flstandardbreds Chapter 1274
Chapter 1274
She walked to the porthole and looked at the dark sea outside: "I noticed it when I woke up. The temperature in this area is only thirty or forty degrees Celsius. It's like a completely different world from the hot spring area where we were before."
"I just don't understand why the temperature here is so low! If we could move here, wouldn't we be able to escape the suffering of the boiling sea?"
Zhou Shuwan shook her head: "Think about it, we were swept along by that boiling ocean current for so long, we must have deviated from our original course and come to a completely unfamiliar area. This deep-sea basin must be because it is far away from the underground magma zone, the crustal activity is infrequent, and there are huge mid-ocean ridges around it to block the high temperature of the hydrothermal vents. The seabed here is also very stable, so the seawater temperature is so low."
After listening, Qi Mingyu nodded thoughtfully.
This explanation is reasonable and fits the chaotic geological environment after the apocalypse.
He looked out the porthole; the dark seawater resembled a giant piece of black jade, eerily quiet.
Zhou Shuwan's gaze, however, fell on the limit of what the searchlight could illuminate.
There seemed to be something there, forming a continuous black shadow in the darkness, which made her feel vaguely uneasy.
However, her current perception couldn't extend that far, so she couldn't determine what it was.
Qi Mingyu's gaze also fell on Mu Mu, his tone carrying a hint of concern: "Mu Mu, how are you feeling now? Can you still hold on?"
Mu Mu gave a wry smile and forced a smile: "I won't die. It's just that my back hurts so much that I can't move for the time being. I don't know how long it will take for this burn to heal."
He paused, then looked at Zhou Shuwan: "Sister, give me another painkiller. I can't just sit here like a cripple. Once I'm better, I can help you inspect the submarine."
Zhou Shuwan hesitated for a moment.
Mu Mu laughed: "What, sis? In this day and age, are you afraid I'll become a drug addict?"
Zhou Shuwan couldn't help but chuckle: "Exactly! Even if you wanted to become a drug addict, there aren't that many painkillers for you. We have to be very careful with every single one of our supplies right now."
She saw the cold sweat constantly pouring down Mu Mu's forehead and knew that he was in real pain.
She took out a painkiller and handed it to him: "Take this quickly."
Mu Mu obediently opened her mouth, ate, and swallowed.
Before long, the medicine took effect, and the pain in my back finally lessened a bit.
He let out a long sigh of relief, and his tense body relaxed.
Qi Mingyu tentatively maneuvered the submarine.
The searchlights shone outwards.
The seawater here is very calm, without any trace of ocean currents.
The seabed is a flat, gray-black rock bed, with natural grooves of varying depths running across it, as if carved by an invisible sculptor, stretching into the darkness.
It was only at this moment that Qi Mingyu noticed the giant sea cliff that Zhou Shuwan had discovered long ago.
It was a giant sea cliff that encircled the entire basin. The cliff face was steep and sheer, and it was thousands of meters high. At least from their angle, looking up, they couldn't see the end at all.
These giant sea cliffs are on all sides, enclosing this area of the sea into a natural, enclosed basin.
The searchlight beam climbed upwards with all its might, but it couldn't even illuminate one-tenth of the cliff face.
The rock face was covered with jagged, crisscrossing cracks, like the shattered bones of an ancient behemoth, standing menacingly in the deep sea.
The submarine was as insignificant as an ant that had strayed into the cage of a giant beast.
That body forged of steel was utterly fragile before the barrier sculpted by the mighty forces of heaven and earth.
Qi Mingyu slowly maneuvered the submarine to rise a short distance, but no matter which angle he looked from, all he could see was this endless cliff.
It has no slope whatsoever, rising straight up from the seabed and piercing the unknown dome of this deep sea. There isn't even a speck of moss or a clump of seaweed on the cliff face, only a deathly gray-black.
Mu Mu, supporting her aching body, moved to the porthole. After seeing the full view of the dark shadow, she gasped, as if the pain in her back was somewhat suppressed by the chill.
An unprecedented sense of insignificance gripped the hearts of the three people inside the cabin.
Qi Mingyu maneuvered the submarine, trying to find an exit by feeling along the cliff face.
However, after the submarine had been sailing for nearly an hour, the view outside the porthole remained unchanged.
That massive, dark gray sea cliff remains an unchanging barrier, firmly enclosing this area of the sea.
"This can't go on." Mu Mu leaned against the bulkhead, her brows furrowed. "Just how big is this sea cliff? Does it really enclose the entire basin completely?"
Zhou Shuwan remained silent, her gaze fixed on the seabed outside the porthole.
Suddenly, she pointed ahead: "Brother Yu, let's go take a look over there."
Qi Mingyu immediately adjusted the submarine's angle and headed forward.
About half an hour later, something unusual happened below.
"Look!"
Qi Mingyu has already discovered it.
On the seabed, a thick column of water, more than ten meters wide, was gushing out from the seabed.
Unlike the boiling water in other seas that smells of sulfur and is churning with heat, this column of water is a nearly transparent pale blue.
The current was steady yet powerful, extending upwards for several meters before slowly dispersing and merging into the surrounding dark seawater.
"It's a cold spring!" Qi Mingyu's voice was filled with disbelief. "A deep-sea cold spring!"
Zhou Shuwan's eyes lit up, and she instantly understood her previous doubts.
"I see. The reason why this basin can maintain a low temperature of 30 to 40 degrees Celsius is partly due to its distance from the magma zone, but there is an even more important reason: these cold springs are playing a role."
The giant sea cliffs create a sealed environment, isolating the area from the boiling ocean currents, while cold seeps on the seabed continuously transport low-temperature groundwater upwards.
This groundwater mixed with the seawater trapped in the basin, eventually creating this stable, low-temperature environment, forming two extremes with the boiling sea outside.
This also explains why the water temperature here can reach 30 or 40 degrees Celsius, rather than lower.
As cold seeps continuously flow into the sea, they merge with the seawater in the already enclosed basin, causing the temperature to rise gradually.
"If it weren't for the fact that it's underwater and the pressure is so high that humans simply couldn't adapt to the environment here, this would probably be the coolest place in the entire world!"
Mu Mu sighed.
Qi Mingyu also spoke up, saying, "Why were we brought here by the ocean currents? Logically, boiling water currents should flow towards warmer areas."
The other two people were unable to answer the question.
This is probably an unsolved mystery as well.
But in reality, they didn't know.
This is due to the gravitational pull of ocean currents.