Chapter 222. Turtle Shell
Charles and Bandages were talking about various mundane topics when Bandages felt something, prompting him to turn to his left.
Amidst the jet-black darkness of the sea, Bandages managed to make out a semi-elliptical silhouette larger than the Narwhale drifting over toward them.
Bandages got ready to steer the Narwhale away, but Charles pressed down on the steering wheel.
"That's not a creature of the sea. I've seen that before. It's a ship of the Haikor Tribe."
The two watched as the vessel approached the Narwhale. A minute later, the turtleshell ship had drifted next to the Narwhale. Charles frowned while staring at the derelict ship. She had clearly suffered from some kind of attack judging from the holes and tears on her sturdy turtleshell side plating. It cut a sorry figure through and through.
"This...might...be a...dead ship..." Bandages muttered.
Dead ships were usually referred to as ghost ships, but for clarity's sake, real ghost ships couldn't be called dead ships.
Charles stared at the ship with his brows furrowed. Caution was advised when approaching a dead ship in the middle of the sea during nighttime.
In fact, most people would agree that it was a very reckless thing to do. However, Charles knew how to repay gratitude with gratitude.
The Narwhale would have become a dead ship if it weren't for the Haikor Tribe, so Charles found it hard to just sail away and leave those indifferent giants to their fates upon seeing that they were in trouble.
"Audric, fly over and take a look," Charles instructed.
A giant bat took off to the skies. It circled the turtleshell ship a couple of times and returned promptly.
"Captain, my sonic waves couldn't penetrate its thick side plates, but I couldn't feel any single movement from inside of it. I think the ship has either been abandoned, or the occupants are dead," Audric said.
Is it really a dead ship? Charles pondered briefly. Eventually, he walked over to the cockpit and yanked the steam whistle hard.
The Narwhale's whistle fleeted across the pitch-black sea.
It was incredibly dangerous for a ship to sound its steam whistle in the middle of uncharted waters. After all, it was unknown just what kind of creature would get lured over by the loud noise.
Charles stared intently at the turtleshell ship. It drifted quietly amidst the placid waves. Charles waved his hand and gave the signal to depart.
He had done his best for the sake of justice and to repay his debt of gratitude. This was the most he could do, as sending his crew over to take a look inside the derelict ship was too dangerous of an endeavor.
Thud!
A dull thud echoed just as the Narwhale was about to set sail. A square side plating on the port side of the ship was flung open, and a shriveled arm resembling a mummy emerged from the hole.
"Water..." Charles' sharp ears captured the weak murmur.
Audric grabbed a few iron flasks filled with fresh water and hurled them toward the ship.
Charles was several meters away, but he could hear the ravenous gulping of the people on the ship.
It seemed that there was more than one person inside of it.
Beneath the bright searchlight, an emaciated giant soon poked his head out of the hole. He stretched his hand out and squeezed the following words out of his parched throat as well as his cracked and bleeding lips.
"Water, give me water..." he muttered.
This time, Audric flew over with a huge bucket of fresh water. The gulping noises that soon followed had gotten louder; clearly, the occupants were desperate for water.
Audric landed next to Charles. His nose twitched, and then he whispered into Charles' ears, "Captain, I can smell corpses inside the ship. The smell is thick; it seems that quite a few of them have perished."
"It'd be a surprise if none of them had died, seeing how desperate they are for water," Charles said. His eyes remained fixed on the turtleshell ship. Soon, a head stuck out of the hole once more, and the emaciated giant beckoned at Charles and the others, asking for more fresh water.
Bandages was about to give the order to fetch more fresh water, but Charles stopped him and asked the emaciated giant, "How many people are there on your ship?"
He was willing to help, but he had to consider their circumstances, too. The Narwhale also needed fresh water, and Charles had to prioritize his own crew before others.
"Five, no six... The others are dead. We've been lost at sea for quite a while."
The cogs in Charles' brain turned, and he made quick calculations using the estimated remaining days they would have to spend at sea along with the estimated amount of water his crew member needed every day.
Eventually, Charles turned to the emaciated giant and asked, "How much fresh water does a Haikor Tribe member need per day?"
"Three liters is enough for us to get by."
"Very well, then. I will give you twenty liters of fresh water every day. We have enough fresh water on board to last us until we reach the Shattered Heart Isles."
The emaciated giant's face was that of relief as he exclaimed, "Thank you, Captain! We'll report your selflessness to the King of the Shattered Heart Isles. He will surely reward you then!"
Charles merely nodded in response. He didn't care whether there would be a reward or not. He had done this all for the sake of repaying a debt.
"Can your ship still move? Otherwise, we'll have to tow you," Charles asked.
Soon, an incredulous scene unfolded on the pitch-black sea.
A streamlined steamship ended up towing a huge turtleshell ship.
For the sake of preventing any accidents, Charles told Audric to keep watch by hanging upside down on the stern of the Narwhale. It was better to be safe than sorry.
Charles wanted to save them, but he wasn't convinced that they were good people. Perhaps these Haikor Tribe members were pirates. Of course, no one could truly say for sure.
The first few hours of their voyage together went swimmingly. However, the emaciated giant from earlier made a strange request during mealtime.
"Captain Charles, do you happen to have any extra sea salt on board? I need some salt."
"Do you need food?" Charles asked the emaciated giant named Aguino.
"We have enough food; we just need sea salt. We can also buy it with Goldkrons."
It was just a bit of salt, so Charles couldn't care less and had Audric send a bag of salt over to the turtleshell ship.
There wasn't anything unusual in the next few days, but on the fifth day, Charles started hearing a strange noise in his sleep. The noise sounded like a creaking noise, but it was unique and accompanied by a vibrato. Obviously, it wasn't a noise that a human being could make.
At first, Charles thought that he was experiencing auditory hallucinations again, but it turned out that he wasn't alone. The other crew members had heard it as well, and all suspicions fell on the turtleshell ship.
Charles didn't beat around the bush and decisively asked Aguino about it.
"Don't worry about it, Captain Charles. You won't hear those sounds anymore. The noise you've heard won't cause you any issues as well."
Charles was silent at Aguino's reply. He stared deeply at Aguino before turning around and leaving.
Aguino sighed in relief. He shrank back into the turtleshell ship and crawled between the compartments that resembled honeycombs.
Shortly after his departure, the towing rope connecting the two ships sagged slightly for some reason.
Eventually, Aguino reached the darkest corner of the ship and prostrated toward the darkness
He sounded extremely respectful as he muttered, "Esteemed Apostle, the humans ahead of us have heard your voice in their dreams. I implore you to please keep it down."
Creak!
A creaking noise and a low rumble echoed. Soon, a sinister creature with mirror-like skin crawled out of the dark. Its sucker with large protruding lips resembled a trumpet, and its physique resembled a lizard, while its limbs were bent stiffly with its elbows touching the floor.
It seemed Aguino had understood the meaning behind the strange noise as he exited the space with a respectful demeanor.
Soon, he returned with a half-decayed corpse in tow. The corpse's features made it clear that the deceased was a member of the Haikor Tribe.
Aguino proceeded to rub salt all over the corpse before presenting it to the deformed creature in the dark.
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