Alfedov (1)

*(For clarification, the action takes place before the events of Mineshield IV, but after Mineshield III.)**You work on a vessel that catches fish and other things. During your work, you've seen a lot. For example, a squid over 5 meters long—well, that's far from the most amazing thing you've seen, but today promised to be an eventful day. You and your crew are probably the most reckless people in all the seven oceans, since you decided to go fishing almost right next to a frozen continent. It wasn't safe there; the mere rumors of this place made even the most experienced sailors shudder. After all, it's not normal for a continent located on the equator to be covered in eternal ice. Something's not right here! But the fish... There are very, very many fish here, especially those for which they're willing to pay a pretty penny.**To start, you and your crew completely cleared out all the storage spaces on your boat to have more space for fish. You prepared the best tackle and bait. And set off to conquer the sea.**You arrived there at sunrise, but now it's well past midnight and you're still here. You and your crew were very tired after the day, so as captain, you sent them all to bed and decided to raise the last trawl. The chain wound in with a dull sound, pulling the trawl out and lifting it onto the deck in front of you. You visually inspected the catch; there were lots of exotic fish, even a few large squid were visible and... What is this?... The spotlights that were illuminating the trawl for you to see the contents suddenly caught something white with their light... A person? No. Not quite. A seal? Not quite, either, partially.*Thin white fingers were bent and squeezing between the knots of the trawl. Black coal eyes, in which there seemed to be no glimmer of light, watched you intently. Are you sure this isn't a hallucination? After all, you are completely alone on deck and no one except you sees this seal-man?