There were constant sounds of gunfire, curses, and the rocking of the boat.
The atmosphere on the entire ship became tense as the crew members fought fiercely with these half-human, half-fish deep divers.
Faced with the crew's firearms attacks, the deep divers fought back with strange weapons made from various corals. Most of them were melee weapons, but there were also long-range ones.
"Swoosh~" A spear with a rope shot over and pierced a sailor's stomach. The rope tightened, pulling the screaming sailor's exposed intestines and dragging him towards them.
The next second, the rope loosened, and the deep diver who was pulling the rope was shot in the head by Charles.
Although the deep divers looked terrifying, their strength was not that strong compared to other island natives Charles had encountered. For a while, the two sides fought on equal terms.
But as time went on, Charles was generally at a disadvantage. There were endless deep divers underwater, and if one crew member was injured, there would be one less person.
Charles knew that this was not a solution, so he kicked the monster in front of him away, quickly rushed to the deck gun, and skillfully loaded the bullet.
"Boom!" The sound of a cannon rang out, and a thick tentacle on the ship exploded into two sections, and the Narwhal was lifted up suddenly.
The sound of cannon fire continued, the tentacles were quickly interrupted, and the ship finally regained its freedom.
"Hey guys, hurry up! Get out of this place first!!"
The Narwhal began to speed up, shuttling above the Deep One's city like a speedboat.
On the deck, Charles and his crew were clearing out the remaining deep divers. Without backup, they were losing ground.
Just as Charles shot a lurker in the heart, a dark shadow pounced on him from his lower left.
Charles pulled the trigger almost subconsciously.
"Ding!" The bullet was actually blocked by the dagger in its hand. Ordinary divers would definitely not be so agile. That was Dipper.
The former boatswain hit Charles hard and sent him flying towards the sea. "Captain! Trust me for once!! I'm really doing this for your own good!"
Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in front of him, Charles gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger towards his heart.
Despite the injury, Dipper still refused to let go, staring at Charles with pleading eyes. "Captain... believe me..."
"Get out of here!" Charles' prosthetic limb hit him in the face like a huge hammer. His knees contracted and he clenched, separating the two of them in mid-air.
"Click, click, click" Charles' anchor hook was nailed to the hull, carrying him back quickly. When Dipper fell into the water, the Narwhal had already sailed away.
Just when Charles thought that the crisis was about to pass, black and dirty foam rolled in front of the ship, and a humanoid creature with tentacles on its face rose from the foam and hovered above the sea.
"Lily!! Hit him!" Charles shouted.
"Boom boom boom!" The sound of cannons rang out continuously, followed by several columns of water exploding on the sea, and the last shell hit the thing.
The black smoke quickly dissipated, and the creature was completely unharmed.
Charles' pupils shrank to the extreme in an instant. "How is this possible?! What on earth is this thing made of? It's not even effective against cannonballs!?"
At this moment, the octopus head raised its finger covered with dirty mucus and pointed at the bow of Charles.
Although nothing happened, everyone on the ship felt a suffocating feeling.
Just when the feeling was becoming stronger and stronger, it suddenly stopped. The Narwhal and that thing passed by each other without anything happening.
Charles looked at the pair of eyes in the tentacles and always felt that he was staring at him.
That thing seemed to be their last attack. The deep divers around them finally began to dive and they began to retreat.
Looking at the messy deck, a deep sense of loss enveloped Charles' heart. He could never have imagined that his former companion would actually betray him.
Charles took a deep breath and cheered himself up. Now was not the time to think about this. His crew still needed him.
The crew members began to quickly clean up the battlefield, some sorting out supplies and some rescuing the wounded.
The losses this time were huge. The second engineer died, the third engineer died, one sailor died, and four other crew members were seriously injured. Almost everyone was injured.
Charles, who was sitting in the captain's room, had a gloomy face. He was not sad about the loss of his crew members, but was anxious about another thing.
If there was still a possibility of finding the way back before, after the battle with the Deep Divers, they have now completely lost their way.
Looking at the complicated nautical chart in front of him, Charles really didn't know where the ship was currently, and no matter which direction he went now, it would be wrong.
"What do you have in mind?" Charles, with his arms crossed, asked the first mate in front of him.
"Sacrifice..."
Charles sighed, "Let's limit the distribution of fresh water first. We shouldn't make such a cruel choice unless it is absolutely necessary. We don't have many crew members left."
"Maybe... we can take a few... slaves on board in the future... That's how the ships of the Futan Cult... work..."
Charles lowered his head and remained silent.
The Narwhal began a long wandering life on the sea. They were now heading south, and no one knew where their specific destination was.
When the order to reduce fresh water was issued, the crew members immediately understood the current situation. No one objected, and they all silently carried out their current tasks.
A vague feeling of oppression enveloped the Narwhal. Charles didn't like this feeling. He felt his head starting to hurt again.
"Mr. Charles, here's some water for you." Lily handed a glass of water to Charles who was writing in his sailing diary.
"Where does this water come from?" Charles picked up the cup and pursed his cracked lips.
"I and everyone else saved this money. We mice are very resistant to thirst, and we can just drink the swill from the kitchen."
Charles held Lily in his arms with a look of heartache. He knew that the little girl was just lying to him. Fresh water was in short supply now, so how could there be leftover swill in the kitchen
He raised his cup and took a sip, then handed it to Lily. "I'm not thirsty anymore, drink it."
Lily picked up the cup but didn't drink it. She said with a sad face: "Mr. Charles, are we going to die of thirst? It seems that there is only a thin layer of water left in the tank."
Charles turned his head and looked at Lily, "Stop talking and drink the water in the cup."
"Mr. Charles, drink it. I'm not thirsty."
Hearing the hoarseness in Lily's voice, Charles felt a slight pain in his heart. He stood up and took Lily to the kitchen.
When he came to the kitchen, he was holding a bucket of water in his hand.
"Mr. Charles, this is sea water. Drinking it will kill you."
"There is a way to turn sea water into fresh water, maybe it can help us hold on for a while longer."
(End of this chapter)