“If only we had left with Cheyenne. What do we do now?” Leandro stayed behind just to take it easy.
After all, he was getting old, and he preferred not to move if he could help it. Who knew laziness would almost cost him his life.
Upon hearing this, Paisley glared at him irritably. “If you don’t know what to do, how would I?”
Octavio glanced at the shore. There were about twenty people there. Even if he wasn’t injured, he could only handle ten at most.
With Araceli, maybe they could make a stand.
But now he was injured, significantly reducing his combat power, and even with Araceli, the odds weren’t good. Moreover, they were burdened with the task of protecting the elderly and the children.
Araceli and he exchanged a quick glance. It was clear they couldn’t go ashore; the only way out now was jumping into the water!
But the water might not be safe either because it was close to Poison Island, so there might be poisonous water snakes in the area. However, they had to make a choice between the water snakes and monsters.
“What should we do?” Octavio asked again.
Araceli closed her eyes and made a decision. “Let’s jump.”
“Okay.” Octavio immediately smashed one of the ship’s cabins and grabbed a piece of wood, holding it close to his chest. “I’ll count to three, and we all jump together!”
Leandro, upon hearing this, instinctively looked down at the water. By now, it was already bright out, and he could see two black-and-white water snakes swimming in the water.
“No, I can’t… What if I get bitten when I jump?” Araceli handed him a life jacket. “There’s no choice. If we go ashore, we might die too. Leandro, can you swim?”
Leandro nodded. “Yes, I used to swim in the pond behind the mountain when I was young.” He was about to say that it was all when he was a teenager and that he hadn’t swum in decades.
Araceli didn’t want to hear any more of that. She just kicked Leandro into the water.
Water splashed up ten or twenty feet high. Seeing this, Paisley put on her life jacket. “You don’t need to bother, I’ll do it myself.”
She could swim, but… her weight made her lack confidence in herself. With her life on the line, she could only grit her teeth and jump.
As for Araceli and Octavio, needless to say, they were top mercenaries, having learned all the skills needed for wilderness survival.
However, when Araceli jumped into the water, she remembered the poor grandfather and granddaughter still on the boat.
“What about Mike’s grandfather and sister?” Octavio, seeing her pause, was so angry that he cursed. “Oh my God, what are you doing? Those people are trying to catch us, and you’re worried about others’ lives.”
“But…” In Octavio’s mind, this trip was just for money, nothing more than a job. Completing the task and saving their own lives were more important than anything else.
“There’s no ‘but.’ If we’re caught, we’ll only be worse off than the old man and the kid. Let’s go.” Just as Araceli was hesitating, Paisley surprisingly swam back.
“The child is still on the boat. I promised Cheyenne to look after them. How can we just run away?” Paisley’s resolute decision surprised Leandro, and after a moment of thought, he swam back towards the boat too.
“You’re right. We can’t be so selfish and only think about ourselves. Let’s go find that grandfather and granddaughter.” Araceli nodded. “I’ll go save them.”
Octavio, who was already halfway through the journey, watched them all swimming back into the lion’s den, unable to help but widen his eyes. “Are they all idiots? Why go back? It’s beyond comprehension!”
“I don’t care anymore, it’s impossible for me to swim back when I’m injured.” Besides, not far behind him, there was a cute little one glaring at him.
Octavio accelerated his speed.
Just as he was about to climb ashore, a huge net fell from the sky and suddenly enveloped him.
“We’ve got someone!”
He quickly reached out to protect his head, trying to struggle twice but couldn’t break free from the fishing net.
“Bastards, let me go!”
However, those strange people pulled the fishing net without expression, lifting him from the water as if they were fishing for a whale.
Brushing footsteps came closer and closer.
The leader turned out to be a middle-aged man in a military green uniform, wearing black-framed glasses on his nose.
He looked at Octavio, caught by them, with interest.
“Golden-haired thief?”
“When did you land on this island and what is your purpose here?”
The man spoke fluent English.
Octavio made an excuse that he was here for tourism and accidentally took the wrong path to get here.
“Tourist? Every year, many self-proclaimed experts come here to die. Are you one of them too?”
“Yes, yes, I’m here to study the biodiversity here.”
Octavio thought his lie had convinced the man, expecting to be released soon.
Little did he know, the man with glasses elegantly pushed his glasses and smiled.
He cheerfully gave orders.
“Since you’re here to study biodiversity, why not stay and let me study you too? Take him away!”
“Yes, sir.”
As soon as the man’s words fell, two obedient soldiers quickly came forward, lifting Octavio’s arms from both sides and carrying him away.
Octavio shouted for help, but there was no one here to save him.
The man looked at the boat parked on the water and clearly saw a young woman in a black leather jacket through his binoculars.
“She dressed in this attire… she doesn’t seem like an ordinary tourist. Set fire… burn them all.”
“Yes.”
Buckets of oil were poured into the sea, turning the deep blue water into black.
The man took out a lighter from his pocket.
Snap!
Watching the flames leaping in the air, a cruel yet elegant smile appeared on his face.
“These ants actually hid here, no wonder we couldn’t find them for so long.”
“Since they refuse to relocate, then let them die here forever. It just so happens that the little ones in the forest have been hungry for a long time too.”
As he spoke, he lightly threw the lighter into the water.
It fell into the water.
The flame instantly ignited the oil, snakes of fire everywhere, quickly turning the entire sea into a sea of fire.
The boats tied together couldn’t move, and the villagers who relied on the boats for survival immediately tried to grab the boats.
Only then did they realize that the lifeline they fought for was another abyss of death.
Cries of despair filled the air.
The flames ruthlessly burned, devouring their lives.
Paisley finally found Baylee, the little girl was scared and hiding under the bed.
She waved at the little girl.
“Child, come out quickly, come with Grandma. Otherwise, you’ll die here.”
But Baylee looked at her grandfather on the bed who was unable to move, tears of fear streaming down her eyes.
She shook her head, unmoving.