, so terrified?

They were even willing to resort to blowing up the port and destroying the ship just to prevent the cargo-laden vessel from entering Black Sea City.

What was the Kraken transporting?

Kui Xin suppressed the uneasy feeling in her chest and continued reviewing the mission details.

“The No. 5 large cargo ship docking port in the harbor area and Warehouse 6308 in Zone D regularly replenish ammunition. If supplies are needed, you can go there to retrieve them. The Ruby Bar on Peace Avenue in the harbor area serves as a public safehouse for organization members. It contains medical equipment and weapons maintenance facilities and regularly replenishes small firearms and ammunition. The entry code is ‘One Deep Blue Bliss, please.’ The owner of the Hunter Shooting Club in the northern district can provide mission funds. The mechanical prosthetics laboratory on the third floor of the headquarters of Rick Technology Company can offer technological assistance to mission operatives…”

The more Kui Xin read, the more she felt a chill creeping up her spine.

This Mechanical Dawn organization was terrifyingly powerful.

She sorted out the information—first, Mechanical Dawn had the capability to mobilize the Black Sea City docking port warehouses as armories.

Second, Mechanical Dawn had numerous members stationed in Black Sea City, enough to require a public safehouse as a gathering place.

Third, Mechanical Dawn seemed to have substantial financial resources, with dedicated personnel managing mission funds.

Fourth, Rick Technology Company was highly likely directly affiliated with Mechanical Dawn, or perhaps it was a front company created by them.

Silver Mask stared at Kui Xin. “Finished reading? Got anything to say?”

“I’m calculating how many lives I’ll need to complete this mission. A hundred—would that be enough?” Kui Xin made a darkly humorous remark under the immense pressure.

“Just execute the mission,” Silver Mask said flatly. “Even if we have to sacrifice lives, as long as we can stop what’s on the Kraken from entering Black Sea City, our sacrifices will be worthwhile. If we die, it doesn’t matter; our comrades will continue to complete the mission before August 11.”

Kui Xin strongly suspected that Mechanical Dawn was essentially a brainwashing organization. The guy in front of her, code-named “Silver Mask,” seemed thoroughly brainwashed, to the point of disregarding his own life.

She glanced at the time on her wristband.

The date in the Second World was July 28, 2086. The current time was 00:23—midnight.

“We have less than half a month to complete the mission along with the other teams,” Silver Mask said. “It’s quite urgent.”

“Got it. I’ll draft an action plan as soon as possible,” Kui Xin replied. “But as an intern security officer, I also have tasks I must complete. The Investigation Department isn’t easy to fool.”

“The Investigation Department—the consortium’s lapdogs,” Silver Mask sneered. “You handle intelligence theft, I’ll handle the operation. We can plan together.”

Kui Xin nodded slowly.

She stood with Silver Mask in the living room for a while. Seeing that he didn’t seem inclined to speak further, she said, “I’m going to take care of my own things now. Do as you please.”

Kui Xin wasn’t sure how teammates in Mechanical Dawn’s execution squads typically interacted, nor did she know if there were any unspoken rules within the organization during missions.

Saying “Do as you please” was enough to convey that the conversation was over.

Besides, Kui Xin did indeed have her own matters to attend to.

Under Silver Mask’s watchful gaze, she walked through every room in the house, inspecting them carefully. The master bedroom was a bedroom with a small wardrobe. The other room was a secondary bedroom, used as a storage room. On the balcony, there were two pots of nearly dead green plants.

Kui Xin moved to the kitchen. The kitchen had all the necessary cookware and utensils. When she opened the old refrigerator with peeling paint, she found some food inside.

This house had a strong sense of being lived in. Unfortunately, the owner of the house was dead, and Kui Xin had taken it over.

She closed the refrigerator door and went straight to the bedroom to rummage through the wardrobe.

Inside the wardrobe, she found unopened undergarments. Kui Xin took a bath towel and picked out clean, casual clothes before heading into the bathroom, shutting the door with a bang.

Silver Mask stared blankly at the bathroom door. Only when the light in the bathroom turned on and the sound of running water reached his ears did he sluggishly realize—this woman was taking a shower.

He immediately averted his gaze and retreated to the sofa, sitting down with his hands neatly placed on his knees, like an obedient schoolboy.

Kui Xin felt a sense of reckless abandon.

Things were already this bad; she couldn’t afford to keep compromising. The worst outcome was death, but before that, she wanted to struggle a little more. Who knows—maybe her struggles would carry her to the end.

She was a competent undercover agent and an excellent actress. She was portraying an intern rookie from the Investigation Department, fully immersing herself in the role, treating herself as “Kui Xin,” a young woman who had graduated with honors and landed her first job.

A young woman coming home from work, drenched in rain, and taking a hot shower—this was entirely reasonable behavior. Her actions were logical.

Warm water cascaded down, and Kui Xin repeatedly hypnotized herself, forcing her thoughts to remain calm.

She spent twenty minutes showering and adjusting her mindset. When she emerged from the bathroom dressed in clean clothes, she found Silver Mask still sitting in the living room.

When he saw Kui Xin come out, Silver Mask gave her a cold glance before shifting his gaze away.

Kui Xin couldn’t figure out what this guy was up to.

She grabbed a towel to dry her hair, her mind spinning, and asked him, “What’s your next move…?”

“Standby,” Silver Mask replied.

Standby—where? Standby next to her? Why wasn’t this guy leaving?

To hide her expression, Kui Xin turned toward the kitchen. She took out some food from the refrigerator, planning to make a quick meal.

She hadn’t eaten since undergoing cranial surgery and was already starving. Fortunately, the kitchen equipment wasn’t too “high-tech” and still used clean energy like gas. She lit the stove, placed a pot on it, and decided to cook some noodles.

Silver Mask watched Kui Xin’s cooking with hawk-like intensity. His stomach let out a loud growl.

Silver Mask: “…”

Kui Xin: “…”

“Want some?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Silver Mask answered quickly.

So, Kui Xin added another handful of noodles to the pot and cracked in two eggs.

Details, it was all in the details. She stared blankly at the noodles boiling in the pot.

The fact that Silver Mask had accepted the invitation to eat without hesitation made Kui Xin conclude that he wasn’t as cold and invulnerable as he appeared. In fact, he seemed... a bit lacking in vigilance. He trusted his companions.

If it had been Kui Xin, she wouldn’t have eaten food handled by a stranger under such circumstances. Maybe she was just paranoid after being influenced by countless novels and movies.

The noodles were done. Kui Xin served herself a portion and brought it to the dining table. She said to Silver Mask, “Serve yourself.”

Silver Mask got up from the sofa, grabbed a bowl, and spread his fingers. The noodles, along with the remaining egg, floated steadily in the broth and landed in the bowl without spilling a single drop.

Kui Xin's hand, holding the chopsticks, trembled imperceptibly.

This was a supernatural ability! Silver Mask actually possessed a supernatural ability!

Silver Mask sat across from Kui Xin, holding his bowl. He raised his hand, removed his hood, and took off his mask.

Beneath the mask, his face was pale as snow. His eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair were all white, and his pupils were a faint pink. On his neck and the sides of his cheeks, faint red blood vessels were visible. If not for those subtle traces of red, he would have looked like a wandering ghost, a walking corpse devoid of life.

Silver Mask’s pale pink eyes glared at Kui Xin. “What are you staring at? Never seen someone with albinism before?”

She hadn’t, but that wasn’t what Kui Xin cared about. What caught her attention was the supernatural ability she had inadvertently revealed.

“I thought you wouldn’t take off your mask while eating,” Kui Xin shifted the topic.

“How am I supposed to eat without taking off my mask?” Silver Mask asked in puzzlement.

"That's something you should answer," Kui Xin said slowly.

Silver Mask seemed to realize something. "You thought I wore this mask just to look cool?"

“I never said that,” Kui Xin replied, lowering her head to eat the noodles.

Silver Mask’s expression turned sullen. He picked up some noodles with his chopsticks, took a bite, and promptly burned his mouth. Frustrated, he opened his palm and controlled the noodles in his bowl, making them float up and down in the air to cool quickly. Once the temperature dropped, he finally ate them in big mouthfuls, feeling comfortable at last.

This guy... doesn’t seem very smart.

Kui Xin thought to herself.

She had only made plain boiled noodles with a bit of salt, and the taste was far from impressive. Yet Silver Mask wasn’t picky at all; he ate with great enthusiasm, finishing the meal in just a few bites.

The way he wolfed down the noodles reminded Kui Xin of the piglets at her maternal grandfather's rural home, snuffling around for food.

“You go wash the dishes,” Kui Xin requested, wanting to test whether Silver Mask would comply.

Without complaint, Silver Mask carried the two empty bowls to the sink and turned on the tap.

“Turn the faucet down. Water bills are expensive,” Ms. Kui Xin said.

Silver Mask replied, “Why do you care so much? This house isn’t even yours! The water and electricity bills don’t come out of your pocket!”

“To play a role properly, you have to mimic every detail, whether in public or private. Don’t you understand that?” Kui Xin provided a flawless excuse.

Silver Mask begrudgingly controlled the flow of water as he washed the dishes. Once he finished, he placed them back in the cupboard.

Kui Xin observed him closely. It seemed Silver Mask’s supernatural ability was related to water. He didn’t control the bowls or other objects to make them float—he controlled the flow of water. Water was his medium.

When Silver Mask had first appeared in Kui Xin’s home, she thought he was an old acquaintance of the original owner of her body, so she had been extra cautious.

After several conversations and tests, Kui Xin tentatively concluded that the original owner of her body and Silver Mask were not familiar with each other. This was likely their first meeting. After all, when Silver Mask removed his mask, he had said, “Never seen albinism before?”

That sentence directly proved that the original owner had never seen Silver Mask’s true face.

If that was the case, Kui Xin didn’t need to be so on edge anymore. She had been terrified that her partner would be someone who knew the original owner intimately, as it would only take two or three sentences before she accidentally exposed herself.

This time, Kui Xin had been lucky.

She had encountered someone who didn’t know the original owner, and even luckier, Silver Mask seemed to have little guard against her.

Most importantly, Silver Mask was a supernatural ability user.

If she killed Silver Mask, would she be able to seize his ability and gain supernatural powers for herself?