The night was darker, the trees were shady, the grass was full of shapeless creatures purring, and although the island was hot, there were far fewer mosquitoes than expected.

The sound of the waves gradually became inaudible.

From time to time, there was the sound of foliage being swept by, and Esther entered that strange perception for a few seconds, recognizing that it was just two awakened birds, and then returned to normal vision.

She can't turn on this state for a long time, which will make her already tense nerves tired.

In a quiet environment, people will unconsciously slow down their breathing and footsteps, and if it weren't for the lantern in her hand that could still illuminate the road, Esther could only turn on the strange perception that made her feel haggard.

Esther performed another cane divination with the bone sword.

A faint halo of light swung from the Pale Bone Spike, and the fallen bone sword pointed her in the direction once again.

This kind of movement is very strange, if it is changed to a public place, I am afraid that she will not be able to do divination in front of others. I don't know if the gold coin divination or the crystal ball divination will be the same, and the last time Mr. "The Hanging Man" used tarot cards for divination, it didn't look right with his expression......

Esther used her bone sword to pluck away a few branches that stood in her way, startling away a lizard lying in the bushes.

It was not too dense primeval forest, and the obstacles that stood in the way had been cleared by Thoma who had landed on the island at noon, and Esther had not encountered any trouble along the way.

But she also didn't meet the crew of the "Clover" who was supposed to return.

——

The communication charm in Alexander's arms glowed and screamed as he was filling a piece of shattered black crystal into a test tube.

A small bowl on the table lit up the room, a small island that was closed off and devoid of the candles commonly found on the mainland, and which the villagers used to light their activities at night.

Closing the sealed oak cork and securing the specimen in the compartment of the suitcase, Alexander slowly took off his gloves and pulled out the bronze charm to infuse the spiritual power.

Aaron's slightly distorted voice came from inside: "Come back quickly, there is an abnormality on the island, and the divination is not smooth." ”

Alexander quickly reacted that something was wrong, and Aaron didn't warn him when everyone got off the boat, but now he suddenly reminded him of the divination results!

This series of communication charms are all one-way, because of the difficulty of making there are no materials at sea, Alexander, Aaron and Thoma each have three, only after each consumption Alexander has to ask his friends to remake, there is no possibility of forgery.

Is it more likely that there is some strange power hidden on the island that will instinctively avoid other people's divination, or is Aaron's random bad luck again?

The villagers of Nahuat Island have a habit of staying at night without leaving their homes and will not leave the village boundaries for a single step.

Alexander easily linked the two events.

He knew that Aaron's name for Sequence 6 was "Priest of Calamity", and the two had known each other before Aaron had been promoted to Sequence 5, when the "Clover" had just set sail, and there was hardly a week of sunny days for stable sailing, which made everyone on board complain.

If it weren't for Thoma's spell, the clothes that were always wet could have made people sick.

Thankfully, Aaron was able to collect the missing main materials a few months later, and successfully completed the ritual promotion sequence five, and this unfortunate life of the "Clover" came to an end.

Alexander walked out of the house with the hook used to fix the eaves of the stone bowl, knocked on Thoma's door, and the first mate of the "Clover" yawned and poked his head out of the house, and the moment he saw that the knocker was Alexander, the boredom on Thoma's face disappeared immediately:

"Is there a situation?"

Alexander wasn't the kind of guy who disturbed his dreams just to pull someone for a drink or go for a walk on the deck, something that Aaron could only do when he couldn't sleep, and the old gentleman who focused on research was serious in his bones.

Alexander shook the contact charm in his hand: "Gather everyone to assign the vigil, and the rest of us will take turns resting in the same room, and we will return to the ship as soon as dawn." Aaron has just delivered me the news that his divination indicates that there is something wrong with the island. ”

"Fuck! I knew that bastard who only believed in luck was unreliable! Thoma punched the door frame hard, "Someday I'll be pissed off by his bullshit luck!" ”

He yelled at the room, "Don't sleep! Pierre! Adrian! Get everyone here! ”

Soon, everyone gathered in the room where Thoma was, and Mary yawned and sat down in a chair in the corner, tilting her head and waiting for Thoma to count the numbers.

After looking around the room, Thomas's already irritable expression became gloomy: "Where's Thompson!?" What about that peach-brained idiot? ”

The other two sailors looked at each other, and one of them said with difficulty: "In the afternoon, he talked very happily with a girl from the island, and said that she invited him to spend ......the night at home."

Alexander's face also became gloomy: "We know so little about this island, and the experience of the past few years is not enough for him to grow his brain?" You two carry my suitcase, and Mary comes with me, and we go from house to house in the village to find him. ”

Thoma closed his eyes and calmed his emotions for two seconds, and decisively arranged a vigil for the rest of the people, so that those who did not have the time to go back and continue to rest.

After the others had dispersed, Thoma walked over to Alexander, whose face had returned to calm:

"Just a few of you, okay? Maybe it's better to just give up on Thompson, what if those villagers also have anomalies? ”

Alexander shook his head: "Don't really think of yourself as a pirate just because we've been at sea for a long time, Thoma. ”

Thoma spat disdainfully, "Damn, that sounds like Aaron would say, not you." ”

Alexander lifted the heavy lens on the bridge of his nose, and his vicissitudes of life gradually brightened: "I want to trouble you to help me with simple divination." ”

"I see, Thompson has hair with you, right?"

"Of course, everyone who landed on the island had something for me."

After getting the hairs, Thoma did a simple coin divination, and soon got the answers of "still alive" and "the village is safe", and then he used the clay to divinate and calculated a general direction.

Alexander and the others did not delay any longer and set off immediately.

But as soon as they were walking in the direction of the village, they saw a group of villagers carrying torches, and they were making a noise, and Alexander was nervous, and immediately took Mary and two other sailors to that side.

Alexander could also hear what they were cursing at - someone who had been caught climbing through a window in the middle of the night, or an outsider.

Soon, a young man with black hair was pushed out of the crowd by them and fell headlong at Alexander's feet, darkening the old gentleman's face even more.

The most imposing man in the crowd cursed a few swear words, pointed at Alexander, and shouted in a vague Dutan voice: "Outsider! Take this beast and leave! Get out of the village now! We took you in out of good intentions! ”

Mary grabbed Thompson's back collar with disdain on her face and dragged him off the ground, and the disheveled Thompson nodded at Alexander, who gasped because of the bruise on his face when he laughed, and shrank behind the group of people very knowingly, hanging his head and saying nothing.

Alexander did not explain anything to the villagers, but led the group to the house where Thoma had settled.

But the group of villagers with torches followed behind them.

Alexander, who was walking at the end, turned his head and looked at the man who was taking the lead: "What do you mean by this?" ”

The other party's expression was very cold, and he completely lost the excitement when he swung his fist in Thompson's face first: "I said it, you must leave the village." ”

Alexander's gaze swept over the expressions of the other villagers, most of whom avoided looking at him, their expressions gloomy, most of them grim-faced, and the flickering light of the torches lengthened the shadows on their faces.

During the day, they were still excited about the arrival of these outsiders, greeting them enthusiastically and marveling at the few items they had brought with them.

And now.

Alexander gave Mary a look, and the men quickened their pace back to the house, and Thoma saw the approaching light in the distance, and when he pushed the door open and signaled the others to enter, he found that the villagers were standing outside the house and had not dispersed.

"What's the situation?"

"The family probably set a trap, and Thompson fell headlong into it, giving them an excuse to force us to leave the village at night."

Thoma's eyes also turned cold: "They want to drive us away and let us leave at the risk of traveling at night?" ”

Mary shook her head impatiently: "They are not our opponents. ”

Alexander raised his chin at Thomas: "Go and call everyone up, let's leave at once." That's what I don't like about divination the most...... There is total uncertainty, and we don't even know whether there is a problem in the village, a problem outside the village, or a problem in the villagers. ”

Without saying a word, Thoma turned to call the hapless ones who had just fallen asleep again.

Alexander glanced at Mary's frowning brow, and he smiled and said, "Do you wonder why I insisted on leaving?" ”

Mary nodded silently, she dared to lose her temper with Thomas, but she never showed her rude side to Alexander.

Alexander pointed out the window, where torches burning not far away were raised towards the cloudy night sky: "If I fight with them, I can't control the range, and if we destroy the protection of the village, then we and the villagers will suffer together." Although we can leave, they can only stay here. ”

Mary still can't agree with such "kindness", since the other party doesn't plan to be kind to her group of people, so why leave room for it?

Alexander patted her on the shoulder: "This is the only village left on the island. The apple harvester does not cut down every apple tree, and only leaves the trunk and branches that can withstand the wind and rain can ensure a good harvest next year. ”

"For later?"

"We can be adventurers or pirates, but we can't be the stupidest ones - they only know how to burn, kill, plunder and vent wantonly, and in the end, they will usher in either official annihilation or an island with no one to rob. As Russell the Great said, 'sustainable development'. ”

Alexander looked out the window at the uneasy villagers and patted the folds of his clothes, his eyes behind the lenses as bright and dark as the torches:

"Tell everyone to be prepared for a tough fight, Aaron doesn't have the manpower to support us anymore."

(End of chapter)