Chapter 266 - 266 One hundred and twenty-three

Words : 1470 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

266: One hundred and twenty-three. It’s foggy. 266: One hundred and twenty-three. It’s foggy. The ship was sailing at twelve knots, and it was estimated to reach the target waters in about an hour and a half, just when the sun would set. If they could see the sun behind the clouds, that is. Lu Li thought to himself as he forked up a piece of fish. The flesh of the Silverback Fish was fresh and tender; the soup it cooked into was milky white. Lu Li did not like eating fish, as the bones could make eating inefficient, and choking on one was a major inconvenience—but Silverback Fish had no such worry, as there were no bones except near the fins and the skeleton. Captain Rowe opened a bottle of treasured wine, swishing his glass as he enthusiastically introduced Silverback Fish to Lu Li, his captain’s hat nowhere to be seen, revealing his brown hair tied in messy little braids. After almost filling his stomach, Lu Li, who was radiating warmth, left the Captain’s Cabin and came to the foredeck to gaze into the distance. The sea breeze blew in his face, lifting his hair and the hem of his clothes. As evening approached, the fine misty rain, surprisingly, stopped, and a leaden gray sea stretched out underneath the gloomy sky as far as the eye could see. Apart from the sea’s color hinting at something ominous and strange, the calm surface did not seem as dangerous as rumors suggested. Some idle crew members stayed on deck, gathering in twos and threes to discuss topics of utmost interest to men. Lu Li’s gaze swept over them, thinking the investigator following him might be hiding somewhere on this very ship. After a spell in the sea breeze, Lu Li returned to his room under the curious eyes of the sailors on deck, preparing for the imminent event. As time passed, daylight dimmed, and oil lamps and torches were lit throughout the ship. Lu Li looked out the window to see the clouds in the direction of the sunset glowing an ominous shade of dark red. Quietly watching for a while, the sun behind the clouds sank below the horizon, the dark red clouds turned to a dark purple, and then they became no different from the other clouds. Lu Li finally checked his backpack one last time, then had a sailor outside bring him a life jacket and life ring. When outside had turned completely dark, Captain Rowe appeared outside his door. Lu Li put away his Spirit-Calling Gun, donned his cloak-style raincoat with the hood resting on his back, added the life jacket on the outside, took his backpack and life ring, and left the room. “Lower the sails! Drop anchor!” Louis shouted from the deck. Passing the deck with Captain Rowe, Lu Li heard the shout and his eyebrows imperceptibly furrowed. Weren’t there some words that should be avoided on a ship... The flapping sails came down with a “whoosh,” and amidst the noise, thick chains slid link by link from the bow, dropping the anchor into the water. “We can’t go any further; this is the limit. Beyond here, the reef is filled with hazards ranging from a few meters to a dozen meters below the surface,” Captain Rowe said. He led Lu Li to the side of the ship. A few sailors fitted ropes on both sides of a small wooden boat about three meters long and hoisted it outside the side of the ship. “We’ll wait for you here after you descend. We have searchlights to guide you,” Captain Rowe said, clapping his hands and shouting upward, “Second officer, turn on the searchlight!” Bang! A thick beam of pure white light sprang from the top of the ship, illuminating the pitch-black water in front of the ship. Lu Li tossed the life ring and his backpack into the wooden boat and then, holding the oil lamp, stepped into the boat and sat down. “The ocean loves those who dare to adventure,” Captain Rowe said, quoting a proverb as he wished Lu Li well and signaled the sailors to lower the wooden boat. The ropes on both sides of the wooden boat began to descend, no longer level with the ship, and the boat suddenly plunged into darkness. After a brief few moments, flickering sparks lit up and finally stabilized into a constant light source. The wooden boat moved further from the bustling deck and closer to the gloomy sea. Shortly, there was a slight jolt as the boat hit the water. The ripples caused by the wooden boat were instantly swallowed by the rising waves, the hemp ropes on both ends of the boat no longer taut; the hooks automatically detached from the boat and ascended. Seated on the wooden boat, Lu Li lifted the oil lamp and leaned his upper body outwards; the waters nearby were like black ink, impenetrable to the eye, reflecting a broken and twisted image. Several heads poked out from the edge of the sailboat’s deck above, with Captain Rowe in the lead taking off his hat and waving down. Lu Li diverted his gaze, set the oil lamp in place at the bow, grabbed the oars on both sides, and began to glide forward gently. The relatively calm weather and sea surface afforded Lu Li the opportunity to act, he paddled, steering the boat out from under the shadow of the sailboat. The beam from the searchlight shifted ahead of the wooden boat, illuminating its path. Under the bright glare of the thick beam, strange and rugged shadows emerged from the seabed, and odd, fluff-like substances drifted below the water surface. Paddling, the wooden boat gradually distanced from the sailboat, the beam of light became more scattered, extending Lu Li’s vision further yet rendering the sea surface more difficult to penetrate. What lay hidden beneath the thick, impenetrable blackness of the sea was unknown. Gurgle—gurgle gurgle— Suddenly, a mass of bubbles burst forth to the right of the wooden boat; Lu Li’s dark eyes sharpened as he looked over, then after a few short seconds, he averted his gaze again. It was just an illusion. The Nikola Counter on his wrist was calm. Lu Li had already turned on his flashlight; its weak beam shone around the boat and across the water surface. He was now roughly one hundred and fifty meters away from the sailboat; the beam from the ship’s searchlight barely reached him, but it was at its limit. It was then that intermittent panic-stricken shouts, mingling with the sound of the ocean waves, drifted over from behind. Lu Li halted his oars and looked back at the sailboat. The sailors on deck were leaning over the starboard side, shouting and yelling into the darkness, while the searchlight illuminating the surrounding waters began to flicker erratically. Although Lu Li could not understand the meaning behind the blinking of the searchlight, he could guess that something quite troubling was happening there. Without a second thought, he picked up the oars and turned around in place, rowing toward the wooden boat. The oar plunged into the water, splashing big waves around, making the small wooden boat’s surroundings agitated and uneasy as it quickly approached the sailboat. The shouting from the deck was becoming clearer, yet it was still indistinguishable. Lu Li maintained his composure as he panted, rowing with both oars. In the midst of Lu Li’s rapid return, a commotion suddenly arose on the deck; the sailors, as if they had seen something, shouted in panic and rushed back into the cabin. The unattended searchlight made a full turn, illuminating the sky. In the instant it swung towards the right side of the sailboat, Lu Li saw something surging up from the sea surface— Lu Li continued to row in silence; when there were only fifty or sixty meters left to the sailboat, the oil lamp on the wooden boat flickered a few times, becoming hazy as if covered by a thin veil. Fog was setting in. Click—click— The Nikola Counter suddenly emitted a faint sound, and Lu Li abruptly let go of the oars, grabbed the flashlight with his other hand to shine it to the left, and his palm grasped the gun handle at his back. Fog rolled in from all sides, surrounding Lu Li, barely allowing the oil lamp to light up a small area outside the wooden boat. The small boat kept gliding forward; the previously somewhat noisy sea surface fell into an eerie silence the moment the fog appeared, the waves no longer surged and the water was as still and sinister as a mirror. The lone wooden boat floated in the dim, fog-enshrouded sea.

Chapter 266 - 266 One hundred and twenty-three

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