Chapter 62. It Came Alive
As the searchlights of the Narwhale illuminated the darkness ahead, an island teeming with lush vegetation appeared before the crew's eyes. The good news washed away their residual fear from the recent ordeal. Excited, Charles quickly cross-referenced their location with the chart.
Once he had established the coordinates of the first island, tracing the other islands along the way would be much easier. This was also proof that the markings on the nautical chart were authentic.
The Narwhale started to circle the island for a preliminary observation. After making one round around the island, Charles found the landmass to be on the smaller side and gauged it to be around half the size of the Coral Archipelago.
He reasoned that there was a rather slim possibility of there being an entrance to the surface world on this island. But no matter how small the probability, he was determined to venture onto the island to investigate.
Following their standard procedure, Charles instructed his crew to throw some fish onto the shore. Seeing no signs of any living creatures, he then sent his first party of sailors ashore as a cautious measure in case there was something waiting to annihilate their party whole. The closer he was to home, the more cautious he became.
After about two hours, the first party of sailors emerged from the island's woods. They stood at the beach and communicated with the crew on board using flag language.
"No threat," Charles deciphered and then instructed, "Drop the anchor! Kill the engines!"
Two wooden boats were then lowered, and all crew members approached the island.
Dipp, who was in the first party of sailors to land, appeared visibly excited. "Captain, come quickly. I've found a run-down building."
Without a word, Charles followed Dipp into the woods. Walking along a trail in the thick woodland that had been cleared with knives, they arrived at a small, three-story building shrouded in thick vines. The building was so dilapidated and full of cracks that Charles suspected that the only reason it hadn't collapsed was because of the entwining vines around the architecture.
"Captain, there's no one inside. No corpses either," Dipp reported.
Cautiously, Charles led his party into the building. Everything within was blanketed with a layer of dust, an irrevocable proof that this place had been forsaken by history.
"Spread out and search. Inform me if you find any traces of text." At the captain's orders, the crew members scattered and began rummaging through the structure. Plumes of dust were dislodged from their dormant state and swirled up into the stale air. The billowing dust cloud had the crew members erupting into incessant coughing fits.
Charles randomly picked up a cup made from an unidentifiable material. But it instantly crumbled into dust with the slightest touch.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Bang, bang, bang!
Suddenly, screams of terror followed by rapid gunfire pulled Charles out of his thoughts. He hurriedly dashed toward the source of the commotion.
When he entered the room where the commotion was, he saw four sailors huddled together and pointing their guns nervously around the room.
"What did you see? Why did you open fire?"
"Captain! It was there! We saw something small scurry by!" A sailor pointed his gun at the deepest part of the cluttered room.
Charles pulled out his Dark Blade and dashed toward the indicated direction. He tossed aside the pile of debris in his way, but he found no traces of life.
Charles' gaze then fell upon a corner of the wall—an opening. There was also a trail of small footprints. He crouched low and peered into the crack to see a human eye with a blue iris flash past.
"There's something in there!" Charles shouted and stood up immediately. He darted into the adjacent room but found no trace of the eye's owner.
He returned to the previous room and carefully examined the trail of footprints on the ground once more. The footprints measured barely half a centimeter wide and were pathetically small. Charles estimated that their owner was at most five centimeters tall.
"Could it be an island native?" Charles instantly recalled the mini human that had emerged from the skull. However, he soon dismissed the idea. The eye that he'd glimpsed earlier was evidently that of a full-sized human. But now, an illogical fallacy had presented itself: how could a regular-sized person fit through an opening no wider than a finger?
"Captain! What happened? I heard gunfire!"
"Did something happen?"
"What happened just now?"
The rest of the crew had arrived and were throwing questions.
Charles stood up and offered them the explanation they wanted. He then ended his explanation with a warning. "There's a living thing on this island. Everyone, keep your guard up."
Seeing the tense expressions on their faces, Charles added, "Don't be too worried. No matter what that thing might be, it's currently hiding from us now and not the other way around."
Immediately after, Charles asked, "Did you find any clues in the other rooms?"
A trace of disappointment appeared on Charles' face when the crew shook their heads in response. On second thought, he found the situation to be within expectations. After all, Lady Luck seemed to not be on his side, and it was unlikely that he would find his path home on the first island.
Under Charles' guidance, the party exited the building and continued to explore the inner island.
The path through the forest was hard to navigate, with creeping vines and branches cluttering the area. They had to hack their way to make a path for themselves.
After walking for about two hours, Charles estimated that they probably hadn't even walked a mile. Turning around and seeing his crew panting for breath, he called for a break.
"Doctor, do you recognize any of these plants on the island?" Charles asked the old man, who was munching on a piece of stale bread.
"Do you think I'm a walking encyclopedia? How can I possibly recognize the plants on a deserted island? I can only tell that they probably won't eat us."
Richard interjected directly, "Bro, there're so many trees here, which means the soil should be fine. Which means crop cultivation is possible. If we can find fresh water, this place can be a new human habitat!"
"It's not that simple. There are only plants here, but no animals."
Just as the two were engrossed in their mental conversation, Laesto suddenly collapsed onto the ground with a pained expression. Charles hurriedly rushed over and helped him up.
"Doctor! What happened? Say something!"
With his face twisting out of agony, Laesto clawed at his own chest with his iron hand.
"Damn it! Something's biting me! Get it off quick!" Laesto cried out.
Charles swiftly unfastened Laesto's outer coat and spotted a circular, pancake-like entity squirming rapidly beneath the blood-stained shirt.
Not wasting a second of hesitation, he lifted the black dagger in his hand and dislodged the creature with a couple of swift upward slices. Laesto let out a pained grunt as the wrapped creature was flung a dozen meters away.
Charles looked down toward Laesto's chest, and the sight of the gruesome wound had him taken aback. A large chunk of flesh on the left side of Laesto's upper abdomen was gone and revealed the stark skeletal ribs underneath.
"OMG! What did you put in your clothes?"
"I didn't put anything! It was your mask!" Bearing the pain, Laesto pulled out a bottle of powder and poured it over his wound with his trembling hands.
"096?" Charles' gaze turned toward the ground to see a white clown mask emerging from under the torn fabric with a chunk of bloodied flesh in its mouth.
"The mask came alive?" Someone questioned as everyone's eyes widened in disbelief at the absurd sight before them.
Before anyone could react, 096 flashed a terrifyingly sinister smile at the group before it rolled into the forest like a car's wheel.
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