While running wildly, Lawrence couldn't help but turn around and look in the direction where Martha's voice came from.
However, except for the thick fog that lingered on Dagger Island, he could see nothing - the voice seemed to ring directly in his mind, urging him to leave the island, urging him to leave the island.
Return to the White Oak, urging him... to leave here and go to Frost.
Of course Martha is not here.
But Lawrence still believed that this was a hidden guidance - perhaps from his faith, perhaps from his subconscious. Those clues and intuitions that he had never noticed were guiding him and pointing a way out of this predicament.
He rushed towards the port, the cold wind and mist blew against his face, and whistled by his ears. His first mate and sailors surrounded him, and the sound of gunfire continued to come from the distance, including
The shelling from a distance, as well as the sound of the white oak's light escort artillery firing - the white oak's counterattack seemed weak compared to the "enemy's" attack, and it was obviously at a disadvantage.
"Martha" told him that the Petrel was coming, but which ship was the Petrel?
The port appeared in sight. At the end of the fog, the beautiful hull of the White Oak was still docked at the end of the dock pier. Firelights lit up one after another on the bow and stern of the ship. The flash of artillery bombardment tore through the fog, and at the end of the fog,
On the nearby sea surface, huge water columns can be seen rising into the sky from time to time - this is obviously an attack from the enemy.
"The ship is still there!" the first mate shouted happily after seeing the figure of the White Oak. He was shouting to the captain and to encourage the out-of-breath sailors, "Jason has not abandoned us.
!”
Jason is the name of the second officer on the ship.
"Here's the Storm Goddess! Get aboard and get out of this damn place," a sailor shouted. "The White Oak is like a target when it's parked here!"
A group of people ran quickly towards the White Oak. There were figures shaking on the ship. Apparently the sailors who stayed behind had noticed the returning captain and his party. A rope ladder was lowered from the side of the ship. Two sailors on the edge of the deck raised their lanterns, slightly showing
Shaking anxiously in the air.
The sailors who came ashore to explore quickly ran towards the rope ladder.
But suddenly, Lawrence stopped, pulled out his revolver and fired a shot into the air: "Stop!"
The sailors were startled by the gunfire and the captain's shout. They stopped in shock and confusion, turned their heads and looked at each other. First mate Gessen also stopped and looked at the old captain with some confusion - but only for a second.
Before long, the experienced seaman came to his senses and realized why the captain suddenly ordered to stop.
The first mate was breathing heavily. Amidst the constant sound of gunfire, he raised his head and looked around, his eyes quickly scanning the sailors around him and the captain's figure.
Sixteen sailors stood around him at a loss, and every face looked familiar. Captain Lawrence looked at this side with a serious face.
"How many people did we take with us when we set off?" Lawrence said quickly.
"In addition to you and me, there are others..." the first mate said quickly, but when he mentioned the specific number, he was obviously in a trance. However, he only paused for a second or two before he recalled it smoothly, "
Twelve more sailors!"
Lawrence glanced at the group of people in front of him solemnly, counting the points one by one in his mind.
And deep in his pupils, there seemed to be a faint green glow flickering on and off.
"There are four more people," the first mate on the side also quickly completed the count, and the old seaman's face suddenly changed.
Suddenly he became serious. He raised the muzzle of his gun and fired a shot into the air. He said loudly, "Everyone, keep a distance of one meter and spread out! Face the captain! Keep your hands where you can see them!"
The sailors also realized what had happened, and all of them looked nervous, but after all, they were experienced sailors who had been dealing with the boundless sea for many years, so they naturally knew how to respond at this time - under the command of the first mate.
, the sixteen sailors quickly dispersed and lined up.
The sound of artillery from the White Oak continued, and more and more water columns rose around the port. The enemy known as the "Petrel" seemed to be gradually approaching, and Lawrence's thoughts seemed to be boiling amidst the roar of the artillery fire.
Operation——
If the ship is left in the port, it will be a target. Its weak self-defense firepower and hull cannot support it for too long, but he cannot lead this team back to the ship because some "things" on the island have obviously gotten in. If
Take them back... The White Oak's ending would be no better than being sunk by artillery fire.
His eyes swept across the sixteen sailors in front of him, trying desperately to distinguish unfamiliar or inconsistent faces - when did the four extra people sneak in? Was it during the process of the team passing through the thick fog? Was it?
In the port office? Or at the moment when continuous explosions sounded on the island and the team fell into temporary panic?
The sailors also looked at each other quickly. At this moment, it seemed that no one could be trusted anymore, and even... including their own memory and judgment seemed suspicious.
"Captain," Big Fergus's voice reached Lawrence's ears at this moment. The old seaman had a certain determination on his face, "The White Oak can't stay here any longer - you get on board quickly."
Lawrence's face instantly became extremely serious: "What do you mean?"
"You take the boat and leave, and I will stay with everyone - we will slowly figure out how to identify and deal with the 'things' that have mixed in. You will come back to pick us up when it is safe..."
Lawrence stared into the first mate's eyes, his expression gloomy and he said nothing.
No one can be fooled by the saying "come back to pick people up when it's safe".
As long as the White Oak leaves the port, those who stay on this island will be abandoned forever - the strange situation here is obvious to all, and in such a short period of time, four unknown things have sneaked into the team.
, what else will happen if you continue to stay?
"Don't be in a hurry to sacrifice yourself," Lawrence said softly. Suddenly, he recalled some things and his eyes became different. "Humans have only two eyes..."
His eyes stopped on a sailor.
Then came the second, third, and fourth people.
One of the sailors pointed at himself in surprise. He blinked, then blinked his third and fourth eyes: "Don't I have two eyes?"
Lawrence said nothing, but silently raised the revolver in his hand.
The second person to raise his gun was First Mate Gus, followed closely by the other sailors who woke up from a dream.
Everyone seemed to have suddenly stepped across a curtain. After the cognitive interference shrouding their hearts was shaken, they looked at the figures standing in the team, who looked similar to humans, in astonishment and fear, and raised their hands one by one.
Long and short firearms.
The four "sailors" who looked inhuman and inhuman were surrounded by the crowd. They stood there in shock and confusion, and then, the expressions on their faces changed from sober to confused.
It was as if the temporarily simulated personality had received an impact and suddenly collapsed. These "fake" creatures that looked both human and inhuman were swaying and looking up at their "captain" one by one.
Lawrence could only let out a long sigh: "You are not members of the ship."
The next second, while he was staring in shock, he suddenly saw a bunch of green fire burst out of thin air in the air. The fire was just a few sparks at first, and it jumped among the twelve normal sailors.
, like sparks in the middle of the electrode device, and in just a moment, those few sparks suddenly expanded and grew into large swaths of flames. The green spiritual fire burned blazingly among the crowd, like smelling the prey.
Like a predator, it pounced on the four ignorant "fake products".
The flames exploded and crackled. The four fakes struggled violently in the flames for a few times, but before they could even make a sound, they turned into puddles of burned-out black dust - vaguely like the one on the port slope before.
The black mud seen on the road is, however, drier and more pulverized.
The sailors were horrified. The moment the spiritual fire ignited, they, as members of the White Oak, recalled the terrifying scenes that had happened - the frightening moments when they encountered the Homeless Ship on the boundless sea, and the ordinary people.
Rand saw the shocking scene of the burning city. They were all too familiar with the flames.
Why does this flame appear here?
Is "Captain Duncan" nearby?
The flame suddenly dissipated again - just as quickly as it came. As the four fakes turned into ashes, the green spiritual flames also disappeared completely.
Only a group of panicked sailors, a stunned first mate, and an old captain who felt that he really should retire early were left behind.
"Just...what was that just now?" First Mate Gus turned his head with difficulty and swallowed, "Captain, that fire, that fire seemed to be..."
"It's the power of the Lost Home... The Lost Home..." Lawrence swallowed, suddenly raised his head and looked towards the seaside, as if trying to find traces of the ghost ship, but only saw the White Oak
The artillery fire was still roaring in the direction, and the sailors shaking the lanterns at the edge of the deck had disappeared - I'm afraid everyone had already been involved in the battle.
The sailors on the White Oak are fighting hard to buy time for the captain and his party to board the ship.
The Lost Home is not here, but Captain Duncan's flames appear before everyone's eyes.
"Don't be nervous," Lawrence said quickly, calming down the sailors, "We have already encountered the Homeless Ship once, and the city-state of Pland was even saved by that ship - not necessarily a bad thing, it's not
Heard that rumor? Captain Duncan Abnomar is said to have found his humanity..."
The first mate subconsciously made a gesture of prayer to the Storm Goddess, and then asked: "Captain, let's... return to the ship now?"
...Go back, quickly! Before more weird things sneak in!"