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墨書 Inktalez
After opening the Hatch, there was no dust inside; everything was covered in a layer of ice, just like outside.
Whether it was people or objects, everything had frozen solid. Looking at the six corpses lying in the submarine, their death poses were all discordant, and the interior was a complete mess, with equipment scattered everywhere. I couldn't help but recall how not long after we submerged, the submarine had spun 360 degrees; I had even been hit by the sofa at that time, which left a deep impression on me.
"Everything is frozen solid; what can we possibly find?" Xianxian said while kicking at an ice-covered box with her foot.
Cough cough...
I clenched my fist and coughed twice into it. Without lifting her head, Xianxian asked with a gleeful smile, "What's wrong? Caught a cold? I told you to take a bath outside without any clothes on, haha."
I was at a loss for words and really wanted to ask who exactly had stripped down first! However, looking at the six pairs of eyes staring at us from across the room, I held back my question and forced a laugh, greeting them instead. "Um, we’re not disturbing you, are we?"
Xianxian paused for a moment, then stepped back to stand beside me. Eyeballs turned around and quietly asked, "Are there also...?"
"Of course!" I shot him a glare. "Are you blind? Can't you see the six corpses lying on the ground?"
Xianxian chuckled awkwardly and turned to the unusually flamboyant individuals beside him. "Hello everyone! It's fate that we meet today. Would you like to join us in the League of Shadows?"
I coughed again. Was it really necessary to be so direct right off the bat about joining the League of Shadows? Is it something anyone can join? If we ended up mixing with spies or something worse, that would be bad. Besides, "You're looking in the wrong direction; they're over there." I pointed out those individuals while suppressing my laughter.
Xianxian froze for a moment, her face turning slightly red before she proudly declared, "Alright, alright! Anyway, this Lord has said everything that needs to be said. You ask them if they want to join; if they don't, let's hurry up and leave. There are still others waiting for our warm rescue!"
"You... you really can see us?" A young man in his twenties exclaimed with surprise and disbelief in his eyes.
I nodded. All of them were male; the youngest looked about our age while the oldest seemed no more than forty. As for their clothing styles, they appeared to be from the Twenty-First Century; I couldn't tell which year exactly.
"What are you?" A middle-aged man asked sharply but without hostility.
"What are we?" I raised an eyebrow. "To put it nicely, we're explorers; to put it bluntly, we're Tomb Raiders."
"You’re Tomb Raiders?" one of them exclaimed in surprise, wariness flashing in his eyes.
Xianxian seemed to realize something and appeared somewhat annoyed as she asked, "Who are they?"
I shook my head and looked at the group, hearing one of them say with a gleam in his eyes, "We, the Six People, enjoy exploring various strange places in the world, which is why we formed this expedition team. Unfortunately, we met with an accident here. We heard you mention joining the League of Shadows; could you tell us more about it?"
Just as I was about to respond, Xianxian raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Ask them if they are also here to search for the Divine Sign."
Without needing to ask, they could hear us. I looked at them and saw confusion in their eyes. "Divine Sign? What is that?"
"I don't know," I shook my head and added, "That's exactly why we're searching everywhere for it."
"It sounds impressive. Boss, why don't we join in the search? Who knows, we might even become gods, hahaha!" A young man laughed heartily, his purplish face looking quite frightening.
Indeed, the faces and bodies of the Six People across from us were frozen, appearing purplish like their corpses, suggesting they had died from freezing.
The most composed middle-aged man did not respond to the young man's words but turned to us instead. "We do not work for anyone, and given our current situation, whether we can go on an adventure or even return to our original world is still a question. To take it a step further, even if we manage to get out, we likely won't be able to move freely in the human world."
Upon hearing this, the others seemed a bit deflated. However, the middle-aged man shifted his tone. "But that was a vow made in life; now we are in this state."
"So?"
"So if we can get out, we can cooperate."
"Okay." I nodded and noticed that Xianxian's face had shown signs of anxiety. Although he pretended not to care, he was likely worried about Wang Yi. I quickly explained our intentions and how time was pressing; we needed to find our other companions.
After listening, the middle-aged man understood and said directly, "We do have supplies here; however, whether they can be used..."
"Where?" I asked eagerly.
"Follow me." The middle-aged man gestured for us to come along and walked toward the back of the boat. I signaled Xianxian and Lime to follow.
The middle-aged man stopped and pointed ahead. "That is the Storage Box."
Without needing me to say anything, Lime had already taken out an ancient sword and sliced through the hatch in one swift motion. The hatch was cut cleanly in half; only the door was damaged while everything else remained intact.
Xianxian took a look and excitedly went to grab things. "There are clothes! Hahaha! Those kids are in luck." Saying this, he picked up a bag and started stuffing it with clothes until he filled two large bags completely. Satisfied, he said, "This should be enough clothes; let's take some of these tools too." He then pulled Lime along to help.
The Storage Box in front of me was clearly large, with one half filled with clothes and the other half containing various exploration tools, including guns.
"You guys aren't here for winter, are you?" I raised an eyebrow and asked, looking at the thick clothing.
The middle-aged man looked embarrassed. "Well, not exactly."
The young guy chimed in, "It's all my fault for wanting to take a look. Those experts said that most of the Shipwreck Incidents happen in March and April every year, so I thought it would be fine to come during winter for a couple of rounds. I didn't expect things to go wrong..."
"You can't blame Xiao Fan; we all came out of curiosity," someone comforted.
"What's done is done; there's no need to dwell on it. We must look forward," the middle-aged man said, then looked into my eyes and said seriously, "We've been trapped here for a long time. Do you know the way out, Brother?"
I straightforwardly replied that I didn't know, then added, "Since this is a partnership, I hope you can contribute as well." In other words, if we wanted to get out, we all had to search together.
"That's fine, but..."
"Are we just going to leave our bodies here?" One person looked at the already frozen purple corpse with a complex expression.
"To be honest, I have a Treasure." Seeing that Xianxian and Lime showed no signs of opposition, I explained about The Dead, mainly mentioning that there was a suitable place for them to stay inside and that the body could also be brought in. When we got out, we could give them a proper burial.
Of course, as long as they didn't reveal this secret, I could guarantee their safe passage to where they needed to go instead of lingering in the Underworld. After all, being a wandering soul is not easy; only they would know the pain involved.
Upon hearing this, the Six People showed expressions of surprise and even excitement.
"I can't believe such treasures exist in the world!" The young guy called Xiao Fan said incredulously, his eyes filled with excitement and eagerness. "I've always said that there are many mysterious places on Earth and many amazing people and things. We couldn't explore when we were alive, but now this opportunity is right in front of us. Boss, let's not hesitate; let's go for it!"
"Yeah, Boss! We've really encountered a benefactor this time!"
"We can join The League of Shadows, but..." the middle-aged man began.
I smiled and said, "But it's still a partnership; there's no hierarchy."
"Good!" The middle-aged man's eyes sparkled. "My name is He Cheng, and these are..."
"My name is Guo Fan, but everyone calls me Xiao Fan," the young man said with a smile.
"I'm Yang Bin," another young man also smiled and introduced himself.
"I am..."
...
After all six people finished their introductions, I silently repeated their names in my mind. It was indeed quite painful to remember so many names at once, especially when I had to match the names with the faces. For me, this was quite a challenging task since I am not someone with a photographic memory. So, I quietly looked at each person while saying their names a few times in my mind before nodding and smiling, "I am Feng Zi, this is Xianxian, and that is Lime. Welcome to The League of Shadows!" I politely extended my right hand towards He Cheng.
He Cheng also smiled sincerely and shook my hand. His grip was cold as ice, but inside, I felt warm. Now, besides Jiang Song, we had six more companions!
The League of Shadows was gradually expanding its numbers. Although we were few in number, I believed that each one of them was trustworthy. I liked meeting people like He Cheng because our goals were similar. Perhaps one day they might get tired and want to leave, and when that time comes, I would let them go willingly.
"Okay, are we done? We should get going!" Xianxian said as she slung two large bags of clothes over her back, while Lime was forced to carry a big backpack and held two smaller bags in his hands.
I couldn't help but twitch my lips; in just the short time it took to say a few words, these two had already cleared out nearly half of the Storage Box!
"Let's grab our gear too!" He Cheng commanded, and the others quickly came over to take their equipment. We stepped back a few paces to give them ample space.
Ghosts can have both ethereal and physical forms, but they cannot be seen just because one wants to be seen. I wasn't entirely clear on the details of this relationship, but I believed one thing: only by becoming stronger could we act freely. Perhaps one day they would be able to let those they wanted to see them actually see them, but for now, we had to set off!
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