Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 711 "Something is wrong" is the daily routine here.

In front of everyone's eyes, the ship, wrapped in ghostly flames and like a blazing torch, crashed straight into the rugged cliffs - but the explosion and loud impact that everyone expected did not occur.

The ship seemed to "melt" at the moment of impact. The solid deck, hull, and keel structure instantly melted and flowed down like mud, and silently fell on the cliff. When it hit it, the moment of impact was more like a ball of silt "splashing" on the cliff - and then, the entire ship seemed to be absorbed by the island, completely dissolving among the clusters of rugged stalagmites.

As for the spiritual flames that were still burning on the ship just a moment ago, they now broke into a huge ring of fire on the cliffs of the island. The green sea of ​​fire bloomed like ripples on the coastline, and after a moment's delay, It splashed into the sea, ignited the mist-shrouded sea surface, and slowly spread in front of the combined fleet.

It happened suddenly. The church fleet seemed to have not yet realized what happened. On the Lost Home, Nina's eyes widened in surprise: "That ship 'suicided'?!"

Lucretia's tone seemed a bit unbelievable: "Dad, did that ship... break away from your order just now?"

Duncan did not answer. He just frowned tightly, confirming in his mind the vague "perception" that was suddenly transmitted to him just before the ship hit the cliff. After a long time, he broke the silence thoughtfully: "No...it's not out of control."

"It didn't lose control?" Lucretia was a little confused, "Then it suddenly hit the cliff just now..."

"The order I gave it was to 'go home' - so it carried out it," Duncan said slowly. "It's just that I previously thought that a ship's 'home' was the port where it usually docked for maintenance. However, for that ship As far as a ship is concerned...its 'home' should be the island itself."

Lucretia seemed to still be thinking about the meaning of Duncan's words, but Vanna and Morris, who had experienced the frost incident before, gradually came to their senses. Morris suddenly frowned: "What do you mean? , that ship is..."

Duncan's expression was serious: "The ship was built with 'materials' from the island, at least a large part of it."

The damage of the "guiding ship" was unexpected, but it did not have a big impact on the combined fleet - the fleet has found the location of the Holy Land Island, and the route has been recorded on the chart. Now, the quiet green The spiritual flames were burning quietly on the sea, continuing to suppress the fog around the surrounding seas. A moment later, the Brilliant Star discovered the entrance to the "fjord" that Ai had seen from the air.

For the priests of the Church of the Deep Sea and Death, despite some accidents, the investigation of the "Holy Land Island" must still proceed as planned.

Two small landing ships released from the Tide and No Rest soon arrived near the Lost Home. Each ship carried eleven marines and an armed priest, and they were waiting for Duncan's arrangements.

On the Homeless Ship, Duncan was deciding who would follow him ashore.

"Vanna, Maurice, Alice, come ashore with me," Duncan looked at the followers on the deck and quickly selected the right people. Then his eyes fell on Shirley, who seemed to be trying to reduce her presence. On the body, "Shirley, you come too."

"I'm not good at exploring, and I'm not as knowledgeable as the old man..."

"I know, but we need Agou's abilities," Duncan interrupted Shirley casually. "It is a dark demon and is good at sensing and tracking. It will be of great use on this 'Holy Island'."

Shirley's expression suddenly became a little subtle as she listened. She thought about it carefully before realizing that the main function of holding her hand was Agou's chain...

However, Duncan didn't pay attention to the sudden subtle expression on Shirley's face. After deciding who should go ashore, he waved to the others: "The rest stay on the boat. The environment in this place is weird. If you are on the boat or on the nearby sea If there is any unusual movement, please contact us immediately.”

"Don't you need me to accompany you?" Lucretia couldn't help but step forward, "I'm familiar with the border and have a lot of experience exploring weird islands..."

"Needed, but not now." Duncan shook his head. He had obviously made arrangements. "You return to the Brilliant Star and keep an eye on the 'Saint'. It will be of great use later. I will go to the island to explore the situation first. If I find it If there is a suitable 'location', Ai Yi will be sent to pick you up."

Lucretia thought for a moment and nodded: "I understand."

Duncan nodded slightly and walked to the edge of the deck with the people he selected to go ashore.

However, at this moment, a loud banging sound suddenly came from not far away.

Duncan looked up following the sound and saw a small boat fixed on the middle deck and covered by a tarpaulin, rocking on its supports——

That was the landing craft carried on board the Lost Home.

However, in everyone's memory, the main function of the boat was to tie two ropes to the side for Alice to dry her clothes, or for Shirley, who didn't want to do her homework, to sneak in and sleep.

Duncan silently glanced at the swaying boat, and after two or three seconds said, "Ai will take us to the island."

The boat was quiet for a while, then began to rock harder, and then hit the wooden frame for fixation with the bow of the boat.

Duncan: "..."

"Captain," Alice finally came over and tugged on Duncan's sleeve, whispering in the latter's ear, "Why don't you take it with you... I think he's about to cry..."

Duncan glanced at Alice with a strange expression, and then looked at the small landing craft on the deck, which seemed to be really unhappy. He thought this was a very strange thing, but in the end he sighed helplessly: "Okay. We also took a boat ashore..." As soon as he finished speaking, the small boat on the deck instantly broke free from the ropes and iron hooks used to fix it, and the crane on the side of the deck also creaked and started to move. The boat was hoisted from wooden supports and lowered into recesses in the sides of the mid-deck.

The whole set of movements was smooth and smooth, as if he was afraid that the captain would regret it.

Duncan: "..."

In any case, in the end, together with the landing craft released from the Lost Home, a total of three small boats broke away from the joint fleet and found the secret entrance to the interior of the island along the boulder cliffs on the edge of the "Holy Land Island". Head towards the interior of the island.

After passing through the "fjord entrance" that looks like the mouth of a giant beast, what comes into view are the towering and weird clusters of stone pillars on both sides, the calm, open, dark blue water, and the mist that still permeates all directions.

The three small boats moved forward cautiously in the fog. In the hazy fog, they could vaguely see the shadowy port facilities on the coast ahead. Some hallucinatory lights quietly released their glow in the fog, as if they were floating out of thin air. cold, cloudy eyes.

The small boats taken by Duncan and others can sail automatically without human piloting, while the landing ships released from the Tide and Restless are driven by small steam cores - the sound of the steam cores operating breaks the silence in the fjord. The splashing sounds of the three ships breaking through the water were reflected off the cliffs on both sides, and were blurred together.

Vanna suddenly frowned.

She turned to look at the captain, only to see that the captain was also frowning and looking in a certain direction in the fog. Behind the landing craft, the two steam boats from the Tide and Restless seemed to have noticed something. Start to slowly reduce the speed.

The mixed echoes in the fjord slowly faded away.

Fanna tilted her head and said softly while distinguishing carefully: "Did you hear it?"

Shirley didn't seem to notice anything unusual, but felt the change in the surrounding atmosphere. She turned her head nervously: "Listen...what did you hear?"

The sound of the chain rubbing slightly sounded from the shadows, and Agou slowly raised his head: "There is the sound of a fourth ship...in the fog, following us."

Shirley's face changed slightly and she lowered her voice: "What the hell?"

Duncan didn't say anything, just raised his hand to signal to move on.

The sound of mechanically driven propellers sounded again, and there was a mix of fuzzy noises in the fjord again - and in the buzzing, rumbling and splashing sounds, even Shirley heard the sound of the "fourth ship".

This time, the sound was even more obvious than before. Shirley could even hear that it was mixed with a deeper roar like a steam engine, and the sound of the bow of the ship breaking through the water waves.

She opened her eyes wide and searched for the direction of the sound, but found that all the sounds were mixed with the echoes in the fjord, making it difficult to distinguish the direction due to the humming and rumbling.

She could only be sure that there really was a fourth ship, and it was hidden in the surrounding fog. It was very close, and sometimes... it even seemed to be right next to it.

Morris seemed to suddenly discern something. He stared closely at the mist-shrouded water, took out a strange-shaped device like a lens from his arms, and looked in that direction through the lens.

There is a hazy shadow appearing in the lens, like an abstract and illusory ship.

However, the next second, the phantom in the mist was suddenly dyed with a layer of dark green - the illusory spiritual flame swallowed it up in the blink of an eye, and then dissipated in an instant.

The sound of the fourth ship disappeared.

Alice looked at the flash of fire in the fog with confusion, then looked up at Duncan: "Captain, what is that?"

"I don't know," Duncan shook his head, "Maybe there is something in the mist trying to 'imitate' us, or maybe it's just an illusion produced by the special environment here... Anyway, it's not a big problem. After all, 'something wrong' is a daily occurrence on the border. One ring.”

Alice said "Oh" with a vague understanding, then turned her head and looked at the water in front of the boat.

"Ah, here we are."

As the puppet finished speaking, the port that had been hazy in the fog suddenly became clear.

Three boats docked.

(End of this chapter)