In the mist, three small boats docked silently at the end of a gentle slope in the corner of the harbor.
Duncan was the first to set foot on this strange island called "Holy Land" by the Annihilation Cultists.
The surroundings were silent, with a hint of chilliness in the floating, flowing mist. The man-made buildings of varying heights inside the port appeared hazy due to the mist. The boundaries of the buildings seemed to merge with the terrain in the distance, with blurred outlines. A few dim lights shone through the mist in the distance, but they did not seem to bring any sense of security to people.
"Nothing is happening..." Shirley felt the chill in the mist and subconsciously rubbed her arms, muttering as she looked around, "Dog, do you smell any 'human'?"
"There is no smell of living people, only a little bit of the smell of the dead, mixed in with the rich and deep air," Agou muttered, carefully sensing the surrounding environment, with a blood-red light flickering in his empty eye sockets, "... The feeling of 'hometown' is becoming more and more obvious, not only in the smell, but even in the 'atmosphere'... It's a bit similar."
It raised its head and looked at the island's inland shrouded in mist with its empty eyes. It said with a bit of confusion, "There are many things here that are similar to my 'hometown', but... not quite like it. I can't put my finger on this feeling."
"Agou, is this the environment in your hometown?" Shirley's focus was obviously in another direction, "Then your living environment is really bad. No wonder you said that the deep demons in your hometown can only chew on stones besides chewing on each other..."
"I don't like the atmosphere of this place," Fanna frowned tightly, and whispered while being alert to the surrounding environment, "This place always reminds me of the Frost City-State at that time..."
Shirley waved her hand: "Fog, silent streets, squirming mud, and the sudden appearance of the Elemental Replicants, right? We all understand..."
Duncan paid no attention to the conversation around him. After confirming that there was no living person around, he waved to the Marines who were getting off two small boats, signaling everyone to follow him, and walked towards the dim lights that were glowing in the fog.
The atmosphere around was strange and disturbing, which made everyone extremely vigilant. Before that, everyone had imagined what kind of dangers there would be in this lair called "holy land" by the Annihilation Cult. They imagined that there might be thousands of brutal armed pagans, countless traps and flesh-and-blood monsters created by devil worshipers, and even imagined that the Annihilation Cult secretly built a powerful fleet that would give the exploration team a head-on blow in this fog...
However, a "ghost island" without any sign of living people is not in any of the assumptions.
Fanna reached out from behind and took down her huge alloy sword, holding it tightly in her hand - there was plenty of time to prepare for this exploration, and she no longer had to use the huge sword made of ice to deal with emergencies as in previous hasty situations.
Holding the familiar "battle partner" in her hand, she felt a little more at ease.
The footsteps approached, and a young lady wearing close-fitting armor similar to the light armor Vanna was wearing and carrying a large sword on her back walked over.
Fanna still remembered that the other party was the priest sent from the "Tide" and the leader of the eleven Marines.
As she looked on with curiosity and confusion, the young priestess carrying a greatsword came to her side and whispered in an excited tone, "You are Lord Vanna Wayne, right? The legendary judge from Plande, the most powerful in history..."
"...Legendary Inquisitor? I don't know when I got this title." Vanna frowned, looking a little embarrassed. "But I am indeed Vanna Wayne. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Amber," the priestess said hurriedly, "I have heard of many of your deeds... For example, you jumped off a cliff and killed the descendants of the evil god who invaded the city-state, you jumped off the roof of the cathedral and killed the cultists who intended to destroy the church, and you jumped off the sea cliff lighthouse..."
Fanna felt a little impatient before the other party finished speaking, and waved her hands hurriedly: "Stop, I don't have so many records of killing people with one leap - most legends are exaggerated."
"You... you are very modest," Amber laughed, and then pointed to the greatsword on her back. That sword was more than one size larger than the standard steel swords used by most deep-sea priests, but still far inferior to the alloy giant sword in Vanna's hand. "I am also trying to learn your fighting style. My mentor said that it is the oldest but most practical killing technique in Storm Swordsmanship... Of course, there is definitely a big gap between me and you now..."
Vanna opened her mouth and managed to utter, "Ah, well... come on."
"I'm still working on it," Amber nodded vigorously, then hesitated and asked, "But... How can I have the same strength as you? I've heard about your many battles... Do you have any unique training techniques?"
Vanna's expression became more and more embarrassed. She subconsciously glanced in Duncan's direction, but found that the captain had no intention of paying attention to her at all. She could only hold it in for a few seconds before blurting out: "Eat more meat."
Amber: “…Huh?”
"Also, drink more hot water, go to bed early and get up early, and maintain a regular schedule." Vanna seemed to feel that her answer was not very convincing, so she thought about it and added.
Amber's expression gradually became so vague that it was hard to describe it with just an "Ah?" - it was more like a blank expression: "Is that all?"
"Well, remember to pray every day and tell the goddess about your confusion and bewilderment. Don't leave the pressure and hesitation in this regard until the next day." Vanna nodded. "And, finally, the most important point—"
Amber's expression finally changed, and she became very serious in an instant: "The most important point?"
Fanna thought about it, looked at the junior in front of her with an extremely serious expression, and said earnestly: "Don't make a vow when you have nothing to do. If you have already made a vow, don't add to the content of the vow because of your passion, or you will get stuck."
Amber's expression became dull again: "...Huh?"
But Fanna had already walked away quickly - after leaving aside a certain "junior" who made her feel quite embarrassed, she took three or two steps to Duncan's side, lowered her head and hurried on.
Duncan had actually been listening to the noise behind him. When he saw Vanna coming over, he finally smiled and said, "It sounds like you are very popular among your compatriots - even though you have now been dismissed from your position as Inquisitor and have left the public eye."
"… I occasionally encounter such situations, more frequently in the city-state," Vanna hung her head. When in front of the captain, she was finally able to complain a little about these "little troubles that are not known to outsiders." "And no matter how many times I encounter them, I can never get used to them."
Morris took out his pipe from his bosom and put it in his mouth without lighting it. He just muttered casually: "And I don't know why, it's always girls who chase her..."
Duncan immediately looked at the judge beside him with a subtle look, but saw that the judge gave him a look of despair: "... Please stop looking... I don't know why..."
What else could Duncan say? He just thought it was incredible that this beautiful warrior could have a normal friend like Heidi... Maybe it was because Heidi was a science student
It had nothing to do with him anyway—it was just amusing to see how calm and reliable Vanna was in Pingyouri and how she could be so helpless and embarrassed.
At this moment, Shirley, who was walking on the other side of the team, seemed to trip suddenly and stumbled: "Oh shit!"
Agou reacted instantly, tilted his neck back and grabbed Shirley, who was about to fall, with the chain: "What's going on?!"
Shirley stood firm and turned her head while cursing: "What the hell is this road? Something tripped me just now..."
She stopped talking halfway, staring at the place where she almost tripped, and the unfinished words turned into a short exclamation: "Fuck!?"
Several eyes instantly focused on the direction she was looking at.
Duncan also saw what had almost tripped Shirley just now—it was an arm.
Strictly speaking, it is a dark "arm" "embedded" in the road, which seems to be integrated with the surrounding road surface and has a texture like solidified silt!
Duncan's eyes narrowed instantly and he quickly came to the "arm".
It was a bent upper arm, elbow and forearm, whose black mud-like texture was completely integrated with the surrounding road surface, and it even looked like a piece of material "growing" directly from the road surface.
This makes people think that perhaps there is a more complete body connected to this arm buried under the road!
At almost the same time, Amber, the deep-sea priestess who was walking not far away, also discovered something in the fog: "There's something here too!"
What Amber found was a torso protruding from the road, with a broken head and an arm that seemed to be struggling to reach forward. The arm and head looked like the "rough human figures" floating on the sea that the Combined Fleet had seen in the waters near the Holy Land Island. They were as black as mud and lacked detailed structures on the limbs and facial features.
But its posture is enough to make people imagine the desperate and terrifying scene of this "rough human figure" struggling to crawl out of some substance that is swallowing itself.
Duncan looked solemnly at the body "embedded" in the road, and a picture appeared in his mind - the earth softened like mud, and the owner of the body was swallowed by the road under his feet, and his body melted into another ball of mud like mud. His hard struggle delayed the arrival of death a little, but after a short and useless persistence, he was still left here forever...
But Shirley and Amber's discovery is just the beginning.
Just half a minute later, the Marines who expanded their search area discovered more human bodies that were "blended" into the surrounding environment.
Densely packed, everywhere in the fog.
(End of this chapter)