Landing on the Island!

"Get up! Get up! You're still sleeping? Didn't you hear what I said?! Get the hell up, now!!" Early in the morning, when it was only just beginning to brighten, a rough-looking man entered the cramped space and bellowed at the sleeping crowd, his face fierce and menacing.

After being noisily yelled at by the rough man, no one could keep sleeping. Although everyone was burning with anger, not a single person dared to confront him!

There was no helping it. Not only were their hands and feet shackled, severely limiting their combat strength, but the man's identity as a mage was already enough to fill them with fear! They did not know why these mages had captured them, but the outcome was unlikely to be anything good!

The gap in strength was right there before them. Even if they wanted to resist, they had no chance at all! They could only helplessly allow themselves to be at their captors' mercy. They were angry, but not to the point of losing their minds. Naturally, no one wanted to provoke these mages.

This way of thinking was pessimistic, but it was undoubtedly the best course of action for now. At least their lives were not in immediate danger. They could tell from the fact that their captors had taken them alive rather than killing them from the start.

Those mages were probably not fools. Since they had deliberately captured them, they must have had some unspeakable purpose! Perhaps they even needed them for something at a critical moment! So, at least for now, their lives were not in danger.

They should not rush into resisting. They would first see how things played out. If they could live a little longer, then they would live a little longer!

That was everyone's true thought. It had to be said that, regardless of the world, most people feared death! Unless they had a great chance of escape or their lives were directly threatened, such people would usually endure when they could and retreat when they had to.

Though living on in such a cowardly and miserable way might let them survive a little longer, when true catastrophe came, people like them were usually the first to be dealt with! It was like boiling a frog in warm water...

Chen Wuming understood everyone's thoughts better than anyone. He was one of the kidnapped as well, so with a little thought, he could roughly guess what they were thinking. In fact, he had awakened the moment the rough man entered. Perhaps because something as fantastical as transmigration had actually happened to him, Chen Wuming had slept but not deeply the previous night. Though he sneered inwardly at everyone's hopeful mentality, there was nothing he could do about it.

There was no other reason. Not only was he currently in a child's body, but more importantly—no one would help him.

Although the saying that one person's strength was always insignificant might not be entirely accurate in this world of magic, it could not have been more fitting for Chen Wuming's current situation...

At that thought, Chen Wuming could not help letting out a soft sigh.

"What's wrong, kid?" The old man beside him naturally noticed Chen Wuming's expression. Seeing him merely shake his head without answering, the worldly old man naturally understood what he was thinking. He sighed as well and softly said, seemingly to Chen Wuming and seemingly just talking to himself, "It may be pessimistic, but as long as you're alive, there will always be hope..."

Chen Wuming's body trembled at once! That was right, as long as he was alive, there was hope! If he died, there truly would be no hope at all. It seemed his thinking had been too unrealistic.

With that thought, Chen Wuming gave the old man a grateful look. He was not foolish enough to think the man had truly been talking to himself! Clearly, the old man was trying to enlighten him.

The old man acted as though he had not seen Chen Wuming's grateful gaze. He merely narrowed his eyes as he sat there, seeming to doze off or perhaps ponder something. Yet if one looked closely, one could still catch the fleeting flash of approval in his eyes, though it lasted only an instant.

After resolving the knot in his heart, Chen Wuming felt much more relaxed. Of course, this relaxation did not mean he had lowered his guard against the mages who had kidnapped them. On the contrary, his vigilance had risen to unprecedented heights! He did not know why they had captured so many people. Until he fully understood their purpose, he would not dare relax his guard for even a moment!

Over there, the rough man seemed to have grown impatient and began urging them again. As he cursed and shouted, he cracked the whip in his hand against those who kept nodding off.

"Ah—" A sudden scream drew everyone's attention. Looking toward the sound, they saw a middle-aged man curled up on the ground in agony like a giant prawn, beads of cold sweat continuously seeping from his forehead. He was clearly suffering immense pain.

Looking lower, at the spot his hands were covering... well, so that was it. The whip had struck him in the balls...

Chen Wuming watched the scene with cold sweat running down his face. While silently mourning for the unfortunate man, he also thought speechlessly, Man, you really are ridiculously unlucky.

There was no need to say it. That must have hurt terribly...

Then again, Chen Wuming's thoughts decisively took an evil turn. Why did the rough man and that unlucky tragedy of a guy lying on the ground together give him such a bizarre feeling? It almost had the grand air of S&M...

The rough man, the culprit behind this balls-aching situation, was sweating just as heavily. His face twitched as he looked at the middle-aged man sprawled on the ground and screaming endlessly. He looked at the whip in his hand, then threw it far away with a look of disgust. Clearly, he had thought of the same thing.

"Damn it! None of you sleep again! I haven't even slept enough myself!! If I catch anyone still sleeping, this guy will be your fate! Tch—" The rough man grumbled another warning, casually pointing at the middle-aged man who was still lying on the ground and had yet to recover from the intense pain. He spat lightly and muttered, "Damn it! Every last one of you sleeps like a pig!" With that, he ignored the expressions of the people in the cramped space, opened the hatch leading to the upper deck, and climbed out.

As for everyone's expressions... well, unsurprisingly, they all very consciously found ways to drive away their drowsiness. After all, no one wanted to experience that kind of balls-aching pain... Seriously, it really hurt.

Enough nonsense. Chen Wuming's thoughts returned to the present as he lowered his head and pondered. Earlier, he had learned from the old man that they were being held in a storeroom beneath the deck of a sailing ship. Do not ask how the old man knew. After all, he had lived so long. If he could not infer even that much, then his sixty-odd years of life would have been wasted!

According to the old man, since the storeroom they were in was not very large, the sailing ship transporting and holding them could not be a large vessel either. Moreover, from the scent of seaweed and salty moisture permeating the air, one could roughly guess that the ship was sailing through some stretch of ocean!

However, they did not know which sea they were in, where their captors intended to take them, or even what they wanted them to do. Still, anyone could guess it would definitely not be anything good!

Since someone had come to urge them awake just now, they had probably arrived. At that thought, Chen Wuming's spirits immediately lifted, and his vigilance instantly rose to its peak!

Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, the rough man climbed down again and urged everyone toward the deck.

After reaching the deck, Chen Wuming was finally able to properly observe his surroundings. This was an eerie sea! That was the first thought that arose in his mind. It was eerie because the entire sea was shrouded beneath a gloomy sky, and not a single seabird could be seen anywhere around them! It was as if they had entered a lifeless dead sea.

At the center of the sea stood a medium-sized island. Like the surrounding waters, the entire island gave off an eerie, chilling feeling. The sailing ship was currently docked beside the island's pier.

"What are you looking at? What are you all standing around for?! Get ashore already!!" The moment everyone paused in a daze, the rough man impatiently urged them again. "You'll have plenty of chances to look later! Get your asses ashore right now!!!" After roaring, he viciously raised the whip in his hand.

At the sight, everyone shrank their heads in fright. Not daring to delay, they hurried off the deck and onto the island in a line, then waited for the rough man's orders. Chen Wuming naturally could not continue observing his surroundings, so he went down with the others.

Seeing how obedient everyone was, the rough man seemed very pleased. He proudly lifted his chin and was about to scold them a few more times to satisfy himself when a cold voice suddenly came from the deck behind him.

"That's enough, Tucker. Stop wasting time. Take them to the worksite."

Pulling down the broad hat on his head, the black-robed man spoke with an indifferent expression. Behind him stood the burly man who had accompanied him on the mission assigned by their superiors to capture laborers.

"Yes, yes, Lord Safi!" Hearing this, the rough man—Tucker—immediately bent at the waist with an extremely respectful expression and humbly replied, "I'll take this group of laborers to the worksite right away!"

"Mm." The black-robed man said nothing more. Without even sparing Chen Wuming and the others a glance, he turned and left with the burly man beside him.

Those two should be higher-ups in this unknown evil mage organization, right? Watching the two figures gradually walk away, Chen Wuming thought with a grave expression. Tucker's attitude just now made it obvious that their status was certainly not low!

"What are you all standing around here for?! Move forward already!!" Wiping away the cold sweat that had seeped from his forehead, Tucker finally recovered from the pressure exerted by those two lords. When he saw everyone staring at him with strange looks, he immediately roared in embarrassment and anger, "If you delay the lords' plans, I'll hold every one of you accountable!!!" He was clearly extremely displeased by the way everyone had looked at him just now! Those looks were obviously mocking him!

After mocking him like that, anyone could tell he was in a foul mood. Naturally, no one was stupid enough to provoke him at this time. They immediately lowered their heads and began walking, hurrying toward the so-called worksite under Tucker's stream of curses and directions.

Likewise, although Chen Wuming was still deeply puzzled by this so-called worksite, he was not foolish enough to ask outright. He could only force down the questions in his heart and continue on with his head lowered. Yet as he traveled, whenever Tucker was not paying attention, he would secretly observe the surrounding environment! He did not dare be careless in the slightest about this. It was crucial to whether he could escape alive and regain his freedom in the future! Thus, he observed everything with exceptional care.