As the team delved deeper inland of the "Holy Land Island," the surrounding environnt beca increasingly quiet—gone were the sounds of the wind, and there were no traces of birds or the rustle of streams. An unusual stillness was congealing in the mist, enveloping the team from above.
However, this extre quietness brought even greater uneasiness. When the sounds that nature should make had completely faded away, the thought that "this island is alive" began to uncontrollably take over. Sherry always felt as if there were eyes on her through the fog, as if the island itself was observing and scrutinizing the uninvited guests that had intruded upon it, and the mist that slowly drifted around the team... it seed to be gradually taking on the flavor of a "watcher."
And the team continued to venture deeper, heading towards the "dig site" that had erged in Sherry’s mind.
After leaving the port area, there was a narrow pathway leading to the center of the island, which seed to be a route the heretics of the island had carved out long ago—it was situated between two pitch-black rock walls, with no signs or markers on the path. Down the sides of the path where it t the rock walls, one could occasionally spot clusters of mysterious black rocks, like crystals.
Duncan couldn’t help but be drawn to those black "rock clusters." These "clusters" were not uncommon on the island, and on the cliffs on the western side of the island, there were even larger clusters of rocks "growing" everywhere. They were akin to so strange form of "plant" erging from the earth and the cliffs, piquing one’s curiosity about their formation process.
Even with Maurice’s vast knowledge, it seed impossible to explain these "rock clusters" from a purely geological perspective... but considering the entire island was "alive," as Sherry had described, it wasn’t so surprising that such peculiar things were present.
Perhaps these oddly shaped stones truly did "grow" from the island, like so sort of secretion from ancient deities.
A few marines, under Amber’s command, were carefully collecting samples of the "rock clusters," scraping off plenty of dark, powdery substance from the nearby rock walls. They stored these "Holy Land Island samples" cautiously in blessed tal canisters, which were kept by designated individuals in the team.
Along the way, they had been performing similar tasks in such a well-coordinated manner that it hardly slowed the team’s progress, clearly indicating that this wasn’t their first ti doing so.
"All ’border samples’ could be potentially useful; so possess incredible practical properties, others could help us uncover the secrets of the world and enhance our understanding of transcendent powers," Amber explained to Duncan, "Many people think the ’border’ is a place where there’s nothing, just dense fog and seawater, but in reality... physical entities often appear in the mist, and we have to deal with nearly a dozen ’entity events’ every year..."
She paused briefly before adding, "Miss Lucrecia should be very familiar with this—she often collaborates with the church in her explorations at the border..."
"I’ve heard her ntion it," Duncan acknowledged with a nod, "She said that’s a major source of funding for the Brilliant Starship’s activities in the border—The Academy of Truth is the most generous when it cos to buying border samples, while the Fire Transmitters are always the slowest to pay. The Deep Sea Church has good trading credit in this regard, though their ’receiving’ standards are very strict, and going through their verification and registration process can sotis be even slower than the Fire Transmitters."
Amber’s face showed a touch of embarrassnt: "...Not every church is as rich as the Academy of Truth; they can afford to buy a dozen City-States just with the technology transfer of the Steam Core Reactor, while we still have to consider our annual budget."
Duncan: "...Indeed, that’s a very realistic reason."
"Have you guys noticed if... it’s getting colder around here?" Sherry suddenly broke the silence, hugging her arms and muttering, "I feel like a breeze ca through, my arms are freezing..."
"Cold?" Fenna frowned upon hearing this, "I don’t feel it... but the fog around us does seem to have thickened a bit, making it harder to see the path ahead... Hmm?"
Fenna suddenly stopped, her gaze fixed on Sherry’s arm: "Sherry, your chain on the arm..."
Sherry paused, lifting her arm in confusion and asking, "Huh? What’s wrong with the chain?"
The clanking sound of iron chains echoed through the mist, the dark bramble chain linking her arm to A-Gou’s neck, just as always.
Fenna’s brow furrowed as she scrutinized the black chain on Sherry’s arm, hesitating slightly before shaking her head: "...It’s back to normal... but just now, for a mont, I thought I saw that the chain on your arm was broken."
"What?!" Sherry’s eyes widened in an instant, her voice tinged with panic, "Hey... don’t scare ! Did you really see that?!"
While speaking, she quickly lifted her arm and pulled the chain, bringing A-Gou directly in front of her and hugging his head: "A-Gou, did you feel it?"
"Not really..." A-Gou was also a bit panicked by Fenna’s words, "Maybe she saw wrong..."
But Fenna still looked troubled, knowing that the sight she had glimpsed was sowhat bewildering; nevertheless, her professionalism as a Judge quickly heightened her vigilance: "Sherry, A-Gou, are you sure you haven’t felt anything unusual?"
Sherry and A-Gou in unison: "We didn’t feel anything."
"Let check." Duncan stepped forward briskly, grabbed the black iron chain between Sherry and A-Gou, and examined it closely in front of his eyes.
Sherry watched nervously from the side, and after a long while, she mustered up the courage to ask, "Is... is there a problem?"
A wisp of faint green fla flowed over Duncan’s fingertips, seeping into the gaps between the iron chains like water. It took him a long while before he gently shook his head, "I can’t make anything out."
"What happens if the chain breaks?" Even Alice had co to realize the gravity of the situation, nervously asking a question.
"I don’t know... Usually, if the chains that bind those obliteration heretics and demonic pacts break, they just die right away, both the human and the demon; neither can survive. But my situation with Ah Dog is different..." Sherry said in a panic, clearly a bit afraid, "And normally these chains wouldn’t break—they’re really sturdy... How could they possibly break..."
Duncan suddenly reached out and patted Sherry on the shoulder.
Sherry jerked her head up, looking uneasily at the captain.
"Back to the ship," Duncan told her.
Noticing her montary bewildernt, Duncan continued speaking, "Sothing seems off. Out of caution, I think you should go back to the Holoss. You can’t keep heading deeper into this island."
Finally coming to her senses, Sherry hesitantly nodded. However, just at that mont, Ah Dog suddenly stood up beside her, unusually not following the captain’s arrangent, "No, Captain, I think... I think it’s best if Sherry and I stay on the island with you."
At these words, Duncan furrowed his brow, "Why?"
Ah Dog hesitated a mont before speaking as if having made so resolve, "First of all, going back to the Holoss might not be safer than staying by your side at this ti."
Duncan didn’t say anything, simply signaling with his eyes for Ah Dog to continue.
"Furthermore, I’m worried that even leaving Holy Land Island now won’t help," Ah Dog organized his thoughts and continued, "I don’t think Miss Fenna just ’saw wrong’ earlier, and moreover, in an environnt like this, even if sothing was truly seen incorrectly, we have to take it seriously. The situation might really be off. Earlier in the plaza, Sherry was clearly influenced by this Holy Land Island, seeing many things she shouldn’t have...
"From my experience, simply choosing to leave the scene after incidents like this doesn’t solve the problem and might instead lead to uncontrollable outbursts of larger trouble after so ti—the contamination follows like a shadow, growing as one flees. And often, the only way to fully resolve the issue lies at its origin."
Sherry understood what Ah Dog ant and suddenly looked a bit anxiously at the mist at the end of the road, "You an... we keep going further in?"
"We must move forward; without understanding what’s happening on this island, without figuring out what’s wrong with the chains between you and , I’ll always feel uneasy," Ah Dog stated gravely, "and moreover... as I just said, returning to the Holoss at this ti might also be unsafe."
Sherry opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say more, but then she suddenly heard Ah Dog’s voice directly through the Symbiotic Chains entering her own mind—
"Sherry, stay by the captain’s side—trust my judgnt, it’s safer by his side, even if it ans going with him to Subspace."
Sherry turned her head, to see Ah Dog quietly watching her, a pair of hollow skeletal sockets flickering with blood-red light.
Ah Dog seed to have a premonition of sothing.
As a Profound Demon, it occasionally had undefinable, unclear premonitions.
Ah Dog often couldn’t explain the specific nature of these premonitions to others, but Sherry always believed in its judgnts unconditionally.
So she slowly nodded, "Alright, we will continue deeper."
"Are you sure?" Duncan looked at Sherry seriously, "Deeper in, there might be even more unforeseen circumstances."
Indeed, the danger of the environnt is relative, but the safety by the captain’s side is absolute.
A phrase like this suddenly flashed through Sherry’s mind—not a communication from Ah Dog, but more like a judgnt that had suddenly erged in her own thoughts.
She looked startled for a mont, then nodded again, "Sure, I feel I’m still in good shape."
"...good," Duncan confird that Sherry was resolute and withdrew his gaze, but then he reached out to pat the head of the girl who seed too slight and small due to malnutrition in her childhood and reminded her seriously, "Stay close to , stick close."
"Will do!"
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