Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Island in the Mist.

The island was getting closer. The thick fog around it, and the silhouettes inside the fog, also became clearer and clearer. Lawrence stood on the foredeck of the White Oak, both hands gripping the rail in front of him so hard that his knuckles had gone pale.

Anyone would have been nervous. Even an old captain who had spent half his life drifting on the Boundless Sea was no exception. What would they find on that island? What were those shadows in the dense fog? Why did the island appear around the White Oak again and again, almost as if it had a mind of its own? And most important of all… what was this stretch of sea, wrapped in so many strange phenomena?

Lawrence took a deep breath. The cold air rushed into his lungs and forced his restless thoughts to calm down. He tried hard not to think about other Anomalies, such as Martha appearing in front of him, and the eerie fact that other people could also see Martha. He knew he had to cut off that line of thought, because all of this was clearly tied to his worsening mental state. If he kept thinking about it, Martha might really become something more than a phantom.

He had no potion left. Even if he had some, the draught had clearly lost its effect.

The steam core was running steadily as the White Oak slowly closed in on the small island with its twisted shoreline. The beautiful white ship glided across the surface of the sea and left a long wake behind it. In the rippling waves spreading out from that wake, a faint ghostly green flashed by for an instant.

No one noticed what was happening at the stern. Everyone on the ship was focused on the strange little island.

The edges of the island were steep and jagged, full of sharp rocks and cliffs. There was nowhere suitable to come alongside. The experienced helmsman did not rashly bring the ship straight in. Instead, he steered the White Oak into a slow circle around the island.

When they had gone about a third of the way around, the sailor in the lookout post suddenly spotted something.

“There is a harbor!” the sailor shouted from the high platform.

A moment later, a small pier came into Lawrence’s view. The facilities deeper inside the pier were covered by fog, so he could not see them clearly, but the part that stretched out into the sea was still visible. That part looked complete, with no sign of damage.

An intact pier meant they could bring the White Oak in to dock instead of using a small boat to land. That would clearly make exploring the island safer. Besides easier supplies and a faster retreat, the few small-caliber escort guns mounted on the White Oak could also provide cover for any operation along the shore.

Lawrence returned to the bridge. Under his command, the White Oak began to move carefully toward the empty pier. Because there were no mental guidance personnel on the shore to assist them, the whole docking process was very slow, but in the end it was completed safely.

Lawrence looked to the far side of the pier. Fog covered the island. Even the nearby pier facilities looked hazy in the mist. He was not sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the fog on this island was even thicker than before.

“I don’t see anyone,” the First Mate came to stand beside Lawrence, watching the island as he spoke. “But I can faintly see some lights… they seem to be coming from the harbor buildings.”

“Anything on the radio?”

“No. After we got close to this island, we even lost the Frostholm signal that we were always able to receive,” the First Mate shook his head. “We also got no reply from the light-signal.”

Lawrence thought for a moment. “Go pick twelve sharp and cautious sailors, arm them, and come ashore with me to explore.”

“You are going ashore in person?” The First Mate was startled. “This island looks very strange. If you go yourself, there might be…”

“Risk? I am afraid the risk is the same if I stay on the ship,” Lawrence shook his head. “What is strange is not only this island, but this whole stretch of sea. We are trapped inside a large Vision. Inside the range of a Vision, danger is everywhere. Going ashore at least gives us a chance to find useful information.”

The First Mate opened his mouth, but he had to admit that the captain’s experience and judgment both made sense.

“Alright, I will go get ready.”

After a while, the First Mate picked out twelve suitable sailors from among the crew members. They were all veteran seafarers with many years of experience, men of firm will and devout faith. Together with the First Mate himself, that made thirteen people getting ready to go ashore with Lawrence.

The duties of holding the White Oak were temporarily handed over to the Second Mate.

The rope ladder was lowered to the pier’s jetty. Lawrence led his small exploration party down the ladder and stepped onto the mysterious island wrapped in mist.

The solid ground under their feet eased some of the unease in the explorers’ hearts. Lawrence stood on the pier, stamped hard on the ground, then turned back and muttered: “At least this concrete is real.”

“The lights are that way,” the First Mate said. He held a large-caliber rifle in his hands and lifted his head to look ahead. “We can still see them here, but I still don’t see any sign of people moving around.”

“Do not split up. Do not touch anything you do not recognize. If you hear a voice around you calling to you, do not answer until you know where the voice is coming from and where your teammates are,” Lawrence said in a very serious tone. “If you see anything suspicious in the fog, warn everyone at once. Do not open fire on your own and do not break away from the group to explore.”

He paused, then swept his gaze over the team he had brought.

Twelve sailors, one First Mate, and himself.

“Finally, remember this. There are only fourteen of us. Before we return to the ship, we may have fewer men, but we must never have more.”

The sailors answered at once: “Yes, Captain!”

Lawrence nodded and led the team into the thick fog.

They crossed the pier’s jetty and came to an open area. It looked like a place for temporary cargo stacking. Some remains of storage sheds and small lifting equipment were still visible, but aside from these facilities, they still did not see a single human figure.

“This does not look like it has been abandoned for long,” the First Mate muttered as he studied the area around them. “It looks like it was a busy harbor only a few days ago.”

Lawrence stayed silent. He studied the nearby harbor facilities, and suddenly his gaze fell on a metal plaque.

“Dagger Island Harbor Supplies.”

Dagger Island. That was the name of this island.

“This is Dagger Island?” The First Mate came over and read the letters on the plaque, surprise in his eyes. “I have heard of this place… it is a small island near the city-state of Frostholm. It used to produce Boiling Gold, but I heard it was turned into a military facility years ago… is this really Dagger Island?”

“Nothing here can be trusted. We just moored for a while in a place that looked very much like Frostholm,” Lawrence shook his head. “Let’s keep moving. The light we saw should be coming from the harbor office. There might be something there that can answer our questions.”

The exploration party left the pier’s storage area and started up a sloping path toward the lamp shining in the fog. Everyone’s nerves were tight. They watched every shift in the mist around them.

A very light wind blew here and there over the island. It stirred the gray-white fog so it slowly rolled and curled. The strange silhouettes that showed faintly in the distance seemed to move with it, swaying slightly like living things. In that dim and chaotic fog, the lamp grew brighter and brighter and slowly drew closer in everyone’s sight.

The First Mate, walking at the front of the line, suddenly stopped.

“What is this?” The First Mate lowered his head and frowned at a strange pile by the side of the path.

Lawrence held a revolver in one hand and a consecrated lantern in the other. He walked up to the First Mate and finally saw that pile of stuff.

It looked like a heap of gray-black mud. It had already dried. The edges were cracked like scales, but he could still see traces of how it had flowed a moment before it dried.

It was as if a mass of boiling, bubbling slime had suddenly had all its water sucked out in the next instant.

“Silt?” Lawrence frowned and did not dare touch the strange thing. “Why would there be silt here?”

“I think I saw something similar back at the pier, some black sludge,” a sailor said, not very sure. “But back there it was mixed in with a pile of junk, so I just thought it was garbage…”

Lawrence nodded. Right after that, another sailor suddenly shouted: “There is another pile here!”

Lawrence turned toward the voice and saw another heap of black sludge on the other side of the path.

Was this stuff all over the island?

Unease spread in everyone’s hearts, but no one could answer what that mud really was. Lawrence pulled the team in tighter and had everyone avoid contact with the strange “silt.” Then they continued forward into the depths of the fog.

After a while, they finally reached the end of the slope. Just as Lawrence had guessed, this was where the harbor office stood.

A small building of reinforced concrete stood here. Faint yellow light spilled out of its windows, yet no sound came from inside.

The main door of the building was slightly ajar. A plaque was nailed to it. On it were the words: “Harbor General Office.”

Lawrence stepped up to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening for any sound from within. Then he got ready to push it open.

But suddenly, he froze.

On the wall beside the door, a line of marks caught his eye. They looked as if someone had rushed to carve them with a dagger. Together they formed a single sentence.

“Humans have only two eyes!”