"Woo~" The whistle of the Narwhal was very harsh, and there was excitement in the voice, as if it was excited that it could go out to sea again.
There was not only the Narwhal on the dock, but also several Hope Island Navy warships ready to go. Soldiers in light blue uniforms climbed the stairs one by one to board the ships.
Charles cannot go to the ruins of the British Isles to find the lost mechanical heart technology alone, because that is an entire island.
The fleet brought a lot of engineers and some cleaning machinery, all of which were used to clear ruins and search for targets.
They were not the only ones on board, other members of the Narwhal also came aboard. However, as they excitedly walked towards the ship, they were stopped by Charles. "You have nothing to do with this mission. Go back to the island and do what you did yesterday."
The smile on Dipper's face slowly fell, and he said anxiously, "But Captain, we explored together before!"
The others didn't say anything, but from the expressions on their faces, it was obvious that they thought the same thing.
Charles stood on the dock with his hands on his hips, his eyes sweeping over his crew members. "We are just going to the British Isles to look for some information this time. It's a very simple mission. You don't have to come with us."
"Go back, everything at sea is over, you can retire safely and enjoy your retirement life. This is just my personal matter now."
Lily, standing on Linda's bald head, looked a little aggrieved. She hugged her tail and said, "Well, Mr. Charles, I will definitely go with you. When it comes to finding things, mice are much better than humans."
"Don't you understand what I'm saying? Go away!" Charles' voice was a little cold.
The crew members looked at their captain with different expressions. This was not something the captain would say. If it weren't for Winky standing next to them, they would have thought that Charles in front of them was Anna in disguise.
"Captain's orders are no longer effective? I said, the Narwhal is disbanded! Immediately!!"
The crew members turned and left with complicated expressions. Logically, they should be happy that they don't have to risk their lives on the sea, but no one smiled.
Linda reached out and held the sobbing Lily in her arms, caressing her gently. "Don't worry, during the next physical examination, I will test his consciousness to see if Anna has changed his mind or if he has gone crazy again. It's really tiring to get along with a madman."
"Maybe the real reason is that we can't help with the rest of the things." Dipper's face was particularly frustrated.
Chef Planck's eyes were filled with reluctance. "Who said you are useless? Am I useless too? People have to eat. Are the chefs on the navy ship as good as the food I cook?"
"Forget it. Since the captain has given the order, we just have to obey. At least the first mate is still with him. We can ask him directly what happened when they come back."
Second Officer Nico looked at the bandage walking towards Charles with his eyes covered with black eyeshadow.
"Everyone is here. We can set off at any time," Weiss, with his body bandaged again, said to Charles beside him.
The salty sea breeze blew the tentacles on Charles' head back and forth. He stared at the crowd in front of him for a while, then turned to look at his first mate. "How is life on the island? Is everything okay at home?"
"Yeah," Bandage nodded silently.
"I feel much more at ease knowing you're in charge of the island's affairs. In fact, you might be more like the Governor of Hope Island than I am." Charles said jokingly.
"And Anna," the bandage replied in a low voice.
"If I were to choose a successor, you would be more suitable than her. Under your leadership, everyone on the island would live comfortably."
His brows tightened slightly under the bandages, and he turned to look at his captain. "You want to leave?"
Charles chuckled and patted his shoulder with his hand. "Don't be so nervous, I just said it casually. This is Earthsea, where can I go? Get on board, my admiral."
After saying that, Charles walked towards the fleet with bandages on his body. When everything was ready, as Shanshan kept jumping around the fleet with white light, the fleet on the dock quickly disappeared.
When the people on the boat came to their senses again, they had already arrived outside the British Isles. Some of the new recruits who had never seen the world looked extremely shocked. Some even crawled on the ground and asked Shan Shan to kneel down in mid-air.
Charles didn't have time to pay attention to all this. He looked at everything in front of him with a frown.
The bright searchlights pierced the surrounding darkness, revealing the islands floating and sinking in the sea to everyone. The islands that once had a population of tens of millions have become scattered archipelagos and underwater reefs.
"Forward!" Charles gave the order.
It was extremely quiet all around. When the ship sailed into it, it was like entering a cemetery. The atmosphere gradually became depressing and everyone held their breath.
With a "splash", several small submarines hit the water surface, quickly dived into the water, and swam to the front to lead the way for them.
Looking at the miserable environment in front of him, Charles wondered, "It's broken like this, can the information of the mechanical heart really be preserved?"
Standing next to him were several gray-haired old men, who were the ship designers that Charles had brought from the British Isles.
They were so excited to see their hometown again that tears dripped down the wrinkles on their faces and onto the deck.
They desperately pointed at everything familiar in the water, trying to identify what they once looked like.
"Don't cry yet. Where is the naval headquarters of the British Isles? Take the ship and go there closer." Charles asked those people.
Soon, under the guidance of these locals, the fleet began to slowly turn and approach the destination where the drawings of the mechanical heart were most likely to be located.
"Shanshan, keep an eye on your surroundings. If there is any danger, sound the alarm immediately." Charles said to his daughter sitting on the edge of the boat.
Shanshan placed her bare feet on the inky black water and swayed gently. She didn't look nervous at all and even looked a little bored. "My mother and I came here before a few years ago. How could it be dangerous?"
"It's better to be safe than sorry. It's always better to be more careful in places like this. And don't you think it's a bit strange? Why haven't we seen any corpses so far?" Charles said.
There were all kinds of things on the broken island illuminated by searchlights, including collapsed factory buildings, rusty mechanical wreckage, and leaning electric poles, but there were no human bodies.
(End of this chapter)