American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 301 Awakening in the Abyss
The outside world already knew about the incident involving the USS San Diego on the same day.

The crew on the bridge sent a distress signal in time, and many people on board also had satellite phones, so they would have been found out soon after losing contact.

So at this point, rescue teams may already be heading to the site of the sunken San Diego to salvage it.

The most obvious manifestation of this is that all of Charles's holding companies experienced a sharp drop in stock prices, and the companies of those wealthy individuals on the missing persons list also saw varying degrees of decline.

America's stock market experienced a mini-crash as a result, and it's unclear whether someone received the news and started shorting the stock market.

But these things have nothing to do with Roy; he is still on the tanker heading towards Antarctica.

Jack told Roy all of this after contacting the outside world via satellite phone.

In short, a terrible media storm awaits Charles; let's hope he can withstand it.

However, Jack told Roy that Charles had not shown up and that he was likely not yet back on land.

As dusk fell, Roy stood on the deck, gazing at the distant sunset, his heart filled with endless emotions.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"We will arrive at the offshore drilling platform in two hours."

It was Janice who spoke.

Since Roy woke up, Janice has been frequently showing concern for him, clearly indicating that she has feelings for him.

This put Roy in a very awkward position. Although he was indeed a womanizer, he wouldn't go so far as to lay a hand on the wife of someone who had helped him; that would be truly tasteless.

But Janice was too proactive, leaving Roy feeling helpless.

Fortunately, Jack knew that Roy was Serena's boyfriend, and that Roy's attitude towards Janice was very cold, so he didn't suspect him.

This time was no different; Roy completely ignored Janice, yet the woman still tried to get close to him despite his cold shoulder.

Of course, it's also possible that they want to post something else.

"Roy, do you know why Jack rushed to the offshore drilling platform? I heard that the workers on that platform are on strike, so Jack came to negotiate with them."

Janice didn't seem to mind Roy's cold attitude, blinked, and continued talking.

"He was just throwing a tantrum inside because the drilling platform wasn't answering his radio."

Roy's heart skipped a beat. Could something have happened again?

This seems to be happening a bit too frequently; I've only been awake for a few hours!

Janice continued.

"Jack said the workers in the well were trying to intimidate him, but luckily he brought security from the military company. Roy, do you think there will be bloodshed after the drilling?"

"do not know."

Roy definitely didn't want any bloodshed; he just wanted to return to land safely and didn't want any more accidents to happen.

But Janice seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold, which left Roy somewhat puzzled about what she was thinking.

Women's hearts are particularly hard to fathom. After all, Roy mainly relies on his looks to pick up women, not on guesswork.

Janice chatted with Roy for a few more minutes, but Roy remained indifferent. Feeling she had made a fool of herself, Janice left rather unhappily.

Spring has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere at this time of year, the days are not yet very long, and dusk comes and goes quickly.

After dark, Roy returned to his cabin and stopped going out in the wind.

But there was no one in the cabin. Roy looked around and found that everyone was in the cabin.

Jack was seen clenching his fists and rallying the crew on the tanker. Behind him stood two men in black whom Roy had never seen before.

These two men in black should be the military company security guards Janice mentioned earlier. They seem to dislike appearing in front of others and have been staying in their rooms without coming out.

Even when Roy was discovered, neither of them showed up.

Their appearance now is probably to support Jack.

Roy listened at the door for a while. Jack's general idea was that he hoped the tanker's crew would stand by him when they arrived at the offshore drilling platform to prevent the drilling workers from striking.

Unfortunately, the crew members were not interested in Jack's words, no matter how eloquently he spoke.

Jack's wages weren't enough to make the crew temporarily act as riot police, so no matter how much he offered, it wouldn't make a difference.

Left with no other option, Jack could only promise the crew an extra bonus, which finally piqued their interest.

"Now, go and prepare some sticks. Once we get to the offshore drilling platform, follow my instructions, understand?"

"understood."

The crew answered Jack listlessly, and then went their separate ways.

At this moment, Roy came to Jack's side.

"Jack, do you need my help?"

Jack waved his hand with a smile on his face.

"I have handled many similar worker strikes, and they can be resolved quickly without affecting the return journey."

Jack thought Roy was in a hurry to get back, which was why he wanted to help.

Roy shrugged. He genuinely suspected that something might have happened on the drilling platform and wanted to help, but unfortunately, Jack was unaware of his capabilities.

Since that's the case, we'll figure out how to repay this favor after the drilling platform is completed.

An hour later, the lights of the offshore drilling platform could be seen in the distance. Jack sent another radio call, but there was still no response.

Offshore drilling platforms are usually located above sea level. After the oil tanker docks, people cannot go up directly. They need to communicate with the drilling platform and then have an elevator installed to get up.

Jack was furious. He ordered all the crew members on board to assemble and prepare. Then, after the tanker approached the offshore drilling platform, he sent a signal to enter the platform, but there was still no response.

(Offshore drilling)
Jack was absolutely furious.

"A bunch of damned paupers, how dare they pull this on me!"

The word "poor bastard" was enough to insult most of the people present. Apart from the Davis couple and Roy, there were probably no wealthy people on the cruise ship.

As a result, the crew members began to look at Jack with less friendly eyes.

Jack realized he had said the wrong thing and immediately corrected himself.

"I've already paid those workers enough, but they still want to strike. It's outrageous! Captain, is there still no signal from the platform?"

The captain wiped his sweat; the situation was making him a little nervous.

"Yes, there has been no word from them at all, not even a single person has come to say hello."

Jack clenched his fists and glared at the offshore drilling platform through gritted teeth.

"Damn! They're so united! Let's not wait any longer, let's get onto the platform in the lifeboats!"

Typically, there are stairs leading up from the bottom of drilling platforms, but large ships can't get close enough to access them; lifeboats are the only option.

The problem is that if you take a lifeboat into the offshore drilling platform, you certainly can't bring many people.

Jack began to suspect that this was the drillers' purpose.

"What a cunning bunch!"

Aside from the two military company security personnel he was required to bring, Jack could only bring a maximum of seven more people onto the offshore drilling platform.

Janice wanted to join Jack's group to watch the fun on the platform, but Jack didn't want his wife involved. Even though Janice kept pleading and begging, Jack wouldn't agree.

Afterwards, Roy also suggested that they go on the platform together.

"Jack, take me with you. I'd like to see what it's like on an offshore drilling platform."

Jack looked at the burly Roy; at least his physique was very intimidating.

But since Roy was a guest, Jack felt awkward asking him for help.

“Roy, once I’ve resolved the issues with those workers, you can go up on the platform and take a look. There’s no need to go up now.”

After some consideration, Jack still refused Roy's offer.

Roy was frustrated, but there was nothing he could do.

Finally, Jack carefully selected seven of the most muscular and fierce-looking crew members, each carrying a wooden stick, and boarded the lifeboat, heading towards the offshore drilling platform under the cover of night.

"I hope nothing happened."

Looking at the tranquil offshore drilling platform, Roy had a vague feeling that something might have happened on it.

"Roy, what are you saying didn't happen?"

After Jack left, Janice started to move closer to Roy again, her most prominent genitals brushing against his arm.

"It's nothing. I just hope nothing bad happens to Jack, after all, he helped me."

Upon hearing this, Janice began to pout coquettishly.

"Roy, you've gone too far! I was the one who found you in broad daylight, yet you never care about me!"

This statement was somewhat ambiguous, and Roy noticed that several crew members were already looking at him and Janice with strange eyes.

Roy's lips twitched, thinking to himself, "Janice, you really don't care at all." He quickly stepped away from her, pretending nothing had happened.

"Mrs. Davis, please don't joke like that. Of course I care about you too."

Janice looked like she was about to cry.

"Roy, you're so annoying! You call Jack by his first name but I'm Mrs. Davis. Are you deliberately distancing yourself from me?"

These words made the surrounding crew members' gazes even more ambiguous.

Roy was truly speechless. His attitude was already very clear, yet Janice was still asking questions she already knew the answer to.

"Mrs. Davis, I think..."

Before Roy could finish speaking, Jack's voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie in the captain's hand.

"Monster! There's a monster on the drilling platform! Help me..."

Roy immediately ran to the captain, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and asked him questions.

"Jack, what happened? Hey! Hey!"

There was no response from the other end of the walkie-talkie, no matter how much Roy called out.

Then, Janice suddenly pointed to the sea outside the window and exclaimed in surprise.

"Look! The ocean beneath the drilling rig is glowing!"

Everyone ran to the window and looked out at the sea. Sure enough, they saw the ocean beneath the drilling platform emitting a colorful, ethereal glow.

The scene was actually quite beautiful, if I hadn't heard Jack scream earlier.

Now, the others in the cabin are filled with fear.

"What on earth is going on?"

The captain was completely at a loss and didn't know what to do.

The boss's fate is currently unknown, and it seems that only the boss's wife, Janice, can make decisions now.

But Janice had never encountered such a situation before, and was now staring blankly at the shimmering sea.

In the end, it was Roy who stepped forward.

"Captain, I'm going to check on the drilling platform. You sail the ship a little further away and wait for me!"

"Huh? You're alone? How about we call for help via satellite phone and wait for rescue?"

The captain wanted to play it safe, but Roy's attitude was very firm.

"Do as I say! Do you have another walkie-talkie? Give me another one!"

“Mr. Blake, but how are you going to get on? There’s only one lifeboat on the tanker!”

"Of course we'll swim there!"

With a splash, Roy jumped into the sea; the oil tanker deck, which was more than ten meters high, was no problem for him at all.

Janice finally came to her senses and rushed to the railing, crying as she called out to Roy.

"Roy, be careful!"

Roy, who had dived into the sea, did not hear Janice's words, but even if he had, he wouldn't have responded.

This sea area was surprisingly warm, unlike any other ocean near the Antarctic Circle.

As Roy approached the drilling platform, he could see a large number of mysterious specks in the seawater. These substances seemed to have floated up from the seabed, and the glowing ocean that Roy had just seen was actually the effect of these things gathering together.

For safety, Roy took on the Nephilim form, materializing a protective layer with chaotic energy to prevent his body from coming into direct contact with these mysterious substances.

This was a very wise choice. As Roy traversed the oceans filled with mysterious substances, he could sense that these substances clung to the protective membrane like living organisms, seemingly trying to devour the chaotic energy.

Fortunately, the protective membrane formed by the chaotic energy was extremely strong, and these mysterious substances were unable to penetrate it until Roy reached the bottom of the well.

Then, Roy tore open the protective membrane formed by the chaotic energy, wrapped up the mysterious substances, and put them in his inventory, intending to take them back for further study later.

He exited Nephilim form and immediately transformed into Ghost Wolf form. Ghost Wolf's powerful sense of smell allowed Roy to detect some strange odors.

It was a foul smell that was hard to describe in words; Roy had never smelled anything like it before.

Let's find Jack first.

Roy didn't dwell on the smell; instead, he pulled out his revolver and started climbing the stairs.

The main reason they didn't take out the execution knife was that they were afraid its appearance would frighten others.

However, Roy soon realized he had worried too much, because when he arrived at the lower room of the platform, he found the room completely dark and empty, with no sign of Jack or the others.

Roy took out the Hound Ring and began tracking Jack's location, discovering that the Hellhound was running towards the largest building on the drilling platform, which was the main building of the platform.

The staff dormitory, offices, and canteen are usually located in this building, but to get to this building, you first have to go through the drilling platform.

After passing through the dark, empty lower room, Roy quickly arrived at the upper platform.

It looked like a scene from a world war, with all sorts of equipment and supplies lying haphazardly on the ground, and some places even on fire.

What happened here?

Just then, Roy suddenly heard some strange noises.

　Adapted from the horror game Still Wakes the Deep, it's a pretty good game.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)