Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 915: Island

"Wang Sheng, bring Li Lu up here. The Great One says that she needs to be blessed."

Anna no longer needed to wait until Li Lu's child was born, as she now had an alternative in the form of that ritual.

Roy standing nearby felt like he had been thrown into an icy cavern.

This is bad! If Li Lu gets brainwashed, my identity will be exposed!

Roy desperately searched for ways to resolve this crisis, but he realized that his options were limited.

"But we're out of sacrifices, High Priestess. If we want to perform that ritual again, we will have to use our brothers and sisters," Wang Sheng said thoughtfully while bowing.

"Is that so?" Anna raised her head and looked around. Everywhere her gaze fell, the people there would lower their heads. They were willing to accept the ritual, but that didn't mean that they wanted to become sacrificial offerings.

In addition, it would be too suspicious for her to suddenly announce that volunteers would instantly enter Fhtagn's divine kingdom.

Moreover, there weren't that many of them yet, and each and every one of them was useful. Anna had no plans of exhausting their manpower. She had nurtured these people for a long time, so it would be a waste to abandon them so easily.

"Then forget it. We'll discuss it later. The Great One didn't specify when to perform the ritual. We can just conduct it sometime later," Anna remarked.

Roy immediately felt like he was floating on cloud nine. He was safe—for now.

However, the close shave had strengthened his resolve. He had to send a report as soon as possible. There was no time for him to waste, as he was already on borrowed time.

Everyone sighed in relief at Anna's declaration, and except for those on duty, they went back to their quarters to sleep.

However, Anna had no plans of sleeping just yet. Upon returning to her office, Anna pulled out a map of the Indian Ocean and laid it down before her. Her finger moved slowly across it; she seemed to be searching for something.

Since she had already confirmed that the ritual was working within the Indian Ocean, it was about time for her to expand the congregation. In addition, she needed to find supply points for sacrificial offerings.

Anna's finger moved around the map until it eventually landed on an archipelago.

She turned on her computer and began searching for more information about it.

The Comoros is an archipelagic country in the western Indian Ocean, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel and off Africa's east coast. It is situated about six hundred kilometers west of Madagascar and east of Mozambique. It has a total population of 797,000.

It consists of four major islands—Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mohéli, and Mayotte—plus several smaller islands. The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands. It is mostly mountainous with rugged terrain and forests. It has a tropical rainforest climate, so it is hot and humid all year round...

Anna nodded with satisfaction at the information displayed on the computer screen. "Hmm, it's a good place to establish a foothold. It's also remote enough for my needs.

"Even if something major happens in such a small and poor island nation, I don't think that commotion is going to make waves internationally."

Having made up her mind, Anna ordered the captain to change course toward their new destination. The change in course couldn't be hidden from Roy, and he had already deduced what they were planning on doing.

He had to move fast and as soon as possible.

However, they were in an enclosed iron box, and there was no way he could communicate with the outside world. Under these circumstances, it would be difficult to make any move, so Roy had no choice but to wait and observe.

The Narwhale made her way to an island sprawling in coconut trees.

Hooonk!

The Narwhale's horn startled birds into fleeing, and it also awakened the people on the island from their slumber.

Through her red sunglasses, Anna saw islanders pointing at their large ship. The islanders had brown skin; they resembled Indians in appearance, but they were shorter. The majority of them were wearing short sleeves and sandals.

The Narwhale was so large that there wasn't any docking site big enough to accommodate the Narwhale. At the same time, it was proof of just how remote the island was.

Although remote, the island was not isolated from the outside world.

They learned a lot from the Internet, perhaps a bit too much, even.

"Miss Beautiful, you've chosen the perfect place to sightsee. Tourism is our main industry, and we have everything that you might need. While enjoying the tropical island, you'll also be able to indulge in other forms of entertainment," a short-statured tour guide said, smiling at Anna and her large group.

He could not care less about their background; he only knew that their pockets had to be full of US dollars. The commission that he'd earn by securing an entire ship's worth of customers would be equivalent to several years of hard work.

"Is it fine for us to dock there?" Anna asked, pointing at the distant Narwhale with her red, nail-polished finger.

"Ah! That might be a bit difficult; that place is a bit too close to the island. If the customs finds out, there will be fines. But if you choose to work with our company, we'll definitely help you resolve any issues."

Anna smiled at the short man's shrewd face. Then, she said, "I'm a bit hungry. What local specialties do you have here?"

"No problem, please follow me! I'll take you to the island's most luxurious hotel. Our island's coelacanth is a delicacy that you can only taste here.

"The customer is king, and it is our mission to satisfy our customers! Let's eat first, and then we'll talk more about the details later."

The short man led Anna and her group into an enormous sailboat-shaped hotel built by the sea. Her outstanding beauty attracted many glances, but unlike when she had just arrived on the surface world, no one dared to cause any trouble.

The short man introduced the menu to the group before tactfully withdrawing. He knew that he'd end up annoying them if he were to stay any longer.

Anna saw many other people in the hotel—people of different nationalities. It seemed that the tour guide was not lying. The island's main industry was indeed tourism, but perhaps all they had left was tourism.

"Wang Sheng, have the people been sent out?" Anna asked softly after taking a sip of soda water.

"Rest assured, they've been sent out. Soon, the island's coastal defense layout will be in our grasp," Wang Sheng replied.

Roy stepped forward from among the crowd with a clenched fist. "High Priestess, I'm familiar with a place like this. An island as tiny as this might as well have no coastal defense. As long as we have enough manpower, taking over it would be easy.

"If we're going to make a move, we should be more concerned about the cell phones of the other tourists here."

Anna glanced at the tourists taking photos with their phones.

"I'll locate all the radio towers on the island and cut off all communications to the outside world!" Roy added. Then, he turned around and walked toward the distant elevators.

Anna crossed her legs and took another sip of the soda water in her hands as Roy's figure disappeared into the elevator. Soon, her charming eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a hint of coldness as she said, "Send some people to follow him."