Surviving as the Captain of a Mad Cthulhu Deep Sea - Chapter 21

chapter 21

The Mysterious Island

Chapter 21: The Mysterious Island

Time passed slowly, and under Charles’s command, The Narwhal finally regained its composure. Though they weren’t entirely out of danger, the crew’s morale stabilized.

Some even found the leisure to collect the yellow snowflakes, planning to show them off to others back home.

However, everyone tacitly avoided mentioning the massive hand that had risen from the sea, as if it were some unspoken taboo.

“Mr. Charles, Dip is bothering me!” Lily the White Rat stormed into the dining hall, interrupting Charles’s meal with a furious complaint. “He said he’d eat my friends if we run out of food later!”

Dip, seeing the rat snitching on him, struggled to suppress his laughter as he looked up. “Captain, I was just joking. Besides, rats don’t even taste good.”

“Don’t be childish. We’re not out of danger yet.”

Charles reprimanded the boatswain, then lowered his head to look at Lily on the floor.

“We have plenty of food. If we run short, we can just cast the nets and catch fish. There’s no need to eat your friends.”

Only after hearing Charles’ words did Lily feel reassured. She ran to Dip and stood defiantly before him.

Though Charles showed no outward signs of tension, he was inwardly anxious. The food supply was sufficient, but fresh water was dwindling.

If they couldn’t find the next settlement before the water ran out, everyone on the ship would die of thirst.

As if sensing his thoughts, First Mate Bandage, who had been chewing on a piece of bread, approached.

“Captain… I have a way to escape…”

Charles’ heart stirred.

“What method is that?”

“A sacrifice… three souls… and the Shell God will guide us…”

A look of disgust crossed Charles’s face. “Forget those disgusting things.”

Bandages remained silent for a moment, then turned to gaze at the distant sailors. “The ship’s water supply will last for another month. If we draw lots for suicide… and the survivors drink each other’s blood… we could hold out for six months at the absolute limit… three of us…”

Charles whipped his head around, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the Bandaged Navigator beside him. A strange sense of unfamiliarity washed over him, as if he were seeing him for the first time. This man was not as harmless as he appeared.

“I’m sorry… this is a contingency plan… I’ve been through this before… I ate my own captain…”

“Enough! Everyone, eat!”

Charles’s sudden outburst startled everyone.

The next day, the crew learned that the Narwhal’s fresh water supply was being rationed. No one protested, but the smiles on their faces faded as they realized the gravity of their situation.

The water supply dwindled day by day, and eventually, they even resorted to drinking Charles’s liquor, which they shared.

When they were finally reduced to just one cup of water per person per day, one crewman couldn’t bear it any longer. In despair, he tried to throw himself into the sea, but the other sailors restrained him.

Bandages again proposed a sacrificial offering, and just as Charles wavered, a faint white beam pierced the darkness from above. It was the lighthouse.

Amid the cheering, excited sailors, Charles let out a long sigh. His anxious heart finally calmed. The hellish scenario they had feared had been averted.

As The Narwhal slowly approached, a strange island appeared before everyone’s eyes. While other islands were shaped like platters, this one resembled an egg.

At the bottom of the egg was an entrance, through which various steamships flying red flags came and went.

Having lost their bearings, Charles didn’t know the island’s name. It wasn’t marked on any nautical chart in his memory.

But since it was a Human Island, communication should be possible. The Narwhal followed the other ships into the giant egg.

Inside the egg was a vast city, with neat rows of Gothic-style buildings. Perhaps because it was a cave, bats frequently flew through the city’s airspace.

“Boatswain, ask them if they have a shipyard. The Narwhal needs its turbine replaced.”

“Yes!”

Dip, holding two green flags, quickly signaled from the bow.

A moment later, he returned with a peculiar expression. “Captain, their flag signals are too different. I can’t understand them.”

Gazing at the crowd dotting the distant docks, Charles licked his cracked lips. “Let’s dock for now. We’ll go ashore and ask the locals directly.”

As soon as Charles and his crew disembarked, a group of people gathered on the shore stared at them without blinking.

Charles felt a chill at their fixed gaze. Just then, two middle-aged men in customs uniforms pushed through the crowd and approached.

One of them, his face deeply lined with nasolabial folds, spoke.

“Who is your captain? Where is your ship from? Don’t you know that foreign vessels aren’t allowed to dock here?”

Charles stepped forward, explaining the situation in detail and asking if there was a shipyard on the island.

Even after Charles finished speaking, there was a long silence. He watched the two middle-aged men before him stand frozen like statues, staring intently at him.

After a few seconds, they finally moved, their expressions noticeably softening.

“Yes, sir. If you steer your ship east, you’ll find the Repair Shipyard,” Second Mate Krona whispered in Charles’s ear.

“Captain, these islanders seem rather slow to react, don’t you think?”

Charles couldn’t explain it either. He had never visited this island before, only passing through to transport goods.

No matter how strange the islanders were, repairing their ship was the immediate priority. There was no rush to figure out what was going on with this island; they could take their time exploring while the repairs were underway.

Charles steered The Narwhal to the Repair Shipyard, only to be informed that replacing the turbine would take a month. It was a long wait, but there was no other choice. The turbine was the heart of the steamship, and without it, The Narwhal couldn’t return to Coral Island.

As Charles paid the deposit and left the dock, he noticed the islanders still standing motionless, staring at them. The sight was bizarre, but with cracked lips and empty stomachs, they couldn’t afford to care. Charles led his crew to a quiet inn and ate until they were full.

The unique and delicious food eased Charles’s mind somewhat. Whatever the islanders were like, at least their food was normal human fare.

Watching the sailors burp contentedly, Charles spoke up. “Replacing the turbine will take a month. These people seem a bit insular, so everyone stay alert and avoid trouble.”

The sailors leaned back in their chairs and replied in twos and threes.

But when Charles paid them their wages, they all snapped to attention.

James hesitated, looking at the Echo Notes in his hand. “Captain, this mission failed, and we still need to replace the turbine on The Narwhal. For this pay…”

“It’s fine. You deserve what’s owed to you. Get some good rest during this time.”

Previously, Charles had been saving to buy a ship, but now he didn’t care much about money. After experiencing such a disaster, he saw it as a worthwhile investment to win over the people with a little wealth.

As soon as they received their pay, the sailors couldn’t stay seated any longer. Laughing and arm-in-arm, they poured out of the tavern.

Watching them go, Charles naturally knew where they were headed. For men who made their living from the sea, this was almost a ritual. In fact, it was the normally frugal Charles who was the odd one out.

He didn’t impose any restrictions beyond instructing them to act in unison and use the opportunity to gather information about the island.

That night, Charles had a nightmare. He dreamt he was sinking back into the water, and a massive, grotesque humanoid monster turned to stare at him.

He screamed and thrashed, finally waking up in a cold sweat. Before him was not the sea or the monster, but the peeling ceiling of the Bat Inn.

“Mr. Charles, did you have a nightmare last night?” Lily asked, hopping onto his chest.

Charles sat up and checked his pocket watch. He had slept for eleven hours—something unprecedented for him.

“What did the watchman rat say?”

“Everything’s normal. The islanders peek into your room occasionally, but nothing else happened.”

Hearing this, Charles felt a slight sense of relief. He might have been overreacting. After all, there were so many strange islands in this pitch-black sea; this might be nothing out of the ordinary.

As Charles stood up to go to the washroom, he noticed an envelope lying on the doorstep.

When he opened it, his eyes fell upon handwriting:

Mr. Charles:

Life on the Exploration Ship has become too dangerous for me to endure any longer. I’ve decided to return to the mainland. Please forgive me for not saying goodbye in person.

Sincerely, Sipler, Former Deckhand

“Phew…”

Charles crumpled the letter into a ball and tossed it into the nearby waste bin.

“So, money alone can’t hold people’s hearts. Some people have grown as timid as mice.”

Charles wasn’t particularly shaken. After all, given the circumstances, someone leaving was only natural.

Checking the time, he realized it was night. Charles took Lily and stepped outside.

The port district was much like other islands, but as soon as Charles entered what was called the “Crown District,” the district of the wealthy, he immediately noticed the difference.

Here, everything—from the clothing to the architecture—was completely different from Coral Island. Every man on the street wore a suit and carried a cane, while the women in their elaborate dresses looked even more elegant.

Whether it was Charles’s imagination or not, the islanders’ appearance was generally striking. There were far more handsome men and beautiful women than on other islands.

But no matter how attractive they were, their habit of staring intently at strangers didn’t change.

Being treated like monkeys felt unpleasant. Charles grabbed a passing man and asked, “Excuse me for a moment. Do you know where the Explorers’ Association is? I couldn’t find it in the port area.”

“The Explorers’ Association? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

Never heard of it? Charles was astonished. As far as he knew, most of the islands in the Wisdom Sea had been discovered by explorers.

Though the Association was a loose organization, it maintained a symbiotic relationship with the island Governors and wielded considerable influence in human settlements.

If there isn’t even an Explorers’ Association here, does that mean this island is completely isolated from all others?

While Charles was lost in thought, the man he had questioned had already turned and walked away.

After a moment’s contemplation, Charles headed straight for the library next door. Soon, he found a variety of nautical charts inside. After comparing them, he quickly pinpointed the island’s current location.

He drew a line on the chart and said with a relieved expression, “Thank goodness. It’s not recorded, but it’s not far from Coral Island. If we hurry after the ship repairs are finished, we should be able to get back in fifteen days.”

After purchasing both new and old charts, Charles left the library.

Charles paused in the bustling street. The ship was being repaired, and his current coordinates had been confirmed. He didn’t know what to do next.

The old Charles would have probably continued training his stamina, practicing his marksmanship, and preparing for future adventures.

But considering the increasingly severe auditory hallucinations, Charles wondered if he was being too tense. He hadn’t rested since arriving here.

Maybe relaxing my mind would help with the hallucinations.

With this thought, Charles turned to Lily on his shoulder.

“Let’s explore this island and see what kind of place it is.”

“Yes!”

Lily’s ears perked up instantly at the word “explore.”