On the Ark.

"Yes, it's a very sad melody. Even someone as strong as her could have such moments of sorrow?" Chūmaru said softly. "At that moment, I realized that she might be different from the rumors. She might be someone like me. When I left my country and wandered to unfamiliar lands, I also liked to do that. I felt that such a person shouldn't be a vicious one. She was probably just... too lonely."

Lin Ye fell silent.

"Huh? I think I said something strange." Chūmaru scratched his head and said with a smile, "Doesn't it sound weird?"

"No." Lin Ye took a deep breath. "I think it's fine."

“Really? Speaking of which, although I’ve never seen Skadi’s face, I’ve seen her photos. She has a pair of very deep-set eyes. You can only truly understand someone like that by understanding the emotions hidden beneath her eyes,” Chūmaru said.

“Skadi is a very good person,” Lin Ye said. “And very gentle.”

Chūmaru smiled and said, "So you have to find her. If you can't find her, then you'll be the only person in the world who knows that she's actually a kind person."

Chapter 330 The Vanished Man (3K)

Chōmaru's words were like a shot in the arm for Lin Ye, encouraging him to continue searching for Skadi.

However, the effects of this initial boost were quickly worn off during the following week of aimless searching. Indeed, they searched for a full week without finding a single useful clue. The Ursus soldiers practically scoured the islands surrounding Harlan, but found no trace of any large creatures, let alone the deep-sea treasure they so desperately sought.

For Lin Ye and his group, the trail to Skadi ended that night. They never saw the island again; it vanished right before their eyes and never reappeared.

On the eighth day, Harlan town was hit by a super typhoon. For safety reasons, Silver Sword issued an order that the team was not allowed to go out to sea during the typhoon.

In fact, his orders weren't even needed. A week had nearly exhausted the patience of all the factions. There were only so many islands around Harlan town, and they had left their footprints on every single one, but had gained nothing. So they were even less likely to risk going out to sea in this weather.

Rain pounded against the tent roof with a violent thud. A howling wind made the tent sway precariously, as if it might be torn apart at any moment. The atmosphere inside the tent was a stark contrast to that outside; barring the noise, it was eerily quiet.

After an unknown amount of time, Magellan finally spoke softly, breaking the silence: "Well, Mr. Silversword from Ursus just sent a notice. He told us to prepare to evacuate in a couple of days."

Chūmaru looked up at Magellan with some surprise: "Evacuation? What do you mean?"

“Literal meaning.” Skyfire was also sheltering from the rain in a tent on Rhodes Island. After a week of getting along, she had become quite familiar with Blue Poison, Magellan, and others. She would occasionally come to this tent to discuss academic issues. “He thinks that it would be futile for us to continue searching. We have searched all the surrounding seas and still can’t find a single clue. That can only mean that we don’t have what we are looking for here.”

Shuangye took off her headphones and then slowly said, "So, this means we have to go back to where we came from?"

"That's the gist of it, they just didn't explicitly say the operation failed." Tianhuo shrugged. "How boring. I was actually looking forward to seeing what a large creature from the deep sea looks like."

Blue Poison said, "Once you actually see it, you won't think that way anymore."

"Tsk, I don't think so. I don't believe there's anything in this world that can scare me that much," Skyfire said. "Anything that can be killed."

Tianhuo's words revealed a hint of pride, just like the confident gamers Lin Ye had seen online in his previous life.

The feeling that "as long as you dare to show your health bar, there's no boss you can't kill."

Normally, Lin Ye would definitely make a joke, but he wasn't in the mood now, especially after learning that the mission was about to end.

"Speaking of which, there's a question I've been wanting to ask," Skyfire said, looking at the Rhodes Island group. "Where's your Deepsea Hunter? Why hasn't she shown up even though the mission is almost over? Did she really find some intelligence?"

The group exchanged glances, unsure how to respond to Tianhuo.

Tianhuo wasn't stupid. Seeing everyone's reaction, she snorted, "Fine, fine, I knew you were hiding something from me. If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. I thought we got along pretty well this week. But whatever, the joint operation is about to disband, so see you again someday."

As she spoke, she lifted the tent flap and left into the pouring rain.

Her departure brought a sigh of relief to the Rhodes Island operators inside the tent. Although a week of interaction had shown them that Skyfire wasn't a bad enemy, but rather a kind person with a bit of a spoiled princess attitude, and they were happy to be around her, her expertise in Originium was truly admirable. However, with Skyfire present, they couldn't discuss Skadi, who was their most important objective on this trip and couldn't be ignored.

Chūmaru looked at Magellan and asked, "Are we really leaving like this? We haven't found Skadi yet."

“Miss Skadi is the only one we’re looking for; Ursus doesn’t know that,” Magellan said somewhat helplessly. “What they’re looking for are large creatures and deep-sea treasures. So even if they knew Miss Skadi was missing, they wouldn’t help us. Moreover, Mr. Silversword is also very dissatisfied with us for not letting Miss Skadi show herself because he didn’t know she was missing.”

"Tsk, this is really troublesome." Chūmaru sighed, then looked at Blue Poison. "Has that island still not been found? What exactly did that oceanographer from Lungmen say? You've been discussing it for a week."

Before Blue Poison could speak, Magellan spoke first: "Continuing to discuss this issue will not yield any results. From a scientific point of view, it is absolutely impossible for an island of that size to disappear without a trace in a day... or in less than three hours for us."

"But it really did disappear."

At this moment, Blue Poison spoke up: "Then we can only explain it from other aspects, two possibilities."

Everyone looked at her, and Lin Ye also raised her head.

“One possibility is that you remember what happened on the island?” Blue Poison said. “Back then, we were hypnotized by magic several times.”

"I remember," Chūmaru nodded. "What's wrong?"

“If that’s the case, is it possible that we were hypnotized from the very beginning, before we even arrived on the island?” Blue Poison asked.

Shuangye frowned: "We were hypnotized from the beginning... You mean, that island never existed in the first place? We were on the ship the whole time and never went to any island?"

Blue Poison nodded.

“How is that possible?” Lin Ye said, denying it. “Let’s put aside all that nonsense. Magellan’s drone was damaged on the island, and we also found Skadi’s communicator.”

“Hmm…then there’s only one other possibility left, and the only one,” Blue Poison said, emphasizing each word. “That is, the island is mobile.”

"Didn't you say before that the island was impossible to move on?" Chūmaru said. "You've already contradicted yourself so quickly?"

“It’s true that an island can’t move, but what if it’s not an island?” Blue Poison said. “If it’s something like a mobile city, or some giant creature, then it’s not impossible for it to disappear in two hours.”

"A moving...moving city or creature?" Chūmaru's expression was priceless. "Are you kidding me?"

Magellan pondered for a moment, then said, "The probability of a mobile city is very small. First, with current technology, although moving an island of that size is not difficult, it would definitely not be without any movement. We would definitely be able to sense it from at least three kilometers away. Second, as far as I know, there is currently no place where a mobile city can be placed in the sea. Finally, if it were a mobile city, I should have been able to tell that night."

Blue Poison nodded slightly: "I don't know much about mobile cities, but since you put it that way, it can only mean that the island itself is a giant creature. That night, we didn't find an island, but rather the body of a giant creature."

Chōmaru's lips twitched slightly: "That's even more impossible, isn't it? Even in the deep sea, would there be such a giant creature? And its appearance is like an island, no, it's not even an appearance, we've all entered it... wait, according to you, the cave we entered that night, was it its internal organs?"

Chūmaru's words made everyone present turn slightly pale.

“Although I’ve never seen such a large creature before,” Blue Poison sighed softly, “since it’s from the deep sea, it’s not surprising no matter how outrageous it is.”

"Please, don't just attribute every inexplicable thing to the deep sea..."

Lin Ye remained silent, but he was also pondering the deductions about Blue Poison.

That island was actually the giant creature itself? It sounds incredible, but as the saying goes, the truth is that if you eliminate all the impossible assumptions, the one that remains, however improbable, is still the truth.

If that island is indeed the giant creature itself, then many of the previous questions can be answered.

But the biggest question remains unanswered.

Is Skadi still alive? If so, where is she?

It's been half a month since Skadi disappeared. If we can't find her soon...

Lin Ye slowly tightened his grip on the hilt of [Maple] to vent his emotions, but he suddenly noticed that [Maple] seemed different; the hilt was trembling slightly. He didn't know if it was his imagination or if his own hand was shaking.

“But no matter what, we can’t just go back like this,” Blue Poison said. “We need to think of a reason to stay here for a few more days. We’ll go out to sea again after the typhoon is over.”

“I agree.” Magellan nodded as well. “No matter what, we can’t abandon Miss Skadi…”

Before he could finish speaking, the tent was suddenly opened, and a blast of cold air rushed in.

Everyone turned around and saw that it was Tianhuo, who was soaking wet.

Lin Ye straightened up: "What's wrong, Miss Tianhuo?"

Tianhuo's face was a little pale. Lin Ye initially thought it was because he was cold, but he soon realized that wasn't the case.

"I'd like to ask, have you received orders to retreat immediately?" Tianhuo asked softly.

"No, why do you ask that?"

"Because... there's no one left in the other tents."

……

……

Author's note: Twenty-nine chapters still owed.

Chapter 331 The Empty Tent (3K)

Five minutes later, led by Skyfire, the Rhodes Island team braved the torrential rain to reach the Ursus soldiers' tent a hundred meters away. Just as Skyfire had said, the twenty-odd Ursus soldiers, including Silversword, who should have been inside the large tent, were all nowhere to be seen.

"They really all ran away." Chūmaru hadn't realized anything yet, and just shoved his sword into the ground, saying with some annoyance, "These guys, they just left like that? They didn't even tell us."

Lin Ye looked at Magellan and asked, "Can you contact Silver Sword?"

Magellan said, "I'll give it a try."

Then he stepped aside.

“It’s not just the Ursus people.” Skyfire’s face was still a little pale. “I also checked the other tents. Whether it’s the Sunset Merchant Guild or the Lungmen Guard, there’s no one there.”

"Is that so?" Lin Ye pondered for a moment, then took out his phone and said to Tianhuo, "Don't be afraid. I'll call Swire and ask what happened. You should contact Youmeng. Does anyone know anyone who can get in touch with the Sunset Chamber of Commerce?"

"Afraid... I'm not afraid at all," Tianhuo said, trying to appear calm. "I just find it strange that these people suddenly left without a word. What's there to be afraid of? Don't underestimate me."

At this moment, Chūmaru casually remarked, "I remember the townspeople of Haran also disappeared overnight, right? Could these guys have been taken away by the deep sea as well?"

One sentence made Tianhuo's face turn even paler—no, to be precise, it made everyone's face turn sour. After all, none of the people here were as thick-skinned as Chanmaru, and none of them believed that Ursus and Lungmen would leave silently during a typhoon.

"Let's not talk about that now." Lin Ye took out his phone. "Let's make a call first."

After saying that, he dialed Swire's number directly.

The call couldn't be connected because the signal bars on the phone were zero.

"I can't make calls." Lin Ye put down his phone with a sigh. "Could it be because of the typhoon? Were the nearby cell towers damaged?"

Magellan also came back, shook his head and said, "I can't contact Mr. Silver Sword either."

"Is it also done by phone?"

Magellan nodded.

“Let’s try using the radio,” Lin Ye said. “We should be able to contact them via radio.”

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Magellan then took out a radio communicator and contacted Silver Sword in front of everyone. The next second, a hissing sound came from inside the tent. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was coming from one of the sleeping bags. Blue Poison immediately stepped forward, opened the sleeping bag, and then his pupils narrowed slightly.

“Mr. Silver Sword didn’t bring a radio communicator.” Blue Poison took the communicator out of his sleeping bag. “It’s right here.”

Magellan had no choice but to put down the radio, saying with a hint of helplessness, "If we don't even have a communicator, then there's really no way to contact them."

"That guy called Silver Sword was too careless, wasn't he?" said Chūmaru.

“No, that doesn’t make sense.” Lin Ye looked at the radio in Blue Poison’s hand and said softly, “Silver Sword is a legitimate soldier of Ursus. How could he possibly leave the radio in his sleeping bag in this kind of weather? This can’t be explained by carelessness.”

Chanmaru looked at Lin Ye: "So what do you mean?"

Lin Ye wasn't ready to draw a conclusion yet, so he said, "Let's go take a look at the Longmen tents first. Tianhuo, do you know where the Longmen tents are?"