1431 Bonus Chapter: That Corner (1)
“There! It’s right there!” A young man with long brown hair and a pirate-like bandana shouted as he pointed at a nearby island.
He was standing on the starboard of a three-masted sailboat. The rolling waves drowned out most of his voice.
A muscular man with a black eye patch reached out to hold the shipboard. He frowned and muttered to himself in shock and suspicion,
“I don’t remember there being such an island on this sea route…”
This was not the first time their ship had plied this sea route.
The young man who had shouted replied excitedly, “This means that it’s usually hidden. It only appears at specific moments.
“There must be treasures on such an island!
“Captain, in the words of that strange monk, a fortuitous opportunity has presented itself!”
He spoke in the Loen language. “Fortuitous opportunity” was a term pieced together by two words.
“That monk spouts words indecipherable to us. Pay no heed to them.” The muscular man wearing an eye patch raised his hand and ruffled his slightly messy short yellow hair. “And I often tell you guys that treasures are often accompanied by danger.”
As he spoke, he pointed at his right eye which was covered by the eye patch.
“That’s the cost.”
The young man with the pirate-like bandana sincerely said, “But, Captain, isn’t this the purpose of our adventure? For treasure!”
They were a group of treasure hunters from different places. Of course, they occasionally worked as pirates and ‘borrowed’ food, drinks, and necessities from passing merchant ships. After all, ideals alone couldn’t feed them.
The captain fell silent for a moment before saying, “Gather four to five people, and we’ll step foot on the island to take a look. The rest of you, prepare to set sail at any time.”
The young man’s eyes lit up.
“You agreed? Captain, you agreed!”
The captain chuckled.
“Weimer, if not for the fact that there’s no other choice, no one at my age would continue to be a treasure hunter.”
He appeared to be in his thirties, but his blue eyes showed signs of age.
“Fine.” Weimer held up his hands. “Whatever you say.”
He immediately became excited.
“I’ll get Ol’ Keaton!”
Ol’ Keaton was the ship’s first mate. He believed in the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and had mastered many languages. If they didn’t bring him along on such an expedition, it was very likely that they would throw away whatever treasures they found as trash.
More importantly, Ol’ Keaton was also very strong.
When the ship docked at the dock that seemed to have long been abandoned, an exploration team of four had already gathered beside the gangway.
They were Captain Gray, First Mate Ol’ Keaton, Boatswain Parvi, and Veteran Seaman Weimer.
“No one…” Parvi looked into the distance and muttered regretfully.
The weather in the Berserk Sea today wasn’t bad. Visibility was extremely high under the blue sky, and the small port hid no secrets from her.
This place was incomparably quiet as if it had been dead for many years.
“It’ll be more terrifying if there were people!” Weimer added.
It implied many things if such a hidden island remained inhabited.
Parvi was wearing a white shirt and brown pantaloons. She had a pair of beautiful light-blue eyes and a slightly androgynous appearance.
She glared at Weimer.
“You want to stay behind and clean the deck?”
Weimer shrugged and shut his mouth.
Having become a boatswain as a woman, she needed to manage many unruly crew members; she would never go easy on her threats.
Captain Gray, who was surveying the area, gave an order.
“Let’s get ashore!”
He then exhorted, “We’ll do it the old way. During the first exploration, don’t touch anything. Just look and listen.”
“No problem!” Weimer was the first to rush out of the ship and run down the gangway to the dock.
He jumped up excitedly mid-run and glided to the ground like a big bird.
The sound caused by his actions spread out in all directions, mixed with some echoes.
Behind him, Gray, Ol’ Keaton, and Parvi followed carefully.
“If you continue that recklessness of yours and act on your own like an uncivilized wild dog, I’ll tie you up and hang you at the stern to fish for sharks!” Parvi quickly walked to Weimer’s side and warned him in a hushed voice.
Weimer nodded solemnly and muttered, “Girlboss, with your personality, you should join the Church of Storms instead of believing in the Evernight Goddess…”
Parvi didn’t say anything. She looked around and followed Captain Gray and First Mate Ol’ Keaton.
The port was not big. There was only a lighthouse, two simple docks, five warehouses, and a few buildings that served as a hotel, restaurant, bar, and police station. It did not take long for the four of them to circle the area.
Apart from the fact that there was no one around, everything seemed normal.
Weimer looked at the tables in the house facing the street through a relatively clear glass window and did not speak for a long time.
His expression was a little solemn given his personality.
Inside the house, on the dining table, there was a cup with brownish-black liquid and two pieces of moldy toast.
Next to them were several neatly folded newspapers.
It looked like the owner was about to enjoy breakfast when he suddenly encountered an emergency and had to leave in a hurry. He did not even have time to flip open the newspapers.
He never returned.
It would be considered normal if there was only one such example. After all, accidents were unavoidable. However, the entire port was in a similar situation. It was inevitable that it would make one’s hair stand on end and imagination run wild.
In that instant, all the local residents, no, all the living creatures, seemed to have evaporated.
“They haven’t been gone for long…” Captain Gray’s slightly hoarse voice broke the team’s silence.
Parvi subconsciously replied, “Indeed, if this port has been abandoned for a long time, the food will not just be moldy.”
It seemed like only a few days or weeks had passed since the bizarre incident had happened.
Ol’ Keaton retracted his gaze from the street and nodded gently.
“That’s what the plants here say.”
There were obvious wrinkles at the corners of the First Mate’s mouth. His hair was already mottled with natural curls. He was wearing a white robe and brass-framed glasses.
“Ah?” Weimer was momentarily slow to react.
He then looked at the place where Ol’ Keaton had sized up and quickly understood why he said that.
There weren’t many weeds in the harbor. There were some plain or gorgeous mushrooms growing sporadically on the wooden buildings. They seemed to have existed all along.
The natural world had obviously not had enough time to invade this place.
Ol’ Keaton saw Weimer’s enlightened expression and didn’t explain further. He turned to Captain Gray and solemnly said,
“I’m worried that something might happen if we stay here for too long.”
“What might happen? Could it be that we will also disappear into thin air…” Before Weimer could finish speaking, a tanned palm appeared over his mouth.
This palm pushed his head and pressed him against the wall.
“There won’t be a next time!” Parvi glared at Weimer and warned under her breath.
Weimer nodded with difficulty, indicating that he understood.
When Parvi released him, he muttered softly, “This isn’t like you, Girlboss. You actually didn’t slam the back of my head against the wall…”
Parvi chuckled.
“I’m afraid that the commotion will be too great and awaken up the bizarreness hidden here.”
Captain Gray didn’t care about their little bout. He took out his silver-white pocket watch and opened the lid.
“We’ll return to the ship in another fifteen minutes.
“If everything remains normal, we’ll prepare a second exploration tomorrow.”
“Alright!” Weimer was the first to agree.
The four of them maintained a fine battle formation as they skirted the buildings in front of them and headed for the edge of the port.
There was a slightly stained steam locomotive parked here. The two tracks extended deep into the island.
Parallel to the tracks was a cement road.
This was exactly what Gray and the others had imagined. After all, the port bore the responsibility of loading and unloading goods, traveling passengers, and connecting other towns with convenient road traffic.
However, to their surprise and confusion, the railway was only one to two hundred meters long. At the end of it stood a sizable town.
Even though they were still at the edge of the port, the four of them could see the situation there with their naked eyes.
“Wh—” Weimer could not express his feelings in words. He could only curse under his breath. “If I were the owner of this island, I would definitely tie up the bastard who suggested such repairs at the stern to fish for sharks!”
Based on their experience in many ports, this arrangement was simply abnormal.
The town 100 meters away had to be closer and connected to this side to form a port city, or it should be a few kilometers away and be independent, unlike now!
“There might be a deeper meaning,” Ol’ Keaton said with a frown. “This might have something to do with the bizarre happenings here.”
After he finished speaking, no one responded for a moment.
After a few seconds, Weimer looked at the town not far away and said, “Captain, do we head over to take a look?”
Captain Gray nodded.
“Sure. Twelve minutes left.”
They then walked along the cement road toward the small town.
On both sides of the road, weeds flourished and mushrooms dotted the area. The closer they got to their destination, the more it was like this.
Before long, the four treasure hunters arrived at the edge of the town.
There was a wooden board erected there. On it was a word written in Loen: “Utopia.”
“This place is called Utopia,” Weimer muttered to himself as he cast his gaze at Ol’ Keaton.
Ol’ Keaton shook his head slowly, indicating that he had never heard of it.
It was the same for Parvi and Captain Gray.
They observed the situation inside from the edge of the town and confirmed that the streets were also empty. It was so quiet that even the wind seemingly found it unbearable to pass.
As they walked forward step by step, the four of them saw the Iris Hotel, Utopia’s Telegraph Office, and many buildings. However, without exception, the interior of these buildings revealed that their owners had left in a hurry and never returned.
There were also cups with some water left, dry clothes that were halfway through their washing, cutlery that had been laid out, musical instruments that had not been put away, books that had been flipped through, carriages that had stopped by the roadside without any horses… These things all reconstructed the appearance of the town before the bizarre situation happened.
“I keep feeling that something is missing…” Weimer couldn’t help but whisper when he saw the municipal square in sight.