Chapter 381 – Island in the Mist

Chapter 381 – Island in the Mist

The island was getting closer and closer, and the fog on the island as well as the silhouettes in the fog appeared clearer and clearer – Lawrence stood on the bow deck of the White Oak, his hands gripping the guardrail in front of him, his knuckles looking a little white from the exertion.

Anyone would be nervous, even an old captain who had spent most of his life drifting on the infinite sea – what could be on that island? What was that shadow in the fog? Why did that island appear around the White Oak as if it had a consciousness? And most importantly …… what was this sea shrouded in weird phenomena?
Lawrence took a deep breath, the cold air flow penetrated his lungs, forcing his turbulent mind to calm down, he tried to keep himself from thinking about other abnormal things, such as the Martha that appeared in front of his eyes, as well as the bizarre fact that other people other than himself were also able to see Martha – he knew that he had to cut off thoughts in this regard, because It was all obviously related to his deteriorating mental state, and if he continued to think about it, Martha might actually be more than just a phantom.

He no longer had the potion, and even if he did, the potion had clearly lost its effect.

The steam core was running smoothly, and the White Oak was gradually approaching the island with its curvy coastline, the beautiful white ship sailed across the sea, leaving a long wake at the stern, and in the waves of that flooding and spreading wake, there was a faint flash of ghostly green.

However, no one noticed the situation at the stern – the attention of everyone on the ship was now focused on the strange island.

The terrain at the edge of the island was steep and rocky, with no suitable place to dock, so the experienced helmsman didn’t hastily let the ship dock directly, but instead maneuvered the White Oak to start sailing around the island.

When the ship was about a third of the way around, the sailors on the lookout suddenly made a discovery.

“There’s a harbor!” The sailor yelled from the high platform.

A few moments later, a small dock appeared in Lawrence’s field of vision; the facilities deep within the dock were shrouded in mist and could not be seen clearly, but the portion of it that extended out into the sea was still visible – that portion was structurally intact and showed no signs of damage.

The presence of a complete docking facility meant that it was possible to dock the White Oak in its entirety there without having to use a small boat to board the island, which undoubtedly increased the safety of exploring the island – in addition to the convenience of resupply and ease of evacuation, the White Oak’s own several small-caliber escort cannons could also provide cover for exploratory operations along the coast.

Lawrence returned to the bridge, and under his command, the White Oak began to cautiously approach the empty dock – without the aid of shore guides, the entire docking process was extremely slow, but was eventually accomplished without incident.

Lawrence looked across the dock and saw that the island was so foggy that even the closer docking facilities appeared hazy due to the fog, and he wondered if it was an illusion that the fog on this island was even quite a bit denser than what he had observed earlier.

“There’s no one in sight,” the first mate said as he came to Lawrence’s side, observing the island, “but there are some lights …… vaguely visible that seem to be emanating from the harbor buildings. ”

“Any response from the radio?”

“No, after getting closer to this island, even the frost signal that we’ve been able to receive is not working,” the first mate shook his head, “and the light signals aren’t getting a response either.”

Lawrence mused slightly, “You go and select twelve smart and cautious sailors, take their guns and come with me to explore the island.”

“You are going to the island yourself?” The first mate was instantly taken aback, “This island looks bizarre, I’m afraid there will be …… risks if you do so.”

“Risks? I’m afraid the risk of staying on the ship is the same,” Lawrence shook his head, “It’s not this island that’s weird, it’s this entire sea, we’re trapped by a large-scale vision, dangers are everywhere within the scope of the vision, going on the island and exploring it at least has the possibility of finding useful information.”

The first mate opened his mouth, but he had to admit that the captain’s experience and judgment were useful.

“Alright, I’ll go prepare.”

After a while, the first mate was able to select twelve eligible sailors among the crew-all veteran seafarers with many years of experience, and men of strong will and faith-plus the first mate himself, a total of thirteen men, ready to board the island with Lawrence.

The business of remaining on board the White Oak was left for the time being in the hands of the second mate.

Rope ladders were extended to the pier trestle, and Lawrence with his small exploring force set out upon the mysterious island shrouded in mist.

The feeling of being on solid ground somewhat weakened the uneasiness in the minds of the explorers, and Lawrence stood on the dock, stomped hard on the ground, and grunted back, “At least this concrete is real.”

“Lights in that direction,” the first mate, a large caliber rifle in his hand, looked up into the distance, “still visible here, but still no sign of human activity.”

“Don’t spread out, don’t touch anything you don’t recognize, if you hear voices around you striking up a conversation with yourself, don’t answer until you’ve confirmed the source of the voices as well as the location of your teammates,” Lawrence instructed with a serious look on his face, “if you see anything suspicious appearing in the fog, the first thing you do is to give everyone a signal, no shooting or exploring away from the team on your own.”

At this he paused and glanced around at the group he had brought with him.

Twelve sailors, a first mate, and himself.

“Finally, remember, there are and only fourteen of us – as few as we can get before returning to the ship, never more.”

The sailors immediately responded, “Aye, Captain!” Lawrence nodded and led the group towards the thick fog.

They crossed the dock bridge and came out into an open area, which looked like a stacking area used for temporary distribution of goods – some remnants of the stacking facilities and small lifting mechanisms could still be seen, but apart from these facilities, there was still no sign of any “human” presence. But apart from these facilities, there was still no sign of any “people”.

“This place doesn’t look like it’s been abandoned for a long time,” the first officer muttered as he surveyed his surroundings, “it’s almost as if it was a busy dock just a few days ago.”

Lawrence, on the other hand, didn’t say a word as he carefully observed those harbor facilities in the near distance, and suddenly, his eyes fell on a nameplate.

“Dagger Island Harbor Supplies.”

Dagger Island, was the name of this island.

“This is Dagger Island?” The first mate walked over and looked at the text on the nameplate with some surprise in his eyes, “I’ve heard of this place …… It’s a small island near the Frost City State that used to produce Boiling Gold, but it’s rumored that it was turned into a military facility many years ago… …Is this really Dagger Island?”

“Nothing here is to be trusted – we even briefly docked at a place that looked a lot like ‘Frost’ earlier,” Laurence shook his head and “Keep moving, the place where the light lingered earlier could be the harbor office, and there might be something there to answer our questions.”

The questing party left the dock stack area and began to make their way up a ramp that sloped upward to the light that was lit up in the mist, everyone’s nerves were on edge as they watched for movement in the fog.

A very light wind blew in a disorderly manner across the island, causing the gray fog to slowly roll in, and the strange silhouettes that could be seen faintly in the distance all seemed to move along with it, shaking themselves slightly as if they were some sort of living thing, and in the midst of this murky, chaotic fog the light became more and more visible and drew a little bit closer and closer to everyone’s field of vision.

The first mate who was walking in front of the group suddenly stopped.

“What is this thing?” The first mate lowered his head and frowned as he observed a bunch of strange things on the side of the road.

Lawrence, holding a revolver in one hand and a carrying lamp in the other, saw the pile after coming to the first mate’s side.

It appeared to be a pile of grayish-black mud – dried out, with a cracked look around the edges, but still showing its last-minute surge.

It was as if it were a mass of boiling, soft mud that had been bubbling one moment and had been drained of all moisture the next.

“Sludge?” Lawrence frowned, not touching the bizarre contraption hastily, “Why is there sludge here?”

“I think I saw some similar black sludge over at the docks before,” a sailor in the group suddenly said with less certainty at this time, “But at that time, that stuff was mixed with a bunch of miscellaneous things, and I thought it was just some garbage… …”

Lawrence nodded, followed by another sailor suddenly calling out, “There’s a pile here too!”

Lawrence followed the sound and saw a pile of black mud on the ground on the other side of the road as well.

Is this stuff everywhere on this island?
A feeling of uneasiness filled his heart, but no one could answer what that mud was, Lawrence cautiously gathered the group, letting everyone avoid contact with that strange “sludge”, and then continued to walk towards the depths of the fog.

After a while, they finally came to the end of the ramp, and just as Lawrence had judged – this was where the harbor office was located.

A small building of steel and concrete stood here, with yellowish light pouring out of the windows, and no sound could be heard from inside.

The front door of the building was slightly ajar, and on it was nailed a nameplate with the words “Port General Office”.

Lawrence went to the door, listened to the door to make sure there was no movement, and then prepared to push it open.

Suddenly, however, he stopped.

On the wall beside the door, a line of scratches, as if hastily carved with a dagger, caught his eye, and there it was, in all its splendor, the words–

“Humans have and only have two eyes!”

(End of chapter)