I had enough reasons to force myself to believe that part or all of what I saw before me was an illusion, but what I saw with my own eyes was so horrifyingly real that my small expectations were completely swallowed up without even a chance to make waves.

At the moment when my heart was tightened by the tense atmosphere, my eyes finally fell into complete darkness. Even the flickering cigarette butt on the lips of the old smoker could not be found, as if an unknown presence outside the window swallowed all the light.

This moment was as quiet as a revolving door before death. The subtle time was stretched infinitely, and finally, driven by the desire for life, it circled into a Möbius strip. The curling and boiling vortex of time began to make people numb, until all

All the senses are dissolved in the chaotic world.

The soul-shaking sound of scratching the glass no longer sounded, and even the old smoker's gasp and the young man's scream were all removed from my ears like a vacuum.

After a numb wait that may only last for a second, or may last for a thousand years, I finally confirmed...

This twisted dream was shattered.

I can't help but wonder, if this memory really existed and I accidentally brought it out of the poisonous abyss, the poison that began to spread in the air of reality would extinguish all expectations of exploring new things.

If this is the case, then I would rather face this fear alone. This is not only to seek compensation for my moral cognition, but also to be wary of those who may violate taboos and kick over this toxic dream again.

…………

"Get away those bastards on the front deck... continue to increase the strength of the boom, and then use the hook to lock and reinforce..."

"Turn on all the power! We have to drag this son of a bitch out today!"

Even as the water splashed, the captain was still holding his pipe in his mouth. He didn't realize that the fire in the pipe had gone out long ago, and a pool of mud had accumulated in the pipe.

At this time, all the firelight was concentrated in his basalt-like pupils, and they were shooting out in all directions with anger, finally staring at the middle-aged man hugging the mast.

He grabbed the middle-aged man's arm and pushed his thin opponent to the door of the ship like a chicken.

"If you dare to make money again, I will stuff you into a steam oven!"

The middle-aged man who was unable to struggle clamped the wallet between his arms and said firmly: "There can be no mistake! According to the calculation, the target is below this longitude and latitude. As long as you fish it up, you will have everything!"

The captain angrily let go of his hand, glanced worriedly at the smoke billowing out and wrestling with the underwater salvage, and then stood back on the bow again, staring at the turbid sea.

The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly walked out of the cabin. He also peeked at the water, but his expression was no longer as sure as before. He put his wallet away from the sea and hurriedly walked towards a naked man with hair standing on end.

the young man asked.

"Young man, are you sure you found the sunken ship under the water?"

The hedgehog wiped his hair with a towel and replied decisively: "Yes, I can't mistake such a big ship. The sunken ship lies darkly on the bottom of the water, and I tied the anti-slip hinges with my own hands."

The middle-aged man regained his composure and waited with bated breath for the result to come.

Suddenly, an ugly and weird-looking sailor ran out of the cab and shouted with a toothless mouth: "The boom is about to break, get down quickly!"

Before he finished speaking, the hinge that was stretched to the limit and was still fighting suddenly broke. Under the action of the force, the whole ship swayed violently back and forth, trying like a fierce horse to throw the people on the deck into the sea. Soon,

Everyone heard a clear popping sound.

After a violent shaking, the captain got up from the ground like a drowned man and kicked the ugly sailor on the butt.

"Idiot, how did you do it!"

The captain looked at the twisted and deformed boom with distress, and cursed angrily, "Hurry up and count the number of people! I will double the shipping fare for these people! Double them all!"

The shabby passengers on the ship had just shown expressions of surviving the disaster, but now they felt as if they had heard the bad news. They looked at each other in panic and lowered their heads silently.

The ugly sailor hesitantly finished counting the decks and got into the cabin. He came out after a long time and reported the report docilely and cautiously.

"Captain, there were 36 people on our boat just now, and now there is one less. One person fell into the water."

The middle-aged man got up from the ground and immediately started shouting.

"It's that young man! He was in front of me just now!"

The captain's cowhide boots stepped on the sewage on the deck, and before the water splashed to the ground, he strangled the middle-aged man's neck.

"Is this what you call a 'valuable thing'?! My Katins almost sank!!!"

The middle-aged man argued in a panic: "You must believe me! This is the place where the Lawton sank. As long as the things on the ship can be salvaged, the federal government is willing to pay a bonus of at least two million pounds! It's absolutely true!

"

The captain spat in rage and roared throughout the sky.

"I shouldn't have believed you, you liar! Scumbag! Bedbug! I should have remembered my lesson long ago. Whether I encounter federal doglegs or trust Morden's fools in this sea, it will be a complete disaster!

What's more, I'm not even afraid of those jackals from the Voyager Alliance, and I don't need to rely on federal rewards to survive!"

He shouted angrily, "Enough is enough! I won't believe your lies anymore! If you can't pay enough to get them to their destination, I will drive them all into the sea now!"

The captain spat on the ground, "Everyone is pretending to be a gentleman in distress, a fugitive businessman, or a servant claiming to be a respectable family! I think they are just a bunch of lost dogs! Old sea dog, stop the ship immediately!"

The smoke on the top of the ship slowly disappeared, and the entire ship was moored on the sea under the sun. The hot light burned the deck and cabin mercilessly, setting off a protracted confrontation.

The middle-aged man took a deep breath, his pale and anemic face slowly gained courage, and he spoke in a humble tone.

"Captain, this location was calculated by Professor Craven himself. There is absolutely no problem. But I know that things that are not visible at the moment cannot compensate for your losses. I am willing to use another thing in exchange to guarantee your trip.

There are benefits to sailing…”

He slowly opened his carefully protected wallet and took out a piece of densely written draft paper. On the top, he repeatedly traced a series of longitudes and latitudes with a black pen.

Then he dug out an ID card, a pen, a stack of blurry photos, and finally took out a printed matter from the mezzanine.

He opened the printed matter and said in a deep voice with an ashen face: "I am a wanted criminal by the federal government, and my life value is at least two hundred thousand pounds. In exchange for transporting us to our destination... you should be able to rest assured, right?"

The ragged passengers on the deck were silent and watched all this with helpless eyes.

The atmosphere of the confrontation became more and more serious. At this time, there was a sudden splashing sound on the sea, and a loud voice shouted, "Quickly throw a rope and pull me up!"

The hedgehog head cut through the waves and chased the drifting ship in full view of everyone, shouting excitedly.

"I think I caught something!"

…………

When I woke up, I found myself in a narrow cabin, surrounded by inconspicuous people returning home, doing their best to poison the insufficient air.

With a splitting headache, I peered through the cabin window and caught a glimpse of the familiar yet unfamiliar scenery of blue sea and blue sky. Seagulls chased the sea breeze noisily and jumped in the steam clouds on the top of the ship. Ashes from coal burning on the ground were stepped on repeatedly and penetrated into the nasal cavities of the passengers.

There was a continuous coughing. Everyone was like a weird sculpture, keeping their noses covered and their necks twisted, fighting for the limited air.

"Old Sea Dog, let's go see if the guy we just picked up can pay for the boat fare?"

There was a burst of noise.

"What are you doing standing still! Remember, I am the captain and you are just a lowlife on the ship! Listen to me!"

A rude and arrogant voice suddenly sounded outside the cabin, giving a series of meaningless instructions, and then there were the sounds of leather shoes colliding with buttocks and hitting various objects.

"If there's another guy who can't pay the fare, throw him back into the sea!"

Before I could react, the locked cabin door suddenly opened, and a short man appeared with the sudden sea breeze. Even though the wind was mixed with the smell of sweat, everyone in the cabin took a deep breath like an addict.

.

When I saw this man, I instantly knew what "Old Sea Dog" meant.

This man's hair was greasy and curly, his eyeballs were much larger than ordinary people's, and there were a few sparse and disobedient gray beards hanging around his mouth. It was impossible to tell his age. And his slightly squinted eyes, with a hint of being

The unique, cowardly and ferocious light in tamed animals.

If this appearance is compared to an animal in the water, it is neither as pretentious as a seal nor as strong as a sea lion. Only the humble fur seal comes in handy here.

The old seal's eyes narrowed for a long time, and then they landed on me.

"Pay the fare, or go down."

... Could it be that I escaped from that plane and was rescued by this ship by chance?

Did the plane attempt an emergency landing at an altitude of 10,000 meters or was it shot down? It couldn't have just disintegrated in the air, right?

The joy of escape and the confusion about the situation were intertwined, forming a strange emotion that made me unable to directly answer this simple question.

"I told you I didn't drown, I just fell asleep on the sea..."

A hedgehog-head climbed up from the ground, muttering dissatisfiedly.

Then, I saw this spiky-headed young man pass through my body, squeeze through the guy blocking the door and walk to the deck, where I found the captain having a heated conversation with a middle-aged man.

...Well, it seems I didn't wake up at all.

"I will pay for these people's shipping fare! You must not leave them in Kenford Town!"

The middle-aged man holding a bag in one hand said sincerely, "The federal army just surrounded Jovo City the day before yesterday... They took more than 7,800 adult residents as sympathetic rebels and took them to the woods to be executed! I saw it with my own eyes.

Seeing that the city is full of abandoned orphans, they can only sleep in piles of excrement and live on gray walls. Those babies have long passed out from hunger, but no one cares! The next target of those crazy people is

Kenford, the press room wants them to die!"

The captain held his pipe in his mouth and said with a livid face: "You didn't tell me this honestly when you stopped the ship! Regarding everything you said, I neither want to cause trouble nor am I willing to meddle in other people's business. I am just a businessman!

Understand!"

The captain slapped the side of the ship hard, took off his pipe and pointed out: "Otherwise, you will completely pay the fare according to the price mentioned before, or you will all get off the ship! Do you understand what I say? There is no second

Two ways!”

"All right……"

The middle-aged man hesitantly opened his wallet and took out a crumpled piece of paper.
To be continued...