In a dim cabin of the Narwhal, a pen was held by a bandaged hand, writing lines of beautiful cursive characters.
"Mother, is everything okay at home? I'm fine. It's desolate up there. There's no danger. Everyone is still alive."
Bandage suddenly stopped writing here, then crumpled the paper into a ball, hesitated for a long time, and then wrote again.
"We have found a way to stop the sea level from rising. Once we solve this problem, everything will be back to normal soon. Then I can go home."
"You are not in good health. You must go to Lily's father for a checkup on the 1st of every month so that if you have any illness, you can get timely treatment."
In the cabin below the bandages, two vampires, Audric and Severus, were drinking from their glasses.
After taking a sip, Severus swallowed the blood in his mouth with a painful expression. "Ugh~ This sealed human blood is really hard to drink. It's almost coagulated. Buddy, don't you have any fresh stuff here?"
"Yes, there is, but you have to learn how to play cards first." Odrick said slowly.
"I still don't understand why you want to get on board. As a lookout and scout, one vampire is enough. There's no need for you to come."
"Don't say that, buddy. I boarded the Narwhal earlier than you did. When the captain and I were exploring, you were not on board. By the way, the mistress asked me to give you something, something that can help you advance to a higher rank."
As he spoke, Severus took out a drop of blood from a small transparent bottle from inside his cloak. The color of that drop of blood was very strange, like a bright ruby.
As soon as the thing came out, Odrick sniffed it excitedly, his Adam's apple sliding as he swallowed.
"Here, take it carefully. This thing is not something that ordinary vampires can enjoy, and you can't buy it on the black market." Severus said as he stuffed the thing into his hands.
Orderic pulled out the cork, put his nose to the bottle mouth and took a gentle sniff, an intoxicated expression appearing on his scarred face.
But just as he was about to drink, Severus' words beside him stopped him.
"They said, as long as you do your job well, these things will come back."
Audric quickly put the cork back in the bottle and handed it to Severus, "No, although I respect my mistress, I will not betray the captain."
"Don't say that. No matter what, you are a vampire from Dark Crystal Island after all." Severus said as he pushed the drop of blood back.
"I'm not. That island didn't bring me any hope. Ever since I was injured, those guys on Dark Crystal Island have only been humiliating and bullying me!" Odric seemed to recall some unpleasant things, his tone a little excited.
"Hey~, man, don't get excited. I didn't ask you to betray your captain. This is just a little kindness from Dark Crystal Island to our companions who are lost on the outer islands."
When Odric heard this, he stopped pushing his hand outward. It must be said that this high-quality blood essence unique to the vampires was very tempting.
"My friend, this is really not bribery. It's just an investment at best. Your close relationship with the Governor of Hope Island is worth the investment."
After thinking about it, Audiric opened the bottle cap again and drank it.
The cold feeling rushed from his throat to his stomach, causing the blind vampire to take a deep breath. His body quickly deformed and turned into a bloated, weird blood-sucking monster.
But at the same time, the remaining burns on his face began to heal rapidly.
After a few seconds, all the changes began to retract, and the monstrous Odric returned to his previous appearance.
Odric seemed to be very excited. With a trembling hand, he took off his sunglasses. His eyes, which should have been as soft as soft eggs, were replaced by a pair of blood-red pupils. He could see again.
Vampires all look good, including the fully recovered Odric. He is over a hundred years old but looks only in his twenties, with a straight nose and flawless face.
"Sorry, let's talk later. I need to go to the turbine cabin for duty." After saying this quickly, Odrick turned around and ran towards the medical room.
At this moment in the cockpit, Charles stood next to Norden at the helm, looking at the barren Gobi Desert outside.
"Left rudder thirty, the intelligence we got from the Explorers Association shows that there is a pool of blood that is spreading ahead. Several exploration teams have died after encountering it. To avoid trouble, we need to go around it."
Norden nodded, and with steady hands began to turn.
"Captain, there are tracks and tire marks ahead. Someone must have explored it."
Charles nodded. "Judging from the degree of weathering, it should be from the previous batch. Let's continue. Our mission this time is to explore the unexplored areas later."
"But Captain, darkness is something that only gods can touch. But how can we bring it back?"
"Let's find it first, and then think of a solution. We haven't even found the dark shadow yet, so there's no point in considering this. And we don't have a choice."
Just as Charles said this, the door next to him opened and Dipper walked in.
His legs, which were supposed to have disappeared, were replaced with prosthetic limbs made of gears and metal tubes.
Dipper smiled and raised his foot. "Captain, look! This thing is really good. It's exactly the same as a real foot. It has a spring inside. Now I can jump more than ten meters high."
"But there is one bad thing. When my body turns into blue mist, it won't follow. I need to reconnect it."
Charles was too lazy to pay attention to him and turned his head to continue looking at the map next to him.
Each of the densely packed arrows represents an explorer, and all of them are pointing to the west. The Narwhal is now one of them.
Just as Charles was estimating how long it would take to reach the unexplored area, there was a loud bang and a cloud of thick smoke suddenly exploded right in front of the Narwhal.
Norden, tense as he was, quickly turned the rudder and finally managed to make the Narwhal pass through the thick smoke.
"What's going on? According to the current intelligence, the Gobi Desert should be safe. Is there any monster underground?"
However, when his sensitive nose smelled the smell of gunpowder, he immediately reacted and realized that the thick smoke was not caused by something on the surface. Someone was attacking him with a cannonball!
Dipper next to him also smelled it, and he immediately sounded the whistle alarm. All the crew members who heard the sound quickly prepared for combat counterattack.
At this time, Charles had turned into a bat and rushed out. As soon as he came into the air, several modified amphibious steam ships came into view in the distance.
"Whoosh~Boom!" The shell exploded not far from Charles, and the huge shock wave knocked him down.
(End of this chapter)