While running wildly, Lawrence couldn't help but turn around and look in the direction where Martha's voice came from.
However, except for the thick fog that lingered on Dagger Island, he could see nothing - the voice seemed to ring directly in his mind, urging him to leave the island, urging him to leave the island. Return to the White Oak, urging him... to leave here and go to Frost.
Of course Martha isn't here.
But Lawrence still believed that this was a hidden guidance - perhaps from his faith, perhaps from his subconscious. Those clues and intuitions that he had not noticed were guiding him and pointing a way out of this predicament.
He rushed towards the port, the cold wind and mist blew against his face, and whistled by his ears. His first mate and sailors surrounded him, and the sound of gunfire continued to come from the distance, including The shelling from a distance, and the sound of the White Oak's light escort artillery firing - the White Oak's counterattack seemed weak compared to the "enemy's" attack, and it was obviously at a disadvantage.
"Martha" told him that the Petrel was coming, but which ship was the Petrel?
The port appeared in sight. At the end of the fog, the beautiful hull of the White Oak was still docked at the end of the pier. There were fire lights one after another on the bow and stern. The flash of artillery bombardment tore through the fog, and at the end of the fog, the beautiful hull of the White Oak was still docked at the end of the pier. On the nearby sea, huge water columns can be seen rising into the sky from time to time - this is obviously an attack from the enemy.
"The ship is still there!" the first mate shouted happily after seeing the figure of the White Oak. He was shouting to the captain and to encourage the out-of-breath sailors, "Jason has not abandoned us. !」
Jason was the name of the ship's second officer.
"Here comes the Storm Goddess! Get aboard and get out of this damn place," a sailor shouted. "The White Oak is like a target when it's parked here!"
A group of people quickly ran towards the White Oak. There were figures moving on the ship. Apparently the sailors who stayed behind had noticed the returning captain and his party. A rope ladder was lowered from the side of the ship. Two sailors on the edge of the deck raised their lanterns, slightly showing Shaking anxiously in the air.
The sailors who came ashore to explore quickly ran towards the rope ladder.
But suddenly, Lawrence stopped, pulled out his revolver and fired a shot into the air: "Stop!"
The sailors were startled by the gunfire and the captain's shout. They stopped in shock and confusion, turned their heads and looked at each other. First mate Gessen also stopped and looked at the old captain with some confusion - but only for a second. Before long, the experienced seaman came to his senses and realized why the captain suddenly ordered to stop.
The first mate was breathing heavily. Amidst the constant sound of gunfire, he raised his head and looked around, his eyes quickly scanning the sailors around him and the captain's figure.
Sixteen sailors stood around him at a loss, and every face looked familiar. Captain Lawrence looked at this side with a serious face.
"How many people did we take with us when we set off?" Lawrence said quickly.
"In addition to you and me, there are..." the first mate said quickly, but when he mentioned the specific number, he was obviously confused. However, he only paused for a second or two before he recalled it smoothly, " Twelve more sailors!"
Lawrence scanned the group of people in front of him solemnly, counting the points one by one in his mind.
And deep in his pupils, there seemed to be a faint green glow flickering on and off.
"Four more people," the first mate on the side also quickly completed the counting, and the old seaman's face suddenly changed.
Suddenly he became serious. He raised the muzzle of his gun and fired a shot into the air. He said loudly, "Everyone, keep a distance of one meter and spread out! Face the captain! Keep your hands where you can see them!"
The sailors also realized what had happened, and all of them looked nervous, but after all, they were experienced sailors who had been dealing with the boundless sea for many years, so they naturally knew how to respond at this time - under the command of the first mate. , the sixteen sailors quickly dispersed and lined up.
The gunfire from the White Oak is still continuing, and more and more water columns are rising around the port. The enemy known as the "Petrel" seems to be gradually
As he got closer, Lawrence's thoughts were boiling amidst the roar of artillery fire——
He couldn't stay here any longer. The White Oak would be a target if it stayed in the port. Its weak self-defense firepower and hull couldn't sustain it for too long, but he couldn't take this team back to the ship because of some "things" on the island. They had obviously gotten in. If they were taken back... the outcome of the White Oak would not be any better than being sunk by artillery fire.
His eyes swept across the sixteen sailors in front of him, trying desperately to distinguish unfamiliar or inconsistent faces - when did the four extra people sneak in? Was it when the team was passing through the thick fog? Is it in the port office? Or was it the moment when continuous explosions sounded on the island and the team fell into temporary panic?
The sailors also looked at each other quickly. At this moment, it seemed that no one could be trusted anymore, and even... including their own memory and judgment seemed suspicious.
"Captain," Big Fergus's voice reached Lawrence's ears at this moment. There was a certain determination on the old seaman's face, "The White Oak can't stay here anymore - you get on board quickly."
Lawrence's face instantly became extremely serious: "What do you mean?"
"You take the boat and leave, and I will stay with everyone - we will slowly figure out how to identify and deal with the things that have gotten in, and you will come back to pick us up when it is safe..."
Lawrence stared into the first mate's eyes, his expression gloomy and silent.
No one can be fooled by the saying "come back to pick people up when it's safe."
As long as the White Oak leaves the port, those who stay on this island will be abandoned forever - the strange situation here is obvious to all, and in such a short period of time, four unknown things have sneaked into the team. , what are the consequences of continuing to stay?
"Don't be in a hurry to sacrifice yourself," Lawrence said softly. Suddenly, he recalled some things and his eyes became different. "Humans have only two eyes..."
His eyes rested on a sailor.
Then came the second, third, and fourth people.
One of the sailors pointed at himself in surprise. He blinked, then blinked his third and fourth eyes: "Don't I have two eyes?"
Lawrence said nothing, but silently raised the revolver in his hand.
The second person to raise his gun was First Mate Gus, followed closely by the other sailors who woke up from a dream.
Everyone seemed to have suddenly crossed a curtain. After the cognitive interference shrouding their hearts was shaken, they looked at the human-like figures standing in the team in shock and horror, and raised their hands one by one. Long and short guns.
The four "sailors" who looked inhuman and inhuman were surrounded by the crowd. They stood there in shock and confusion, and then, the expressions on their faces changed from sober to confused.
It was as if the temporarily simulated personality had received an impact and suddenly collapsed. These "fake" things that looked both human and inhuman were swaying and looking up at their "captain" one by one.
But Lawrence could only let out a long sigh: "You are not members of the ship."
The next second, while he was staring in shock, he suddenly saw a bunch of green fire bursting out of thin air in the air. The fire was just a few sparks at first, and it jumped among the twelve normal sailors. , like sparks in the middle of the electrode device, and in just a moment, those few sparks suddenly expanded and grew into large swaths of flames. The green spiritual fire burned blazingly among the crowd, like smelling prey. Like a predator, it pounced on the four ignorant "fake products".
The flames exploded and crackled. The four fakes struggled violently in the flames for a few times, but before they even had time to make a sound, they turned into puddles of burned-out black dust - vaguely like the one on the port slope before. The black mud seen on the road was, however, drier and more pulverized.
The sailors were horrified. The moment the spiritual fire ignited, they, as members of the White Oak, recalled scenes of fear that had happened - the frightening moments when they encountered the Homeless Ship on the boundless sea, and what they saw in the Ordinary Sea. Rand saw the shocking scene of the flaming city. They really
I am very familiar with this flame.
Why does this flame appear here?
Could it be that "Captain Duncan" is nearby?
However, just when this horrifying speculation exploded in everyone's mind and all the sailors panicked, the flame suddenly dissipated - just as quickly as it came, as the four fakes turned into ashes, the green The spirit flames also disappeared immediately.
Only a group of panicked sailors, a stunned first mate, and an old captain who felt that he really should retire early were left behind.
"Just...what was that just now?" First Mate Gus turned his head with difficulty and swallowed, "Captain, that fire, that fire seemed to be..."
"It's the power of the Lost Home... The Lost Home..." Lawrence swallowed, and suddenly looked up towards the seaside, as if trying to find traces of the ghost ship, but only saw the White Oak The artillery fire was still roaring in the direction, and the sailors shaking the lanterns at the edge of the deck had disappeared - I'm afraid everyone had already been involved in the battle.
The sailors on the White Oak are fighting hard to buy time for the captain and his party to board the ship.
The Lost Home is not here, but Captain Duncan's flames are there for all to see.
"Don't be nervous," Lawrence said quickly, calming down the sailors, "We have already encountered the Homeless Ship once, and the city-state of Pland was even saved by that ship - it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's not Heard that rumor? It's said that Captain Duncan Abnomar has found his humanity..."
The first mate subconsciously made a gesture of prayer to the Storm Goddess, and then asked: "Captain, let's... return to the ship now?"
...Go back, quickly! Before more weird things get in! "
