Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 17: islands

Views:

Charles and his party boarded the Narwhal. Compared with the shabby Rat, the Narwhal was undoubtedly much more spacious and cleaner, and it was a pleasure just to look at it.

He went to every cabin and checked carefully to make sure everything was in order. As a captain, he had to be as familiar with every part of the ship as he was with his own body.

After checking that everything was normal, Charles returned to the cockpit and waved his hand lightly. The chimney of the Narwhal began to emit billowing black smoke, and the ship slowly sailed towards the deep sea.

After taking a look at the gradually shrinking coral island outside the glass, Charles walked to the communication pipe and shouted into it: "Chief Engineer, how do you feel about the new ship?"

After a few seconds, James's honest voice came from the pipe, "Captain, the boat is fine! The steam comes out quickly! And it's not hot down there at all, only 39 degrees."

"Turn the turbo up to full blast, and let's test its speed."

"Yes, Captain."

As black smoke began to spew out of the chimney, the speed of the Narwhal began to increase. When the speed reached its peak, Charles, who was at the helm, even felt like he was driving a speedboat.

At this moment, he saw something white on the sea. "Chief Engineer, slow down!"

The speeding Narwhal slowed down, and Charles also saw the appearance of the thing, which was a corpse that had already grown to a gigantic size.

He should have been lying in the water being eaten by fish, but at this moment, he was strangely standing on the sea with his feet, staring at the Narwhal motionlessly.

Charles was certainly not curious about this guy's origins. He had seen stranger things at sea. He just wanted to find a target for his new cannon.

"Boom!" The recoil of the deck gun caused the ship to tremble violently.

Although Charles had never fired a cannon before and his accuracy was poor, after firing a dozen or so rounds, the bloated corpse exploded instantly.

Whatever force made it stand up again, it had to lie down in front of the shells.

Charles was sure that if he had been on this ship when he encountered the beacon monster before, the outcome would have been completely different.

After testing the performance of the new ship, Charles turned his eyes to the nautical chart on the wall.

That is the nautical chart given by the Explorers Association. Only with this thing and a compass can we find the target.

"First drive along Route 6, and when you reach navigation mark 68, turn south to your destination." Charles' finger slid across the nautical chart.

"Okay, Captain!" The second mate at the helm responded. The red-haired guy looked a little excited, looking around.

"I remember your name is... Krona?"

"Yes, Captain, that is my name, my mother gave it to me. Captain, have you really explored an island as Frey said? Can the monster really create a non-existent person in a person's memory? How did you find them?"

Charles frowned slightly, as if he recalled something unpleasant. "Just drive the boat well. When the time comes, the first mate will come to replace you."

Seeing his captain push the door and walk out, Krona was confused. "Did I ask something I shouldn't? I've prepared all the flattery."

As the days passed at sea, the old and new crew members were getting used to each other. Except for Dipper who was too young and not convinced by the others, everyone else got along well.

The Narwhal was moving very fast, and after just 7 days, they arrived at the waters near the target.

The nautical chart and compass can only give you an approximate location, and the exact coordinates can only be found slowly and clumsily.

In the cockpit, Krona looked at Charles next to him. "Captain, I heard that some people at sea have a special way to find islands, which is much better than looking for them like this. It seems like a kind of magic. Do you know how to do it?"

"Stop talking nonsense and drive your boat." Charles felt that the second mate was a bit too talkative.

"I... I have a way..." Bandage, who was sitting on the stool, rarely interrupted.

Seeing the two people's gazes cast on him, Bandage continued slowly: "In the church... there is a... ritual that can pray... for the help of the god Futan, which requires... a human sacrifice."

Charles looked at the bandage with some complexity. It seemed that his first mate had not yet gotten rid of the Futan religion. He hoped that time would alleviate the brainwashing of the cult on him.

"Forget all that disgusting stuff, we don't need it."

"Captain, look! What is that!" Charles looked forward following the second mate's finger, and a vague island appeared in the distance in front of him. They found it.

The excited crew members stood on the deck and looked at the islands in the distance.

Having learned from the previous experience, Charles did not rush to the island, but had the Narwhal circle the island and observe it.

The light was too bright to see the outer edge of the island. The island was very large, and it took the narwhal three hours to circle it. The island looked very barren under the light.

The most common things on the island are strangely shaped rocks. The big ones are as high as three or four stories high, and the small ones are half the size of a person. They are separated from each other and seem to follow some kind of pattern. For a moment, Charles had the illusion that he had come to a quarry.

"Is this place habitable?" Dipper asked hesitantly. No one could answer this question.

Charles knew that regardless of whether this island was habitable or not, there must be some kind of danger on it. This was an island with a danger level of 5, and five exploration ships had never returned after exploring this island.

"Throw some live fish on it and see if there are any meat-eaters on the island."

At Charles's command, some sea fish were thrown onto the beach. Some wounds were deliberately made on the fish's bodies. The smell of blood began to spread, and everyone watched anxiously.

The lack of water soon suffocated the fish to death. Half an hour later, Charles suddenly saw a pair of eyes light up in the pile of rocks.

It had black hair, a long tail, and black eyes the size of green beans. It was an ordinary mouse.

In full view of everyone, the rat ran to a dead fish and started to gnaw on it.

Everyone showed joy on their faces. It was good news that a normal creature came out. If mice could survive on this island, then humans should be able to survive as well.

But before they could be happy, more greedy eyes emerged from the rocks, and groups of rats rushed towards the dead fish like waves, and the white beach was instantly covered with dark brown hair.

The chewing sounds on the shore were endless, making the people on the boat feel creepy.

"There... there are too many rats..." Second mate Krona looked at his captain with a forced smile.

(End of this chapter)