Chapter 195 Anomaly

Under the gaze of many eyes, the large ship enveloped in ghostly flames, resembling a blazing torch, crashed straight into the jagged cliffs—yet the anticipated explosion and thunderous impact never occurred.

At the moment of impact, the ship seemed to "melt." The solid deck, hull, and keel structure all instantly dissolved and flowed down like mud, silently plastering themselves onto the cliff face. Rather than a collision, the moment of impact was more akin to a mass of sludge "splattering" against the cliff—and then, the entire ship seemed to be absorbed by the island, completely dissolving among the clustered, jagged stalagmites.

As for the spectral flames that had been raging on the ship just moments before, they now blasted a massive ring of fire onto the island's cliffs. The eerie green sea of fire bloomed along the coastline like ripples, and after a moment of hesitation, cascaded into the sea, igniting the mist-shrouded surface and slowly spreading out in front of the allied fleet.

The event was sudden. The church fleet seemed to have not yet reacted to what had happened. On the *Vanishing Sail*, Nina had already widened her eyes in surprise: "That ship 'committed suicide'?"

Lucrezia's tone, on the other hand, seemed somewhat incredulous: "Dad, that ship… did it just break free of your command?"

Duncan did not answer. He merely frowned, confirming in his mind the vague "perception" that the ship had suddenly transmitted to him just before crashing into the cliff. After a long while, he broke the silence thoughtfully: "No… it didn't lose control."

"Didn't lose control?" Lucrezia asked, puzzled. "Then why did it suddenly crash into the cliff…"

"The command I gave it was 'go home'—so it obeyed," Duncan said slowly. "I had previously assumed that a ship's 'home' was the port where it usually docked and was maintained, but for that ship… its 'home' must be this island itself."

Lucrezia seemed to still be pondering the meaning of Duncan's words, but Vanna and Morris, who had experienced the Frost incident before, had gradually reacted. Morris suddenly frowned: "Are you saying that ship was…"

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

The loss of the "guide ship" was an unexpected situation, but it did not have a significant impact on the allied fleet—the fleet had already located the Holy Land Island, and the route had been recorded on the charts. Now, the eerie green spectral flames were quietly burning on the sea surface, continuing to maintain the suppression of the surrounding waters' mist. After a moment, the *Radiant Star* discovered the entrance to the "fjord" that Aylee had seen from the air.

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

Two small landing craft, released from the *Tidal* and *Unrepose*, quickly approached the *Vanishing Sail*. Each boat carried eleven marines and one armed priest, awaiting Duncan's instructions.

On the *Vanishing Sail*, Duncan was deciding who to take ashore with him.

"Vanna, Morris, Alice, you're coming ashore with me," Duncan said, looking at his followers on deck, quickly selecting the right personnel. Then his gaze fell on Shirley, who seemed to be trying to minimize her presence. "Shirley, you come too."

"I'm not good at exploring, and I'm not as knowledgeable as Old Man…"

"I know, but we need A Gou's abilities," Duncan casually interrupted Shirley's mutterings. "It's a Deep Demon and is good at sensing and tracking. It will be very useful on this Holy Land Island."

Shirley listened, her expression immediately becoming a little subtle. After thinking about it carefully, she realized—her main role was just A Gou's leash…

However, Duncan didn't pay attention to the somewhat subtle expression on Shirley's face. After deciding who would go ashore, he waved to the others: "The rest of you stay on the ship. This place has a strange environment. If there is any unusual movement on the ship or in the nearby sea, contact me immediately."

"Don't you need me to go with you?" Lucrezia couldn't help but step forward. "I'm more familiar with the borderlands, and I have a lot of experience exploring strange islands…"

"I do, but not now," Duncan shook his head. He obviously had a plan. "You return to the *Radiant Star* and keep an eye on that 'Saint'. It will come in handy later. I'll go to the island to investigate the situation first. If I find a suitable 'location', I'll send Aylee to pick you up."

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

Duncan nodded slightly and walked towards the edge of the deck with the personnel he had chosen to take ashore.

However, at that moment, a loud clanging sound suddenly came from not far away.

Duncan looked up in the direction of the sound and saw a small boat, fixed on the mid-deck and covered with tarpaulin, shaking violently on its supports—

It was the landing craft carried on the *Vanishing Sail*.

However, in everyone's memory, the main purpose of that small boat was to have two ropes tied to the side for Alice to hang clothes on, or for Shirley, who didn't want to do her homework, to sneak into and sleep.

Duncan silently looked at the clanging boat for two or three seconds before speaking: "Aylee will take us to the island."

The small boat was quiet for a moment, then began to shake even more violently, banging its bow against the wooden frame used for fixing it.

Duncan: "…"

"Captain," Alice finally came over and tugged on Duncan's sleeve, whispering in his ear, "Why don't we take it with us… I think it's about to cry…"

Duncan looked at Alice with a strange expression, then at the small landing craft on the deck that seemed to be really unhappy. He could only sigh helplessly: "Alright, we'll also take the small 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 immediately creaked and started operating, lifting the small boat from the wooden support and placing it into the groove on the side of the mid-deck.

The whole set of movements was smooth and flowing, as if afraid that the captain would change his mind.

Duncan: "…"

In any case, in the end, including the landing craft released from the *Vanishing Sail*, a total of three small boats detached from the allied fleet and followed the huge stone cliffs along the edge of the Holy Land Island to find the hidden entrance leading to the island's interior, and began to move into the island's interior.

After passing through the "fjord entrance" that resembled the mouth of a giant beast, what came into view were towering and bizarre clusters of stone pillars on both sides, calm and expansive dark blue water, and the mist that still permeated all around.

The three small boats cautiously moved forward in the mist. In the hazy mist, one could vaguely see port facilities on the coast ahead. Some illusion-like lights quietly released their radiance in the mist, like floating, indifferent, and turbid eyes.

The small boat that Duncan and others were riding in could sail automatically without a driver, while the landing craft released from the *Tidal* and *Unrepose* were driven by small steam cores—the sound of the steam cores operating broke the silence in the fjord, and the sound of the three boats breaking through the water was reflected off the cliffs on both sides, blurring and mixing together.

Vanna suddenly frowned.

She turned to look at the captain, but saw that the captain was also frowning and looking in a certain direction in the mist. Behind the landing craft, the two steam boats from the *Tidal* and *Unrepose* seemed to have noticed something and began to slowly reduce their speed.

The mixed echoes in the fjord slowly weakened.

Vanna tilted her head, carefully distinguishing while whispering, "Do you hear that?"

Shirley didn't seem to notice anything unusual, but felt the change in the surrounding atmosphere. She nervously twisted her head: "Hear… hear what?"

The sound of a chain slightly rubbing came from the shadows. A Gou slowly raised its head: "There's the sound of a fourth boat… in the mist, following us."

Shirley's face changed slightly, and she lowered her voice: "Holy crap?"

Duncan didn't say anything, just raised his hand, signaling to continue moving forward.

The sound of mechanical propellers sounded again, and the blurred noise mixed together reappeared in the fjord—and in that buzzing and rustling sound, even Shirley heard the sound of the "fourth boat."

This time, the sound was even clearer than before. Shirley even heard a roar mixed in that sounded like a steam engine, but even lower, and the sound of the bow breaking through the waves.

She widened her eyes, looking for the direction the sound was coming from, but found that all the sounds were mixed in the echoes of the fjord, buzzing and difficult to distinguish.

She could only be sure that there really was a fourth boat, and it was hidden in the surrounding mist, very close, sometimes… it even seemed to be right next to them.

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

A hazy shadow appeared in the lens, like an abstract and illusory boat.

However, in the next second, the phantom in the mist was suddenly stained with a layer of eerie green—the illusory spectral flames engulfed it in the blink of an eye, and then disappeared in an instant.

The sound of the fourth boat disappeared.

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

"I don't know," Duncan shook his head. "Perhaps something in the mist is trying to 'imitate' us, or it may just be an illusion produced by the special environment here… Anyway, it's not a big problem, after all, 'something wrong' is part of the daily life of the borderlands."

Alice gave an "oh" of understanding, then turned her head and looked at the water in front of the boat.

"Ah, we're here."

As the doll finished speaking, the port, which had been hazy in the mist, suddenly became clear.

The three small boats docked.

(End of this chapter)