Soon the time agreed upon by Charles and Kede arrived, and nearly fourteen exploration ships of various sizes were crowded at the dock.
With so many ships, the entire Explorers Association might have been emptied. Charles was very unfamiliar with those captains and had never seen most of them. But that was understandable, as most of the familiar ones had gone with Elizabeth to occupy the islands.
So many ships obviously aroused the curiosity of the coral islanders. Some crew members and islanders stood in the distance, talking and speculating about which lucky person had discovered a new island.
"So many people are enough to capture an island, let alone explore an island. We can do it!" Kede, who was standing next to Charles, seemed to be encouraging Charles and encouraging himself.
Looking at the ships in front of him, Charles asked the key questions.
"Let's first decide who will command all these ships. I don't want to cause a dispute over control in the middle of the sea."
"I hired them, so of course I should be the one to manage it. What's there to say about that?" Ke De said as a matter of course.
"Are you sure? Are you sure you can lead us to the bright land in your current mental state? I remember you haven't touched the ground for a long time, isn't there ringing in your ears?"
Charles looked at Kede's extremely haggard face with suspicion. He didn't want to put his life in this guy's hands.
Kede glared at Charles. "So what do you want to do? Do you want to command the entire fleet?"
"Thank you. Now that you've said so, I'll accept it."
Without waiting for Kede to change his mind, Charles immediately began to give orders. "Dipper, signal all ships to set sail!"
After the Narwhal sounded a whistle, it headed straight for the dark deep sea under the watchful eyes of the other crew members.
Seeing a ship moving, the other exploration ships subconsciously thought that their employer was on that ship and that the order to sail came from him, so they also drove the turbines to follow closely.
In the beautiful garden with blooming flowers, Anna sat on the swing with her legs bent, looking at the crumpled paper in her hands with a smile in her eyes.
"I never thought that Gao Zhiming, who has little emotional experience, is so good at coaxing women. It makes me feel warm inside. Oh, if only I were a real woman."
After Anna had had enough of the sight, she carefully folded the papers and stuffed them into her chest.
"How are the preparations going?" Anna asked a serving woman next to her.
The maid said respectfully, "There are many refugees on Yingdao Island in the port area recently. It doesn't matter if a few disappear a day. The sacrifices are almost enough, but Master, are you really determined to do this? If you really cause such a big commotion, the people on the island will definitely suspect you. There are some powerful guys on Hefang Island."
"If I don't perform the sacrificial ceremony, won't they suspect me? Ever since old man Pete got sick, I have more and more spies around me. It doesn't matter. I'm tired of staying on this island anyway. I plan to go somewhere else. Let's go. Charles is going out to sea again. I have to provide him with some insurance."
As soon as Anna sat up from the swing, she heard light footsteps approaching quickly.
She knew the footsteps, and the beautiful lady showed a hint of impatience, but she quickly adjusted her expression and turned around with a smile. "Dear, why are you here so early today?"
"Sister Anna, is there any news about Mr. Charles today?" Margaret rushed up, lifting her skirt.
"No, if there was, I would remind you."
The expression on Margaret's face changed from expectation to disappointment. "Why not? Did Mr. Charles really receive my letter?"
"Maybe your Mr. Charles didn't have time to write. Where did you go so early this morning?"
Hearing Anna's question, Margaret quickly put away the disappointment on her face and said, "I went to the dock area to distribute food today, Sister Anna. There are many people hungry in the dock area now."
"Really? That's so pitiful." Anna covered her chest with her hands, looking very worried.
"Why don't you come with me to distribute food? That way there will be fewer people starving."
Anna shook her head slightly. "My dear, although I sympathize with them, you'd better not go to such chaotic and dangerous places again, especially for someone like you..."
Having said that, Anna stretched out her right hand and gently stroked Margaret's white collarbone with her fingertips.
Margaret blushed and pushed Anna's fingers away.
Seeing her shy look, Anna suddenly smiled wickedly, then leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"Sister Anna, stop making weird jokes like this. I... I'll come see you tomorrow." Margaret jumped away like a frightened deer.
As Margaret left, the smile on Anna's face gradually disappeared.
Charles opened his eyes and found himself in the pitch-black deep sea. He swam upwards desperately but could not reach the surface.
The increasingly strong feeling of suffocation made him feel that the lungs in his chest were like two balls of burning red charcoal.
"Gurgle, gurgle" a circle of bubbles floated in front of Charles from bottom to top. Attracted by the bubbles, Charles mechanically turned his neck to look down.
In an instant, a feeling of despair quickly enveloped his whole body from his ankles. Right below him stood a giant monster as big as a giant mountain and covered with octopus tentacles.
The scales that turn outward and the eyeballs all over its body make people feel uncomfortable at a glance.
When Charles saw it, the monster also noticed Charles, and all its eyes suddenly opened and looked up. In an instant, Charles lost his self-consciousness.
"Mr. Charles, are you okay? Mr. Charles, are you okay? Do you want me to ask the doctor to come over?"
Lily's childish voice made Charles, who had a splitting headache, open his eyes. Everything in front of him was spinning rapidly, but he could still barely make out that this was his captain's room.
He rolled over from the bed and fell to the ground. Trembling all over, he struggled to crawl to the window and vomited continuously toward the outside.
As the little food in Charles' stomach was emptied, the fainting feeling finally eased a little.
"Lily, go get the doctor. I seem to be ill."
"Got it!" The white mouse quickly ran towards the door.
Soon the limping doctor came to the captain's room and placed Charles on the boat for a series of rough examinations.
"What does it feel like?"
"Dizziness, nausea, weakness, and chills."
"What did you eat before?"
"The same food as the crew, five large saltine crackers, two black teng fruits, and a bowl of mushroom soup."
"Did you dream about anything just now?"
Charles covered his forehead with his hand and recalled for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"No, I didn't dream about anything just now."
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(End of this chapter)