Charles was thinking more at this time. Rats have always been at the bottom of the ecological chain. With so many rats, there must be other predators on the island. As for what it is, he doesn't know yet, at least it's definitely not a cat.
While Charles was thinking, the rats had retreated, and not even a fish bone was left on the yellow-white sand.
"Sailors, drop anchor, take weapons and explosives, and prepare to disembark." Charles gave an order and the crew started to move.
For this exploration, he prepared more explosives. Although gunpowder might not be useful, it was better to have it than not.
If the only danger on the island were the rats, these explosives would certainly come in handy.
Two wooden boats were lowered into the sea, and except for the disabled Bandage who was left to watch the boat, everyone else got off, with a strip of cloth tied around their shoulders.
Written on it are the names and positions of each crew member, to ensure that when they return to the ship, there will not be one more or one less person without anyone noticing.
The crowd slowly walked towards the rocks. The old crew members who had experienced it once were still relatively calm, but the other newcomers were feeling a bit emotional and would get startled at the slightest disturbance.
The rocks on the island became looser as you went deeper into the island, and sporadic animal skeletons began to appear on the ground.
There was a hint of disappointment on Charles' face. At the moment, it seemed that the passage to the surface was not here.
Just when Charles was hesitating whether to continue going inside, suddenly a red light floated between the rocks in the distance.
Charles shrank back behind the huge rock and whispered to the others, "Put out the fire quickly!"
Although the other crew members didn't know why, Shan still followed the captain's orders.
Without the light of the torches, the red in the distance became clearer. The bright color appeared and disappeared between the rocks, floating towards this side.
When they got closer, everyone could see the true color.
The creature looked like a swollen leech, and was estimated to be five meters long. The red light was emitted from the spots buried under its translucent skin, and it flickered and was very scary.
Although this leech has no wings, it can fly freely in the air. It seems to be looking for something. The six eye stalks growing on the front of its body are constantly twisting and looking around.
The humans hiding behind the rocks dared not breathe. Some of the timid ones even closed their eyes and began to tremble.
Charles stared at him and at those eye stalks. Just by looking at his appearance, he knew that he was not a peace-loving person and he should avoid provoking him if possible.
"Gurgle" someone's stomach suddenly made a rumbling sound. Although the sound was small, it was undoubtedly like a thunderclap in the silent environment.
"Swish!" The leech's eye stalks instantly swept towards the human, and its mouthparts full of sharp thorns let out a terrifying growl. After its translucent body flashed slightly, it actually disappeared on the spot.
"Shit! That thing can turn invisible, it's coming!!"
Charles held the explosives at his waist, his body tense and his expression determined, waiting for the monster to come out and fight to the death.
The other crew members also tightened their weapons, and everyone's heartbeat began to accelerate.
Charles counted the seconds in his mind, and just as he was about to throw the explosives in his hand, the dark environment was illuminated by red light. The leech appeared out of thin air above a rock, its eye stalks looking into the distance.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak~" The sound of a mouse came from the other side, and it became louder and louder, as if it was deliberately made.
The leech twisted its swollen body and swam quickly towards that side, and the red light disappeared.
In the darkness, Charles, who was sweating coldly, let out a sigh of relief. He never expected that he would be saved by a mouse.
But this was just the beginning. Pairs of eyes lit up, more and more, and the layers of eyes made people's scalps tingle.
Charles took out a match and struck the rock wall hard. The fire illuminated the surroundings. There were rats. Countless rats surrounded them like a pyramid. They were surrounded by rats!
"Hello! My name is Lily, nice to meet you!"
The sudden female voice froze everyone's subconscious attacking movements.
After a simple identification, Charles noticed that the speaker was a white mouse standing among the mice. The white mouse's gestures were completely different from those of its kind, and its eyes were full of agility.
The mouse seemed to recognize Charles as their leader and jumped in front of him and looked up at him. "Hello, my name is Lily, what's your name?"
Charles looked at the mice around him and whispered, "Charles."
Just as the two had finished their initial conversation, a roar suddenly came from the direction where the flying leech had just left.
"Oh! Come on, come on. My friend can only hold it back for a while. The thing is coming back. I'll take you to my house."
After the white mouse finished speaking, he quickly evacuated with the other mice.
Seeing the red light rising again in the distance, Charles did not dare to stay and hurriedly caught up with the crew.
Compared to that monster, at least these rats still have the possibility of communication.
In the darkness, Charles and his companions followed the rat and finally came to a hole in the ground more than one meter high.
When they went in with torches in hand, in the darkness, pairs of eyes were fixed on the humans who walked into their cave, and rustling sounds continued to be heard.
Dozens of torches were lit and thrown into the air, the flames illuminating everything here. The cave, which was nearly the size of a football field, was filled with black-brown rats staring at them.
Rats are not strange, but it is a bit weird to see some of them holding bone tools like humans.
The low dome houses were neatly arranged, and Charles even saw a big mouse teaching a little mouse how to count! Charles felt like he had suddenly arrived in Lilliput.
The white mouse brought a toy-sized stool from somewhere, jumped on it and sat down, "Can you take me home? I miss my mother."
A group of rats swarmed over and placed a bowl of brown liquid in front of each human, as if to entertain the guests.
Go home? Charles looked around at the strange mouse holes. "Isn't this your home?"
"Of course not, I'm not a mouse! I'm a human!" The white mouse argued angrily while standing on the stool.
"Human?" All the crew members stared at the little mouse in front of them with wide eyes. They couldn't tell that it was a human no matter how they looked at it.
Seeing that Charles and the others didn't believe her, the white mouse Lily quickly began to explain.
"I am really a human. My parents took me on a boat to Hefang Island to visit my grandfather. We encountered a whirlpool and I fell into the sea. When I woke up, I became like this. I don't know why."
(End of this chapter)