Chapter 10 Unlandable

Even though it has now fallen apart, Demon Chew Island is still a place of unknown size. Judging only from the side where they landed, it's impossible to tell how big this "shattered island" actually is.

In addition, the deadly environmental factors on the island cannot be taken lightly, so reconnaissance is necessary.

Five minutes after entering the water, the scouting team led by Suantou had safely sailed past the shoal in front of the Queen's Revenge.

Because there was no fog on the sea, and Suantou had a lamp in his hand, the pirates on the large ship could directly see the actions of the people on the small boat.

After a brief pause and observation, Suantou took the skull lantern in his hand and was the first to set foot on the beach.

There is a saying circulating among pirates - "Never set foot on unfamiliar land barefoot."

Although not a cadre, Suantou is still a veteran member of the Blackbeard Pirates, so he couldn't have not heard this saying; therefore, when preparing the small boat, he specially put on a pair of loose boots.

Some people may find it strange, this is not a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, it's just a beach, what's wrong with stepping on it barefoot?

The answer is...

Tss—

Suantou had only been standing on the shore for about three seconds, and everyone on the small boat heard a sound similar to grilling meat.

Suantou reacted extremely quickly. As soon as the sound started, he turned around and pounced back onto the small boat... then he simply lay across the boat, with his feet hanging outside the gunwale.

"It's locust sand! Quickly take a knife and pick it off me!" Suantou shouted the words before his pounce was even halfway done.

Maddie, who was sitting at the bow of the boat, was also quick-witted. He immediately drew his scimitar and, with a few quick swipes, chopped Suantou's shoes to pieces. After the sand-covered shoe fragments fell into the water, Suantou flipped over again, squatted in the water, and rinsed his feet in the sea at a rapid pace before pulling his legs back onto the small boat.

"Tch... damn bad luck." After escaping the danger, Suantou sat down on the small boat, spat, and then ordered, "Let's go back, let's go back, we can't land here."

The crew members on the small boat didn't say much, and took up their oars to turn around and head back.

On the other side...

The players who saw this scene naturally had questions. Snow was the first to ask, "What's going on? Is there something on the beach? Why did they come back before they even got ashore?"

Feng Bujue and Honghu didn't know what was happening either, so they didn't respond immediately.

"Looks like 'locust sand'." However, Blackbeard, who was knowledgeable, had already seen the clue.

"Oh?" Feng Bujue followed the other party's meaning and asked tentatively, "Could it be that the sand on the beach is some kind of corrosive substance?"

"Not a 'substance', but an 'animal'." Blackbeard replied, "'Locust sand' is a kind of animal that looks very much like ordinary sand."

"Let me guess..." Snow smiled for some reason, "It's also a kind of carnivore?"

"Not only meat, they even eat fur and textiles, and the digested material... will be converted into new locust sand in a certain proportion." Blackbeard replied.

"Whoa~" When Feng Bujue heard this, he almost instinctively responded, "Good stuff, it can be used completely."

"Heh..." Hearing this, Blackbeard seemed to have remembered something, and replied with interest, "A long time ago, there was a guy in my pirate crew who was engaged in architectural design... I can't remember his name anymore... I only remember that he used to specialize in designing prisons and torture instruments for a tyrant in a small country." Blackbeard looked at Jue-ge and then said, "In short, that guy's idea was very similar to yours. On his suggestion, I built a 'locust sand pool' on the ship, specially used to deal with corpses; I have to say... that pool was really convenient. As long as you throw the captured prisoners in... in less than a minute, both the person and their clothes would disappear completely, and the metal, wood, and paper on their bodies could be preserved intact."

"I guess... the story is only halfway through." Honghu had already vaguely guessed something from the several "past tense" phrases in Blackbeard's words (the other party was speaking English).

Blackbeard smiled again and continued, "Heh... more than halfway, because the next part is the ending." He paused for a second, then said, "A month after the pool was built, on a windy afternoon, that old design guy accidentally... fell in; hehe... he told me two things with his life - first, he seemed to have forgotten to design a device for emergency rescue in case of an accident; second, raising locust sand, this kind of animal, on a swaying ship is not a good idea."

"Okay, the story is touching." Feng Bujue didn't seem very interested in Blackbeard's story, "Well... you shouldn't mind if I go and collect some animal samples as a souvenir, right?"

"Ha! 'A souvenir'..." Blackbeard found these four words very funny.

In a sense, it was indeed very funny.

"Suit yourself, do you want me to give you a small boat separately." Blackbeard replied.

"No need, I have my own way to get there." Feng Bujue said, "However, I want to ask you for a container that can be used to hold locust sand."

"Oh..." Blackbeard responded, and raised his hand to grab into the void. In a blink of an eye, a glass bottle appeared in his hand.

The players had seen that bottle before, it was the bottle that Blackbeard had originally prepared to hold the Brown Algae.

"Well..." Feng Bujue took the glass bottle from Blackbeard's burning eyes. He originally wanted to say, "You're being a bit petty," but after thinking about it, he held back.

…………

A few minutes later, Suantou-ge and his small boat returned, and Feng Bujue had already used Moon Steps to walk back and forth on the beach.

Because Jue-ge's [Stepping on Emptiness] has the special effect of "standing in mid-air for a period of time", he had almost no difficulty or danger in collecting sand, and he completed it quickly.

After Suantou-ge briefly explained the situation to the captain, Blackbeard ordered the pirates to raise the anchor and change to another landing spot.

However... just when they were raising the anchor, an accident happened.

"Pull hard, you bastards! Haven't you eaten enough?" Mr. Vogg, whom the players had met below the deck, had now come to the deck above, directing the sailors to raise the anchor.

Multi-masted sailing ships naturally do not have modern anchor machines (equipment for winding the anchor back), 90% of the things on this ship are done by manpower, and raising the anchor is no exception.

For the crew of the Blackbeard Pirates, this task is not considered difficult. Some cadres don't even need to use the windlass (which can be understood as an anchor machine driven by manpower), and can use their own brute force to drag the anchor up.

But now, in this area near the island, where the seabed is not very deep, the sailors were using all their strength and still couldn't pull the anchor up even half an inch.

"Let me do it!" Just when the sailors responsible for raising the anchor were in trouble, the "Bottle Opener" brother, who had lost in the first round of the deck boxing match, stood up.

Don't look down on this guy for losing in the boxing match, but he is quite strong when there are no restrictions on his strength - especially in terms of "strength", the Bottle Opener is confident that he is not below some of the cadres on the ship.

"Oh, it's you kid, you've come at the right time." When Vogg saw that the Bottle Opener had come to help, he quickly told the surrounding lackeys to move away, "Everyone get out of the way, let him do it."

The Bottle Opener didn't mince words. After everyone had made some space, he ignored the windlass and directly grabbed the anchor chain, took a breath, and started pulling.

His pull was really effective...

The anchor didn't move at all, but the ship tilted a few degrees.

"Ah—" A few seconds later, the Bottle Opener was obviously exhausted. He shouted, loosened his hand, and sat down on the ground, "Huff~ What's going on?"

Not only him, but the people around him were also surprised and suspicious. Even the ship moved, but the anchor still didn't move... then it must have nothing to do with whether the sailors were exerting themselves.

"The anchor must be stuck on something underwater." At this moment, Honghu walked over and gave the pirates a possible hypothesis.

Vogg turned his head and glanced at him after hearing this, but did not respond.

However, he still adopted Honghu's words, and then said to the pirates, "Did you all hear that? What are you still doing? Send a few people down to take a look."

As the words fell, the pirates near the side of the ship looked at each other. After hesitating for a few seconds, four of them successively flipped over the side of the ship and jumped into the water.

On Blackbeard's ship, even the lowest-level sailors have their own unique skills. High diving (the deck is still a bit far from the water surface) is nothing, and staying underwater for three to five minutes is also a basic skill.

It's just... the ability to see in the darkness under the sea is really not something that everyone can do. The four people who jumped into the water just now can only see things within two meters around them underwater, which is not comparable to Udini, who sacrificed during the day, but it is much stronger than ordinary people.

…………

Time passed in waiting...

As the four people dived into the bottom of the sea for longer and longer, the thoughts and moods of the people on the deck were also undergoing subtle changes.

"Can't wait any longer." Suddenly, Feng Bujue walked over and said, "I'll go down and take a look too."

The eyes of the pirates and players were instantly attracted to him, and Blackbeard, who was standing in the distance, couldn't help but shift his gaze.

"Well... this is a bit surprising..." Snow couldn't help but whisper, "Under this situation where there seems to be only danger and no profit, he actually stood up..."

"Heh... I've already given up trying to figure out his thoughts." Honghu, who was standing beside him, chuckled and lowered his voice to respond.

While they were talking, Jue-ge was ready to go.

He took out the [Oxygen Pipe] and put it in his mouth, climbed onto the side of the ship without saying a word.

Two seconds later, under the gaze of the crowd, Feng Bujue stood up on the side of the ship; then, he opened his arms, fell forward... and jumped into the cold, chaotic sea ahead with a "leap of faith".