My flustered voice made Seo Ji-hyuk hesitate, as if he was trying to find a gentler way to explain it to me.
The life support system in the underwater base decomposes water to produce oxygen and maintains the temperature with the byproducts. Do you understand this part? The life support system ensures that the underwater base has a suitable temperature and oxygen supply, allowing us to survive even under such high pressure. If the temperature has dropped, it means there's a problem somewhere. Shin Hae-ryang summarized Seo Ji-hyuk's lengthy explanation.
"The chances of dying increase."
This person seems to have a natural talent for making people anxious. As Yu Jin and I pondered Shin Hae-ryang's answer, Yu Jin, with a frightened look, said:
"Then, should we go to the Blue Dragon District? Or should we return to the Central District?"
Bae Ae-yeong, who was walking at the back, kept glancing around. After looking at Shin Hae-ryang and then Seo Ji-hyuk, she shook her head in disbelief and said:
"Team leader, you should explain things more clearly. Don't worry. We'll be fine if we can escape from the Blue Dragon District quickly."
My anxious heart calmed down a bit. Of course, we'll be fine if we can escape from the Blue Dragon District. However, we already failed to board the escape pods in the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird Districts. I asked Seo Ji-hyuk, feeling anxious:
"How much time do we have left?"
Seo Ji-hyuk replied in a tone that suggested he really didn't know.
"I'm not sure exactly. We've never had this situation before."
Shin Hae-ryang added to the anxiety.
"I'm not sure how much time we have left, but the carbon dioxide concentration in the air will rise sharply. If this continues, we'll suffocate."
Great. What wonderful news. The White Tiger District is flooded, the Vermilion Bird District is half-destroyed, the Black Tortoise District had a gunfight among the engineers over the escape pods, and the Central District is full of people with guns. And now, the Blue Dragon District will suffocate us if we stay too long.
"At least we won't die from gunshots or drowning here."
Yu Jin looked at me with a bewildered expression at my optimistic statement, then shook her head and said:
"I hate everything."
Feeling anxious, I chatted with Yu Jin as we entered the Blue Dragon District. The first thing we saw was the elevator to the third underwater base, located at -1000 meters. A bright blue dragon was wrapped around the elevator. A blue dragon model in an underwater base with people from over eight countries? It looked like they tried to express the dragon ascending to heaven with the elevator, but from the depths of the sea, it seemed more like the dragon was sinking into the water. I asked Shin Hae-ryang, looking at the blue scales:
"Why did they put the dragon there?"
"Someone at headquarters, who was probably out of their mind, suggested the Four Symbols to make the underwater base a tourist attraction."
Shin Hae-ryang's tone suggested he didn't like it, but I couldn't tell if he disliked the person at headquarters or the dragon wrapped around the elevator. I wondered why they didn't simply call the Black Tortoise District the North District, the Vermilion Bird District the South District, and so on.
"Was the proposal successful?"
"Deep sea doesn't have much to see. It's just darkness, high pressure, and occasionally, nightmare-like fish that look like they were drawn by children. Of course, it failed."
Yu Jin, who was listening, exclaimed:
"Oh, that makes sense! A few years ago, a Vermilion Bird statue appeared at the entrances of the deep sea research center, the rare earth center, and the underwater pollution center. The researchers called them 'chicken,' 'phoenix,' and 'turkey,' and wondered why they were installed. So that's what happened."
Bae Ae-yeong, who had been listening to our conversation, sighed and said:
"They got the concept wrong. If they had put up crosses and pictures of Jesus suffering, and a few angel statues, they could have attracted Christians and made a fortune."
"What's that about?"
Why is Christianity mentioned here? I don't know much about the religion, so I didn't understand. Bae Ae-yeong started to explain roughly for me:
"Well... there's a passage in the Bible where God asks if anyone has walked in the deep sea. I'm not sure, but it's something like that."
Shin Hae-ryang, frowning at Bae Ae-yeong's messy explanation, searched his memory and said:
"Have you walked in the deep sea, to the source of the waters? Have you been to the bottom of the deep? Job 38:16."
A Bible verse? Someone actually memorizes these things. I was impressed and asked Shin Hae-ryang:
"Are you a Christian?"
"No, I don't have a religion."
"How did you remember that just now?"
"Jennifer Smith, the team leader we met earlier, is a fervent Christian. She boasts about it every time she's drunk, saying she can confidently answer God's question."
Bae Ae-yeong nodded and said to me:
"There are some people who are obsessed with saying 'Yes' to that question. My team member, Lee Ji-hyun, is a Christian and said there's a 100% demand for this. She believes that if they start a deep sea base tour, more than half of the visitors will be Christians."
So, who made this barely visible blue dragon at -3000 meters, and for whom? I looked at the dragon and asked without much thought:
"Then, who made this?"
"Probably some bigwig."
Seo Ji-hyuk's words made Shin Hae-ryang open his mouth, then close it and shake his head. He seemed reluctant to talk about the person at headquarters. Yu Jin, who had been listening intently, was impressed:
"Oh... this is a fascinating story. I've never heard it before."
"Researchers don't talk about such things?"
Yu Jin laughed softly and said:
"Researchers are only interested in additional holidays and salary increases."
"Are they not getting those?"
"You're smart. You could be a researcher. Want to join our lab? It's gone now, though."
I politely declined. As we approached the elevator with the dragon wrapped around it, I muttered to myself:
"I don't want to see it negatively, but it looks like the dragon is preventing the elevator from going up, not helping it."
Seo Ji-hyuk, who was looking at it with me, smiled and said:
"I agree with that."
"Damn. We need all the luck we can get right now, so let's put aside such negative thoughts."
Bae Ae-yeong pressed the elevator button. The doors opened immediately, and the empty elevator closed after a moment. It works. This is our Plan C. The best option is to board the escape pod, or the submarine if that's not possible.
Seeing the elevator in front of us, I desperately wanted to get in. It's strange. Just seeing the elevator open makes me want to get in. I asked Shin Hae-ryang:
"Is it better to take the escape pod or the submarine rather than this elevator right now?"
"Yes."
With that, the engineer left no room for further discussion.
"What should we do?"
When Bae Ae-yeong asked, Shin Hae-ryang frowned and said:
"Can you go alone and come back?"
"I'll go if you tell me to."
Bae Ae-yeong stopped and did some stretching to loosen her legs.
"I'm the fastest, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Running. I'll run at full speed to the submarine, check the status, and come back. Meanwhile, you guys go to the escape pod."
The submarine and the escape pod in the Blue Dragon District are on opposite sides. It makes sense since they wouldn't be used simultaneously, and the escape pod launch shouldn't be hindered by the submarine.
"Can you go alone?"
I realized my question was the same as Shin Hae-ryang's. Bae Ae-yeong smiled with one corner of her mouth. Shin Hae-ryang took my pad, wrote a random post on the underwater base bulletin board to confirm it worked, and handed it to Bae Ae-yeong.
"Go to the submarine, check it, and post an update. If anything happens, come back to the elevator. We'll head to the elevator if the escape pod is not usable."
Bae Ae-yeong tensed her leg muscles and said to Shin Hae-ryang:
"Don't think about leaving without me."
Seo Ji-hyuk taunted Bae Ae-yeong:
"I'll escape before you."
"I'll be first!"
Bae Ae-yeong smiled at our greetings:
"Be careful."
"See you later."
After our conversation, Bae Ae-yeong did a few quick jumps on the spot and then started running fiercely. I thought we were already walking quite fast, but Bae Ae-yeong was almost flying.
She ran like a gazelle, and her footsteps echoed in the quiet Blue Dragon District. Her long hair, tied in a ponytail, fluttered like a flag in the wind. Wow, she's really fast. Yu Jin, watching her quickly receding back, said:
"Ae-yeong is really a good runner."
Seo Ji-hyuk urged us to hurry:
"Let's go quickly."
As we walked briskly, Seo Ji-hyuk, perhaps thinking about Bae Ae-yeong, smiled and said:
"Fairly, she's a fast runner but a poor swimmer."
Yu Jin, surprised, asked:
"How can she work in the deep sea if she can't swim?"
"Engineers work in large external suits that protect against water pressure. They're like thick space suits. They work in these suits for external repairs. However, internal repairs are also common, so it doesn't affect her work."
Yu Jin thought for a moment and said:
"I saw her fixing a leak in the shower in the Vermilion Bird District before."
"Ah, that's always breaking down. The design is flawed."