We walked into the underwater people's submarine.
Unlike in the original story where they were attacked and captured unconscious, this time, maybe because we'd shown our strength, the underwater people didn't dare force a capture.
They just had us enter the submarine and go back with them first.
As we entered the underwater people's submarine and it started moving forward, something seemed to be transmitted into my mind.
The others felt it too. Just as we were all confused, the underwater person who had brought us in spoke up: "This is an explanation to help you understand our history. No need to be afraid."
We were a bit surprised that the underwater people could transmit information through consciousness.
Everyone looked at Doraemon, and he shook his head, indicating it was safe.
So, we let the explanation continue in our minds without stopping it.
"The ocean is the homeland of all life. Thirty-five billion years ago, the earliest life forms were born in the sea. After some time, life left the ocean and began living on land, undergoing intense survival and evolution. But life on land has only existed for four hundred million years, while in the ocean, it's been thirty-five billion years. And some life returned from land to the sea, like whales, seals, dolphins, and of course, the underwater people..."
Just as the explanation in our minds ended, the submarine outside slowly came to a stop.
We must have arrived at their country.
The submarine door opened slowly, and the underwater person who had spoken stood up, urging us to get out quickly.
We slowly followed the leading underwater person off the submarine and found ourselves in an ancient city.
But it didn't look all that grand—gray stone bricks everywhere, dull and without any beauty, not even as nice as my house back home.
There were soldiers stationed every dozen meters or so, making it feel like a military fortress.
Why did the underwater people's civilization seem so crude?
But I thought about it carefully—it was probably because they were constantly at war with the other side, so they didn't need fancy decorations, just sturdy, durable stone bricks.
As we stepped off the submarine, the leading underwater person removed his helmet, revealing golden hair.
"Hello, land people. I'm El," he said, holding his helmet.
"Hello. Where are you taking us?" Doraemon was surprised that the other could communicate in our language but stayed vigilant.
El didn't answer Doraemon's question right away.
Instead, he introduced himself first: "Welcome to the Mu Federation, located deep in the Mariana Trench. You should have learned about us from the mental images earlier!"
El's words were cold, without any real welcoming tone.
Then, he finally answered Doraemon's question: "For now, I'll settle you in, then take you to meet our prime minister."
"Why did you force us to come back? Why attack us?" Doraemon asked, a bit angry.
"I'm sorry, but we don't know who you are. There are many dangerous land people. We've often gone ashore and observed your history—it's a bloody one, isn't it? Wars repeating for thousands of years! So, we had to bring you back and keep you under control first!" El said "sorry," but his expression showed no apology.
"Oh, right!" El continued.
"Two of your companions were heading to find that sunken ship, weren't they!"
"How do you know?" Suneo and Gian exclaimed in surprise.
"We could tell from your travel route, and lately, there have been a lot of land people poking around Bermuda," El said with some disdain, as if mocking those ignorant treasure hunters.
He went on: "That ship isn't some rumored ghost ship; it just unluckily sank into the Devil's Rock City in the Bermuda Triangle, so you couldn't have gotten it anyway."
"Devil's Rock City?" Doraemon and the rest of us were a bit shocked—that name didn't sound good at all.
Mentioning that name, El hesitated a bit but continued.
"It's a demonic sea area that no one is allowed to approach. Forcing your way in could lead to the world's destruction. We're currently at war with them."
"Just like the battle you saw earlier."
"Good thing Suneo and Gian didn't make it there!" Seeing how even the Mu Federation people were so wary of the Bermuda Triangle, Doraemon knew that if we'd gone there, it might not have been as "talkative" as here—there could have been casualties.
But being captured by the Mu Federation didn't seem much better!
Doraemon's mood grew complicated.
El led us along, and we arrived at a gray, dusty stone brick house that looked no different from the others.
"Alright, this is the place. Go in!" El said to us.
Then, he brought us inside the house.
But once inside, compared to the dull stone bricks outside, it was luxurious.
Like a hotel.
The floor had marble patterns, the chandeliers were shiny as if coated in gold paint, and there was even a fountain in the room?
This was a stark contrast to the rustic outside.
Locking people up in a room like this? I had thought they kept the outside plain because of the wars.
Looks like there were a lot of hidden stories here!
I realized these so-called underwater people weren't as upright as they seemed on the surface.
Truly, they could defend against wind and rain but not corruption, huh!
No wonder the ocean depths had no sunlight year-round.
"Alright, there are buttons here. If you need anything, just ring the bell!"
El didn't say much more, just left and closed the door.
We all knew that on the surface, they were "settling" us in, but really, it was imprisonment.
"Alright! It seems we won't lack food or drink here, and it looks pretty nice. If they keep this up after we meet their prime minister tomorrow, we'll use gadgets to escape!" Doraemon said to comfort everyone.
With that, everyone relaxed, especially since Doraemon was here!
As everyone started doing their own thing—Suneo and Gian eating the food in the room, Shizuka going to the bathroom to bathe—they sure were carefree in a strange place! But I guess they trusted Doraemon being around.
At that moment, while I was sitting alone, Saotome Seiko came over.
"Saotome, what's up?" I asked, a bit puzzled.
"Nobita-kun, you forgot—you promised to teach me cat's cradle," Saotome said with a slightly resentful tone.
We'd been having fun before, but with everything that happened after, I'd forgotten.
"Alright then! I'll teach you now!" I took the string from Saotome's hand and started teaching her hand-over-hand.
But I don't know if it was because I touched her hand, her face turned red.
She didn't object, though.
And just like that, I taught her all the cat's cradle patterns I knew in my head until bedtime.
It's just that Saotome didn't seem very focused the whole time.