Charles pointed to the Mouse next to him, turned around and walked up the stairs.
Bandage didn't care about the wound on his face that was still bleeding. He performed a Futanist salute to the hook and followed.
Just as the two were getting on the boat, Hook stretched out his right hand and stabbed the bloody dagger in his hand directly into the chest of the believer on the left.
"Ahhh!!" screams echoed throughout the port.
When other people at the port saw that it was the black robes of the Futan believers, they did not dare to meddle in the matter and lowered their heads to busy themselves with their own affairs.
Charles turned around and saw this scene with disgust on his face. This was also the reason why he didn't want to contact the Fortan religion before. He turned around and shouted to Dipper who came to watch the fun. "Stop watching, weigh anchor and set sail!"
He pulled the hook hard, and a beating heart appeared in his hand. He took the heart to the side of the Mouse, and kept rubbing something on the hull, muttering something in a low voice.
"Get away and don't touch my boat with that disgusting thing." Charles immediately took out his revolver and pointed it at his head.
"Captain Charles, with this thing, your ship will be protected by the powerful."
"I don't need it!" Charles put his finger on the trigger.
Seeing that Charles didn't seem to be joking, the hook holding the heart smiled slightly, bowed slightly and took a half step back.
"Captain Charles, we believers of the God of Futan have always been polite and friendly to others. Why are you always prejudiced against us?"
Looking at the bloody heart in his hand, Charles didn't bother to explain.
Under Hook's gaze, black smoke began to billow from the chimney of the Mouse, which slowly sailed towards the dark ocean.
"Dipper, help me steer the ship." Charles shouted to the boatswain and came to the captain's room with bandages.
A yellowed nautical chart was spread out on the table. The chart was not very detailed, with only a few scattered islands marked out in the vast expanse of black.
This is the only one that can be purchased at the port. More detailed maps are in the possession of the Explorers Association.
"Where are your things? How far are they from the coral island?"
The bandaged right hand pointed precisely to a point in the unmarked darkness.
"An unexplored area..." Charles was mentally prepared for this answer. An island that has been explored could not have such a high reward.
"What do your holy objects look like?" Charles continued to ask.
The bandage was stuck for a long time before he slowly said: "The statue of the Holy Lord..., made of gold..."
Although it was a little unsmooth, the voice was unexpectedly young for Charles, sounding like a teenager in the voice change period.
“Is that a relic?”
“… …”
"What dangers are there on the island?"
“… …”
In response to Charles' further questions, Bandage remained silent and did not answer.
"You go steer the ship. 12-24 is your time. If you need to go to the bathroom or something during this time, you can ask Dipper to take over for you. I taught him how to steer the ship."
Bandage stood up silently and walked outside.
Charles tapped his fingers on the table to organize his thoughts. It sounds simple, just find the thing and bring it back, but if it was really simple, the Futan Cult would not have asked outsiders to come.
That place must be very dangerous. There are two possibilities for why the first mate sent by the Futan Cult did not give any warning. One is that he really didn't know, and the guys he sent there before all sank to the bottom of the sea and were unable to deliver any information.
The sea trip was very depressing, the Mouse was pitifully small, and the environment for activities was limited. Fortunately, except for the two new sailors, everyone else had gotten used to it.
Charles was a little worried about the new first mate at first and was secretly wary of him, but after a few days of getting along with him, he found that this guy called Bandage didn't have any abnormalities except for his slow speech and strange attire.
He was steady at the helm and seemed very adept at it. Charles's guard dropped a little, but it didn't disappear completely.
As the navigation mark slowly disappeared, the Mouse slowly sailed into an unknown area where no one had ever set foot.
Without the distant light spot for positioning, everyone on the ship began to get nervous. There is a saying in the Earthsea that when a ship enters an unexplored area, the seabed has already reserved a place for the crew.
But a few days passed and the fierce battle that Charles had expected did not come. The sea was as calm as a lake. Standing on the bow and looking down, the surroundings were like still ink.
This kind of calmness does not make people feel at ease at all. It seems like the calm before the storm, depressing and suffocating.
Charles was in a state of extreme nervousness, patrolling the deck day and night, fearing that something from underwater might sneak onto the ship.
The searchlight on the ship pierced into the darkness like a beam of light, and the light brought a little sense of security to the crew.
"July 1, Year 8, Sunny
Everything was normal today, but this kind of real oppression was driving my crew crazy. Whenever Dipper had time, he would kneel on the deck and pray to various gods.
I stopped him. The gods of Earthsea are not so easy to worship. Talking nonsense can easily bring you into trouble.
Fortunately, the chef found a nest of mice in the warehouse to distract their attention. Watching them feed the mice carefully and cautiously, I felt a little emotional.
They have companions now, but what about me? Why was I alone when I traveled through time? It’s so lonely. It would be great if I had a companion. "
When the ink had dried, Charles closed the diary and put it in the cabinet.
He took out a square glass bottle filled with brown liquid at arm's height from the bottom of the cabinet, tilted his head back and took a sip. The dizzy feeling relaxed his tense brain.
Charles had never understood why some people liked to drink alcohol, which tasted bitter like horse urine, but now he knew.
The tired brain needed more alcohol to numb it, but Charles did not drink any more. Having a couple of sips could help him relax, but excessive drinking would drive away his determination to go home.
Just at this moment, cheers suddenly came from outside. Charles was stunned and quickly put down the bottle and rushed to the deck.
The boatswain Dipper rushed to Charles and danced excitedly, his face flushed red, wanting to say something but unable to.
Charles looked over the edge of the ship into the darkness in the distance. Under the illumination of the searchlight, a huge object appeared right in front of the Mouse. It was an island. They had arrived.
The steamship slowly approached the shore, but the cheers slowly faded away. All we could see were eight dilapidated steamships of varying sizes docked along the coast of the island. Judging from the signs of decay on the hulls, the oldest of them were probably two or three years old.
The ships lay motionless like coffins on the sea.
"Why... why are there so many ships? Where are the people?" Dipper's voice was trembling with anxiety. No one answered this question.
Looking at the island again at this time, there was a shadow in everyone's heart.
Charles didn't rush to the island. He took Dipper and James directly to the nearest steamship.
There was no blood, no chaos, no shortage of fuel and food, everything was normal, except for the crew.
Charles suddenly thought of something, and broke into the captain's room, rummaging through the drawers and found the hidden diary.
(End of this chapter)