A Staged Performance

I remember the Shadow Isles are located south of the Bilgewater, a place associated with the undead; that's the only place I can think of. 💢😝 ♝🍪

You mean the Shadow Isles?

"Shadow Isles? There's no such thing as Shadow Isles among the more than three thousand islands in Bilgewater."

No wonder this place isn't on the map; it hasn't been discovered yet. It seems Gangplank encountered the undead from there, which is why he's so eager to find powerful protection.

"I believe you. You found the spirits in the south, right?"

"Hmm? You ran into them too?"

No, we come from the north.

How did you know?

"Uh... I saw it in an old scroll."

"Is there any record on that scroll on how to repel them?"

Gangplank suddenly became interested, and judging from his eagerness, he seemed very keen to protect Bilgewater. As for sacrificing the child to summon the Serpent Mother, he probably did it in a moment of panic.

However, the so-called ancient scrolls were all lies. I had no idea how to deal with the dead. Just as I was wondering how to answer him, I suddenly felt the sound of explosions in the distance getting closer and closer, and spreading very quickly!

The fuse wasn't lit when it first went off, so why did it explode after all this time?

Gangplank was also surprised. "Stop it, all of you! I'm asking you something crucial!"

"It wasn't one of ours that detonated it! Someone ambushed us!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an explosion swept through our vicinity, and the surrounding ships rocked violently before bursting into flames.

Immediately afterwards, our large ship was also affected, and it began to rock violently, causing the children in the cabin to cry in fear.

Riven intensified the power of the Gale Force, but it couldn't completely stop the explosion. The damp explosives were gradually ignited by the fire, and many people died without a trace amidst screams.

There's no other way but to rely on the strong winds to hold on!

Riven and I rushed into the cabin and found many children bound hand and foot inside. We didn't have time to free them; we had just put up a barrier when a violent explosion resounded all around...

"Everyone lie down, don't get hit by the shards..."

That was the last thing I heard, because soon my ears went completely deaf, and my brain was completely overwhelmed by the roaring sound.

There were several times when I felt I couldn't hold on any longer, but if I gave up at that moment, the children would suffer!

I held the barrier up with all my might, enduring the violent impact of the explosion with my body. My internal organs were churning. I guess Riven on the other side was feeling the same way.

I don't know how much time passed before the explosions finally stopped. I felt my whole body stiffen, and the booming sound in my head took a long time to gradually fade away.

"Yasuo! Are you alright?" It was Yarlin's voice. He had been calling me for a while, but I finally heard him clearly.

"It's nothing, uh..." Before I could finish my sentence, my throat felt dry and itchy, and I spat out a mouthful of blood.

Then I lay on the ground, panting heavily, which terrified Yarlin. I quickly comforted him, saying that I would be fine after a rest.

Judging from Maki's screams, it seems Riven also vomited blood.

After calming down for a while, I stood up. My limbs were still a little stiff, but it was nothing serious.

Riven was still lying on the floor, staring at the top of the cabin with her eyes open, seemingly lost in thought. I went over and helped her up.

"Can you get up?"

"It's alright now, how about you?"

"Thankfully, I made it through."

We stretched our muscles and opened the cages that imprisoned the children, only to find that there were only a few dozen people inside.

Gangplank said he would sacrifice five hundred children, so why are there only so few now? Were they separated?

Are you the only ones here? Where are the other children?

One of the children who arrived earlier told me, "They've all been moved away. There were many people here when I arrived, but they were all taken away later. I don't know where they were sent."

"Let's go, I'll get you to the shore first."

When I stepped out of the cabin, I found the sea in complete disarray, littered with shattered ship planks and burning flammable materials.

I've seen a similar scene before, back when I encountered the Sea Demon on my way to Ionia. The captain blew up the passenger ship, and the devastation on the sea was no different from what I'm seeing here.

Fortunately, visibility was poor at night, so the children wouldn't see many corpses; otherwise, it would have been a lifelong nightmare.

I used the Wind Force to avoid the flames, Riven propelled herself along, quickly reaching the shore.

Before Riven and I rescued the children, there was some commotion on the shore, which was later dispersed by Gangplank's shelling. Now, drawn back by the explosion, they are scattered along the shore watching the commotion.

When they saw a large ship emerging from the sea of fire, they were all startled, and the crowd instantly retreated a great distance.

I told Riven to continue shielding the flames while I jumped ashore to call for help. After a lot of effort, I finally managed to explain things clearly, and everyone started helping.

Most of these people came from the slums. They had started the disturbance to rescue the children, but now that they learned we had freed them, they were all very grateful.

I don't care about their gratitude, because these children are only a small fraction; many more have disappeared without a trace.

I found Yarlin and Maki and told them to live with these people temporarily, and to come back to them once this matter was completely resolved.

The two little ones were very sensible. "Don't worry, we'll definitely take good care of ourselves this time!"

Riven and I searched the sea again to make sure there were no survivors before leaving. We also noticed that there weren't many people here; apart from the people who had surrounded us, there were almost no corpses anywhere else.

It seems the main force of the Daughter of Death isn't here; this place is likely a decoy, and the real ritual isn't taking place in the south!

Riven was puzzled. "If this is just bait, why would Gangplank risk his life? It looks like he might die here now."

"We've never met Gangplank, and we don't know what he looks like, do we?"

"You mean Gangplank was fake too?"

"Yes, I thought he was being pretentious just now, and now it seems he was just acting; he's not Gangplank himself!"

"What about the explosion? Even if he's acting, he wouldn't intentionally blow up his own people, would he?"

"I don't know about that. The explosion could be a staged farce orchestrated by Gangplank himself, or it could be an assassination attempt by the enemy. In any case, it's exactly what he wanted!"

"What a cunning pirate captain! So where do we go next?"

"We can only go back to the central region to continue inquiring. It's impossible to transport so many children without a word, especially in this chaotic time; information should be easy to find!"

Riven and I rushed back immediately. Except for the southern area, the rest of the place remained the same. I thought that things would not be so peaceful once it got light.