On the twenty-fourth day of the Bosang's voyage, the temperature outside was minus three degrees Celsius. They reached another settlement. The Swarm had already paid it a visit, leaving it deserted.
On the twenty-fifth day of the Bosang's voyage, the temperature outside was minus four degrees Celsius. Crystalline flowers of ice began forming on the sea. They did not impede navigation yet, but they were a bad omen all the same.
That evening, they encountered another settlement. It, too, was deserted.
The atmosphere aboard grew increasingly tense. Fear showed on the faces of the sailors from Garbage City.
For several days afterward, they encountered new settlements every day.
They were already very close to Skorint, the capital of Deep Blue Star, so the settlements were particularly dense here.
But every one of them was empty.
Under Captain Sampo's command, the Bosang continued along its course, pressing relentlessly onward.
The sailors kept gathering in secret, seemingly plotting something.
On the twenty-ninth day of the Bosang's voyage, the temperature outside was minus eight degrees Celsius.
An impenetrable mass of black clouds appeared on the horizon ahead.
The clouds that had originally shrouded the southern hemisphere had now encroached on the northern hemisphere.
Skorint, the capital on the equator, was now beneath that cloud cover as well.
Sampo gave the order to advance toward the clouds.
"We can't put up with this anymore!" a sailor exclaimed in the cabin, furious and afraid. "The captain's gone mad! He's throwing his life away for a commission from a few outsiders!"
Sampo had explained to the crew that he was taking a few outsiders to the capital for a handsome commission.
He had also promised the crew generous pay once the job was done. Only then had they felt reassured enough to risk their lives