Chapter 383 – The Flame Emerges

Chapter 383 – The Flame Emerges
In the midst of running wildly, Lawrence still couldn’t help but turn around and look in the direction where Martha’s voice came from.

Yet he couldn’t see anything but the thick fog that wouldn’t go away on Dagger Island – it was as if the voice was ringing directly in his head, with a single urging to get off the island, to return to the White Oak, to …… get out of here and traveled to the Frost.

Martha, of course, was not here.

But Lawrence still saw it as a nebulous guide-perhaps from his faith, perhaps from his subconscious, clues and intuitions that went unnoticed by him guiding him, guiding a way out of this predicament.

He raced toward the harbor, the cold wind and fog whistling in his face and in his ears, his first mate and sailors surrounding him, the sound of gunfire still coming from afar, among other things, and the sound of the White Oak’s light escort guns opening fire – the White Oak’s counterattacks and the “enemy’s” fire – the White Oak’s counterattacks and the White Oak’s fire. “The White Oak’s counterattacks were weak compared to the enemy’s, and it was clear that she was at a disadvantage.

“Martha told him that the Haiyan was coming – but which ship was the Haiyan?

The harbor came into sight, and at the end of the fog the beautiful hull of the White Oak remained at the end of the wharf bridge, a succession of fires lit up the bow and stern, the flash of the guns ripped through the mist, and now and then on the surface of the sea in the immediate vicinity great jets of water could be seen rising in the air – apparently from the enemy! attack.

“The ship is still there!” The first mate shouted happily as soon as he caught sight of the White Oak, shouting to the captain and cheering up the sailors who couldn’t catch their breath, “Jason hasn’t abandoned us!”

Jason was the name of the ship’s second mate.

“The storm goddess is on board! Get aboard and get the hell out of here,” one of the sailors shouted, “The White Oak is just a target to be shot at while she’s anchored here!”

A group of men darted towards the White Oak, there were shadows shifting about the ship, apparently the seamen who had stayed behind had noticed the returning captain and his party, a rope ladder was lowered over the side of the ship, and two of the sailors at the edge of the deck raised their carrying lamps, shaking them in the air in a slightly anxious manner.

The sailors who had gone ashore to explore ran quickly toward the rope ladder.

But suddenly Lawrence’s steps stopped and jerked his revolver and fired a shot in the air, “All stop!”

The sailors, startled by the sound of the gunshot and the captain’s shout, stopped in their tracks in shock and bewilderment, turning their heads to look at each other, and First Mate Gershon stopped as well, looking at the old captain with some confusion – but it took less than a second for the seasoned veteran seaman to react and realize why the captain had suddenly ordered a halt.

The first mate gasped for breath, and amidst the constant sound of gunfire, he looked up and around, his eyes darting over the sailors around him, as well as the figure of the captain.

Sixteen sailors stood around him in a daze, every face looking familiar, while Captain Lawrence looked over with a serious face.

“How many men did we take with us when we set out?” Lawrence said quickly.

“Another …… besides you and myself,” the first mate spoke quickly, but visibly drifted off as he got to the exact number, but he only paused for a second or two before smoothly recalling it, “and twelve sailors! ”

Lawrence scanned the group in front of him with a grave gaze, counting them one by one in his mind.

And in the depths of his pupils, it was as if a ghostly green glow was flickering on and off.

“Four more people,” the first mate at the side also quickly completed the count, this old seaman’s face instantly became serious, he lifted his muzzle and fired a shot towards the sky, and spoke in a loud voice, “All people, keep a one-meter spacing and spread out! Keep your faces all toward the captain! Hands where you can see them!”

The sailors also realized what was happening, their faces one after another showing a nervous look, but they were ultimately experienced seafarers who had dealt with the Infinite Sea for many years, and naturally knew how to respond at this time – under the command of the first mate, the sixteen sailors quickly dispersed and lined up.

White Oak side of the gunfire is still continuing, more and more water columns rise up around the harbor, the enemy called “sea oats” seems to be gradually approaching, Lawrence’s mind in the roar of the gunfire as boiling running –

He couldn’t stay here, the White Oak was a target in the harbor, her weak self-defense firepower and hull wouldn’t hold her for long, but he couldn’t return to the ship with the group either, because some of the island’s “things” had obviously gotten in, and if he brought them back… …the White Oak would end up no better than being sunk by gunfire.

His eyes swept over the sixteen sailors in front of him, desperately trying to distinguish unfamiliar or out-of-place faces – when exactly had the extra four men gotten in? Was it during the procession through the fog? Was it in the harbor office? Or was it at the moment when a series of explosions rang out on the island and the party was thrown into a temporary panic?

The sailors also flew to observe each other, and in this moment it was as if no one was trustworthy anymore, and even …… including their own memories and judgments seemed suspicious.

“Captain,” the voice of Big Forgus reached Lawrence’s ears just then, a certain determination on the old seaman’s face, “the White Oak can’t stay here any longer-you get aboard. ”

Lawrence’s face became instantly and unusually grave, “What do you mean?”

“You take the ship and leave, me and everyone else stays behind – we’ll take our time and figure out how to tell the ‘things’ that got mixed in and get rid of them, you wait until it’s safe to come back and get us… …”

Lawrence stared into the eyes of the first mate, his face grim as he didn’t say a word. The phrase “come back for us when it’s safe” fooled no one.

As soon as the White Oak left the harbor, those who stayed on the island were permanently abandoned – the weirdness of the situation here was obvious to all, four unknown things had infiltrated the group in such a short period of time, so what would be the result of continuing to stay?
“Don’t be in a hurry to self-sacrifice,” Lawrence said softly, suddenly recalling something, his eyes becoming different, “Humans have and only have two eyes ……”

His eyes stopped on a sailor.

It was followed by a second, a third, and a fourth.

One of the sailors pointed to himself in surprise as he blinked, followed by the third and fourth eyes, “Don’t I have two eyes?”

Lawrence didn’t say anything, just silently raised the revolver in his hand.

The second to raise his muzzle was First Mate Gus, followed as if in a dream by the rest of the sailors.

All of them seemed to have suddenly crossed a curtain, and after the cognitive disturbances that had gripped their minds had shaken them, they watched with dismay and horror as the figures that stood in the ranks, seemingly unlike human beings, one by one, raised the long and short guns in their hands.

The four inhuman “sailors” were surrounded by the crowd, and stood there in dismay and bewilderment, while immediately afterward the expression on their faces changed from one of sobriety to one of confusion.

As if their temporary simulated personalities had received a shock and suddenly collapsed, these inhuman “fakes” staggered and looked up at their “captain” one by one.

Lawrence, however, could only let out a long sigh: “You are not members of the ship.”

In the next moment, as he watched in disbelief, he suddenly saw a greenish flame burst through the air – a flash of fire that was initially just a few sparks.

The flame was just a few sparks at first, which jumped and surfaced in the middle of the twelve normal sailors, like sparks in the middle of an electrode device, and in just a moment, those few sparks expanded and grew into a large, large flame, the green spiritual fire blazing in the middle of the crowd, like a predator that smelled its prey and swooped down on the four confused “fakes! The four “forgeries” were as if they were predators who had smelled their prey.

The flames exploded and crackled, and the four fakes struggled violently in the flames for a few moments, but they didn’t even have time to make a sound, and then they were turned into a puddle of black dust after being burned out – vaguely similar to the black mud that we saw on the harbor ramp before, but even drier and more pulverized.

The sailors were horrified, and the moment the spirit fire ignited, they, as members of the White Oak, recalled a scene of fear that had happened before – the frightening moment of encountering the Lost Country on the Infinite Sea, the shocking scene of seeing the fiery molten city in Prand… …They were all too familiar with the flames.

Why did this flame appear here?

Could Captain Duncan be in the neighborhood?

But just as the horror exploded in everyone’s minds, and all the sailors panicked, the flames suddenly dissipated – just as quickly as they had come, and as the four forgeries were reduced to ashes, the greenish psychic flames disappeared as quickly as they had come.

Only a group of frightened and panicked sailors, a dumbfounded first mate, and an old captain who felt that he should really 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 seems to be ……”

“It’s the power of the Lost Country …… Lost Country ……” Lawrence gulped and jerked his head up to look at the sea, as if trying to look for signs of the ghost ship, but only saw the White Oak The guns were still roaring in the direction of the ship, and the sailors who had been swinging their lamps around the edge of the deck before were nowhere to be seen – I’m afraid that all of them had already been thrown into the fight.

The sailors on the White Oak were fighting hard to buy time for the captain and his party to board the ship.

The Lost Country was not here, but Captain Duncan’s flame appeared before all eyes.

“Take it easy,” Lawrence spluttered, calming the sailors, “we’ve already encountered the Lost Country once, and the city-state of Prendergast was even saved by that ship – not necessarily a bad thing, didn’t you hear that rumor? Rumor has it that Captain Duncan Ebnomar has recovered his humanity ……”

The first mate subconsciously gestured a prayer to the goddess of storms, and immediately afterward opened his mouth to inquire, “Captain, so we …… return to the ship now?”

“…… Go back, quickly! Before more weird things get mixed in!”

(End of chapter)