"The whale is attacking the whaling ship... it sounds like revenge."
"So the whale carcasses that appear in southern Wakayama every few years are probably the souls of the whales that were hunted in those years?"
Kamiyakawa fell silent and just thought to himself.
Internationally, whaling is strictly restricted in order to prevent over-hunting of all species of whales and to protect this rich natural resource for future generations.
Most countries have signed the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
However, there are a very few countries that still carry out whaling activities in their own way.
Japan is one of them, and it hunts huge amounts of whales. It even engages in commercial whaling under the guise of "scientific research."
To this day, whalers are still active in Abashiri in Hokkaido, Ayukawa in Miyagi Prefecture in the northeast, Wada in Chiba in the central part, and in the southern waters of Wakayama where the Kamiya River is currently located.
After Kamiya calmed down, the other three people in the car were still talking.
Listening to their conversation, it can be known that Tadokoro Yoshio and others, as the official spiritual exterminators of the Wakayama Kinan area, have participated in the activities of exterminating and treating carcass whales in the past.
However, with their strength together, they can only deal with monsters at the mid-to-lower D-level level at best.
Facing the disaster of whales that have gathered C-level strength, they basically provide assistance and help.
In addition, Tadokoro Yoshio and others also briefly talked about the current situation of whaling ships in the sea——
Most of Wakayama's whaling ships have returned to the harbor following command and dispatch these days.
However, there are still a few ships that have sailed out to the far reaches of the Pacific and are still on their way back.
…
That night.
The southern waters of Wakayama are about 60 nautical miles away from the port.
A whaling ship named "Akimaru".
The Akimaru is an ocean-going trawler with a speed of about 16 knots.
The distance is 60 nautical miles, and it takes about two hours to reach the port at full speed.
The captain of the Akimaru is named Yoshitoki Anaga, a middle-aged man in his 40s with rich experience at sea.
Ernst & Young was standing on the deck at this time, staring at the dark sea at night in a daze.
The sea tonight is surprisingly calm, but there seems to be an undercurrent.
The lights were on on the deck behind Captain Ernst, and the carcass of a huge baleen whale that had just been fished out was being laid out.
The sailors are busy doing preliminary treatments for the whale.
The Akimaru returned this time after receiving a notice from the Wakayama area.
The reason is: "There is an emergency at sea. Return immediately."
Generally speaking, captains of whaling ships in the waters south of Wakayama will immediately change course and go to the nearest port after receiving such a notice.
In the whaling industry, there is a rumor——
At certain points in time, ghost stories of whales gathering in the sea will appear.
Moreover, it is said that this kind of whale ghost only attacks whaling ships.
Of course, these strange stories about the sea in the industry are basically only spread among sailors.
Most people don't have the opportunity to experience it personally.
There are many taboos about going to sea, and quite a few seafarers prefer to believe such horrifying legends.
However, the whaling industry is highly profitable, and the output of whale meat, whale skin, whale oil, etc. can bring considerable economic income.
Strange stories cannot scare away whaling ships, and many people still flock to the whaling enterprise.
"In just over an hour, we will arrive at the port."
Captain Ernst thought this as he held the rail in his hand. He withdrew his gaze from the dark and calm sea and turned to watch the crew dismember the harvest of this voyage.
The deck beneath his feet was dripping with blood, reflecting the white lighting.
At this time, the first mate on the ship came to him with a strange expression: "Captain, something strange seems to have happened. I think you should come and take a look."
…
Captain's cabin.
The cabin is sailing along and is shaking slightly.
Various instruments in the captain's cabin are operating, and the indicator lights flicker on and off.
"Captain Ernst, sonar on..."
The first mate spoke into the sonar system.
It can be seen through sonar that there seem to be many huge creatures moving underwater about 20 nautical miles away from the Akimaru.
Moreover, he followed the Akimaru's route all the way.
"What is this? A pod of whales?" Ernst frowned while looking at the radar situation.
"I don't know...I can't tell, it's just weird." The first mate shook his head. After about three or four minutes, his expression became horrified. He pointed at the radar screen and said in a slightly trembling tone, "That's it, here we go again.
Come on, Captain!"
In fact, Captain Ernst can also see the sudden abnormality without the first mate reminding him.
Those "things" that were clearly displayed on the sonar just now suddenly disappeared.
Disappeared without a trace.
It's as if it never existed at all.
Chief Mate: "It was the same situation just ten minutes ago. The things on the sonar showed that they were about 30 nautical miles away from us. They followed us all the way. Then they suddenly disappeared. When we saw them again, the distance had been shortened to more than 20 nautical miles. Ten
10 nautical miles per minute, this..."
"Don't think blindly, you bastard!" Captain Ernst interrupted the first mate directly, "Maybe we encountered a military submarine or something like that."
Although he said this, Ernst's expression actually became very unnatural.
"The Akimaru is moving at full speed, we will return to port as quickly as possible!"
…
About twenty minutes passed.
The originally calm sea seemed to have become more stormy.
The Akimaru's hull shook violently.
Several sailors who were working on the deck suddenly became unstable and fell to the ground.
When they stood up unsteadily, they looked towards the sea.
On the originally dark sea, the waves were rolling, especially in the distance, there were some huge white objects, which were appearing and disappearing in the waves.
Those white objects tumbling in the waves seemed to be far away from the Akimaru.
Logically speaking, sailors cannot see things that far away with their naked eyes alone at night.
But I don’t know why, but those “things” that are sinking or floating on the sea surface, as if they are constantly swimming, are unusually conspicuous.
"Woo——"
"Buzz——"
The sailors began to hear sounds on the sea around them.
The voice was ethereal and long, lonely and sad.
Like the heavy sigh of the ocean.
The sailors looked at each other——
"Whale call?"
"No...isn't it? That's not what you usually hear, right?"
"..."
To be continued...