Dense vegetation grows on the mountains of Bahar Island. Tall trees, low shrubs, and parasitic vines completely clog the entire space. However, the pirates have opened a trail in advance, which can barely allow a carriage to pass. . Both sides of the trail were completely filled with green, and the vibrant plants even began to try to regain "control" of the trail.
Austin, Oliver, and Maffei led three sailors mixed with the slave team toward an unknown destination, while the others stayed on the ship waiting for support from Fleming Port. The two groups also agreed that if Austin and his group sent out a signal flare, the battleship would launch a strong attack to respond to them.
There are still about three hours before dark, and Austin and his group have been walking in the dense forest for almost an hour. There are only two pirates escorting them, one in front of them and one behind them. Austin and others also thought about leaving the team on the way, but the dense forests on both sides always gave people an uncomfortable feeling, so they changed their strategy and did not act rashly.
While Austin was thinking, his field of vision suddenly became brighter. When he looked up, he saw that the team had walked out of the dense forest, and there was a busy construction site in front of them.
The clearing showed signs of fire and excavation, and seemed to have been dug out by the pirates. At this time, hundreds of slaves were cleaning the ground and an ancient building made of huge rocks in the center of the clearing under the supervision of the pirates.
Austin scratched the ground hard with his feet, and the stone ground under a thin layer of soil was exposed, and the patterns carved on it could still be vaguely seen.
Driven by two pirates, Austin's group of slaves picked up shovels made of wood and were responsible for clearing the layer of soil on the ground.
"What is this?" Austin asked, approaching Oliver.
"I don't know, the building in the middle looks like an altar."
After hearing this, Austin looked at the central building. It was a two-story square stone platform. The upper floor was slightly smaller than the bottom. There was a stone pillar carved from a huge stone in the center. It looked as thick as two adults hugging each other. The upper half seemed to be covered by Due to violent destruction, a section was missing, and the reliefs on the stone pillars also came to an abrupt end.
"Is it the Poseidon?" Ma Fei, with sharp eyes, saw the octopus head on the remaining part of the stone pillar.
"I don't know, there seems to be something else on the stone pillar." Austin squinted his eyes and could barely see part of the things on it.
"Yeah, it seems to be, um, a humanoid creature with scales." Ma Fei tried hard to see clearly, "That guy is really weird, he has five eyes on his face."
The corners of Austin's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and there was a trace of uneasiness in his heart.
Why does that evil god appear here? Appearing here with Poseidon?
"Poseidon seems to be fighting that guy." Ma Fei stood on tiptoes and carefully identified the reliefs on the stone pillars.
Austin licked his lips, and he suddenly doubted the purpose of this operation. Did the military really want me to adapt to maritime combat? Are the actions of this group of pirates tacitly approved by the church and the military? Is all this a setup for me? Or is it a trap set up for Morris?
"There seems to be a lot of stuff on the top half, but it's gone." Ma Fei rubbed his eyes.
Oliver had no idea for the moment and took the initiative to walk away before the pirates noticed this, wanting to see if there were any clues elsewhere.
Austin deliberately walked closer, wanting to see the reliefs on the stone pillars with his own eyes.
Ten meters, seven meters, five meters... Austin finally saw the five-eyed evil god clearly, and then lost consciousness in the next moment.
Unsurprisingly, the surroundings turned into dark blue sea water, and there was still that white spot in the distance. Austin sighed, he actually sent down the oracle at this time. Fortunately, the time outside was suspended when he was here, otherwise it would be dangerous.
He swam towards the light with ease, and as expected, there was a white bubble in front of the bound evil god. Austin sighed and put his hand into the bubble. It seemed that mercury entered the blood vessels from the skin of the fingertips, and then flowed along the blood vessels to the brain. Austin was so painful that he could not speak. His eyes widened, staring at the blisters that kept flashing in front of him, and the hand inserted into the blisters also flashed. .
The mercury finally reached the brain, as if someone had split the skull open with an axe. Austin's throat made a beast-like "ho-ho" sound, and his eyeballs seemed to bulge out of their sockets. His other hand kept twitching, and there was a sound in his nostrils. There is blood to be shed. Just when Austin's head was about to explode, a cold and ruthless voice sounded in his mind.
"Stop the ritual."
Along with this voice, countless other pictures flashed in Austin's mind: a group of slaves dressed in linen clothes brought stones and built a stone platform, stonemasons worked day and night to carve stone pillars, and luxuriously dressed women were tied to stone pillars. Everyone in the audience shouted "Saint! Saint!". A priest in dark blue robes used a gold dagger to cut open the woman's chest, took out a heart, crushed it, and finally smeared it on the stone pillar, and then Kneel down in front of the stone pillar and recite something.
"Poseidon is above, and the waves will protect you!" Everyone chanted and prayed, then took out the silver dagger in their arms, cut open their chests, took out the hearts one by one, and threw them on the stone platform.
"Poseidon is above, the waves protect you!" the people shouted again, and then they all fell to the ground.
Austin's mind suddenly fell into darkness, and then he gradually regained consciousness. At this time, he still maintained the previous movements, but the linen clothes on his body were soaked with cold sweat.
Is that a Poseidon sacrifice? Austin fell into confusion. He was not a believer in Poseidon, but he had grown up listening to the legends of Poseidon. He had long established an image of Poseidon in his heart as a powerful, powerful, upright and brave Poseidon who could control the wind and rain. At this time, seeing the sacrificial scene made him feel uneasy. Hair blockage.
Looking at the carvings on the stone pillars, the octopus head wrestling with the five-eyed evil god seemed to have a hint of evil at the moment.
Another hour later, the soil on the ground was finally cleared away, and the pirate captain wearing a captain's hat finally appeared in the open space. He was followed by a priest wearing a dark blue robe. The robe was similar to that of the current Poseidon Church clergy. The robes were different, but identical to the priest whom Austin saw when he received the oracle.
Austin was standing with the five people on his side at this time, watching from a distance as the priest and the captain boarded the altar together.
"Is that the Poseidon priest?" Austin asked Oliver deliberately. He wanted to hear a negative answer from the first mate. Maybe what he saw in his mind was just an imitation of the cult, and the Poseidon Church was still like the legend.
Oliver frowned and replied: "That is the bishop's robe of the Poseidon Church in the Kingdom of Dofreira."
Something seemed to have a crack in Austin's heart, and he continued to ask: "Is it possible that it is forged?"
"It's unlikely. The Poseidon Church in the Kingdom of Doferreira is not as powerful as our Meletni. Every one of their bishop's robes must be passed down."
While the two were talking, a luxurious carriage slowly drove out of the dense forest. The pirates in the open space suddenly became excited and shouted: "Saint! Saint!"
Austin's face suddenly turned pale. He didn't expect that the scene in his mind would happen in reality so soon. Although he was very surprised, his mind was still thinking about how to stop this ritual.
Among all the people present, the only ones who triggered his sense of danger were the pirate captain and the bishop. Among them, the bishop gave him a feeling of extreme danger.
"We must stop this ritual." Austin said solemnly, "This is a cult sacrifice. The saint and these slaves are all sacrifices."
Oliver glanced at Austin in surprise and asked, "Do you have any plans?"
"First incite these slaves to resist, and then we take the opportunity to send out flares and let the August Lion support them."
"I have an idea, but I think we can wait. Anyway, we still have the guarantee of the cannons on the battleship."
"Why?" Austin and Ma Fei asked in unison.
"Remember the strange things we discovered? The disappearance of the crews of those two ships." Oliver glanced around with cold eyes, "I have been counting. When our last batch of slaves first arrived, there were a total of 482 people here, but now 26 people disappeared."
Oliver took a deep breath: "The most terrible thing is that I, including you and everyone here, were not aware of this. I only discovered that the number of people was not correct, but I had no idea when those people disappeared. .”
After the first mate finished speaking, Austin and Ma Fei felt a chill in their hearts, and at the same time they had a strange feeling - as if someone was staring at them.
"Someone is watching us?" Ma Fei couldn't hide anything in his heart and immediately expressed his feelings.
Oliver and Austin nodded silently, while their eyes wandered to the pirates in the open space.
"What if we are the ones who disappear if we wait any longer?" Ma Fei swallowed, her voice trembling.
"My danger perception was not triggered." Austin shook his head, "Maybe the instigator doesn't think we pose a threat to him?"
"I think so too. So far, 24 pirates are among the 26 people who have disappeared. No matter what they are, it doesn't seem to want this sacrifice to succeed." Oliver said this and touched the back of his neck in confusion. Scar, "Why can't those guys notice that so many people are missing?"
"Is it the erasure of the sense of existence?" Ma Fei clapped his hands gently, seeming to be excited by his idea, "This is a legend I heard from Brother Xilai, saying that there is a mythical species that can make a person His sense of presence gradually decreased, causing his body and other people's memories and impressions of him to gradually disappear, causing other people to not notice that he was missing unless they deliberately thought about it."
Austin twitched the corner of his mouth. He felt that Ma Fei guessed it right, because the moment he said his guess, his sense of danger exploded instantly. If Austin hadn't been tortured by evil gods from time to time, and his heart had a strong enough tolerance for pain, The pain was enough to make him twitch and even freeze.
There is something else besides cult sacrifices on the island of Bahar!
Very scary stuff!
