Shadow of the Cave

Wow! Wow!

 Two assault boats, one in front, one behind.

 The bow of the fore-boat was mounted with a light six-pounder short gun, filled with loose shot, and padded solidly with sandbags behind.

 Behind the gun sat Acharin, and besides him the boat contained Lorraine, Hina, and Noa, while two oarsmen sat in the stern.

 The back boat is much more crowded than the loose front boat.

 Fourteen hand-picked sailors sat full in the boat, holding swords at the head and tail, and four in the center rowing the oars.

 As the two boats slid into the isthmus one after the other, following a line of cliffs back to the sea cave, Lorraine stood up and raised her hand to shout, "Slow down! Light the torches!"

 He and Yacharin each lit a torch, and two sailors from the back boat stood up, one holding a torch, to illuminate the entire ship's waters fore and aft.

 The expedition then slipped into a deep sea cave.

 This sea cave is twisting, deep, and wide, like a never-ending waveform bend that takes one into the hinterland of the island through one change of direction of varying lengths.

 There was pungent, deposited, pungent ammonia everywhere, surrounded by jagged, jutting, monstrous rocks that crisscrossed the channel.

 Halfway through the journey, the path along the cliffside was completely cut off, and as the light of day could not enter, Lorraine could only see part of the cave wall clearly by the faint glow of the torch.

 "This is a sea erosion cave." Lorraine pointed at the unspeakable protruding rocks on the cave wall and said, "The lava splashes here but doesn't close up, probably back then it was because of some kind of special topography that made this place leave a gap, and then the seawater washed away over the days and eventually enlarged the cave to its current state."

 Both Hina and Noa were curious about such novel knowledge and wanted to hear more from Lorraine. It was just a pity that there was also Yacharin, who was also familiar with the sea and had received higher education, on board the boat.

 The romantic French gentleman shrugged, trying to stretch his arms and raise his torch, "All I care about is how long this tunnel is, Mr. Captain. We may have advanced a kilometer, perhaps more, and not yet seen the end."

 "You're worried that the end will lead out of the cave?"

 "There really is nothing to hide from you." Yacharin sighed depressingly, "I'm worried that this tunnel went through the entire rock formation and ended up ending up in an open-air environment deep in the jungle. After so many years have passed, there is even the most beautiful gold artifacts, and they have been spoiled by wild beasts. ..."

 "I've heard a saying."

 "What?"

 "Speculation is risky, be careful when taking sides." Lorraine smiled and said, "Yacharin, your situation is unique, at least until we get our harvest, you can change your stance at any time and get treatment comparable to that of a sailor. I think this change in favor of profit is reasonable."

 "Damn it! You actually tempted me!"

 Yacharin's position among the seamen was truly exceptional.

 Lorraine offered the flagship sailors a 30% share of the Chamber's dividends. But Yacharin was in the process of redeeming himself, and according to the employment contract between the two parties, during this period, all of his remuneration would go to the Chamber, no matter how much or how little, and would be used for self-redemption.

 But exploration is not a Chamber act, it is a personal act, and its benefits and risks are rightly independent of the Chamber's profit and loss.

 So in theory, Yacharin is perfectly capable of divesting himself of the Chamber and acquiring his own personal benefits like a sailor on an adventure.

 As for the price, it was a temporary or complete loss of real access to Lorraine's trust list.

 He is an ambitious man, and ambition makes him weak in the presence of Lorraine and becomes extraordinarily eager for trust. The choice Lorraine gives him is, to put it bluntly, a trade-off between money and the circle.

 Is it about actually fitting in with Lorraine's circle?

 The question only nagged at him for a short while before he gritted his teeth and made his decision, "Captain, the gold coins are moving, but I choose to decline."

 Lorraine shared a meaningful glance with Noa and smiled slightly, "Yacharin, you won't have to go to the Second Fleet when we get back to Southampton."

 "Eh?"

 Acharin had not yet had time to savor the depths of this temptation when screams exploded violently from the skiff behind him!

 "Ah!"

 A sailor stood up and fell screaming into the water, and by the faint light of the fire, Lorraine saw a dozen globs of pitch-black fall from the sky and latch onto his face and body.

 He was struggling in the water!

 It struggled for only a moment, and then no more.

 The blackness flew up like a drunken stagger, and gathered together in one piece to let out a sharp chirp, "Zee!"

 The roof of the cave lit up at first with a myriad of ghostly red lights, and roiling pitch blackness flew out from the shadows of the cave, the sound of fluttering wings intertwined like a torrential downpour lapping at a plantain.

 Acharin was terrified to the core, "Bloodsucking bats!"

 "Protect the oarsmen! Use the torch to disperse them!" Lorraine reacted as fast as she could, clanging and drawing her sword with one hand, causing the torch to be held high in one hand and waved it as hard as she could over the oarsmen's heads!

 "Accelerate! Punch through!"

 More torches were lit and the sailors danced around their bodies in terror to ward off the horrible bloodsucking bats.

 The paddlers accelerated their paddle strokes and tried with all their might to make a quick dash through the sea of bats.

 They were caught in a sea of bats!

 The sky was filled with black shadows of thousands of blood-sucking bats.

 Lorraine danced the torch with one hand and swung the long knife with the other, slicing at least one bat with each stroke. Hina and Noa were even more efficient than he was, one holding two short knives, the other holding a tarot between their fingers, back to back, not only holding the perimeter of their bodies in a deadly grip, but also having the strength left over to look after the two oarsmen's fronts.

 Yacharin was also repelling bats, standing on the rickety boat and using the flames to drive away the bats that swooped head-on into the skiff.

 Thanks to their response, the ex-boat is safe for now.

 But crowded backboats are far from being as comfortable as they are.

 Lorraine issued the order just in time, and they lit six torches in a short time, hooting and hollering to repel them, but still, not a sailor was bitten by the bats, screamed, and was knocked down into the water by more of them.

 In a short period of time, three people fell into the water, and with the one who was previously alive or dead, that's four people!

 This way the backboat can't punch through!

 With both eyes bloodshot, Lorraine sliced across the two bats with a single slash and shouted, "Yacharin! Fire!"

 Subconsciously, Yacharin lit his hairline, and as soon as the sparks sputtered, he cried out in terror, "Bend down! Open your mouth! Cover your ears!"

 Boom!

 An earth-shattering roar resounded throughout the cave, and the forward boat, which was rapidly moving forward, stagnated violently and flew backwards like a cannonball.

 Lorraine and Noa fell in unison, stumbling forward, and the quick-eyed Hina only had time to grab Noa before Lorraine had flown past him, falling into the water with a common thud.

 Hundreds of reddish streamers illuminated the tunnel, crackling against the hard cave walls, rock dust splattering and rock chips flying across the room, sweeping nearly a hundred bats off the bow.

 But there was much more to this shot than that!

 Bats are life of keen hearing, and the sudden thunderous roar stunned and even killed them, and countless bats fell like rain, falling in the water, falling on boats, and smashing into people ... The whole colony was swept away!

 Lorraine surfaced with a clatter, rubbing her ears in agony as she endured the ringing in her ears.

 "Load loose ammo and organize the flooded people, we need to get out of here before most of the vampire bats wake up." He wiped the water off his face as he did so, "Damn, front and rear boats can't be drawn in a straight line from now on ... It'd be a mistake to crash because of recoil."

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