With some curiosity, I aimed the binoculars at the fellow's hand. Because the wind and waves caused the boat to pitch and roll, I could only vaguely see a black and white round object.
My intuition told me this thing was very important to them, so I didn't care about the risk of being discovered and rashly steered the boat closer to them. Finally, I saw clearly what he was holding.
It was a human head!
The head had clearly been submerged in water for a long time, its skin swollen and pale.
Where eyeballs should have been, there were only two dark, hollow sockets. A full head of black hair clung tightly to the cheeks like weeds.
What I found terrifying was that it was clearly a human head, but it was only the size of an apple, something that a normal adult's palm could easily wrap around!
At this moment, the person who had dived into the water returned to the boat. I saw one of them carefully place the head into a transparent box.
Many strange things had happened on the deserted island in the past few months, and I had developed some resistance to things that defied common sense.
After the initial shock, I quickly regained my composure.
Perhaps what they had fished up was related to the Jiuli people on the island.
I seared the shape of the object into my mind and then followed them.
After retrieving the head, the company's people clearly accelerated their progress.
But strangely, they slowed down again after a while.
Then they began to cast their nets and dive in repeatedly.
Perhaps fate was not on their side, as their subsequent actions yielded nothing.
The two sisters, who had been sitting obediently on the boat, found my fluctuating state of tension and relaxation strange.
I had never told them who these people from the company were.
It was for their protection, after all, who would want to get involved with such mysterious organizations?
But seeing their confusion now, I had to explain.
I didn't reveal too much information, just told them that these people were not ordinary and knew a way to leave. Now, we had to follow them, otherwise, we would never get out on our own.
Trusting me, the two sisters didn't overthink it and just nodded.
I had been rowing for half a day already, and even with my physique, my arms were sore.
Qi Qiaoqiao noticed this and voluntarily took the oars to relieve me.
Qi Xinxin, on the other hand, seemed bored and kept touching the surface of the water with her hand.
"Xinxin, stop playing for now!"
I reached out to stop Qi Xinxin's behavior, as one could never relax at sea.
Horror movies often featured people who, by playing around, met their doom.
Qi Xinxin looked displeased when I stopped her but didn't say anything, just turned her head away and stared at the water, ignoring me.
This girl!
Seeing Qi Xinxin's sulky expression, I felt both annoyed and amused. Shaking my head, I picked up the binoculars and continued to observe the movements of that group.
Before long, I felt a tug on my clothes. Turning, I saw Qi Xinxin staring at the sea with a pale face.
"Uncle, look quickly! What is that dark thing in the sea!"
Hearing Qi Xinxin's words, my heart tightened. I quickly pulled her behind me and looked at the sea.
The weather was good, with the sun high in the sky. The water was also very clear, but at some point, dark masses had appeared near our small boat!
Could it be…
I had a bad premonition, but to calm the sisters, I didn't voice it.
"It's okay, Xinxin. There are all sorts of things in the sea. It might just be some floating seaweed. Those people passed by here earlier, so don't worry."
Even with humanity's advanced civilization, we couldn't claim to have fully explored all the species in the ocean.
Therefore, my words managed to calm the frightened sisters.
Although I appeared calm on the surface, the dark shadows under the water did not recede as we moved forward.
This made me increasingly anxious. Finally, when the ship ahead stopped again, I handed the binoculars to Qiaoqiao.
"You two stay on the boat. I'm going into the water to see what that ghostly thing is!"
My words startled the two sisters. Qi Qiaoqiao frowned and looked at me with concern.
"Those dark shadows in the water haven't harmed us, Lu Ziye. You shouldn't go down."
Qi Xinxin, more frightened, hugged me, as if she had no sense of security without me.
I didn't want to go down either, but some things needed to be confirmed.
I shook my head resolutely and smiled gently at them.
"It's nothing, at most it's just some marine plants. I'll just take a quick look and be right back."
Seeing my firm attitude, Qi Qiaoqiao stopped trying to persuade me. After all, when we were in the forest, I was the one who went out to find food for them, and she had faith in my skills.
After calming Qi Xinxin, I took a deep breath and plunged into the sea with a splash.
The icy water stimulated my senses, bringing back the memory of nearly drowning.
Damn it, this is too ominous!
I shook my head, pushing those thoughts away. Here in the deep sea, I had to be quick!
Holding my breath, I swam towards the dark shadows in the water. As I had suspected, the things in the water were indeed the human heads the company people had retrieved!
These heads floated in the water, some as small as apples, while others were no different from normal human heads.
Without exception, they had the same faces.
One look was enough to realize that these were definitely not human remains, or they wouldn't all look identical.
What in the hell were these things?!
Just as I was about to pick one up for closer inspection, a chill ran down my spine from behind!