As they went deeper into the interior of this "holy island", the surrounding environment became quieter and quieter - there was no more wind, and no sound of birds or streams. A strange silence condensed in the fog, shrouding the team's heads.
However, this extreme silence brought people greater uneasiness. When the sounds that should have been made by nature disappeared, the association that "this island is alive" began to prevail uncontrollably. Shirley always felt as if someone was looking at her in the fog, as if the island was observing and examining the uninvited guests who broke into this place, and the fog that slowly wandered around the team... also seemed to be gradually tainted with a layer of "surveillance" flavor.
The team continued to move deeper, heading towards the "excavation site" that appeared in Shirley's mind.
After leaving the port area, there is a narrow trail leading to the center of the island. This seems to be a road opened up by the cultists on the island a long time ago. It is located between two pitch-black rock walls. There are no signposts on the road. On both sides of the road where the road connects to the rock walls, you can occasionally see some black stones that look like crystal clusters.
Duncan's eyes were inevitably attracted by those black "rock clusters" - such "rock clusters" were not uncommon on the island. On the cliffs on the west side of the island, clusters of rocks even larger than this one were "growing" almost everywhere. These things emerged from the earth and the mountain walls like some strange "plants", making people very curious about their formation process.
Even with Morris's erudition, it seems that he cannot explain the appearance of these "rock clusters" from a purely geological perspective... But considering that the entire island is "alive" as Shirley said, it doesn't seem surprising that such strange things appear here.
Perhaps, these strangely shaped rocks really did "grow" from the island, like... some kind of secretion from an ancient god.
Under Amber's command, several Marines carefully collected samples of the "stone clusters" and scraped a lot of dark powder from the nearby rock walls. They carefully stored these "Holy Island samples" in a blessed metal cylinder and had them kept by several specific people in the team.
Along the way, they were doing similar things, and their coordination was so smooth that it hardly affected the team's progress. It was obvious that this was not the first time they had done this.
"All the 'Border Samples' may come in handy. Some of them have incredible practical properties, and some can help us uncover the secrets of the world and enhance our understanding of supernatural powers," Amber explained to Duncan. "Many people think that the 'Border' is a place with nothing, and that it is nothing but thick fog and sea water. But in fact... entities often appear in the fog, and we have to deal with nearly double-digit 'entity events' every year..."
She paused for a moment and added, "Ms. Lucrecia should know this very well—she often cooperates with the church in the field of border exploration..."
"I've heard her mention it before," Duncan nodded calmly. "She said that this is the main source of funds for the Brilliant Star's activities at the border. The Academy of Truth is the most generous when it comes to purchasing samples at the border, while the Firebringer is always the slowest to pay. The Deep Sea Church has a good reputation in this regard, but the 'receiving' standards are very strict. Sometimes they are even slower than the Firebringer in going through the review and registration process."
Amber looked a little embarrassed: "... Not every church is as wealthy as the Academy of Truth. Their technology transfer of the steam core reactor alone is enough to buy more than a dozen city-states, and we still have to consider the annual budget."
Duncan: “… for very practical reasons indeed.”
"Do you feel... that it's colder than before?" Shirley suddenly broke the silence. She hugged her arms and rubbed them while muttering, "I feel like there's wind blowing over me. My arms are almost frozen..."
"Cold?" Fanna frowned when she heard that. "I don't feel that way... But the fog around us is indeed a little thicker than before, and it's harder to see the road ahead... Hmm?"
Vanna suddenly stopped and stared at Shirley's arm: "Shirley, the chain on your arm..."
Shirley was stunned for a moment, then raised her arm and asked in confusion, "Ah? What happened to the chain?"
The rattling sound of the chains shaking echoed in the mist. The pitch-black thorn chains connected her arms and Agou's cervical vertebrae, just as before.
Vanna frowned, and she carefully looked at the black chain on Shirley's arm, and shook her head hesitantly: "... It's restored... But just now I seemed to see that the chain on your arm was broken."
"Ah?!" Shirley's eyes widened upon hearing this, and her tone became a little panicked, "Hey... Don't scare me! Did you really see it?!"
As she spoke, she quickly raised her arm, pulled Agou by the chain and brought him in front of her, holding his big head: "Agou, do you feel it?"
"No..." Agou was also a little flustered by Vanna's words, "Maybe I saw it wrong..."
Vanna still frowned. She knew that the scene she had just seen was a little unbelievable, but her professional ethics as a judge still made her alert quickly: "Shirley, Agou, you really don't feel anything strange?"
Shirley and Agou said in unison: "I don't feel anything."
"Let me check it." Duncan strode over, grabbed the black chain between Shirley and Agou, and put it in front of his eyes to examine it carefully.
Shirley watched this scene nervously from the side. After a long while, she finally mustered up the courage to speak: "Is there... any problem?"
A faint green flame flowed from Duncan's fingertips, seeping into the gaps between the chains like water. After a long time, he gently shook his head and said, "I can't see anything."
"What will happen if the chain breaks?" Even Alice reacted at this time and asked nervously.
"I don't know... If the chains of the Annihilation Cultists and Contracted Demons are broken, they will usually die immediately, and neither the humans nor the demons will survive. But the situation for me and Agou is different..." Shirley said in a panic, obviously a little scared, "And under normal circumstances, this chain can't be broken, it's very strong... How could it be broken..."
Duncan suddenly reached out and patted Shirley on the shoulder.
Shirley startled and raised her head, looking at the captain with some uneasiness.
"Go back to the ship," Duncan said to her.
Noticing that the other party was a little confused for a moment, Duncan continued, "Something is wrong. For the sake of caution, I think you should return to the Lost Homeland and not continue to go deeper into this island."
Shirley finally reacted, and nodded hesitantly. However, at this moment, Agou next to her suddenly stood up and rarely obeyed the captain's arrangement: "No, Captain, I think... Shirley and I are better off staying on the island with you."
Duncan frowned when he heard this: "Why?"
Agou hesitated for a moment, then spoke as if he had made up his mind: "First of all, returning to the Lost Homeland at this time may not be safer than staying with you."
Duncan didn't say anything, but just signaled Agou to continue speaking with his eyes.
"Secondly... I'm worried that even if we leave the Holy Island now, it will be useless," Agou organized his words and continued, "I don't think Miss Vanna was 'mistaken' just now. Moreover, in this environment, even if you really saw something wrong, you must treat it seriously... The situation may really be wrong. When Shirley was in the square just now, she was obviously affected by this Holy Island and saw many things that she shouldn't have seen...
"In my experience, simply leaving the scene after this happens will not solve the problem. Instead, it may explode uncontrollably into a bigger problem after a period of time - pollution is always with you and will grow in the process of escaping, while the solution to the problem is often hidden at the source."
Shirley understood what Agou meant, and immediately looked up at the fog at the end of the road nervously: "You mean... should we continue to go in?"
"We must move forward. I won't feel at ease until I figure out what's going on on this island and what's wrong with the chain between you and me," Agou said in a deep voice. "And... like I said just now, it's probably not safe to return to the Lost Homeland at this time."
Shirley opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but she suddenly heard Agou's voice coming directly into her mind through the symbiotic chain -
"Shirley, stay with the captain—trust my judgment. It is safer to stay with him, even if it means going to the warp with him."
Shirley turned her head and saw Agou looking at her quietly, with a bloody red light flickering in his pair of empty eye sockets.
Agou seemed to have a premonition of something.
As a deep demon, it occasionally has some inexplicable premonitions.
Agou is often unable to explain to others the specific content of this premonition, but Shirley has always unconditionally believed in his judgment.
So she nodded slowly: "Okay, let's continue to go deeper."
"Are you sure?" Duncan looked at Shirley seriously. "If we go deeper, there may be unexpected situations."
It is certain that the danger of the environment is relative, but the safety around the captain is absolute.
For some reason, these words suddenly flashed through Shirley's mind - they were not words transmitted by Agou through spiritual connection, but more like a judgment that suddenly emerged in her own mind.
She was in a trance for a moment, then nodded again: "Sure, I feel fine."
"...Okay." Duncan confirmed that Shirley's attitude was firm, and then he withdrew his gaze. However, he then reached out and touched the head of the girl who looked too thin and short due to malnutrition when she was a child, and reminded her seriously, "Stay beside me, follow closely."
"good!"
(End of this chapter)