Shrouded Seascape - Chapter 515: Ernst

Ernst’s eyes snapped wide open. He looked down and discovered that he was drenched in cold sweat. It couldn’t be helped, as he had just suffered a true death at the hands of the evil Charles, who had just transformed him into the so-called “Bandages” in his dream.

The sound of crashing waves outside the room brought Ernst back to his senses, and he realized that he had truly been dreaming. After all, he was still on this ship.

Looking around, Ernst found that he was in a very peculiar room. The room had thick, yellow sponges as its walls.

Although Ernst had no idea where they were taking him, he knew one thing for sure: they were going to kill him to resurrect “Bandages.”

No! I can’t just sit idly by. I’m not some goddamn Bandages! I have to escape and return to my Frost Island!

A creaking noise echoed just then, and the small iron grate at the bottom of the door opened, revealing a steaming array of breakfast dishes.

“Please enjoy your meal, Sir Weister.”

Ernst wasn’t going to refuse any meals offered to him, as a refusal meant he’d be forced to eat. Fortunately, these torturous days would soon come to an end. He had already come up with a plan to escape, and it was D-Day today.

Ernst walked over to the door and nodded at the person outside. Then, he smiled and said, “Can you tell the Captain that I’ve recovered some of my memories? I remember it now; my name is Bandages, and I’m his first mate, isn’t that right?”

The individual on the other side of the door shook their head helplessly upon hearing Ernst’s eloquent manner of speech. They didn’t even bother replying and directly closed the iron grate.

Ernst sighed helplessly at the sight and ate his breakfast with relish. He couldn’t starve himself, as he had to eat his fill so that he’d have the strength to escape.

Ernst soon finished his meal, and he sat quietly, waiting patiently for something.

It had been quite a while since he started living on this ship, so he had already memorized their routine. Every morning, they’d be let out of their cells for some fresh air and to ensure that they wouldn’t end up developing other disorders due to long confinement.

Ernst’s plan involved taking advantage of that free time to look for allies.

Time ticked by, and Ernst rejoiced immediately upon hearing familiar footsteps outside the door. The golden opportunity had arrived, and he had to take advantage of it.

Soon, more than a dozen crew members were led to the deck by the caregivers. It was time for the crew to get some fresh air while walking around on the deck that had been covered with black cloths as makeshift shelters. Ernst was one of them, and he paced slowly on the deck while stealing glances at the escort ships not too far away from them.

Ernst’s expression was that of contempt as he stared at the escort ships, but he was inwardly stupefied. After all, it was unthinkable for mere escort ships to have such sheer size and sturdy-looking deck cannons made out of steel.

Even Ernst didn’t have such massive ships armed to the teeth with fine steel as the Governor of Frost Island. Frost Island only had tiny sailboats, so there was no way they’d have such massive ships, much less the airships overhead.

Ernst was scared out of his wits when he first clapped his eyes on the massive airships with their enormous gas bags hanging in the sky. He was so shocked that he thought he was staring at flying giant monsters.

He hated to admit it, but Governor Charles was dozens of times stronger than him when it came to sheer military strength.

Ernst glanced at the bright world outside; he had been having a nagging feeling that something was amiss. There was a chance that this world wasn’t the world where he had come from, but he had to escape this ship to confirm his theory.

He couldn’t die here—he absolutely couldn’t become Bandages!

Ernst looked down and strolled slowly. Just like that, Ernst spent an hour with his head lowered until the caregivers had let some of their guard down before walking slowly toward a bald woman.

The bald woman turned to Ernst, and the latter saw that the former looked quite frustrated.

“First Mate, have you seen the captain? I want to apologize to him…” Linda muttered, staring dazedly at Ernst.

Ernst looked around briefly before replying in a low voice, “I know where your captain is right now. Do as I say, and I will definitely help you find him.”

“Really?” Linda’s eyes lit up. “Then, let’s go and find him. I really want to apologize to him. He never had any idea that I had deceived him, and I feel really sorry for what I had done to him.”

“Shhh!” Ernst reached out and grabbed Linda’s arm, stopping her dead in her tracks; she was just about to leave in excitement upon hearing Ernst’s remark.

“Stay put and wait. I’ll inform you immediately once I’ve received any news.”

Just then, Norton, wearing a patient gown, walked over stealthily and exclaimed, “Reporting to the first mate, sir! We’ve been surrounded by these deformed creatures. I followed your orders and refrained from disturbing them. What do we do next?”

“Don’t stand so close to me, and keep your voice down! They’re looking over here! Anyway, we’re doing it today. Wait for my signal once we’re back in our cells!”

“Understood; I promise to complete the mission!”

Ernst took full advantage of the break to approach the other crew members. He talked to the crew members and persuaded them to join his mission.

Ernst only approached those who were a bit less insane than average, and he didn’t bother wasting his time trying to win over those who had gone completely insane that they couldn’t even feed themselves, like the chubby man with a prosthetic leg.

Fortunately, the others seemed very close to Ernst, and Ernst’s plan progressed swimmingly as a result.

“Fresh air time is over! It’s time to go back, everyone!” the attending physician exclaimed. The caregivers walked up to the crew members and escorted them toward their cells.

Ernst didn’t bother resisting and allowed the strong caregivers to carry him back to his cell. Ernst cast one final glance outside and saw a black spot on the bright horizon in the distance. It was an island; they were approaching their destination.

A dull noise echoed as the iron door wrapped in a yellow sponge was closed. Ernst pressed his ear to the door, listening to any movements outside.

The ship was about to dock, and he learned from the idle chatter of the caregivers that they would dock at an island called the World’s Crown to replenish supplies and fuel.

Ernst realized that this was his golden opportunity to escape, and whether he could break free or not depended on this one and only attempt!

The ship’s swaying soon became less intermittent and rough; the ship had finally docked at the island’s pier!

However, Ernst didn’t make a move right away. He waited quietly for another half an hour before pressing his hands gently on the door. His fingers transformed into green vines and probed the keyhole on the door.

Ernst had no idea when he had learned such a special ability, but he had recently discovered that he had the special ability to control plants, and he was pretty good at it.

Upon discovering his special ability, Ernst dared not to show it to anyone; he decided to hide it, as it was his trump card—a trump card that would greatly increase his chances of escaping confinement.

An audible click echoed. Moments later, Ernst shoved the door open and rushed out.

The caregivers were stunned to see Ernst emerging from his cell, but they quickly snapped back to reality and charged at Ernst with tranquilizer syringes in hand.

Ernst stretched out his hands, and the twisting vines climbed up the caregivers, binding them. Ernst made quick work of the caregivers, subduing them at once.

I’ve done it! I’m finally out! Ernst’s heart was beating wildly with excitement. He rushed to the other cells and released the lunatics inside of them.

After gathering the few crew members that he had managed to persuade earlier, Ernst then turned to the remaining lunatics and whipped their backs.

The lunatics groaned in pain and ran outside in fear.

“Why did you whip them, First Mate, sir? They’re our friends,” Norton asked, sounding astonished.

However, Ernst had no time to explain and dragged his conspirators to chase after the fleeing lunatics.

“Stick close to me and run! Hurry up and run! Let them take the lead. We’ll have a greater chance of escaping by allowing them to run ahead of us! Also, don’t forget to grab any weapons that you can find!”

A group of lunatics had broken out of their cells, throwing the entire cabin into chaos. Unfortunately, these madmen were extremely important figures to the governor, so the navy troops dared not employ lethal force.

Unfortunately, Ernst and his group of lunatics didn’t share the same sentiment.

After grabbing any weapons that they found on their way out, Ernst and his group of lunatics immediately threatened the navy troops.

The navy troops hesitated, unsure about how to take them down. In the end, they could only watch as Ernst and his group of lunatics rushed out of the cabin.

Upon reaching the deck, Ernst saw the harbor district of the World’s crown in the distance and immediately roared, “Run! Run toward the harbor! They’re too scared to shoot us!”