The island is not big, only about the size of two or three squares.
There is little vegetation on it and it looks bare.
“Here! Here!”
On the rocky shore, a ragged man was waving excitedly. His whole body was purple from the cold and his lips were bloodless, but his expression was full of hope and expectation.
As the small fishing boat gradually approached, the man's originally weak body seemed to be infused with infinite energy. He shouted and ran towards the fishing boat.
Even though his bare feet were scratched by the gravel on the ground, he remained indifferent.
When the fishing boat docked, several young men jumped out of his surprised gaze and came to the rocky beach. Although the other party was a little wary and alert, the man didn't care. He took a few steps forward and said hurriedly while he still had the strength to speak:
"Please... please, take me back to Enlightenment Port, I..."
"Don't be in a hurry, take your time."
Raphael frowned, took a cup of prepared hot water from Lucy and handed it to the man.
“Thank… Thank you!”
The man held the hot water and drank it greedily and quickly.
After taking a few breaths, he calmed down his excitement and then told his story.
It turned out that this guy's name was Teddy, and he was the captain of a small merchant ship. He usually did business in sea wine and leather. "Sea wine" was a local specialty wine in Tusport, which sold very well in other places and was considered a commodity with a large circulation.
However, two days ago, Teddy's merchant ship accidentally encountered a storm in this sea area. The ship deviated from the course and even capsized, eventually destroying the ship and killing everyone on board... Fortunately, the captain drifted to this small island and has survived until now with the few supplies scattered on the shore.
"Excuse me, can you take me back to Qidi Port? Although the ship is gone, I still have some savings that I can use as a reward... As long as I am still alive, it is enough!"
Captain Teddy pleaded.
As he spoke, he was afraid that the others would disagree, so he kept feeling around on his body, and finally took off every ring on his finger and quickly handed it to Raphael.
"This is the only valuable thing I have. I hope you can be kind enough to take me back..."
Unexpectedly, after Raphael took it, his expression changed drastically.
The ring in her hand is bronze in color, inlaid with a square emerald and engraved with an oblique cross logo.
Felice Anno, a friend standing by, thought the ring Captain Teddy handed over looked familiar. It looked very much like the one he got from a beggar some time ago...
Take a closer look, they are not similar at all, they are exactly the same!
“Damn it!”
Raphael cursed under his breath, and he suddenly felt that what he was holding in his hand was not a ring, but a lit bomb!
A strong sense of uneasiness prompted him to throw the ring into the sea.
stop!
The emerald ring left a trail and finally fell onto the sea, disappearing without a trace.
"You are..."
Captain Teddy looked surprised and confused.
But in the next second.
boom!
A strange creature, as big as a blue whale, suddenly rushed out of the sea. Its head looked like a big mouth full of sharp teeth, and other than that, no other features could be seen.
The back was covered with deformed scales and fins, and all kinds of parasites. When the huge mouth bit, a terrifying air explosion sound was made.
Everyone was shocked.
Raphael's eyes were particularly sharp. He saw at a glance that a ray of light flashed at the corner of the unknown sea monster's mouth.
His child's hole shrank slightly.
That was the ring he had just thrown away!
boom!
There was another loud noise.
The sea monster fell back into the sea, raising high waves, as if there had been an explosion.
When the sea returned to calm, everyone was still in shock.
"There is something wrong with that ring. It will bring terrible bad luck..."
Raphael retracted his gaze and said in a deep voice.
Everyone was shocked, thinking of Captain Teddy's experience, and then they realized... The reason why this man encountered a shipwreck was probably because of the ring, right
"Raphael, why are there two..."
Felice Novo on the side couldn't help but ask.
But before he could finish his words, Raphael had already pulled him towards the fishing boat and said to the others:
"Go quickly, it's not safe here."
The expressions of Polaris and others were very solemn. They trusted Raphael and hurriedly walked over.
The shipwreck survivor named Teddy tried to follow, but Raphael turned his head and coldly stopped him:
"Don't follow us!"
With a clang, the young man drew out an exquisite rapier from his waist, cut through the air, and aimed it straight at Teddy's throat.
The latter's expression froze and he quickly raised his hands.
"When we return, we will find someone to rescue you, but not now... Of course, the premise is that you can survive until then."
Raphael was extremely decisive this time. He did not seek the opinions of others, but directly chose to abandon the uncertain factor on the island.
Ignoring Teddy's pleas, Raphael turned around coldly and quickly returned to the boat. He asked Polaris to pull up the anchor and then drove the fishing boat away.
When the fishing boat left the island, Ahsoka and Felice Novo still had reluctance on their faces, but seeing Raphael's resolute attitude, they gave up trying to persuade him.
Feliceano walked up to Rafael and asked in a low voice about the ring, but his friend just shook his head, as if he didn't know much.
"Felice Anno, I always have a bad feeling..."
Raphael let out a long breath and stared at the sea ahead.
The North Star on the side suddenly fixed his eyes.
He vaguely saw that Raphael and Felice Novo were standing side by side, and some kind of pattern seemed to emerge behind them... like two pieces of a puzzle, put together to form a slanted cross.
Others also gradually noticed this scene, and Qingtian Xiaoyu couldn't help but speak:
"Lucky value..."
Halfway through her speech, she realized something and frantically signaled to Polaris with her eyes. Polaris instantly understood and threw out a probe.
Immediately, the child's hole shrank suddenly.
Felice Novo's luck value is as high as -50!
Accompanied by a negative state "disaster is imminent"!
Although Raphael's level was too high and he could not see the North Star, his intuition told him that this person's situation should be similar to that of Felice Novo.
"Raphael!"
The North Star called out in a deep voice.
The handsome young man with long brown curly hair turned around, frowned, and looked puzzled. Polaris quickly told him about the oblique cross pattern he had seen behind the two men.
Raphael and Feliceano looked at each other, both with horror on their faces.
"I understand now. It turns out that the ring is not the point at all!"
Raphael suddenly gritted his teeth.
"It's just a medium, an introduction to a ritual... All of this was arranged by someone. Although it's a coincidence, the traces of human design are too obvious, just to make Felice and I be marked at the same time!"
He seemed to understand something, but with a serious expression on his face he began to pace in front of the rudder, lost in thought.
Polaris and the others looked at each other, not knowing what had happened. It was not until Feliceano spoke up and told them about the bad luck that had happened some time ago and that he had also obtained an emerald ring that they understood what was going on.
"So someone is deliberately trying to frame you?"
Sunny day with light rain.
"You could say..."
Raphael stopped and turned around and said.
"But I don't know what his purpose is. If he just wanted to kill us, he wouldn't have to go to such great lengths."
"Raphael, it looks like we are all in big trouble."
Felice Nou smiled bitterly.
As soon as he finished speaking, the fishing boat shook violently.
Bang!
Everyone heard a loud noise as if someone hit them.
"Something is attacking the ship under the sea!"
Polaris' spiritual intuition received the warning and spoke quickly.
Raphael had just taken out a palm-sized wax figure, and before he could activate it, the entire fishing boat capsized completely!
Boom!
The huge sea monster that I just met once jumped out of the sea, with countless fragments of fishing boats still in its mouth.
*
*
*
I don’t know how much time has passed.
Feliceano woke up from a lost lake and found that the sky had darkened. He could feel the light of fire and warmth on his left.
He quickly sat up and saw Senior Sunny Rain, Lucy and Ahsoka all gathered around the bonfire. Ahsoka seemed to be still unconscious and was held in Lucy's arms.
"You're awake, Felice Anno."
"What are we doing...?"
Felice Novo asked aloud.
"The ship was sunk by a sea monster, and it was Senior Polaris who rescued us in the end..."
Lucy spoke up.
She was grilling a skewer of sea fish in her hand and handed it to me.
"Let's eat something first. Senior Polaris and Mr. Raphael should be back soon. They've gone to investigate the situation around here."
"Thanks."
Felice Novo took the grilled fish and started eating it without any image.
Apart from the sandwich he had had in the morning, he had not eaten anything today. The grilled fish didn't taste very good, it was quite bland and had a lot of bones, but Felice was so hungry that he ate all the food in no time.
While eating, he listened to Lucy talking about what had happened during this period. It turned out that the place where they were attacked was not far from their destination, which was the deserted island where they were now.
After Polaris rescued them one by one and brought them ashore, he and Raphael went to explore the environment, trying to get the extraordinary materials as soon as possible.
"Jingyao, luckily everyone is fine."
Felice Nou prayed, then asked with concern:
"But the ship is destroyed. How are we going to get back?"
"Don't worry, we have a solution."
Qingtian Xiaoyu gave him a reassuring look, and Felice Anno finally felt relieved. He especially respected and trusted this senior who looked younger than himself.
Soon, footsteps were heard.
Everyone turned around and saw two figures walking quickly in the dense coniferous forest of the deserted island. They were Polaris and Raphael.
However, the expressions of the two were extremely solemn, and Raphael even shouted:
"Let's go! Run along the coastline!"
Feliciano was still in a daze, but Lucy beside him had already carried Ahsoka on her back and started running.
"What are you standing there for? Go!"
Qingtian Xiaoyu grabbed Feliceano's arm and turned around and ran away.
At the last moment, Feliceano only vaguely saw that behind Polaris and Raphael, there were seven or eight tall figures with hunched backs chasing them relentlessly.
In the gradually darkening sky, the figures seemed to be holding a cane with a green lantern hanging on the top!
Qingtian Xiaoyu also saw it, but in her eyes, it was a group of monsters with crimson names—
The extraordinary creature "The Hatcher" (the ancient god "Emerald Bird" scroll clan)!