Chapter 461: Sacrificial Offering

Chapter 461: The Offering

The sea beast docked. Muri, along with Filomena and Bart, ventured into the woods to scout, while the remaining crew began dismantling the "house" from the beast's back. This served a dual purpose: it allowed the sea beast to rest properly, roll over, and scratch its back on the seabed, and it provided an opportunity to repair and modify the structure.

Half an hour later, Muri's trio returned. Their expressions were not grave, yet far from relaxed; they had evidently discovered something.

"Captain, there is a rather peculiar area in the central region of this island."

"Did you spot any natives?"

"No natives, but the island seems to have been inhabited at some point. They left behind quite a few traces of daily life, though it looks to have been a very long time ago."

"Very well." Cullen hesitated for a moment before commanding, "Everyone, assume combat formation. We shall go examine it together."

Cullen left no one behind to guard their gear on the shore. After all, losing the "house" would be of little consequence, and all essentials were carried in their backpacks. As for the sea beast, it could amuse itself in the sea for a while.

In uncharted territory, dividing forces often led to unnecessary casualties. When nothing went wrong, guarding served no purpose; when things did go wrong, those left behind to guard were usually the ones to meet misfortune.

The team threaded through the forest. The deeper they ventured, the more they encountered stone monuments and primitive, man-made implements, all carrying a highly archaic aura.

The peculiar place Muri spoke of was a deep crater. In stark contrast to the lush greenery outside, the earth within the crater was pitch black and entirely devoid of vegetation. Instead, human-shaped sculptures stood arranged in a ring around the depression.

At the very center of the crater lay a well, equipped with a stone water-drawing apparatus.

"Memphis, Mars, deploy the formation for investigation."

"Yes, Captain."

"Mr. Mota, do you recognize this place?" Cullen inquired.

"This island is not on the charts, and I cannot discern anything from the style of these sculptures. My apologies."

Purr frowned, evidently as clueless as the rest, despite this being a resting point it had discovered through its own methods.

Turning to Kevin, Cullen found the

A new round commenced.

"Praise the Goddess of the Moon, I drew a good card," Ansi said with a smile.

Puer instantly accused her, "Ah, you can't do that, that's practically face-camping!"

Ansi immediately realized her slip and hurriedly said, "Apologies, my mistake, let's redeal this round, alright?"

This was a verbal habit everyone had previously banned, as it was tantamount to saying, "I swear to heaven I am a good card."

"Alright, restart, restart, redeal the cards."

...

"Snap!"

The woman in red confirmed the direction, her figure beginning to drift toward it, while from within the pit came a low, deep chanting, like some mysterious ritual that had been interrupted for countless ages being initiated once again at this very moment.

...

"Mm, tired, time to rest." Karen closed the book and gently rubbed his neck. Looking at them, they would probably play late into the night; forget it, he would sleep early and make breakfast for them tomorrow morning.

Just as Karen was about to step into the tent Ventura had pitched for him, he suddenly felt a slight warmth in his eyes.

Hmm?

What was happening?

Somewhat puzzled, Karen lifted his head to look at the moon in the sky, only to discover that the moon was actually blood-red.

"Alfred, pour me a glass of water."

"Right away, Master." Alfred immediately stood up and poured a glass of water for Karen.

"The moonlight is quite nice tonight," Karen said.

Alfred looked up briefly and smiled, "Yes, Master, the moonlight is beautiful."

"Mm."

After Alfred returned to continue the game, Karen, holding his water cup, did not walk into the tent but instead came to a stone on the perimeter and sat down.

"Is there something wrong with my Eye of the Dark Moon?"

While gently rubbing his eyes, Karen occasionally looked up again at the moon overhead; it was still blood-red.

Suddenly,

A strange woman's voice echoed in Karen's ear:

"Thank you... for the sacrifice you sent."

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I have to go on a long trip tonight, so today's update is posted during the day, tomorrow after settling down I will have time to code words properly, hugs to everyone!