Blue Diamond

Alex and Emma lay on the beach by the sea, enjoying a brief moment of peace as they quietly waited for the fiery sunset to sink beneath the horizon. Qiqi fluttered around nearby, occasionally breathing out a burst of flame before opening her mouth and sucking it back into her belly, entertaining herself.

"Emma, what do you think we should do if we can never get out of here?" Alex rested his hands behind his head, his gaze fixed on the deep blue sky, his voice somewhat distant.

Emma tilted her head and gazed at Alex’s profile. After a long silence, she said, "Actually, this place isn’t bad. It’s quiet and beautiful. Spending a lifetime here wouldn’t be so bad!"

Alex gave a derisive snort and pointed toward the cave inhabited by the Bat People. "There are savages here. If they catch us by accident, we’ll be in trouble. We might even lose our lives." Having fought the Ape-men and the Pterodactyl-men before, Alex knew very well that the savages here were extremely difficult to deal with. Even someone as strong as him could end up falling here.

"We could hide somewhere the savages can’t find us." Emma suddenly sat up and turned to look at Alex with a serious expression.

Unfortunately, Alex had closed his eyes at that moment and did not see the look on Emma’s face. He chuckled softly and said slowly, "Let’s hope such a place exists."

Time passed bit by bit. When the sun completely sank into the sea, the entire world darkened. As if some unseen mechanism had been triggered, the calm sea not far away suddenly began to churn violently. The isolated island submerged beneath the sea seemed about to leap out.

Hearing the commotion, Alex immediately sprang up from the beach and charged into the water without hesitation, with Emma and Qiqi close behind.

Alex and Emma had only swum halfway when the tip of a reef broke through the surface. It quickly rose at a visible rate, and in the blink of an eye, it had emerged more than two hundred meters above sea level, revealing the outline of a small island.

The island shot out of the sea, and the vast amount of water it displaced surged wildly in every direction. Alex and Emma suffered for it, struggling desperately amid the rushing waves and being swept back several times.

Only after the island had fully emerged from the sea and the surface gradually calmed did Alex and Emma set off again, swimming swiftly toward the island.

After climbing onto the island, Alex was surprised to find that it was not covered in water as he had imagined. It was strangely dry, as though it had not risen from the seabed at all.

Alex’s expression turned serious. He glanced back at Emma and warned, "Be careful. Stay behind me."

Emma also realized that this island was far from ordinary. She nodded solemnly, stepped forward, and took the opportunity to wrap her arms around Alex’s arm, a trace of panic on her little face.

Alex lowered his head to glance at his arm but said nothing. He carefully headed toward the direction of the **warship they had seen during the day.

After walking for about half an hour, they encountered nothing at all. There was not even a trace of the danger they had expected. Everything seemed so safe and harmless.

Yet Alex did not relax in the slightest. He remained alert. There was no harm in being cautious.

They made their way without incident, and Alex and Emma soon saw the **warship in the distance. Its shadowy outline seemed several sizes larger than it had been during the day, and more than a dozen dark cannon muzzles had been installed on its deck. Its firepower was formidable.

After circling the warship once, Alex nimbly climbed aboard using the rope ladder hanging from its side.

The moment his feet landed on the deck, Alex’s eyes were drawn to the corpses sprawled haphazardly across it. All of them wore neat **military uniforms, and every face bore an indescribable expression of terror.

"Oh, my God! What happened here?" Emma climbed up right after him. Seeing corpses everywhere, she could not help crying out.

Alex gave a bitter smile, crouched down, and pulled open one **soldier’s clothing to inspect it carefully.

Emma cautiously walked up behind Alex. Watching his movements, she carefully asked, "Did you find anything?"

Alex shook his head, his expression grave. "There are no wounds on the bodies. From the looks of it, they seem to have been frightened to death!" As he explained, Alex walked over to another corpse and repeated the same inspection.

After examining more than a dozen bodies in succession, Alex’s expression became extremely serious. His brows were nearly furrowed into rolling hills.

"Were they all frightened to death?" Emma followed closely behind Alex and had seen many of the corpses as well. Seeing the terror that could not be erased from their faces, the thought immediately arose in her mind.

Alex neither nodded nor shook his head. He crossed the deck and ran toward the cabin.

Sure enough, just as Alex had expected, everyone aboard the ship was dead. Most were **soldiers, while more than a dozen were American scientific researchers. They had probably been captured and brought aboard by ** agents.

What was incredibly strange was that these people had no wounds either. Like the **soldiers on the deck, they seemed to have been frightened to death.

Looking at the dozen or so researchers around him, dressed in heavy leather coats, Alex was filled with confusion. "What did they encounter that frightened an entire shipload of people to death?"

Just then, Emma suddenly cried out, startling Alex so badly that his heart nearly stopped. He could not help jumping, his face turning deathly pale.

"I know this person!"

Hearing the surprise in Emma’s voice, Alex finally snapped out of his own imaginings. He turned to look at Emma and patted his chest with lingering fear, silently thinking, People can scare others to death. The old saying really is true!

"This is Professor Elton Morrow. I’ve seen him before. He proposed a theory that humanity originated in Africa." Emma pointed at the oldest middle-aged man among the dozen corpses and said regretfully, "There were always rumors that he had been assassinated by ** agents. I never expected him to die here."

Listening to Emma’s rambling explanation, Alex could not help rolling his eyes. "He’s just a professor. Do you need to get so excited?"

Suddenly, Emma let out another startled cry, making the now somewhat jumpy Alex break out in a cold sweat again. He turned to look at Emma and demanded angrily, "What is it now?"

"There’s a Blue Diamond here." Emma reached into Professor Morrow’s torn pocket and took out a Blue Diamond. She offered it to Alex as though presenting a treasure, her face full of delight, completely unaware of his tone.

Alex glanced at the Blue Diamond in Emma’s hand and did not know whether to laugh or cry. He could not help sighing inwardly, She really is a woman. She loves these shiny things most. But when all’s said and done, it’s just a stone!

"There seems to be something wrong with this diamond," Emma suddenly added.

Alex had already grown used to Emma’s sudden outbursts. He replied irritably, "Could it be fake?"

Emma did not speak. She stared at the Blue Diamond for a long while before suddenly raising her head to look at Alex. "Something is moving inside this diamond. It’s flowing like water."

Alex did not pay much attention at first. He turned, intending to continue searching the warship, but Emma’s words made him stop at once. He looked at her skeptically, then casually took the Blue Diamond from her hand and examined it.

Sure enough, just as Emma had said, the center of the Blue Diamond was actually flowing like water!