As soon as Charles lifted the quilt and got out of bed, he heard a piercing tinnitus in his ears, and a flood of murmurings immediately came up.
This time the situation was much more serious than any previous one. Charles even began to have hallucinations.
The crew's bodies began to rot, strange and deformed tentacles emerged from them, and everyone turned into flesh and blood monsters.
Without caring about anything else, Charles hurriedly took out the box given by Elizabeth, took out a large piece of green gel from it and swallowed it.
The whispering in my ears quickly became quieter, and the crew members finally returned to normal. Charles, with cold sweat on his face, stood in the distance, panting heavily.
Ignoring the concerned voices of others, Charles spoke up, "Notify everyone that the captain's cabin is combined."
Soon, the rest of the Narwhal crew began an emergency meeting in the captain's cabin.
"Where are we?"
"Um... I can't confirm it at the moment. The Narwhal seemed to be blown quite far by the huge waves. Fortunately, the first mate was experienced and the boat didn't capsize."
"What about crew losses?"
"Two sailors are dead. They must have been swept into the sea. The second-wheeler was stabbed to death by the butterfly's claws. Cook Frey's left arm was dislocated."
As soon as Second Officer Krona finished speaking, the Chief Engineer spoke.
"Captain... the monster's front paw pierced directly into the turbine compartment. Although the hole was repaired, the turbine power was damaged. The speed of the Narwhal is only one-fifth of the previous speed."
Bad news came one after another, and Charles could feel the burden on him growing heavier.
He took a deep breath and said, "The first mate adjusted the crew's duty hours and filled the vacant tasks. The original tasks were cancelled. The ship will sail south first. There are the most human islands in the south, and the probability of encountering them is also higher."
The crew members followed the orders one after another, and the Narwhal, which had been paralyzed for half a day, finally began to move.
After all the crew members left, Charles took a big gulp from the bottle. The calm captain before was gone, and his eyes were filled with deep fear.
Is that arm, which is bigger than a mountain, from the giant in the dream? What is he
He had heard of the gods of Earthsea before, but he didn't care whether it was true or not. But today, when he actually saw the gods, he realized for the first time the insignificance of human beings.
"Is this place really Earth? There's no way such a large creature can exist on Earth! Gravity alone should be able to crush its body!!"
For a moment, Charles thought about selling the boat and returning to the island to live out the rest of his life.
But the vague images of his family flashed through his mind, and Charles' eyes gradually became firm, "I can't give up, not even God can stop me!"
Charles raised the bottle and took another big gulp, then put it away. His expression returned to being cold again and he walked outside.
Time passed little by little, and under Charles' command, the Narwhal finally calmed down. Although it was not out of danger, the morale of the crew was stabilized.
Some crew members even had the spare time to collect the yellow snow and intend to show off to others when they return.
However, regarding the giant hand that stretched out from the bottom of the sea, no one tacitly mentioned it, as if that thing was some kind of taboo.
"Mr. Charles, Dipper bullied me!!"
In the cafeteria, the white mouse Lily ran up to Charles who was eating and complained.
"That guy said that if there's nothing to eat later, he's going to eat my friends!"
"Can you please stop being so naive? We are still in danger." Charles scolded the boatswain and looked down at Lily on the ground.
"There is enough food. Even if it's not, you can always cast a net to catch fish. There's no need to eat your friends."
After hearing what Charles said, Lily felt relieved and jumped in front of Dipper to confront him.
Although Charles did not show any nervousness on his face, he was secretly anxious in his heart. There was enough food, but not enough fresh water.
If the next place to stay is not found before the fresh water runs out, everyone on the boat will die of thirst.
As if he knew what Charles was thinking, the first mate, who was chewing a piece of bread, came over. "Captain... I have a way to get out of this predicament..."
Charles' heart moved, "What method?"
"Sacrifice... Just three... souls, and the god Ftan will guide us..."
Charles' face showed a trace of disgust, "Forget all these disgusting things."
Bandage was silent for a while, then looked at the sailors in the distance and said, "The fresh water on the boat can last for another month. If we commit suicide by drawing lots... the survivors will drink the blood of others... the last three people can only last for half a year..."
Charles turned his head sharply, his pupils shrinking as he looked at the bandage beside him, as if he was the first person to recognize him. This guy was not as harmless as he seemed.
"Sorry... This is an emergency plan... I've been in this situation before... I ate my captain..."
"Okay! Let's eat!" Charles' sudden raised voice startled everyone.
The next day, the crew discovered that the fresh water on the Narwhal was limited. No one objected, but the crew seemed to realize something and there were fewer smiles on their faces.
The amount of fresh water was getting less and less day by day, and even Charles' wine was taken out and distributed.
When each person was only given one cup of water per day, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to jump into the sea in despair, but was stopped by other crew members.
Bandage proposed sacrifice again, and just when Charles was a little hesitant, a vague white beam of light swept through the darkness in the air. It was the light of the lighthouse.
Standing among the cheering and excited crew members, Charles breathed a sigh of relief. His heart finally settled down. That hellish scene finally did not come.
As the Narwhal slowly approached, a strange island appeared in front of everyone. If the other islands were pie, then this island was an egg.
There was a hole at the lower end of the egg, and various steamships with red flags flew in and out.
Because he lost his bearings, Charles did not know the name of the island, and his memory did not show the location of the island on the nautical chart.
But since it is a human island, communication is basically possible, and the Narwhal followed other ships into the dome.
Inside the egg is a huge city with various Gothic buildings arranged neatly. Perhaps because this is a cave, bats often fly over the city.
"Boatswain, ask them if they have a shipyard. The Narwhal needs to have its turbine replaced."
"Okay!" Dipper stood at the bow and gestured quickly with two small green flags.
After a while, Dipper came back and said with a strange expression: "Captain, their flag signals are very different. I can't understand them."
(End of this chapter)