Three seconds after the clown mask rolled into the woods, the entire camp exploded.
"My mistress, the captain's mask is alive!"
"Should... Or should we go back..."
"Mr. Charles, can I get into your pocket? I'm a little scared."
"Quiet!" Charles' voice was overwhelming. He frowned and looked at his crew members. "What are you arguing about? It's just a moving mask. After all the adventures you've been through, this little scene scares you like this?"
Seeing the discussion stop, Charles looked at his watch with an indifferent expression and said to them: "The break is over! Let's continue our journey now!"
The crew members had calmed down and no longer had any objections. They continued to follow their captain. Although they didn't say anything, their faces were obviously tense and they gripped their weapons even tighter.
At this time, Charles, who was standing at the front of the crowd, was thinking about the same question as his crew members: why 096 suddenly came alive.
That thing had been with him for some time, and he had worn it on his face countless times, but it never showed any signs of being alive.
"Is it because of this island? Does it have some connection with this island?" Charles thought of this and looked into the darkness between the trees, but saw no information.
"If you ask me, this is a good thing. It means we have found the right place. The more bizarre the place, the more benefits there are. On the contrary, places with no danger have no benefits at all." Richard interrupted in his mind.
Charles did not respond. He turned to the doctor who was supported by Dipper and Frey and said, "How is your wound, doctor? Is it okay?"
"Humph, if it's really for my own good, you should let me stay on the boat. When you made the agreement with me, you didn't say that I had to explore the island." The doctor took out a metal wine jug and took a big gulp.
Seeing how confident he was, Charles felt that the injury shouldn't be a big deal to him.
As the crowd slowly moved forward, the surrounding environment began to change. The woods that needed to be cleared became shorter, and outside the woods was a large area of overgrown ruins.
The ruins are very large, about the size of a small town, and the broken walls covered with vines look extremely desolate.
The crew members only saw part of the ruins within the firelight, but Charles, who had night vision, saw more. In the darkness, the collapsed buildings were like crawling spiders, staring at everyone.
No matter how glorious they were in the past, traces of human beings can only be slowly covered by weeds and trees.
Charles paused for a moment, then continued to move forward. No matter who owned these ruins, time had taken everything away.
"There seems to be a sound of water. Did you hear it?" Charles suddenly said, but seeing the puzzled looks on his crew members' faces, he said nothing more and continued to move forward.
"Mr. Charles! There really is water! My friend and I can smell it!" Lily ran to Charles' shoulder and twitched her little nose. "And it's fresh water!"
As soon as they heard about fresh water, all the crew members became excited and they understood what the message meant.
Charles followed the sound of water that was getting louder and louder, and soon a pile of old machines covered with red embroidery appeared in front of him in the center of the ruins. The sound of water came from underneath those machines.
"Give me the dynamite."
With a loud bang, the rotten machine was blown away by the gunpowder, and everyone put their heads close to the black hole under the machine to look.
The torch rolled into the cave, and under the light of the fire, a flowing underground river appeared in front of everyone.
Upon hearing the news, the crew cheered excitedly, and their fiery enthusiasm almost dispelled the darkness around them.
Their stable life was unpredictable, so they joined the exploration ship and risked their lives just for this day.
When a new island is explored, the captain can become the governor, and each crew member will be promoted in class. They will no longer have to go to sea, but will become superior people, just like the nobles living in the center of the island.
Charles was not that excited. His goals were inconsistent with those of his crew members, and finding a living island was just a side job.
Seeing how excited they were, Charles decided to take a break and let them calm down before continuing on their journey.
While a boost in morale is a good thing, an overly excited crew member can be a bad thing.
A bonfire was lit in the corners of two barely intact walls.
The excited crew couldn't sleep at all. Everyone was enjoying the wonderful life in the future. Finally, Charles asked the doctor to give them medicine, which made the crew members who were not on duty fall asleep.
Charles himself had trouble sleeping, and after taking some medicine prescribed by the doctor, he also fell asleep.
I don’t know how long it was before Charles was awakened by a strange sound, “hiss~~”, a sound similar to that of a gas tank deflating.
"Squeak~~" The same sound rang out again.
Charles, whose brain was completely clear, tensed up all of a sudden. That sound was none other than the sound of a human trachea being cut open.
Charles stood up suddenly and immediately saw a thin figure holding a rusty blade in his hand towards James.
Hearing the noise behind him, the figure turned his head suddenly, and in the flickering light of the fire, 096's pale face with a red nose appeared in front of Charles.
Almost subconsciously, Charles raised his gun and shot, and all the bullets in the magazine were poured onto the host of 096.
The thin body was hit by bullets and kept retreating, but as soon as the gunfire stopped, it got on all fours and fled to the outside quickly like a cheetah.
"Dipper! Call the doctor to save the lives!" Charles kicked the boatswain who was scratching his neck with blurry eyes, and rushed out with the black blade.
Looking at the back figure in the distance, Charles' expression was solemn. No matter what the reason was that 096 was alive, it was obviously holding a grudge against them. It must be eliminated, otherwise this thing will definitely come again.
Two figures were running swiftly among the overgrown ruins. Any place where no one could stand was as flat as the ground for them. If there were other people watching from the side, it would have been a wonderful parkour performance.
"Richard, whose body is 096 using now? Why can he run so fast even though he was shot in the chest?"
"Don't ask me about this. The old man's medicine also made me sleep."
The two were equally fast and neither could outrun the other. 096 quickly rushed to the edge of the woods and charged in without hesitation.
Charles gritted his teeth and followed immediately.
(End of this chapter)