Charles threw back the covers and just as he got out of bed, a piercing tinnitus assaulted his ears, immediately followed by an overwhelming murmuring noise.
This time was far more serious than any before; Charles even began to see hallucinations—
the sailors' bodies started to rot, and bizarre, deformed tentacles writhed out from them, turning everyone into monsters of flesh and blood.
Without a second thought, Charles hurriedly fetched the box given to him by Elizabeth, and from it, he hastily swallowed a large chunk of green gelatin.
The murmurs by his ear quickly diminished, and the sailors' appearance finally returned to normal; Charles stood in the distance, his face dripping with cold sweat as he gasped for breath.
Ignoring the concerned voices of the others, Charles spoke up, "Notify everyone, meet in the Captain's Room."
Swiftly, the rest of the Unicorne's crew began an emergency meeting in the Captain's Room.
"Where are we?"
"Uh... currently, it's unconfirmed; a massive wave hit the Unicorne and it seems we were swept far away, but thank goodness the First Officer's experience paid off, and the ship didn't capsize."
"What about the loss of crew members?"
"We've lost two sailors, likely swept into the sea, and the Second Chief Engineer was impaled by the claws of that butterfly; Chef Frey has dislocated his left arm."
As soon as Second Officer Krona finished speaking, the Chief Engineer chimed in.
"Captain... that monster's forelimb pierced directly into the turbine room; although the hole has been patched up, the turbine's power has been compromised, and the speed of the Unicorne is only one-fifth of what it was."
One piece of bad news after another, and Charles could feel the weight on his shoulders growing heavier.
He took a deep breath and said, "First Officer, adjust the crew's duty schedules, fill the vacancies and cancel the original tasks. For now, steer the ship southward. Human islands are plentiful to the south, and the odds of encountering them are higher."
The crew acknowledged their orders, and the Unicorne, paralyzed for half the day, finally began to move.
Once the crew had left, Charles took a harsh swig from a bottle of liquor; the composed Captain was nowhere to be seen, and his eyes were filled with deep fear.
That arm, as large as a mountain, could it belong to the giants from his dreams? What exactly was it?
He had heard of the Gods of the Earth Sea before but regardless of their existence, he had been indifferent. However, today, having truly witnessed a God, he realized for the first time the insignificance of humankind.
"Is this really Earth? Earth couldn't possibly harbor creatures so large! Gravity alone should crush their bodies!"
For a fleeting moment, Charles harbored the thought of selling the ship and spending the rest of his days on an island.
But as the blurred images of his family flashed through his mind, Charles's gaze slowly hardened, "I can't give up, not even Gods can stop me!"
Charles took another fierce gulp from the bottle before putting it away, his expression returning to indifferent as he walked outside.
With time passing by, under Charles's command, the Unicorne finally regained calmness. Though they weren't out of danger, the crew's morale stabilized.
Some sailors even had the leisure to collect the yellow snow, planning to show it off to others upon their return.
But regarding the giant hand that stretched out from the sea floor, there was an unspoken agreement to never mention it, as if it were a forbidden taboo.
"Mr. Charles, Deep is bullying me!!"
In the dining hall, the white mouse Lily stormed up to Charles, who was eating, to tattle.
"That guy said if there's nothing to eat later, he'll eat my friend!"
Seeing the rat plead her case, Deep, who had been holding back a laugh, lifted his head, "Captain, I was just teasing her, besides, rats don't taste good anyway."
"Can you stop being so childish, we're not out of danger yet," Charles reprimanded the sailor chief, then looked down at Lily on the floor.
"There's enough food, and even if there wasn't, we could cast nets to catch fish, there's no need to eat your friend."
Relieved by Charles's words, Lily hopped in front of Deep to confront him.
Although Charles showed no sign of nervousness on his face, he was secretly anxious inside; the food was sufficient, but the fresh water was not.
If they didn't find the next landing before the fresh water ran out, the entire ship's crew would die of thirst.
As if knowing what Charles was thinking, the first officer with the bandage around his bread came over. "Captain... I have a way to get out of this bind..."
Charles was intrigued, "What way?"
"Ritual sacrifice... Just three... souls, and the Futan God will guide us..."
A look of disgust appeared on Charles's face, "Forget all those gross things."
The bandaged man was silent for a moment, then looked at the sailors in the distance and said, "We have enough fresh water on board to last a month, if we draw lots to commit suicide... the survivors can drink the others' blood... In the extreme, the last three people could last another half year..."
Charles suddenly turned his head sharply, his pupils contracting as he looked at the bandaged man beside him, as if seeing him for the first time. This guy was not as harmless as he seemed.
"Sorry... this is an emergency plan... I've encountered such a situation before... I ate my captain..."
"Enough!! Let's eat!" Charles's suddenly raised voice startled everyone.
The next day, the crew discovered that the fresh water on the Unicorne was being rationed, no one opposed, but there seemed to be an understanding among the crew, and their smiles were much less.
The volume of fresh water diminished day by day, and even Charles's liquor was brought out to be shared.
When each person could only get one cup of water per day, someone finally couldn't bear it and desperately tried to jump into the sea, only to be stopped by other crew members.
The bandaged man proposed the sacrifice again, and just as Charles was wavering, a blurry white column of light broke through the darkness in mid-air; it was the light from a lighthouse.
Standing among the cheering excited crew, Charles took a deep breath; the heart he had been holding onto finally settled. That hellish scene was finally averted.
As the Unicorne slowly approached, a strange island appeared before everyone; if the other islands were pancakes, then this island was an egg.
An opening was carved into the bottom of this 'egg', with various steamboats flying red flags coming in and out.
Having lost their bearings, Charles didn't know the name of the island; it was not marked on the sea charts he remembered.
But since it was a human island, basically, communication should be possible; the Unicorne followed the other ships and entered the giant 'egg.'
Inside the 'egg' was a vast city with neatly arranged Gothic buildings, perhaps because it was a cave, bats often flew over the city.
"Sailor chief, ask if they have a shipyard, the Unicorne needs a new turbine."
"Alright!" Deep, holding two green flags, stood at the bow and gestured quickly.
After a while, Deep ran back, a strange expression on his face, "Captain, their flag signals are very different, I can't understand them."