25 Paradise Lost

On the morning of October 24, the sailors aboard the Union informed the ship that the ship would set sail at noon, so Milo and the others went to the docks to discuss the future itinerary with Captain Finn.

"We'll take you to Ill," said Captain Finn to Milo, before turning to the others, "our escort will take you to the island of Persima, and you can rent a yacht and swim there, for there are no sharks in the waters anyway." "Apparently the last option was a joke, but the Night Sparrow, Snow Dog, and Erin didn't laugh, they regretted that Milo couldn't go along." Let's meet us at the island of Persima," said the captain, "and have a good time there, and we will be there in about three or four days." "The captain finished explaining the departure time and boarded the ship.

"I'm going to do something alone, as the captain said, and I'll be joining you soon." Milo and others explained. Although the three of them were a little lost, these few days of separation were nothing for this long-term trip.

At noon, Milo didn't eat lunch, he said goodbye to the three of them one by one, and when he said goodbye to Erin, he didn't say much, and Erin didn't tell anything in particular, it was a very ordinary goodbye as before.

"Depart, set sail!" Captain Finn fed his crew and continued south on the Union.

"Don't worry, we've worked with that frigate many times, no problem. I'm familiar with a few hotels on Passima Island, so we'll find them as soon as we get to the island. Captain Finn said to Milo, who took one last look at the departing island of Sick and went back to the cabin.

Il Island was at the southwestern tip of the Dragon's Empire, and it took about two days to get there from Sick Island in the north. During the voyage of the Union, Melo never left his cabin, and he passed the time by reading and sleeping. Captain Fein and his crew dutifully steered the Union through the islands outside Dragon, their faces becoming serious as they approached their destinations, the ship falling silent, and the song that had been so often heard down in an instant...... These phenomena indicate that the Union is approaching a place where there is no joy at all.

Early in the morning of 26 October, Captain Finn called Milo to the deck. "You put this on," the captain handed Milo a potion-soaked towel, "around your face, gagged your nostrils and mouth." We are approaching the island of Il. ”

Milo wrapped the towel around the captain's words, and Finn carefully examined Milo again, and then the captain ordered: "Drop anchor!" The Union stopped.

"That's Il." Fein pointed in the direction the bow of the ship was facing, and saw a thick fog not far away, and the land could be faintly visible, but unlike the place he had passed before, there was no vegetation in this land, just bare yellow sand and land. Several small and dilapidated boats ran aground on the beach, and the wrecks of several large ships could be seen in the shallow water, and some small boats were cruising slowly on the sea. The light of the early sun was blocked by the mist, and the pale yellow light barely struggled to produce a few shimmers in the thick fog...... If you don't get close, you won't be able to see the island clearly.

"Put the boat and move the things." Captain Fein gave the order, and the sailors got into action. In a few moments, the boat was full of cargo, and as the captain had said, it was all food. The sailors who drove the boat also wore towels soaked in medicated water, and the crew members of the Wanyuan Sect prayed for them before they set off.

Captain Finn reminds Milo: "Follow them to the island, remember not to take off your towel." We'll be here until noon, and a small boat will pick you up at lunchtime, but we won't wait too long, don't expect us to wait forever. ”

Milo thanked the captain for the reminder, put on a large backpack, and boarded the boat. The boat carrying him and the cargo aboard the Union to Il Island would make three trips between the ship and the island before all the cargo could be delivered. Through the thick fog, the boat finally docked on the beach, and some people on the beach saw the boat coming with cargo and immediately came over quickly to help unload it.

By this time, Melo could already see the scene on the island: the whole island was almost covered with an earthy yellow smoke, and wherever the smoke went, no vegetation grew, and it was all loess. Also under the thick fog, countless improvised tents are scattered across the island, some together and some alone, but they all have one thing in common - they are in tatters.

When she came ashore, Milo finally saw the people of the island: they were horribly thin for both men and women, and could see that some of their originally strong bodies were only skin and bones, as if they would fall apart at the touch of it; Red flames erupted from the people's eyes, and their throats and lips were bloodshot; Most people have shaved their hair, even women, some people's skin begins to fester, especially on the scalp, red and purple, and some are even bleeding, but the patient can only let the ulcer develop, there is nothing to do; The sound of coughing never stopped, sometimes as if there were thousands of people coughing at the same time, mixed with painful moans and gasps, all of which had one thing in common: lifeless and lifeless.

Not far away, on the beach, dozens of bodies are neatly laid out, waiting to be cremated, and from time to time there are people carrying stretchers and placing new bodies there. Melo immediately understood that the smoke on the island was not a naturally occurring fog, but rather the smoke from burning bodies.

The plague has completely destroyed the breath of life on Il Island.

The boat had already unloaded the first cargo and turned back to the Union to load the second cargo. Melo went a little further inland, full of agonized patients who lay staggered around on stretchers, groaning feebly in pain. You can also see the carcasses of crows, seabirds, and dogs, which accidentally ate the flesh on the carcasses and died of the disease.

"Excuse me, which one is Dr. Morrell?" Melo asks questions of healthier people he can meet, most of whom are unable to answer him, and the lack of water makes it difficult for the sick to make a sound, and they can fall to their deaths at any moment. However, Milo was lucky enough to find Dr. Morel in a tent hospital, the head of the medical team sent by the Sprelet Empire, who was resuscitating the patient, but still could not save the patient's life, and he folded his hands together and apologized to the deceased. Soon, some people carried the bodies away on stretchers, and because there were so many patients and bodies transporting them back and forth, the stretcher bearers were also faltering and very decadent.

Dr. Morrell dressed like a bird's-beaked doctor, wrapping himself all over, was admirable in such heavy overalls during the heat of the South Seas. Milo knew that the beak mask contained a lot of cotton and medicine, which could filter and clean the air he inhaled, much more reliable than the potion towel he was wearing.

"You're looking for me?" Dr. Morrell asked Milo, and his voice sounded deep through the "beak".

"Yes, I'd like to inquire about the Edward Trister family, someone should have told you about them before." Milo also talks to the doctor through a towel, and he deliberately raises his voice so that the doctor can hear.

"Oh, I know," said Dr. Morrell, "then you should have known—

"—their whole family is dead, right? It has long been cremated. ”

"I know...... I heard there was a monument to them, and I came to ......," Milo said, but was interrupted by Dr. Morrell.

"Where is the monument...... Forget it, then you come with me. Dr. Morel said contemptuously, but his attitude was not directed at anyone.

Dr. Morel limped along the way, followed by Milo with a large backpack, and the two began to talk about the plague:

"When the plague first appeared, the only symptoms were fever and cough, which did not attract attention until many people began to vomit and finally vomited blood, and did not realize that it could be a terrible contagion......

"It spread so quickly that at first we thought it was a rat or a mosquito and tried a lot to get rid of it, but then it turned out that it didn't work at all......

"More than a year ago, mass deaths began, more and more people became ill, and only one or two out of ten patients survived......

"The people of the Wanyuan Sect were still in charge at first, but then they also ran away, you see the big pit in front, it used to be the basement of the church, and now the wooden materials on it are all used to cremate the corpses. There is almost no wood left on the island, and it is all used to cremate the remains......

"Now there are only three ships left that can occasionally bring food here, which one are you going to take in? Union, then you should quarantine for a while when you go back, make sure you don't come on board with illness, and help me bring a good ...... to Captain Finn

"What other doctors? There were more than a dozen people besides me, and there were originally more than 70 medical personnel, but now these more than 10 people are enough, and the only thing we can do is wait for all the refugees on the island to heal or die......

"Originally, there were troops stationed here, but later some people fell ill, and they also evacuated by boat, but I heard that this ship was sunk by Dragon's own warship on the way, and I am afraid that I don't want this disease to spread out, and I have done too much......

"Most of the islands are refugees from Spellet, and there are a few more islands to the east, and there are a lot of refugees from other countries, but the situation here is definitely the worst. There were nearly 20,000 people on the island at the beginning, and more than half of them died in the year, do you know how many of them recovered and were sent home? It seems that there are less than 200 people, which is pitiful......

"Here we are......" said Dr. Morrell, pointing to a slate, a very ordinary bluestone slab, with many names neatly engraved on it, and Melo noticed that the last name in the lower part of the slab was Edward Trister. In the middle of the list, you can also see "Albert Terrest" and "Eloise Terrest", which should be Heidi's brother and mother. Since the two names are connected, it can be inferred that they died at the same time.

"Old Edward, someone has come to see you." Morel said to the slate, touching the words engraved on the slate with his heavily gloved fingers, "Old Edward, he helped a lot of people, he taught the sick how to exercise, and gave them food and drink, and his wife and children also helped to take care of the sick, but he didn't think that these two people were infected and died first. In the end, old Edward also fell......"

Mello crouched down and stroked the name "Edward Triste" on the slate.

"You know what?" Dr. Morrell said, "This tablet was originally meant to record the names of the deceased, but then, because there were so many people who died, that even old Edward was gone, and people were so desperate that they stopped recording it, so you can see that the names were gone from behind old Edward." That's when it began—"

"The living give up recording the names and data of the deceased...... Hmph, isn't this the end of the world! ”