Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

Pacific Ocean, the Abyss Explorer.

After resting for thirty-six hours, Funina woke up and the first thing she did was call Louis out of the kitchen.

"Cake puffs".

Louis peeked out of the cabin door, wiping the flour off his hands. The dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced than they had been three days ago.

"The first batch of the improved version is ready. As you mentioned last time, the proportion of animal cream has been increased by 3%, the whipping speed has been reduced by one level, and the filling volume has been increased..."

"Don't explain the process to me, just bring it on."

Funina sat at the dining table wrapped in a blanket, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.

Louis turned and went back to the kitchen, bringing out the first plate three minutes later.

Seventeen cream puffs, four liters of hot chocolate.

Zhou Ruo stood to the side, holding a notebook, watching Fu Ningna devour the food at a speed completely out of character for her size.

When she took the third bite of the cream puff, Funina paused her chewing for half a second.

"The cream was whipped to the wrong consistency by 2 percent."

The sound of Louis slamming the stirring rod into the sink came from the kitchen.

Zhou Ruo recorded her food intake in the manual. According to a rough calculation based on the average human calorie model, seventeen modified cream puffs plus four liters of hot chocolate already exceeded the total weekly intake of a normal adult.

She put a question mark after the number.

This calculation clearly cannot explain the consumption of the power of water at the conceptual level in the deep sea at a depth of 10,000 meters.

After finishing the last bite, Funina pulled the blanket over her shoulders and walked barefoot across the cold steel plate toward the stern of the ship.

Zhou Ru followed behind, keeping a distance of three steps.

The blue portal continued to rotate slowly, its light steady, with occasional wisps of residual crimson-gold pulses flashing at its edges.

Funina stood still, holding onto the railing, the sea breeze blowing her short, white-and-blue highlighted hair back.

Zhou Ruo noticed that the knuckles of her fingers, which were gripping the railing, were unusually white, as if she had used a lot of strength to stand firm.

The blue mark between his eyebrows had not yet returned to its brightness before the first dive; its edges were faintly gray, like a drop of ink falling into water and being slowly diluted.

Funina stared at the entrance of the passage for a long time.

"It has changed."

Zhou Ruo took half a step forward.

"What has changed?"

"pulse."

Fu Ningna's tone was no different from when she complained about over-whipped cream in cream puffs—loose and with a hint of impatience.

"Previously, the distress call was made once every fourteen seconds, but now it's once every seven seconds."

Zhou Ruo quickly jotted down the numbers in the manual.

"But every forty minutes or so, there will be a longer pulse, one that is hesitant."

Funina turned her head to look at her.

"It's asking me if I'm coming back."

The sea breeze, carrying salty, damp air, swept across the deck, causing the edges of Funina's blanket to flutter and fall back down.

Zhou Ruo wrote this sentence down in the manual, paused for two seconds on the paper with the pen tip, and then spoke softly.

"When do you plan to go down again?"

Funina did not answer immediately.

Her gaze pierced through the swirling light at the entrance of the blue tunnel, as if she were looking at some being waiting ten thousand meters below.

The sunlight on the sea fell on her face, but it couldn't penetrate the deep blue depths of her eyes.

A few seconds passed.

"Wait until I finish using up this batch of cream puffs."

Zhou Ruo closed the manual without asking any further questions.

At the same time, in the communications room of the Tanyuan.

Mirror One sat in front of the communications station. In the encrypted video feed, Chen Jianguo's face was sharply defined by the cold white light.

"Crack condition".

Chen Jianguo's voice was brief.

Mirror One nodded.

"The first dive into the crystal cocoon opened an eight-meter-long rift, through which about one-third of the giant fish's outline could be steadily observed."

"Has the true form been exposed?"

"No, the giant fish's body is not physically exposed to the external seawater; it is still encased in its internal structure."

Chen Jianguo's brows relaxed a little.

"What's the problem?"

Mirror One tapped its finger lightly on the table.

"There is a three-meter-wide chaotic zone between the crystal cocoon shell and the giant fish scales. The chaotic zone was in a dormant state during the first dive."

He paused for a second.

"Now that the rift has been exposed and is becoming more active, the intensity of the abyssal debris and crimson gold energy devouring each other in the Chaos Zone is nearly twice as high as before."

Chen Jianguo remained silent for three seconds.

"What's the plan for a second dive?"

"We cannot simply widen the crack."

Mirror One's tone was very certain.

"The chaotic zone must be stabilized first; otherwise, the faster the outer shell peels away, the more violent the backlash from the abyssal remnants will be."

He leaned back in his chair.

"The giant fish may also be forced to awaken prematurely, and the consequences are unpredictable."

Chen Jianguo raised his hand and rubbed his temples on the other end of the screen before speaking after a few seconds.

"What exactly is that thing?"

There was a three-second silence in the communications room.

Mirror One's gaze fell on an unseen point on the table, as if recalling the crimson-gold light from 9,500 meters deep in the ocean.

"It's older than any of us realize."

He said.

"I saw fourteen symbols on its fins."

Chen Jianguo leaned forward slightly.

"It's the same system as the symbols that Professor Hassan copied on the base of the Cairo Scales."

On the other side of the screen, Chen Jianguo's finger stopped on the table.

"Is it related to the Qinling Tiger Tally?"

Mirror One shook its head.

"I'm not sure, but I sensed the same aura as the Tiger Talisman in the ash layer."

His voice dropped by half an octave.

"That dark red substance, the same as the Qin alloy, also appeared in the second layer of the crystal cocoon."

When Chen Jianguo heard the words "Daqin Alloy," his fingers, which were resting on the table, completely stopped.

three seconds.

He did not press the matter further.

In the video, Chen Jianguo's expression remained unchanged, but he reached out and pressed an inconspicuous button on the side of the communication console.

The encryption icon in the upper right corner of the screen changed from blue to red.

"This sentence will not be included in the regular minutes."

Chen Jianguo's voice turned somber.

"Transfer this separately to Academician Qi in Xianyang, with the highest priority label."

Mirror One nodded.

"At the same time, inform Academician Qi that if any anomalies related to deep-sea signals are encountered during the drilling of Hollow A, report to me immediately, without following the usual procedures."

The communication screen froze for a moment as Chen Jianguo took one last look at Mirror One.

"be safe."

The screen went black.

Mirror One sat in the communications room, stared at the off screen for a few seconds, then got up and walked out of the hatch.

The sea breeze blew in from the end of the corridor, carrying a faint scent from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, unlike any other seawater.

At the stern, the light at the blue entrance to the passageway flashes once every seven seconds.

After the communications room door closed, Chen Jianguo sat at his desk in Beijing for a long time without moving.

The Libra inscription, the symbol on the fin of a giant deep-sea fish, the Qin alloy, and the seven stars on the tiger tally.

These fragments, scattered across the globe, are converging on a single point in a way that he cannot yet fully comprehend.

He picked up the red phone on the table and dialed a number with only three digits.

It rang twice before the other end answered.

"Old Chen?"

"Academician Qi, accelerate the drilling of cavity A."