Chapter 123. Kevin
April 2, 9th Year of Crossing Over
It's our 29th day at sea. We are getting closer to the resupply island. Ever since the incident with the fins, we haven't run into any major crisis.
As the journey progressed, expectedly, insomnia visited me once more. Doctor's meds were enough to keep me in bed, but they couldn't stop me from having dreams.
It wasn't a typical nightmare. In fact, it can be considered a nice dream. I dreamt that I returned to the surface and could soak myself in the sunlight once more. I found my family. They hugged me ecstatically. They thought I had been dead for a long time.
Lying on the couch and feasting on the various fruits in the surface world, I told them about my unusual encounters in the Subterranean Seascape.
Anna was next to me. Elizabeth, too. They followed me up.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of knocking sounds came from the door of the captain's quarters.
"What's the matter?" Charles called out.
"I... discovered... something. Come... and take a look..." Bandages slowly articulated from outside the cabin.
Charles didn't dash out immediately. He quickly scribbled away with his fountain pen.
My first mate seems to be looking for me. I hope it's something good.
Having written a proper concluding sentence for his diary entry, Charles shut the notebook and walked over to open the door.
"Fill me in on the details as we move. What did you discover? Are we in any danger?" Charles pulled Bandages along toward the deck.
"A... ship... A really strange ship..."
Charles arrived on the ship, and his eyes immediately picked up on the ship Bandages was talking about. Right ahead of the Narwhale, an old dilapidated iron ship was drifting along with the currents and heading toward them.
The absence of gun ports on the fore and aft decks indicated that the strange ship was neither an exploration vessel nor a warship.
With his excellent vision, Charles spotted the fishing nets on the deck of the small ship. "Who would be so bold to fish in unchartered waters?"
Under normal circumstances, fishing boats would only operate in well-explored safe zones. Casting one's net in unexplored areas was forbidden as it was unknown if the humans would be the predator or the prey by doing so.
"Captain, why don't we just ignore it and leave? What if it's a ghost ship?" Second Mate Conor suggested.
"Might not necessarily be the case. We are already in the waters near the supply island. There's a possibility that the fishing ship comes from that island. Audric, fly over and have a look."
If the ship was indeed from the supply island, perhaps he could gain some intelligence of the supply island from it. At least he wouldn't be blindly rushing into that place.
The vampire morphed into a bat and flew toward the ship. It quickly circled around the vessel before returning.
"Captain, there's a living person on that ship," Audric reported.
"A living person? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm very sure. As a vampire, there's no way I would mistake food."
"Steer the ship closer. Notify the other ships to be on guard."
Soon, the Narwhale was next to the small fishing boat. The deck was a haphazard mess of messy fishing nets and ropes piled upon one another.
A thick layer of iron shavings covered the anchor machine. They indicated that the ship had not been maintained by its sailors for a long while.
But judging from the appearance, the vessel was no different from a regular fishing boat used by humans. Boats like this were a common sight as they entered and exited the port of the Coral Archipelago on a daily basis.
"Where is that living person you spoke of?" Charles inquired.
"In the cabin. I used my sonar and detected him sneaking a peek at me from behind the door."
Leading his crew, Charles headed straight for the door. With a forceful kick, the door flew open. Charles saw a trembling figure flusteredly running toward the far end of the cabin.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the figure collapsed to the ground.
Dipp and his sailors rushed forward and apprehended the middle-aged man. He appeared to be in his forty or fifties, was dressed in disheveled robes, and had a gaunt face.
"Don't kill me! I didn't kill them! It was the other slaves!! I'm not involved!!"
Being on the receiving end of the glaring torchlight, the man shielded his eyes with his hands and vehemently denied any involvement.
"Speak clearly! Who are you?"
Hearing Charles' deep voice, Kevin Carl slowly lowered his hands. Upon laying his eyes on the attires of the group before him, he trembled slightly, and tears started flowing uncontrollably. A deep, echoing cry burst forth from the man.
"You guys are not pirates!! You are not pirates from there. I can go home!! I can finally go home!"
"Stop crying for now. Who are you? And where is this ship from?"
Staring at the young man with uncommon black pupils, Kevin wiped the snot off his face and stood up. His extreme nervousness impeded his speech as he offered an incoherent answer. "You can definitely take me home, right?
”I used to be a really wealthy jewelry trader. I have a large house where I came from. As long as you take me back, the house is yours.”
"Answer me first. What is your role on this ship, and where is this ship from?"
As he recalled his experiences on the ship, a wave of sorrow washed over Kevin. Suppressing his grief, he recounted his tale.
"I'm a slave on this fishing boat. Those pirates beat me daily and made me work eighteen hours a day. Sometimes, I even have to work 40 hours straight without any rest. I'm so tired, really tired."
Hearing the man's irrelevant response, an infuriated Dipp wanted to lunge at him and teach him a lesson, but Charles stopped him.
"Let him speak."
In the dimly lit cabin, everyone was all ears as the slave spoke of his tragic experience.
"Do you know? The ropes in the sea absorbed the saltwater and swelled to the thickness of a man's wrist. They are usually at least a hundred meters long. To prevent them from getting entangled, we need to manually wind these dozens of hundreds of meters of rope neatly onto the winch and then use our hands to turn the winch to pull the fishes up."
"Many people were so dizzy out of exhaustion that they were accidentally dragged into the sea by the ropes. Then, they were gone."
"Being perpetually tired and in danger was one thing, but it was another when they slapped me or even kicked me for no reason. They made me lie down on the ground and kicked me in the head.
”The more they kicked, the louder the voices grew in my head. We aren't even humans to them; we are just mere animals in their eyes!"
"Eventually, a group of slaves couldn't take it anymore. They resisted, but the pirates had firearms and weapons. We only have knives used for cutting squid. Many people died. Really, so many died. They’re all dead. I'm the only one left."
Finishing his recount, Kevin burst into tears again. Sprawled on the ground, he appeared rather helpless.
"Are they the pirates from Sottom?" Charles asked with a slight frown.
134 was tormented by the Foundation in the past, and now she started torturing other humans. When would this vicious cycle ever end?
Kevin nodded vigorously. "Yes, them. Slaves that they couldn't sell would be sent back to Skywater Island and be sent out to fish. Captain, sir, you can definitely take me home, right?"
"Where are you from? As long as you tell me everything you know, I can definitely take you home."
"No problem. Just ask, and I will answer to the best of my ability. My home is on Shadow Island."
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