Agatha stepped forward and asked in a serious tone: "Where did the 'ship that failed to arrive' come from?"
"The ship started from Plande, resupplied once in Lunsa, and then went to Cold Harbor," the soldier who came to report the situation said immediately, "Frost was its last stop. Until it resupplied in Cold Harbor, the ship was in normal condition."
"Damn it..." Colonel Lister pressed his forehead hard, and he was obviously in a bad mood. "We are in trouble now... and a ship disappeared when it was about to reach Frost... How can we have the energy to care about things outside the city-state now..."
Agatha stared at the defense commander in front of her, her tone particularly solemn: "But as you said, Colonel, it disappeared just before it was about to reach Frost - so we cannot rule out the possibility that it was also affected by some kind of extraordinary phenomenon."
Liszt raised his head: "You mean..."
"Frost is being infected by some kind of supernatural power. Abnormal cases are happening frequently in the city-state. The Sea Petrel incident proves that this 'abnormality' is not limited to the island. Now another ship, the White Oak, has disappeared near the coast. I have reason to suspect that a 'phenomenon' far beyond our imagination is covering the entire Frost region - not only on the land beneath our feet, but also a large area of the surrounding sea."
Liszt supported himself on the table with both hands, and suddenly raised his head after a few seconds: "We need to expand the scope of the blockade and issue a warning to all neighboring city-states—the pollution from the frost is overflowing, and a physical blockade is likely to be ineffective."
At this point he suddenly stopped, gritted his teeth, and seemed very hesitant. Agatha certainly noticed this: "What else are you worried about, Colonel?"
"... We may have to talk to that big pirate," Liszt said grimly, "although I personally don't want to do that very much."
"You mean... Tirian Abnomar?" Agatha's tone also changed slightly. Although she was the "gatekeeper" of the city-state, she was a native Frostman after all. She grew up listening to the horror stories about the Sea Fog Fleet. "If you don't sleep, Captain Tirian will take you away when the fog comes" is the most impressive childhood memory of every Frostman under the age of fifty, and Agatha is no exception. "Do you think he will accept our negotiation?"
"It doesn't have to be a negotiation, but at least a conversation is needed," Liszt raised his eyelids and looked at the gatekeeper in front of him. "He came here at the most sensitive time, but he hasn't taken any further action until now. I once suspected that he was involved in those 'fakes' that appeared in and outside the city, but now it seems that he is more like simply blocking this area - just like what we are doing. We have to send someone to talk to him, at least to find out what he wants to do."
"... According to legend, he is a cold and crazy cursed man, whose breath is as cold as the wind on the cold sea, and whose gaze can freeze the sea surface," Agatha said softly, "Who can serve as this 'messenger'?"
"Those legends are exaggerated. Anyone with a little knowledge can find out that the Sea Fog Fleet has relatively normal communication channels with many forces on the Cold Sea. The so-called 'Sea Fog Venture Capital Company' even set up an 'office' in Cold Harbor. That big pirate is just particularly cold to Frost," Liszt sighed softly, "The problem of the envoy will be solved. There is never a lack of brave men among the soldiers of the city-state, and..."
He suddenly stopped, raised his head thoughtfully, and looked in a certain direction outside the window.
"Ms. Agatha, did you hear any strange noises just now?"
"Strange sound?" Agatha frowned and looked out the window as well. Almost at the same time, she also heard some strange, distant and low sounds.
It sounded like a continuous hum, but it was not any sound she knew of that could be found in nature.
That's the direction of Dagger Island.
In the Frost offshore area, a steel battleship with a white hull, three main guns, and the Queen's flag was slowly cruising. A short and strong captain was standing at the bow, observing the situation in the distance through a telescope.
He was wearing the uniform of the Queen's Guard from half a century ago, but there was a horrifying hole in his abdomen that allowed him to see directly the other side. The fragments of clothing in the torn part floated slowly in the air as if soaked in sea water, and occasionally a series of air appeared out of thin air. He was a member of the Sea Fog Fleet, the captain of the powerful battleship "Sea Raven", Nixon.
He looked out at the small island with its winding coastline in the distance.
And on the sea in that direction, you can see some small black shadows patrolling.
Those were the naval vessels of the Frost City-State—they were carrying out a blockade of Dagger Island in the other direction, while at the same time carefully observing the movements of the Sea Raven and other nearby Sea Fog ships.
"Those ships are really annoying," a sailor strolled over and said to the short and stocky Captain Nixon, "Can we fire a couple of shots at them to say hello?"
"No, unless you want to be stuffed into a machine cabin by General Tirian and stirred for 24 hours," Nixon said without turning his head. "We are not here to fight the Frost People. In the words of the general, we are temporarily on the same side with them."
"Well," the sailor shrugged, "They are blocking the other side of Dagger Island, and we are blocking this side. It's not bad to cooperate, but if those guys get confused and really come close, we can't blame our artillery for misfiring, right?"
"If there is an accidental discharge, you will be the first to be fired upon," Nixon looked back at his men, then turned his gaze to the small island in the distance, "Dagger Island... Tsk, I still remember that I once stood guard there."
"Back then there was still boiling gold to be mined, and there was even a town on the island," the sailor lamented, "but those good days are gone forever."
Nixon frowned, as if he wanted to say something, but suddenly, he seemed to hear a voice and his expression suddenly became serious.
A strange buzzing sound... ..came to his ears.
"What's that noise?" The sailor next to him immediately reacted with a nervous expression on his face, "Was it those Frost People who made it?"
"I don't know, but the Frost's ships didn't behave suspiciously..." Nixon immediately raised his telescope, "They don't seem to know either... Wait, Dagger Island is shaking!"
He suddenly took away the telescope and looked at the sea in the distance in surprise.
A hazy fog was rising from the direction of Dagger Island, and a low buzzing sound came from there, stirring his mind as if it was going to drill into his thoughts. He saw that the island seemed to be alive, with hazy tentacles spreading out from its edges. The tentacles rose and squirmed in the fog, stirring the surrounding sea and fog over and over again, while the island itself was sinking little by little, and countless huge shadows on its surface appeared in the fog like giants rising up.
Nixon was stunned for a moment, then quickly picked up the telescope, wanting to take a closer look at the situation on the island.
However, just as he was about to do so, a loud noise like thunder suddenly came from the sea area with rising mist, followed by countless dense explosions - smoke rose above the island and merged with the surrounding sea fog, and the flashes and flames rising into the sky could be seen clearly even without a telescope!
Dagger Island was detonated - all the facilities on the island were exploding, and all the "ultimate safety measures" pointed to the same answer: Procedure 22, nitroglycerin explosives.
Nixon stared at the scene in amazement, and it took him a moment to realize what had happened, but then the scene before him once again exceeded his imagination.
Dagger Island was sinking, like a battleship with its hull blown through, sinking rapidly in a series of explosions.
"The island is sinking?" A surprised voice came from the side. This sailor who had served on the ship for more than half a century had never seen such a strange sight. "The Frostmen... blew up Dagger Island!? They can sink an island?!"
"Nonsense! There is no such explosive in the world - how could the island be blown up and sunk?!" Nixon instinctively shouted, but the scene before him made him swallow the rest of his words.
Dagger Island really sank
It was sinking faster and faster, and finally it was so fast that it was unbelievable. One minute ago, he could still see that two-thirds of the island remained on the sea. One minute later, only a small hill was left on the entire island. After a few seconds... the island had completely disappeared on the sea.
The mist dissipated, and there was no trace of Dagger Island in the cold sea: "Not even a whirlpool appeared..."
Captain Nickerson swallowed hard and muttered in disbelief.
The sea in the distance was still calm. The sinking of an island would theoretically trigger a terrifying whirlpool, large enough to swallow the world's largest ship. However, in reality... no whirlpool appeared at all.
It was as if... ..the island didn't sink, but melted into the sea.