Charles was deep in thought. Rats were typically at the bottom of the food chain, and such a large number of them on the island surely indicated the presence of other predators. He didn’t know what they were, but he was certain they weren’t cats.

As Charles pondered, the rats receded like a tide, leaving not even a single fish bone on the yellow-white sand.

“Drop anchor, sailors. Arm yourselves with weapons and explosives. Prepare to disembark,” Charles commanded, and the crew sprang into action.

For this expedition, he had prepared more explosives. While gunpowder might not be effective, it was better to have it than not.

If the danger on the island was limited to those rats, the explosives would certainly come in handy.

Two wooden boats were lowered into the sea, and everyone except the disabled Bandage, who was left to watch the ship, disembarked. They all had a strip of cloth tied around their shoulders.

The cloth bore each crew member’s name and position, ensuring that no one would silently join or disappear from the group upon their return to the ship.

The group slowly made their way among the rocks. The experienced old crew members remained relatively calm, while the new recruits were more jittery, startling at the slightest movement.

The rocks on the island became looser the further they went in, and the ground began to show scattered animal bones.

A look of slight disappointment crossed Charles’ face. It seemed that the passage to the surface was not here.

As Charles hesitated about whether to continue inward, a red light suddenly flashed between the rocks in the distance.

Charles ducked behind a large rock and whispered to the others, “Put out all the fires!”

Although the crew didn’t understand why, they obeyed the captain’s order.

Without the torchlight, the red color in the distance became even clearer, flickering between the rocks as it moved towards them.

As it drew nearer, everyone could see the true nature of the color.

The creature resembled a swollen leech, estimated to be five meters long. The red light was emitted from spots beneath its semi-transparent skin, flashing on and off in a terrifying manner.

Despite lacking wings or fins, the leech could soar freely through the air. It seemed to be searching for something, its six eye stalks at the front of its body twitching as they scanned the surroundings.

The humans hiding behind the rocks dared not breathe, and some of the more timid even closed their eyes and trembled.

Charles watched the eye stalks intently. Just from its appearance, he knew it wasn’t a creature that favored peace. It was best not to provoke it.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Growl…” Someone’s stomach suddenly rumbled, a small sound that nonetheless echoed like a thunderclap in the silence.

“Swish!” The leech’s eye stalks instantly swiveled towards the humans. Its spike-covered mouthpiece emitted a terrifying low roar, and after a slight flash of its semi-transparent body, it disappeared from its spot.

“Damn! It can turn invisible. It’s coming!”

Charles grabbed the explosives at his waist, his body tense and his expression resolute, ready to fight the monster to the death.

The other crew members also tightened their grip on their weapons, their hearts pounding.

Charles counted the seconds in his mind. Just as he was about to throw the explosives, the dark environment was illuminated by red light. The leech appeared out of thin air above a rock, its eye stalks looking into the distance.

“Chirp chirp chirp!” The sound of rats squeaking came from that direction, growing louder, as if intentionally drawing attention.

The leech twisted its bloated body and swiftly swam towards the noise, the red light disappearing.

In the darkness, Charles, drenched in cold sweat, exhaled. He hadn’t expected to be saved by rats.

He turned to speak to the person next to him, only to find a pair of glowing green eyes appear to his left.

But this was just the beginning. More and more eyes lit up, layer upon layer, sending shivers down the spines of those who saw them.

Charles struck a match against the rock wall, and the flame illuminated their surroundings. They were surrounded by rats—countless rats stacked on top of each other like a human pyramid!

“Hello there! My name is Lili. Pleased to meet you!”

The sudden female voice froze everyone’s instinctive attack movements.

After a quick assessment, Charles identified the speaker as a white rat standing among the crowd of rats. This white rat behaved completely differently from its kin, its eyes full of liveliness.

The rat seemed to recognize Charles as their leader and hopped in front of him, looking up. “Hello, I’m Lili. What’s your name?”

Charles glanced around at the rats and replied softly, “Charles.”

Just as they finished their initial exchange, a roar echoed from the direction where the flying leech had disappeared.

“Oh no! Come on, come on! My friends can only hold it off for a little while. It’s coming back. I’ll take you to my home.”

With that, the white rat led the other rats in a swift retreat.

Seeing the red light emerging in the distance again, Charles didn’t dare to linger. He hurriedly followed with his crew.

Compared to that monster, at least these rats were capable of communication.

In the darkness, Charles and his crew followed the rats through a series of twists and turns, eventually arriving at the entrance of a hole over a meter high.

As they entered with torches in hand, pairs of eyes in the darkness watched the humans entering their cave, and a constant rustling sound filled the air.

A dozen torches were lit and thrown into the air, illuminating everything. The cave, nearly the size of a football field, was filled with black and brown rats staring at them intently.

The rats themselves were not surprising, but some of them were holding bone tools like humans, which was somewhat eerie.

Among them were neatly arranged low domed houses, and Charles even saw a large rat teaching a young rat how to count! He felt as if he had suddenly entered Lilliput.

The white rat somehow produced a toy-sized stool and hopped onto it, sitting down. “Can you take me home? I miss my mom.”

A group of rats came forward, placing bowls of brown liquid in front of each human, seemingly as a gesture of hospitality.

Home? Charles looked around at the peculiar rat cave. “Isn’t this your home?”

“Of course not! I’m not a rat! I’m a human!” the white rat stood on the stool, bristling with indignation.

“A human?” The crew members widened their eyes, staring at the small rat in front of them. No matter how they looked, they couldn’t see a human.

Seeing the disbelief in Charles and his crew, the white rat Lili quickly began to explain.

“I really am a human. My parents took me on a boat to visit my grandfather on He Fang Island, but we encountered a whirlpool. I fell into the sea, and when I woke up, I was like this. I don’t know why.”