When diving, there was a different probability of encountering currents depending on the dive location.
The Descending Current, as its name suggested, was a downward current. This could be seen from the bubbles that the three of them exhaled. The bubbles that were originally rising suddenly dispersed in a ring shape around them, then began to float downward. The two turtles not far away saw that the situation was not good, so they retreated into the crevice. At the same time, the vision of the three of them began to become cloudy.
Fortunately, except for Zhang Heng, the other two were not novices. This was not the first time Han Lu had encountered a current, so they did not panic like beginners. Han Lu was right next to the stone wall. When she saw the situation, she immediately stuck her body to the stone wall like a gecko.
On the other hand, Nelly turned on her flashlight and shone it on a large rock closest to Zhang Heng. She then signaled Zhang Heng to go over to it, and she swam towards it. The two of them did not descend too fast, which meant that the current they encountered was not too strong. Nelly breathed a sigh of relief, and Han Lu and Zhang Heng were also very calm.
The most dangerous thing to do underwater was to panic. Not only would it not solve any problems, but it would also accelerate the consumption of oxygen. And the wrong operation would likely bring more trouble. Han Lu had enough diving experience, so Nelly was not too worried. What she was really worried about was Zhang Heng on the other side, especially when the latter had just asked to go up and encountered a current in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, Zhang Heng did not show any signs of panic so far. He swam to the rock with Nelly.
After about a minute and a half, Nelly felt that the current was getting weaker, so she gestured to ask Zhang Heng how much air he had left.
Zhang Heng looked at the residual pressure gauge, which showed that he still had about 120 bar of gas left. The three of them did not stay underwater for long, and they were basically moving at a depth of about 25 meters. They did not dive too deep, so the gas in the gas cylinder was not consumed much. They were still far from the warning line.
Since Zhang Heng had decided to go up, Nelly, as a diving guide, had no reason to continue diving. However, before they went up, the two needed to meet up with Han Lu at the stone wall.
Unlike the relatively clear seawater before, the current had brought a lot of sediment and impurities into the water, and visibility in the water was very low. Nelly turned on her flashlight again. However, she did not know if it was because of the lack of power. The flashlight in her hand flashed a few times before it gradually stabilized.
However, when Nelly moved the flashlight to the rock wall where Han Lu was, she found that Han Lu was no longer there.
Nelly blinked, seemingly unable to believe what she saw. When the rapids came, Han Lu was the first to find a place to stabilize her body. And judging from her condition at that time, she was obviously out of danger. After that, the three of them were separated for less than two minutes. There was no reason for Han Lu to leave her position in such a short time.
After that, Nellie turned the flashlight in other directions nearby, searching for Han Lu. However, she found nothing. At this time, Nellie saw Zhang Heng gesturing to her, pointing above his head.
Nellie thought that Zhang Heng had discovered Han Lu's whereabouts, but when she looked up, she saw a strange scene that she had never seen in all her years of diving experience. The seawater above their heads was turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Was this a red tide?
Nelly lived by the sea. Although she had never seen a red tide with her own eyes, she was no stranger to this natural phenomenon. Red tides were generally caused by some phytoplankton, bacteria, or protozoa in the seawater. It would cause the seawater to change color, and it was very harmful to the environment.
However, this sea area was a famous diving spot on Yonaguni Island. The residents on the island had always attached great importance to the ecological environment. For so many years, there had never been a red tide in the nearby sea area. And red tides usually affected the upper seawater. Nelly found that the red tide above their heads was quickly approaching them.
Soon, the two of them were surrounded by red seawater. The color of the seawater was very similar to human blood, and it was very creepy to be in it. The most important thing was that it would further reduce visibility. Now, Nelly could only see less than two meters in front of her. Even Zhang Heng's figure beside her had become faintly visible.
Even with Nelly's rich diving experience, she could not help but feel a little anxious now. The main reason was that this strange "red tide" appeared at the right time, right when they were looking for Han Lu. This made the next search suddenly become difficult.
Nelly wanted to bring Zhang Heng up first, and then come back to look for Han Lu herself. This was because Zhang Heng had already asked her to go up before the downpour appeared. However, it took time for a diver to go up because the pressure at different depths was different. When the diver was at a deeper depth, the nitrogen would dissolve into the blood.
At this time, the main reason was the danger of being drunk on nitrogen. At this time, the nitrogen was in a dissolved state in the blood. If the pressure decreased rapidly, the dissolved nitrogen in the blood would precipitate and cause thrombosis. The diver would suffer from diving sickness, and the worst case scenario would be a lung rupture.
Therefore, they needed to stay for a safe period of time when they went up. By the time Nelly sent Zhang Heng to the boat, it would take her at least seven minutes to come back. Not to mention whether she could get back to her current position in this blood-red sea, it was hard to say if Han Lu would still be nearby. Besides, the remaining gas in her gas cylinder might not be enough to support her search for too long.
If it were any other time, Nelly would certainly choose to bring Zhang Heng along to look for Han Lu. However, due to the influence of this strange red tide, the two might not see each other if they were separated for a little while. In such a harsh environment, Nelly was not confident that she could take care of Zhang Heng while looking for Han Lu.
Han Lu had already disappeared. She did not want to lose Zhang Heng as well.
After thinking about it for a short while, Nelly decided to bring Zhang Heng up first. She still had hope in her heart. Maybe Han Lu had already returned to the boat before them, and they would be able to see each other when they floated to the surface of the sea. To be honest, even if she took Zhang Heng to look for Han Lu now, she was just trying her luck.
However, just when Nelly was about to take Zhang Heng up, she seemed to catch a glimpse of a black shadow flashing past her from the corner of her left eye.
Could that be Han Lu? A glimmer of hope appeared in Nelly's heart. Although the black shadow just now passed by very quickly, she still saw a rough outline, and it did look like a person in a diving suit.
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