Endless Chart

Captain Li is dead. His body was not found, only the endless, rolling, gray sea remains.

This is the 173rd day of the ocean-going fishing vessel "Asmodeus" at sea. According to the original route, in another half month, they should have returned, back to the solid labyrinth built of reinforced concrete and neon lights. But now, everything is unknown. Or rather, everything points to another, deeper, colder, labyrinth with no exit.

First Mate Wang Qiang stands on the deck. The sea breeze, carrying the salty smell, stings his rough skin like countless tiny needles. He lights a cigarette and takes a deep drag. The dizziness from the nicotine temporarily makes him forget the predicament before him. He looks at the sea, and the sea looks back at him. The sea is silent, yet it seems to be telling something, those ancient stories about life, death, betrayal, and despair.

The crew gathered in the mess hall; the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive. They were suspicious of each other, their eyes darting, each person like an isolated island, surrounded by the sea of fear and unease. Everyone is a suspect, everyone has a motive. After all, in this isolated steel cage, the repression, monotony, and endless toil are enough to drive a normal person insane.

Captain Li was a strict man. He believed in discipline and order. He treated everyone on board as a part of a machine, precisely controlling their work and rest. He rarely spoke, but his gaze, like an undercurrent in the deep sea, was cold and powerful, enough to make even the most unruly sailor feel fear.

But Captain Li was also a lonely man. He had no family, no friends, only this ship, this sea. He enclosed himself in a labyrinth of rules and routes, thinking that this way he could resist the erosion of human nature. But he was wrong. The exit of the labyrinth is often not in the distance, but in the human heart.

Various versions of Captain Li's death circulated. Some said it was Second Mate Liu Ming who did it, because Captain Li had deducted his wages. Some said it was Seaman Zhang San, because Captain Li had discovered contraband he had hidden. Still others said it was a conspiracy of the entire crew, because they could no longer endure Captain Li's tyranny.

Wang Qiang didn't believe these rumors. He believed that the truth was far more complex than these simple explanations. He began to investigate, like a traveler searching for an exit in a labyrinth, following the clues, gradually approaching the truth.

He consulted the ship's log. Each page recorded the precise time, location, wind direction, and current. But behind these cold data, the undercurrents of human nature were hidden. He questioned each crew member. Their answers were fragmented and contradictory, like a shattered mirror, reflecting countless distorted faces.

He even began to doubt himself. On this endless, unpredictable sea, the boundary between memory and reality blurred, and the boundary between sanity and madness also blurred. He began to have nightmares, dreaming that he was trapped in a labyrinth made of waves and corpses, unable to find an exit.

During the investigation, Wang Qiang found a fragmented chart. This chart was not the one they usually used. It was not marked with geographical coordinates, but with strange symbols and text. These symbols and text seemed to be some kind of ancient language, or some kind of code, pointing to an unknown, mysterious realm.

Wang Qiang faintly felt that this chart was the key to solving the mystery. He began to study these symbols and text, trying to decipher their meaning. He consulted numerous books and countless materials, but he found that these symbols and text did not belong to any known civilization.

Finally, on a night with dim starlight, Wang Qiang finally understood the meaning of this chart. It was not a map, but a mirror, a mirror reflecting the human heart. Those symbols and text were not place names, but human weaknesses: greed, jealousy, fear, despair…

Captain Li's death was not a simple murder, but a tragedy of human nature. On this isolated fishing vessel, everyone was trapped in their own labyrinth, driven by their own desires and fears, ultimately heading towards destruction.

Wang Qiang threw the chart into the sea. He knew that the truth was no longer important. What was important was how they would continue to survive on this endless sea.

The sun rose, and the sea surface shimmered with golden light. But this light could not dispel the shadow that shrouded the "Asmodeus." The fishing vessel continued to sail, heading towards the unknown distance, heading towards another labyrinth composed of waves, storms, and the desires of human nature.