On the deck, all fifty to sixty people on board had assembled, including the sailors from the hold and the engine room crew.
The old captain, brandishing a curved knife, stared intently at the three night-watch sailors, while the other crew members also watched them warily. The three sailors stood there shivering, not daring to speak.
After a moment, the old captain waved his hand, and a sailor handed him a piece of cloth smeared with slime. He threw the cloth onto the deck and said:
"Something mixed aboard just now, right in the midst of you."
The three sailors looked terrified, and one of them immediately said:
"We've had someone awake the whole time. If something had snuck aboard, I wouldn't be alive, yet here I am, still alive."
He tore open his shirt to reveal his chest, causing everyone to instinctively step back and raise their guns at them, even the two sailors beside him took a step back without thinking.
