The ocean roared beneath the damaged aircraft.
After everything that had happened...
The survivors had finally reached the strange region surrounding the Bermuda Triangle.
The aircraft descended toward the water.
WHOOSHHHH!!
Leo looked through the cockpit window.
Leo: "So... we're actually doing this?"
Lily: "Apparently."
Chen Wei looked outside.
Chen Wei: "I would like to officially announce that I hate this mission."
Yuna: "You announced that three times already."
Chen Wei: "Because nobody listened the first two times."
Before anyone could say anything—
SPLAAAAASH!!
The aircraft hit the ocean.
Everyone was thrown forward.
Leo: "WHOA—!"
Chen Wei: "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Lily grabbed the nearest seat.
Yuna calmly held onto a support bar.
Then...
Something strange happened.
CLICK.
CLANK.
The aircraft began changing.
Panels folded into the body.
The wings retracted.
The lower section expanded.
Metal structures moved beneath the aircraft.
Within seconds...
The airplane had transformed into a massive emergency sea vessel.
Leo stared.
"...What?"
Chen Wei slowly pointed at it.
"Did our airplane just become a ship?"
Yuna nodded.
"Apparently."
Leo looked toward the cockpit.
Leo: "How is this even possible?"
Lily shrugged.
"Human technology has become quite advanced."
Chen Wei immediately raised his hand.
Chen Wei: "Then I have a question."
Everyone looked at him.
Chen Wei:
"If human technology is advanced enough to turn an airplane into a ship..."
He pointed toward the sky.
"...why can't we make cars fly yet?"
Silence.
Leo slowly nodded.
Leo: "Good logic."
Yuna: "Good logic."
Chen Wei proudly crossed his arms.
Chen Wei: "Thank you."
One of the Wind Martial Artists stared at them.
Wind Martial Artist:
"Are you three finished playing with logic?"
Leo: "No."
Wind Martial Artist: "...Please stop."
---
The Wind Martial Artists stood near the edge of the vessel.
Their clothes fluttered in the powerful wind.
Even standing still...
They somehow looked ridiculously cool.
Chen Wei whispered to Leo.
"Why do they always look like they're about to appear on a poster?"
Leo:
"I don't know."
One of the Wind Martial Artists suddenly stepped forward.
He struck an unnecessarily dramatic pose.
Wind Martial Artist:
"What can we say?"
"It runs in our blood."
Leo stared at him.
"...You practiced that pose, didn't you?"
Wind Martial Artist:
"Absolutely."
Leo:
"Respect."
Chen Wei:
"I have lost respect."
---
Then everyone saw it.
The Bermuda Triangle.
But it wasn't shaped the way anyone expected.
Instead...
A gigantic depression existed in the middle of the ocean.
A colossal abyss.
Water from the surrounding sea poured downward from every direction like enormous waterfalls.
ROOOOOOOOOOAR!!
Mist covered the entire region.
The deeper center was almost impossible to see.
Leo slowly approached the edge.
"That's..."
Chen Wei:
"Yeah."
Leo:
"That's definitely not normal."
Yuna:
"Nothing about this place is normal."
One of the Wind Martial Artists looked downward.
Wind Martial Artist:
"We go through the center."
Chen Wei:
"Walk?"
The Wind Martial Artist immediately jumped.
WHOOSH!
He descended into the abyss.
Chen Wei's mouth opened.
"...Oh."
The other Wind Martial Artists followed.
One after another—
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Chen Wei looked at Leo.
"Those guys genuinely want us dead."
Leo grabbed his arm.
"Stop thinking."
Chen Wei:
"Why?"
Leo:
"Because you're going to talk yourself out of jumping."
Chen Wei:
"That's because jumping into a giant ocean hole sounds like a bad idea!"
Leo:
"Too late."
He grabbed Chen Wei.
"JUMP!"
Chen Wei:
"WAIT—"
WHOOSH!!
Both disappeared into the abyss.
Lily:
"Here we go."
Yuna:
"Again."
Lily grabbed Yuna's hand.
"Come on."
Yuna:
"I hate this."
They jumped.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
---
Somewhere Far Away...
Deep inside the alien headquarters...
A dark laboratory remained completely silent.
A girl sat motionless inside a mechanical chair.
Her mechanical body had been rebuilt.
Her cybernetic limbs had been restored.
The mask remained attached to her face.
Her eyes slowly opened.
BEEP.
A mechanical voice came from her.
"System online."
The scientist stood before her.
He smiled.
Scientist:
"Shion."
The girl looked at him.
There was no anger.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Only emptiness.
Scientist:
"Do you recognize me?"
She stared at him.
"Identification confirmed."
"Master."
The scientist laughed.
"Excellent."
"My greatest creation is finally complete."
He walked around her.
"All those troublesome emotions..."
"Gone."
"All those memories..."
"Suppressed."
He stopped in front of her.
"You are no longer the girl who dreamed of having a family."
"You are a weapon."
Shion didn't answer.
The scientist smiled.
"Perfect."
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Mask Man Leader:
"Not so fast."
The scientist turned.
The leader of the Mask Group entered the chamber.
Several masked generals followed him.
Mask Man Leader:
"I came here for something else."
The scientist raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
The Mask Man Leader looked toward a sealed container.
Inside it floated a strange eye within a transparent liquid.
Mask Man Leader:
"Do you remember the Eye of Lotus?"
The scientist's smile slowly returned.
"Of course."
Mask Man Leader:
"That clan disappeared years ago."
"Yet one of their greatest warriors once terrified an entire army."
The scientist nodded.
"Reiji Akihana."
The name echoed through the room.
Mask Man Leader:
"The legendary wielder of the Eye of Lotus."
The scientist looked toward the container.
"He once forced an entire army to retreat with nothing more than a glance."
The Mask Man Leader continued.
"And you experimented on him."
The scientist laughed quietly.
"Not exactly."
"I experimented with what remained of his power."
He lifted the container.
"The Eye of Lotus."
Inside the liquid, the strange eye moved slightly.
Mask Man Leader:
"And you still have it."
Scientist:
"Of course."
He turned toward another container.
Inside was another mysterious eye.
"The Eye of Laligurans."
The scientist's expression became excited.
"Two legendary bloodlines."
"Two impossible abilities."
"And now..."
His eyes moved toward a masked warrior standing nearby.
"This warrior already possesses the Eye of Laligurans."
The masked warrior remained silent.
The scientist smiled.
"Imagine combining it with the Eye of Lotus."
His laughter echoed through the laboratory.
"What kind of monster would be born?"
The Mask Man Leader said nothing.
The scientist's eyes gleamed.
"We're about to find out."
---
Back Inside the Bermuda Abyss
SPLASH!!
Leo landed in the water.
Leo:
"Ugh!"
Chen Wei landed beside him.
SPLASH!
Chen Wei:
"Why did you drag me into this?!"
Leo:
"Because you wouldn't jump."
Chen Wei:
"THAT WAS THE POINT!"
Lily and Yuna landed nearby.
Lily looked around.
"Where are the Wind Martial Artists?"
Yuna pointed into the fog.
"There."
Their silhouettes disappeared into the mist.
The environment was completely different down here.
Thick fog covered the water.
Broken ships floated everywhere.
Some looked extremely old.
Others looked strangely modern.
Parts of aircraft were scattered across the area.
Submarines.
Cargo ships.
Unknown machines.
Everything seemed to have been swallowed by the Bermuda Triangle.
Chen Wei slowly looked around.
"...How many ships disappeared here?"
Leo:
"Enough to make me stop asking questions."
Yuna:
"That may be the wisest thing you've said today."
Leo:
"Thank you."
Lily:
"It wasn't a compliment."
Leo:
"I'm choosing to take it as one."
They moved deeper into the fog.
Then—
CLACK.
Everyone stopped.
Chen Wei:
"...Did you hear that?"
Leo:
"Yep."
Another sound.
CLACK...
Something moved beneath the water.
Yuna raised her hand.
"Everyone, stay alert."
A shape emerged from the fog.
A skeleton.
Then another.
Then several more.
Chen Wei:
"Oh, come on."
Leo:
"Skeletons?"
Chen Wei:
"Why are there always skeletons?"
Lily:
"Because apparently this story isn't allowed to give us a normal vacation."
Leo:
"I wanted sightseeing."
Yuna:
"You're sightseeing."
Leo:
"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!"
The skeletons suddenly moved toward them.
Leo raised his hand.
"Alright."
"Everyone—"
Before he could finish...
Something much larger moved behind the skeletons.
The fog shifted.
A massive shadow passed through it.
Then another.
Then another.
Chen Wei slowly turned around.
"Leo..."
Leo:
"Yeah?"
Chen Wei:
"I don't think the skeletons are the biggest problem."
Everyone became silent.
Something was circling them.
From somewhere deep inside the fog...
Two strange glowing eyes appeared.
Then disappeared.
Lily quietly raised her weapon.
Yuna's expression hardened.
Leo looked into the darkness.
"...We're not alone."
The water around them began moving.
Something was coming.
TO BE CONTINUED...