"Haha, what did I said," Matoimaru laughed, "In a seaside town how can one not find a boat."
"Be quiet!" Frostleaf said to Matoimaru in a whispered voice, "Keep it down! People might hear you!"
"Oh, hehe," Matoimaru laughed back in a much quieter tone, "Sorry."
Just as she said, in the small town of Harlan, there was definitely no shortage of boats. They found one by the sea less than ten minutes away. Although it was a small boat, it was more than enough for five people.
"We haven't been found yet?" Lin Ye asked Blue Poison.
"Well, no," She replied, "There are no soldiers in this area."
"Because no one would have thought that we would go to the sea at this time," Frostleaf shrugged, "Do you know how to row a boat? Cause I don't."
"Don't worry," Matoimaru said with a smile, "I can do the all physical work."
Lin Ye looked at the dark sea.
By the time they managed to find and enter the boat, it was already 9:27 in the evening. Even though it wasn't that late, the surrounding area was already so dark, almost as if signifying that it was always night here no matter the time. What was even worse was that it was starting to rain. It was obvious that this was a bad time to head out to the sea. There was a clear depressing atmosphere starting to spread through the group.
"Get on the boat," Magallan said in a low voice, "Go early, return early. In this kind of weather, as long as we leave the coast, the soldiers will not be able to see us".
Everyone nodded and pushed the boat off together into the water. Then they boarded the boat one after another. The boat was slowly rowed away from the coast of the town with Blue Poison and Matoimaru rowing the boat together. Lin Ye didn't know much about the ocean. The waves fluctuated greatly, constantly rocking the boat, meaning that everyone needed to be alert if the boat ever looked to tip over.
"Southeast...About two kilometers," Magallan said while looking at her phone, "Miss Skadi's communicator still has a signal."
"Understood," Blue Poison and Matoimaru rowed forward under Magallan's guidance. Lin Ye couldn't do much to help out, so he kept quiet.
Just before leaving the coast, he looked back at the town of Harlan, and then suddenly saw an orange light from the corner of his eye flashing away. He couldn't help but be stunned by this.
"What's the matter?" Frostleaf noticed Lin Ye's gaze and asked, "What are you looking at?".
"There," Lin Ye pointed to the shore and said, "It looked like there was a person standing there just now".
"Someone?" She immediately followed Lin Ye's finger, but she couldn't see anything. The only thing there was the ever-present darkness, "Really? Why don't I see anyone."
Lin Ye was also a little unsure "Maybe I was wrong."
Frostleaf was silent for a while and then said "It's hard to tell. There may have been someone."
Lin Ye looked at her.
The Vulpo shrugged "But we can't turn back anymore, can we? Now that we have already decided, we can only pray that it was not the people from Ursus".
Lin Ye thought for a while and felt her words made sense. Even if someone really discovered them, it was absolutely impossible to turn back at this point. Even if it was just a glimpse, Lin Ye was sure that the other party was not a soldier. The reason he believed this was because the mysterious figure was a woman.
Except for Rhodes Island, the only women who came to participate in this joint operation were Swire and the Feline named Skyfire. Lin Ye knew that if given a choice on who he would rather encounter as a witness to their antics, he would probably choose Skyfire. After all, that woman was somewhat hostile to them, but he still hoped she wouldn't tell anyone.
Lin Ye prayed in his heart that was not the case.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Everyone sailed in silence for half an hour. During this period, apart from Magallan's occasional instruction, they could only listen to the sound of the waves.
Lin Ye felt that the sea was such a dull and boring place, there was nothing but the surging water. Then he thought that Skadi had been trapped in this place for a long time. He couldn't help but become more impatient.
"Are we there yet?" Lin Ye got the answer to his question by an immediately dull sound. The boat had apparently hit something. He turned his head and saw that it was land.
"Here it is," Magallan showed her mobile phone to everyone. On the screen, the green spot representing their position, and the red spot representing the position of Skadi's communicator, revealed that Skadi's communicator should be somewhere on this island.
Because there is was no moon out, they couldn't see what the island looked like.
"You guys wait," Magallan unzipped her backpack, "I'll take a look around".
As soon as her voice fell, there came a "buzzing" sound coming from her backpack. The next second, a small drone then flew out from it.
"Wow!" Matoimaru revealed a surprised face, "It looks so cool!".
"It's nothing special," Magallan responded modestly.
Then she released two more drones one after another. Under her control, the three drones which unconcealed internal flashlights flew towards the Island.
"There are no big islands in this sea area," Magallan reported, "This island should be no exception. I'll be able to collect the information soon. You can all prepare in the meantime."
Everyone nodded and then began to distribute and wear their equipment.
Due to the particularity of this mission, Rhodes Island gave everyone a complete set of equipment.
Lin Ye put it on, feeling like a miner. The searchlight on his helmet shone light a fair distance away.
Then, he put Maple on his side and adjusted it. He checked the positioning of it to make sure that he could take it out as soon as possible if anything happened. Then he took out Vector from his backpack and put three boxes full of Arts bullets in his pocket.
Lin Ye knew very well that in this kind of place, guns are much more useful than melee weapons like swords.
About ten minutes later, Magallan's drone flew back to her.
"Nothing unusual," Magallan said, "but I take back what I just said."
"What?" Lin Ye raised his brow.
"The island is still quite big, about one kilometer in diameter," Magallan reported.
Blue Poison asked, "Are there any traces of large creatures?"
Magallan shook her head "Not on the surface."
"On the surface?" Lin Ye asked.
"I found a cave," Magallan showed everyone a picture taken by one of her drones, "It's around here. I didn't let my drone go in yet."
Everyone gathered around and looked at the cave in the photo under the spotlight of the drone. The cave mouth was open like the mouth of a giant beast. The stone on the rock walls sharp like fangs. It looked like it could swallow the drone in one bite.
"It doesn't look like a good place" Matoimaru muttered, "Is Skadi's communicator inside?"
"This..." Magallan hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Lin Ye looked at Magallan worryingly.
Magallan says softly "I was about to tell you that Miss Skadi's communicator lost its signal three minutes ago"
Everyone shows a surprised expression.
"Lost the signal? Really?" Matoimaru says, "Is your machine broken?"
Magallan shook her head.
"Is Skadi's communicator out of power?" Lin Ye asked, "What other reason can it be?"
"The biggest reason? It may be that Miss Skadi's communicator is dead or damaged," Magallan said, "Judging from the power of the communicator used by Miss Skadi, it can last for up to ten days. Calculating the time, this was almost two days. This is why I acted as soon as possible."
"Since there is no electricity, it is not strange? Anyway, we have already come to this island. Are you worried about not being able to find it?" Matoimaru was obviously not worried and got off the boat first. "We're already here. Just because the communicator is out of power we have to turn back?"
Of course, it was impossible to return. Everyone knew that, and they get off the boat one by one.
Lin Ye's heart was a little uneasy. The power of Skadi's communicator did not run out early or late. It was dead when they arrived at the island. Was this really a coincidence? If it is, this was a bad omen. As soon as they got here, there was no signal. It was as if something or someone was trying to draw them over. After they got here, the task was completed. If you think about it this way, Lin Ye felt more uneasiness in his heart. He didn't know why, since he touched the sea, his heart had always been beating very fast. It was like a violent drum. He really didn't like this feeling.
When they made sure the boat was secure, they got ready to act.
"I think it would be better for us to go directly into the cave," Magallan said "Because my drones have already searched all the island and Miss Skadi has not been found. The only place left is in the cave."
Lin Ye nodded and agreed to Magallan's proposal.
"Let me clear the way" Matoimaru took her weapon off her shoulder, "You just need to follow me."
Everyone nodded in confirmation. The guards are the ones that should be in front, so there was nothing to argue. So, Matoimaru and Frostleaf walked in the forefront, Magallan walked in the middle, and the sniper operator, Blue Poison and Lin Ye, who was acting as a sniper operator, were at the back.
When walking towards the cave, Lin Ye found that Blue Poison's brows were scrunching tightly, as if she was thinking about something.
"What's the matter?" Lin Ye asked.
Blue Poison glanced at Lin Ye. Then she said softly "It's just a bit strange."
"Strange?"
"Yes, Miss Magallan just said the diameter of this island is one kilometer".
"And?"
"A Kilometer sized island cannot be called small. They should be marked on the map."
Lin Ye was confused "What do you mean?"
"Well, I haven't seen this island on the map of Harlan Town," Blue Poison said softly "I don't know if it was ignored by the residents of the town, but... it's like it emerged out of thin air."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft by Jaq
Proofread by SM
Edit by Jaq