Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 9: The tree is alive

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Charles grabbed the bandage, pulled out the black knife stuck in his leg and used it as a machete, chopping the branch in front of him with the bandage hanging on it.

The thorny branches were easily cut off, but the broken ends were empty.

The two men broke into the depths of the forest, and soon Charles saw the other people in the bandaged mouth. The scene before him shocked him.

In front of him was a strange short tree, with a trunk covered with thorns entangled in the boy's body. The unconscious human was hanging in the air like a piece of bacon, swaying slightly from side to side like the fruit of this strange tree.

There is more than one "fruit", the strange tree is laden with fruits.

"Save them." Charles rushed forward with the black knife clenched.

A young man fell to the ground and groaned in pain, then slowly woke up. He looked at Charles who was chopping the tree trunk frantically, his head a little confused. "Who are you? Have you seen my captain?"

Charles didn't have time to care about all these. He chopped the branches frantically with his knife to save everyone. But this time there was something inside the hollow branch. A bunch of short, trembling pink tentacles fell out from the cross section.

"Crack, crack, crack..." The trunk of the dwarf tree suddenly moved, and everyone present turned their eyes to look at the dwarf tree.

The rusty red tree trunk slowly cracked, and several real gazes shot out from the cracks in the tree, sweeping over Charles.

A thought flashed through Charles' mind, "Is this thing alive?"

The movement of the short trees became louder and louder, so loud that Charles could already see the twisted flesh and blood in the cracks between the trees, as well as the yellow-brown eyeballs and the raging rage in the eyeballs.

"Run!" All the living people present moved instantly. Even if they didn't understand the situation, human instinct urged them to escape quickly.

They had only taken a few steps when there was a loud bang. The bush exploded and twisted flesh-and-blood creatures crawled out.

At first glance they look like starfish with black hair, but upon closer inspection you'll find that the hair is actually a dense, dark, slender tentacles, with a single orange-yellow eye and a large, fang-filled mouth in the center of their bodies.

The monster opened its mouth and twitched its tentacles, frantically chasing after the escaped food.

Fortunately, Charles had cleared a path before, and the distance between the two sides was constantly widening.

"Crack, crack, crack~" All the tree trunks around were shaking and cracking. Charles and his companions seemed to have touched some mechanism, and all kinds of deformed creatures seemed to be awakened from sleep, stretching out their disgusting meat strips.

They swayed and made sharp, headache-inducing roars, turning the entire island into a living hell.

All kinds of evil gazes were sweeping over from all directions, making everyone feel cold and their limbs stiff.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!!" Charles supported the boy and ran away quickly.

After running for a while, the situation became more and more critical. Not only was there blood and flesh surging behind him, but even the strange tree in front of him began to shake.

Just at this moment, the wriggling tentacles in front formed a large net and they were surrounded!

At the critical moment, Charles suddenly remembered something, and reached into his waist, and touched something hard. It was the explosives he brought with him!

"Boom!!" Blood and flesh splattered, and the blocked intersection appeared again.

Explosives can help everyone clear a way, but as the amount of explosives on them becomes less and less, everyone's faces become more and more ugly.

Just when Charles had only one pack of explosives left, he heard the sound of waves hitting the beach in the distance. The exit was just ahead! !

Everyone knew what this meant, and they quickened their pace again, trying desperately to squeeze out the potential of their bodies.

The last pack of dynamite was lit and thrown out, and the hard ground was finally replaced by soft sand. They were out.

The seven people rushed madly towards the wooden boat on the beach, and the meat monster behind them followed closely.

Charles ran a few quick steps, picked up the statue and jumped directly onto the canoe. The others paddled desperately and finally returned to the sea before the meat monsters caught up with them.

The monster seemed to be afraid of the sea water. After being touched slightly, it shrank back.

When the group finally returned to the Mouse, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone collapsed on the ground, panting like old dogs.

Although all the muscles in his body were protesting, Charles still stood up despite the pain. The danger was not over yet and he had to leave the island.

"The chief engineer starts the furnace, the sailor pulls the anchor, and the first mate takes the helm! Let's get out of this damn place."

"Yes, Captain."

Seeing the crew quickly carrying out his orders, Charles suddenly felt a little surprised and felt that something was wrong.

He quickly filtered his memory and was surprised to find that all the crew members had returned and he could call out their names.

It seems that no matter whether it is the island or the monsters that modify the memory, the memory can be restored as long as they leave the island.

With his hands on the edge of the boat, Charles looked towards the islands in the distance. In the darkness, the meat monsters were blurry.

They stretched out their tentacles and swayed rhythmically from side to side, as if they were holding some kind of ritual, which looked extremely eerie in the darkness.

Under Charles's gaze, black smoke began to billow from the chimney of the Mouse again, and the group slowly moved away from this strange island.

It was not until dinner time that all the crew members understood what had happened after Charles’ explanation. They were very shocked by the situation.

"Oh my god, are unexplored islands so dangerous? No wonder the disappearance rate of exploration ships is so high."

"My memory disappeared and came back? Captain, you are not lying to me, are you?"

After taking a sip of soup, Charles coughed lightly and the discussions died down.

Charles glanced at each of their faces and said, "Everyone start reporting your names and positions, and check each other's memories to see if there are any contradictions."

The strange island made him really uneasy. It could make the crew disappear silently and even erase his memory. This power made him feel very taboo.

"Bandage, position... First mate, assists the captain and organizes various work plans... Responsible for preparing cargo stowage plans, 12~24... Helmsman."

"James, second engineer, responsible for maintaining the normal working order of the turbine boiler; at the same time maintaining the propulsion equipment and auxiliary equipment, boilers, lubrication, cooling and fuel oil."

"Frey, duty cook, responsible for the crew's meals."

"Deep, the position boatswain, is responsible for guiding the sailors to do the maintenance and repair of anchors, cables, and loading and unloading equipment; leading the sailors to do the painting, sails, cables, and high altitude."

"Walter, position: perform steering, navigational watch duties and daily deck maintenance work."

"Jack, position 2nd waterman: perform various craft work such as rigging, stowing and lowering gangways, and deck work."

"Anna, duty ship doctor, responsible for treating the crew's illnesses and performing daily physical examinations."

After comparing the memories in his mind and discovering that there were indeed eight pairs of footprints, Charles finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had really been worrying too much and the matter was finally over.

(End of this chapter)