The Lost Tomb Vol. 1

Chapter 75: Conclusion

I checked the instruments by the helm and found that they all looked normal. "The boat seems to be working fine," I said to him, "and it doesn't look like something happened. Do you think they got caught by the Coast Guard and everyone was arrested?"

Fatty shook his head in disagreement and said "That's not right. If everyone was arrested, the boat would definitely have to be towed back as well. What's the point of leaving it here? This definitely has nothing to do with the Coast Guard. But this area is chaotic and it looks like the boat's been turned upside down. Let's go to the cargo hold and take a look. If everything is gone, then it means they ran into pirates."

I knew about pirates—the captain had told me a lot about them when I first got on the boat—but I always felt that the stories couldn't be true. That was why I was a little surprised to hear Fatty say this. "While this place is out at sea, it's not that far from land. Can pirates really run rampant like this?" I asked him.

Fatty laughed at my naivety, "Ah, so young. Do you really think the People's Liberation Army is omnipotent? There are times when the tiger dozes off. Let me tell you. In this sea, there are Vietnamese, Japanese, and Malaysians. While it's not obvious on the surface, there's actually a dark undercurrent here. If only you knew how many drugs have passed through these waters and how much smuggling and robbing takes place on a daily occurrence. Plus, there are pirate ships full of armed men. It's not uncommon for an unmanned boat to appear here."

As soon as we walked into the cargo hold, we could smell the scent of tea leaves. With Fatty walking in front and me behind, we both started to look around—all of the equipment was still in the exact same spot it had been in before we went into the water. There was even a cup of tea sitting on one of the beds. I touched it and said, "This is so fucking weird. It's still warm."

Fatty smiled helplessly and said, "Strange things happen every day, especially all the things that have happened today. Maybe the whole crew was taken by ghosts?"

"They only took a few sips of this tea but still put the lid on," I said. "That shows that they left in a hurry but weren't panicked. Under what circumstances would you leave in a hurry but not in a panic?"

Fatty shrugged and said he didn't know. I thought about it for a while but couldn't imagine what might have happened here. As I continued to think about it, we walked back to the helm. Fatty picked up the transceiver's microphone and loudly called for help several times but no one responded. At this time, I saw a radio sitting off to the side. I turned it on and immediately heard a typhoon warning being issued from a Taiwanese fishing radio station.

When we were climbing aboard earlier, we could already feel the wind getting stronger but it was dusk so we couldn't see too far away. I couldn't understand some of the terms in the typhoon warning, but the last sentence was very clear: "We ask that any ships still at sea take refuge at the nearest port." It was emphasized several times.

Fatty and I both looked at each other with dark expressions on our faces. Originally, we wouldn't have to worry about anything at this time since the captain would have naturally figured out a way to escape. But now, everyone on the boat was already gone. It seemed that God really was messing with us.

Fatty looked at his watch and said, "It looks like we can't just stay here and wait. With this little dilapidated boat, we'll be sent flying sky-high in a matter of minutes. I'll take the boat further out first. If we encounter the typhoon, we'll just ride the waves as best we can. But if we stay here with all the reefs, a wave will definitely smash us against them. You go and raise the anchor."

With that said, he lit a cigarette and started fiddling with a few of the instruments. His movements made it seem like he knew what he was doing, which I found a little surprising. "Do you even fucking know how to sail?" I asked him. "This is no joke. The four of us finally managed to get out but we'll all be fish food if you smash us against the reefs."