American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

“Then you can be my guide tomorrow,” Emily joked.

“Of course, I will always be by your side,” Lynn said sincerely.

This remark created a subtle tension between the two. In the moonlight, Emily's face appeared exceptionally beautiful, her eyes shimmering with a gentle light.

“Lynn,” Emily said softly, “thank you for bringing me here. This is the happiest day I’ve had in a long time.”

“Me too,” Lynn replied. “It’s so nice to share these wonderful moments with you.”

They sat quietly, listening to the sound of the waves and the Hawaiian music drifting from afar. The sea breeze caressed their faces, bringing the salty scent of the ocean and the faint fragrance of flowers.

“We should go back and rest,” Lynn finally said. “We need plenty of energy for tomorrow’s dive.”

“Yes,” Emily nodded in agreement, but was clearly reluctant to leave this beautiful place.

They slowly walked back to the hotel, and in the elevator, Emily was still excitedly talking about tomorrow's plans.

"What time do we get up?" she asked.

“Class starts at ten, we should have enough time if we get up at nine,” Lynn said. “We can have breakfast first.”

“Okay,” Emily said, “see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Emily,” Lynn said. “Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight, Lynn,” Emily replied. “See you tomorrow.”

The next morning, Hawaiian sunlight streamed into the room through the floor-to-ceiling windows, naturally waking Lynn to the gentle sounds of waves and birdsong. He glanced at the clock by his bedside; it was 8:30 a.m., exactly half an hour earlier than planned. He went out onto the balcony, took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air, and the view before him once again left him in awe.

The Pacific Ocean at dawn is a pristine blue, with wisps of clouds on the distant horizon. The sea is as calm as a mirror, occasionally punctuated by seabirds skimming the surface. This tranquility and beauty are invigorating, completely washing away any tension from the previous night about the upcoming diving experience.

"Good morning!" Emily's cheerful voice came from the neighboring balcony. "You're up so early too?"

Lynn turned her head and saw that Emily had already changed into her swimsuit, with a thin white cover-up over it. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she had an excited smile on her face, clearly looking forward to today's diving activity.

“The sound of the waves woke me up,” Lynn replied with a smile. “You look ready.”

“I’m so excited, I woke up at six,” Emily said frankly. “I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about seeing the real underwater world soon.”

“Let’s go have breakfast first,” Lynn suggested. “We need enough energy for diving.”

Twenty minutes later, the two met at the hotel's open-air breakfast restaurant. Facing the sea, with a gentle breeze and swaying palm leaves, it felt like a tropical paradise. The breakfast was plentiful, featuring fresh tropical fruits, freshly baked bread, local specialty coconut oatmeal porridge, and various fruit juices.

“This mango is so sweet,” Emily said, enjoying a slice of mango. “It’s better than any mango I’ve had in New York.”

“The local fruit is definitely different,” Lynn said, savoring a slice of pineapple. “It’s incredibly fresh and sweet.”

At 9:45, they arrived at the hotel's diving center. It was an open-air building located by the beach, filled with various diving equipment, and the walls were covered with beautiful photos of the underwater world and safety instructions.

Kai, whom I met yesterday, was already waiting there, accompanied by a female coach in her thirties named Lina. Lina looked very professional, with a healthy tan from the sun, firm muscles, and a confident yet gentle gaze.

“Good morning,” Lena greeted in fluent English. “I’m Lena, today’s diving instructor. Kay told me you’re beginners, especially this lady?”

“Yes, I’ve never been diving before,” Emily admitted nervously, “but I’m really looking forward to the experience.”

“It’s alright, everyone has a first time,” Lina encouraged. “I’ve been teaching diving for ten years, and I’ll make sure you’re all safe. Does this gentleman have any diving experience?”

“There are some, but not in tropical waters,” Lynn replied.

“Very good, let’s begin,” Lina said. “First, we’ll learn the theory, then practice in the pool, and finally, we’ll go diving in the sea.”

For the next hour, Lina explained in detail the basic principles of diving, safety rules, and emergency procedures. She explained the effects of water pressure on the human body, how to properly use a breathing apparatus, and the meaning of various hand signals in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

“The most important rule is never to hold your breath,” Lina emphasized. “You must maintain normal breathing underwater to avoid lung injury.”

Emily took careful notes and asked questions from time to time. Her attitude towards learning impressed Lina.

After the theory lesson, they went to the hotel's swimming pool for practical exercises. Lena helped them put on their wetsuits, masks, regulators, and fins.

“This gear is a bit heavy,” Emily said after taking a few steps on land. “It feels strange.”

“It’s much easier in the water,” Lina explained. “The buoyancy of the water will offset the weight of the equipment.”

In the swimming pool, they practiced basic diving skills: how to clear water from their masks, how to use a regulator, how to maintain balance in the water, and various emergency signals. Emily was a little nervous at first, but quickly got used to breathing underwater.

“This feeling is amazing,” Emily exclaimed excitedly as she surfaced. “Breathing underwater feels just as natural as breathing on land.”

“You learn very quickly,” Lina praised. “Now we can go to the sea.”

At 11:00 AM, they boarded a small boat and headed to the diving site. About ten minutes after leaving the bay, the boat arrived at an area called "Coral Garden." The water here was about twelve meters deep, crystal clear, and the coral reefs were visible from the boat.

“It’s so beautiful,” Emily exclaimed, leaning over the gunwale and looking down. “The water is so clear, I can see the coral at the bottom.”

“It’ll be even more beautiful once we’re down there,” Lina said. “Now check our gear and get ready to go in.”

Lynn went into the water first, followed by Emily, and finally Lena. Emily was a little nervous when she first entered the water, but with Lynn and Lena by her side, she quickly relaxed.

As they slowly descended, the underwater world gradually unfolded before their eyes. First to appear was a vast coral reef, with brain corals, staghorn corals, and fan corals, all in vibrant colors and varied shapes. Swimming among the corals were various tropical fish: yellow butterflyfish, blue tangs, brightly striped clownfish, and schools of silver snapper. Emily's eyes widened at the sight; her excited expression could be seen through her mask. Pointing to a group of clownfish, she gestured her delight to Lynn.

Lynn was also awestruck by the beauty of the water. Although he had dived before, the biodiversity and clarity of the waters around Hawaii truly exceeded his expectations. Sunlight filtered through the seawater, casting dappled shadows on the coral reefs, making the entire underwater world look like a fairytale wonderland.

Lena led them slowly through the coral reefs, stopping occasionally to point out unusual marine life. A sea turtle swam leisurely past them, and Emily was so excited she almost forgot her breathing rules.

“Look over there,” Lina gestured to the distance, where a group of colorful parrotfish were nibbling on coral.

They swam in the ocean for about forty minutes and saw countless beautiful creatures: tentacles swaying in anemones, small octopuses in rock crevices, schools of tropical fish, and all sorts of strangely shaped corals.

Just as they were about to surface, Lynn suddenly noticed a strange figure in the distance. The figure was moving unusually fast, far exceeding the normal swimming speed of a human, and its movements were very unnatural, as if it were "flying" in the water.

Lynn immediately became alert. As a seasoned FBI agent, his professional instincts told him this was likely no ordinary swimmer. The figure's speed and movement were clearly beyond the capabilities of a normal human.

He gestured for Lina and Emily to stop, then pointed in the direction of the figure. But when they looked there, the figure had vanished.

Lina thought Lynn had seen some large sea creature and gestured to ask if it was a shark. Lynn shook his head, indicating he wasn't sure.

Emily also noticed Lynn's unusual reaction. She swam over to Lynn and looked at him with concern.

Lynn decided not to linger underwater and signaled to begin surfacing. As he ascended, he frequently looked back to observe the surrounding waters, but the mysterious figure never reappeared.

Back on the surface, Lina excitedly asked them how they felt.

“It’s amazing!” Emily exclaimed excitedly. “It’s even more beautiful than I imagined! The corals and tropical fish are like living works of art!”

“It is indeed beautiful,” Lynn replied, but his attention was still on the mysterious figure he had just seen.

"Did you see anything unusual just now?" Lina asked. "I noticed you stopped at the end."

“I thought I saw something, but it might have been an illusion,” Lynn replied vaguely.

Back on the ship, Emily was still immersed in the wonderful experience, constantly discussing the various marine creatures she had seen with Lena. But Lynn seemed somewhat distracted, constantly observing the surrounding sea.

“Lynn, what’s wrong?” Emily noticed his unusual behavior. “You look worried.”

"It's nothing, maybe I'm overthinking it," Lynn said, not wanting to spoil Emily's good mood.

But on the way back, Lynn saw that figure again. This time he was closer, and he could clearly see that it was a human-shaped figure, but it was moving incredibly fast, and its movements in the water were like flying.

Emily saw it too this time.

“My God, what is that?” she asked, pointing to the figure beneath the surface of the sea.

Lena saw it too, but she thought it was a dolphin or some other marine animal. "It's probably a dolphin," she said. "Dolphins often come here."

But Lynn knew it was definitely not a dolphin. The shape of the figure was clearly human, and its movement was completely unlike that of any known marine creature.

Once back on shore, Lynn immediately found the hotel's security manager and requested to see all the activity records in the sea that morning.

"Is there a problem?" the security supervisor asked.

“We saw something unusual while diving,” Lynn said, showing his FBI badge, “and needed to confirm the safety of the area.”

The safety supervisor immediately became serious and pulled up the records of all sea activities that morning, including diving, snorkeling, sailing, and so on.

"In addition to your diving activities, three groups of guests went snorkeling this morning, and two sailboats went out to sea," the safety supervisor reported. "All activities are within normal limits."

"Has anyone entered the waters without authorization?" Lynn asked.

“This is difficult to monitor,” the security manager admitted. “The sea area is vast, and we mainly monitor the activities of hotel guests.”

Lynn asked to see the beach security camera footage. In the footage, he saw a young man, who looked to be in his early twenties, with a strong build, appear on the beach around the time they were diving, but whose behavior was somewhat strange.

The man lingered on the beach for a while before walking towards the water. Strangely, once he entered the water, he disappeared from the surveillance footage, as if he had vanished into the water.

"Is this person a hotel guest?" Lynn asked, pointing to the man in the video.

The security supervisor checked the guest registration record, shook his head, and said, "He's not our guest, and I've never seen this person before."

Lynn asked to make a copy of the video and then began searching for the mysterious man around the hotel. He told Emily to rest in the room while he investigated alone.

In the hotel parking lot, Lynn found some wet footprints, clearly left by someone who had just come out of the water. He followed the footprints all the way to a coconut grove behind the hotel.

Deep in the coconut grove, Lynn finally found the mysterious man. He was a young man who looked to be around twenty-five years old, with healthy bronze skin and a muscular physique. He was sitting under a coconut tree, his clothes still wet, but he didn't seem cold at all.

What's even stranger is that although the man's hair was wet, it wasn't dripping water, as if the moisture had been absorbed by his body.

“You’re the one who was in the sea just now,” Lynn said, walking directly toward him.

The young man looked up, a slightly embarrassed smile on his face. "Ah, I've been found out."

“You’re a mutant,” Lynn said definitively, “with the ability to move at high speeds underwater.”

The man nodded. "Yes, my name is Jack Aquinas, and I am indeed a mutant. I can move at high speeds in water, just like a fish." (End of Chapter)