Chapter 242: Arrival
Weister felt a sense of impending doom. Audric sniffed the air in the fuel storage and said, "Captain, it smells fishy in here. Something's coming."
Without warning, the vampire sailor moved and rushed to the door. He lifted his sharp claws and slashed out at Weister's left temple. A grotesque noise echoed as dark purple blood haphazardly spurted out and painted Weister's face.
At the same time, something emerged from Weister's clothes. Blood was dripping down something invisible as something rushed outside. The creature didn't make any noises, and it was also invisible, but it still failed to elude the vampire sailor.
"I can smell it! The smell of blood!" Audric's two fangs protruded out of his mouth as his figure chased after the creature.
Charles rushed past Weister and chased after Audric.
Weister was in a daze. His legs were trembling, and he was beyond pallid. He truly believed that he was about to die earlier, especially when that unknown creature started reaching into his clothes.
Soon, the Captain returned with dark purple bloodstains on his face.
"The two creatures earlier could turn invisible. I've dealt with them. It is safe now. Sailors, clean up the cabin. Everyone else should return to their posts," Charles declared. His words instantly vanquished the oppressive air about the crew members as they immediately relaxed.
They started muttering to each other and laughing while carrying their weapons with them outside. They looked carefree as if they weren't involved in the crisis just now.
However, the rookie Weister found it difficult to recover. It was his first time standing so close to death. His hands trembled uncontrollably, even during mealtime.
At that moment, he started regretting his decision. He should have gained more experience before signing up to become a crew member of this death trap.
Regardless of the amount of money the Governor was willing to offer, Weister knew that he had to be alive to enjoy it.
"Ah!" Weister snapped back to reality at the noise. A smiling fatty stood before him; the smiling fatty was Narwhale's cook, and he had just placed a ladleful of what looked like a gooey broth of apples on Weister's plate.
"Scared? I know, I know; I've been there, done that. You just need to encounter more creatures of the sea, and you'll eventually get used to them," the cook said.
"Are you not scared? That thing could become invisible..." Weister muttered.
"What's there for us to be afraid of? We've decided to gamble our lives away by signing up here. Our Governor's exploration vessel is great, and casualties are kept low on his ship," the cook replied indifferently.
The worry in Weister's heart abated slightly upon seeing the Captain's indifference as the latter chowed down the food on his plate, and Weister was also aware that the cook was right. It had always been better to sign up as a crew member for Captain Charles' exploration ship than on someone else's ship.
Weister had never heard of someone else offering such an exorbitant remuneration, and Weister was about to earn more than his previous captain after this voyage. Going out on a voyage had also always been a gamble, and if Weister was going to gamble his life away, anyway, why not be a bit more daring?
Once I have enough money, I'll bring Mom, my brother, and my sister to Hope Island. I'll then set out once more and save more money until I can reopen Father's jewelry store. A smile suffused Weister's lips as he drew a picturesque future with his family.
Meanwhile, Charles wasn't as calm as he appeared on the surface. It was the third time that something had attempted to climb aboard. The previous two times ended in just attempts, as the Narwhale had flung them back into the sea with her ropes. They were just attempts, so Charles had decided not to tell the crew.
However, he couldn't help but grow even more disturbed as time went on. It wasn't his first time sailing through uncharted waters, but the attacks were so frequent that Charles couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Was it simply a coincidence, or was there something special with the waters here?
If it was the latter, Charles reckoned that the Narwhale would be inundated with sea creatures by the time they reached the Foundation's main island.
Charles thought hard and long until he finally made a decision. If they experienced two attacks in a single day, he would retreat and think of another way to reach the Foundation's main island.
Just then, Lily clamored next to Charles with a yellow fruit as big as a thumb. She gestured for Charles to help her open the fruit. Charles took the fruit and opened a hole in it with his teeth before sucking the black juices dry in one fell swoop.
Lily fell into a daze at the sight; she collapsed on Charles' table and rolled back and forth, expressing her uncompressed fury at the atrocity Charles had just committed against her.
Meanwhile, Charles' eyes were transfixed on something else.
The nautical chart said that the Foundation's main island was located further north of Hope Island. If Aaron hadn't lied to him, there had to be survivors there as a result of the Foundation's contingency plans.
However, Charles had a burning question in mind. How come those survivors hadn't contacted the denizens of the Subterranean Sea?
If they had worked together with the denizens here, the Subterranean Sea's level of technology would have been drastically better than it was at the moment. Of course, Charles had another theory; perhaps the survivors had chosen to abandon the Subterranean Sea for the surface.
Charles had zero information about the main island's affairs and what had happened. In other words, he had to reach the main island if he wanted to know just what had happened to them.
Charles finished his meal before standing up and walking toward the deck. He continued on patrolling the deck. He didn't dare to be negligent and relax; they were in uncharted waters, after all.
Time slowly passed, and the Narwhale received no further attacks aside from the earlier attack. However, Charles had noticed something strange.
For some reason, he would feel as though someone was staring at him from the depths of the pitch-black ocean whenever he stood on the Narwhale's deck with his back to the sea.
Charles thought the surreptitious gaze belonged to Dipp, but he changed his mind upon recalling Dipp's behavior and personality. The latter had never really been the type to shy away, nor was he a sneaky type.
Just then, the surreptitious gaze fell on him once more. However, Charles didn't look back. He took out a mirror and peeked at what was behind him using the mirror.
The mirror depicted nothing but the rippling waves and the bubbling of the sea surface as the Narwhale carved a path in it.
Am I getting too paranoid? Charles considered it but was immediately forced to dismiss the thought when the surreptitious gaze fell on him again. Frowning, Charles walked back into the cabins, and the surreptitious gaze vanished.
Over the past two days, Charles had been nervous about the gaze, but upon realizing that the gaze posed no danger to him, he calmed down and decided to ignore it.
However, he couldn't help but think that it would have been great if the creatures in the jet-black sea of the Subterranean Sea only knew how to look around; explorations would have been so much easier if that were the case.
Nothing good would come out of telling the crew members about the surreptitious gaze on him, so Charles decided to adhere to the principle of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Beneath the surreptitious gaze, the Narwhale soon arrived at the coordinates indicated on the nautical chart.
However, the crew members appeared bewildered; only a seemingly endless stretch of water was before them—there weren't even traces of an island, not to mention an entire island.
Everyone's gaze fell on Charles. The next course of action the Narwhale and her crew would take depended on Charles, as he was the Captain, and he had set their course.
Charles frowned at the jet-black stretch of sea while stroking his chin.
Did Aaron lie to me? Charles immediately dismissed the thought. It wouldn't make sense for Aaron to have made such a dumb decision, considering his situation at the time.
In addition, Aaron was absolutely loyal to the Foundation, and his last words reeked of his sincere feelings toward the Foundation.
"Audric, go around and take a look. Check if we had inadvertently gone the wrong way, and I also want you to double-check if there was a mistake when we had plotted the course," Charles said.
The vampire sailor nodded and transformed into a bat before taking off.
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