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墨書 Inktalez
I whispered, "Who knows if the next stop is? I only know this little island is not so simple, especially that person I saw in the jungle. He was truly strange. I've been wanting to find a chance to tell you that he was a withered old man, and... and his eyes looked just like the Cat-Eyed Man in Black—almost identical, except for the color."
As soon as I mentioned that old man, a chill ran down my spine. I instinctively glanced around; I had this feeling for some time now, a strong sensation that a pair of cat-like eyes were watching us from nearby.
At that moment, Jiao Ba looked at me with a heavy expression and said, "The reason I say it's hard to leave this island is because of him—the mysterious man you mentioned. He has likely been close to us all along. Remember when we first landed on the island? I told you it was cursed, filled with the stench of death. Now, that feeling has intensified; it feels like there's a pervasive aura of death surrounding us."
After Jiao Ba finished speaking, I felt a shiver run through my body. I swallowed hard and said, "This little island is indeed eerie, especially—"
But I couldn't finish my sentence because I saw someone standing across the fire. It looked like that… that disheveled Shriveled Old Man.
In the firelight, his cat-like eyes glimmered faintly. He was about ten meters away from the fire, standing right at the edge of the jungle entrance, staring intently at me. A dark aura emanated from him, carrying the scent of decay.
I stumbled back two steps, nearly falling to the ground. Jiao Bayi caught me and asked, "Brother Yi, what's wrong? Huh? What is that smell? It's so foul."
I kept my gaze fixed on the old man and pointed toward the fire pit, stammering, "It's… it's that Shriveled Old Man."
Jiao Bayi turned his head quickly to look, but in that instant, I saw with my own eyes that the Shriveled Old Man vanished into the jungle at an inhuman speed.
Jiao Ba turned back and said, "There's… there's no one here."
I glanced at him and replied stiffly, "He disappeared—so fast I can't even comprehend it."
I had no idea what that damned old man wanted or why he kept following us. And how could he move so quickly? He was the fastest person I'd ever seen, yet he was just a frail old man with a hunchback. It was truly hard to accept because such speed was beyond human capability.
"It seems that the old man you mentioned is quite a trouble, Brother Yi. What should we do next?" Jiao Ba asked me.
Without turning my head, I replied, "Let's not worry about him for now. Since we've made our decision, we should proceed with the plan as before. We'll start building the boat early tomorrow morning and leave this place."
Although I said that, I had another thought in my mind. If this truly was the accurate location for our next stop, then the Cat-Eyed Man in Black wouldn't let us leave so easily. The Ninja Black-Clad Person would likely try to stop us as well. All we could do was wait and see how things unfolded.
After calling Shunzi and Changshan, Jiao Ba and I settled down around the campfire to sleep. However, I couldn't find peace throughout the night; I felt as if the Eccentric Old Man was watching me right in front of me. It was a tormenting night for my mind.
The next morning, we began our boat-building plan. For some reason, there was hardly any sunlight on this island; it was always gloomy during the day, with dark clouds overhead as if it could rain at any moment.
To save time, I needed to make use of everyone and every resource available to us. We first used fire to burn through several trees at their roots, creating openings about the size of a plate. Since we didn't have axes or similar tools, this was our only option.
Next, we took four large trees to create the bottom frame of a raft. Each tree had to be over ten meters long. We arranged them into a rectangular frame and secured it with ropes.
Then we used some thinner trees of equal length to form the base of the raft. With no other materials at hand, we had to rely on ropes for securing everything. However, we didn't have enough rope to use it all; we needed to keep some as a backup.
To conserve rope, I sent Shunzi and others to gather branches—longer branches were preferable—and stripped the bark from them. Three strips of bark could be twisted into one rope, which helped us save some resources.
We then reinforced both sides of the raft with six thick trees—three on each side—to provide some protection. We also utilized the remaining four Oxygen Tanks by emptying out the last bit of air, closing the valves tightly, and tying them around the raft's perimeter. We used the cut-off pieces of wood as paddles.
On top of the raft, we created supports for paddles using forked branches—three on each side for a total of six—allowing at least three people to paddle simultaneously. In the center of the raft, we built a triangular frame from wood to create a shelter against wind and rain.
If one person were to do all this alone, it would take at least half a month to complete. However, with so many hands working together, after four days of continuous effort, our makeshift raft was finally built.
Next came the preparation for water sources. While we could eat raw fish from the sea for food, we couldn't survive without water. We gathered plenty of Doll Face Fruits and made small holes in each one so that once the insides were consumed, they could be used to collect rainwater—preparing ourselves for any potential drifting on the sea ahead.
Everyone was exhausted these past few days. Jenny and Li Xin were particularly worn out. It had been a tough mission, but thankfully, we managed to complete it, marking a partial victory. As long as we could break free from this sea and find other ships or reach any land, we would have achieved total victory over The Foolish King's Golden Consort.
The raft was docked on the left bank. Jenny looked at the raft and said, "Loyalty and Righteousness, I didn’t expect you to pull it off. You actually made it."
I chuckled and replied, "It was just luck. The raft is built, but whether we can leave alive is still uncertain."
Mai Lao patted me on the shoulder and said, "We've weathered so many storms; we should be fine."
I smiled helplessly and said, "Let's hope so. Tomorrow morning, we'll leave this place."
As night fell, we gathered around the campfire, joking and chatting about trivial matters. Everyone seemed to be in a relaxed mood, but deep down, I felt an unsettling anxiety.
Was that strange Mysterious Old Man lurking in some corner, watching us? I wanted to uncover his identity, but unfortunately, we were leaving tomorrow, and everything would come to an end.
Tonight, I was on duty with Shunzi. The personnel had been mixed up, and the shifts were rearranged. I ended up on the last shift. After these exhausting days, I lay down early to rest and prepare for our departure in the morning.
In my sleep, I vaguely heard someone calling for help. "Loyalty and Righteousness, wake up." The voice was soft but seemed to linger right by my ear.
It must have been a dream. I turned over, ready to drift back to sleep when suddenly a sharp roar pierced through the entire island.
I was jolted awake by that roar. I shot up immediately; everyone else was startled awake as well. We quickly got up, and Jiao Bamen sat up shouting, "What the hell is going on?"
"Ah~~~ Help me!" Another agonizing scream echoed through the night. By the firelight, just a few meters in front of me, I saw Old Wang lying on the ground, screaming in agony as he rolled back and forth. His cries filled the air relentlessly.
Mai Lao and Little Tiger were surrounding him, and I had no idea what was happening. Without a second thought, I dashed over and shouted, "Mai Lao, what's going on?"
At that moment, Mai Lao and Little Tiger slowly stepped back. Without turning around, he yelled, "Loyalty and Righteousness, don't come over! Run!"
But by then, I had already rushed forward. When I saw Old Wang lying on the ground, my mind nearly exploded with shock. I almost screamed. Old Wang was lying not far from the shore, his body riddled with wounds.
He was practically falling apart; blood was gushing out of the holes in his body in streams. His head was a bloody mess, with only two large cavities where his eyes used to be.
Once a very plump man, he now looked like nothing but skin stretched over bones. At that moment, Old Wang was no longer struggling; he lay still on the ground, completely motionless, without even a twitch—clearly dead.
At the same time, I noticed that the ground around Old Wang's corpse was covered in something red. Having just woken up, my vision was still a bit blurry, and I couldn't make out what it was.
But just seconds later, I was dumbfounded—completely stunned. The red substance turned out to be a strange type of insect. Each of these insects was about the size of a walnut and oval-shaped.
They resembled centipedes, covered in tentacles, and at the front of their bodies were two large pincers that moved back and forth incessantly. What was most terrifying was that this swarm of bizarre insects had densely populated the entire shoreline, making my scalp tingle with fear.
As I stood there in shock, suddenly a mass of these red insects crawled out from Old Wang's body. Some even emerged directly from his eye sockets, gnawing at his flesh. The speed at which these creatures consumed him was horrifying; within less than half a minute, all that remained of Old Wang were white bones...
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