Cold sweat broke out all over me. Looking at Annie, she was standing to the side, her face deathly pale, covering her mouth, not daring to speak. Although I didn’t know why Frank Grant let us go so easily, there was no time to think about it now. I had always felt a sense of dread about what was in the lower hold. Since we got through so easily and could stay away from the lower hold, of course I wasn’t going to ask for trouble.

Without another word, I grabbed Annie and ran toward the second-level fish hold. As soon as we reached the deck, I vaguely heard Frank Grant cursing angrily: “Damn it, I told you to keep watch—were you all eating shit? Did you all forget what Mr. Carter said? If Mr. Carter finds out someone came down here, you’re all dead! If any outsiders come down again, throw them into the sea to feed the fish!”

Seeing that they didn’t come up, I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed they really didn’t want to deal with us. Just then, a peculiar sound rang out on the deck—slap, slap, slap, slap—as if many people were marching in unison toward us, but at the same time, it sounded like just one person. Instantly, Frank Grant and the others below fell silent. At the same time, the voices of the other sea scavengers on the deck also disappeared.

I turned to look and immediately saw a figure appear on the deck in the darkness of night.

Walking along the ship’s rail came a short, stocky man, about forty years old, with dark skin and the most ordinary appearance imaginable, emerging from the cabin. He wore the loose black dragon-patterned pants that only the captain could wear on a sea vessel, and a short, front-fastened jacket, exposing muscular arms that looked as hard as iron. What was even more unusual was that I immediately noticed he had seven toes on each of his bare feet.

It’s not unheard of to see someone with six toes, but I’d never heard of anyone with seven, let alone on both feet.

As this man walked across the deck, his seven toes were like seven iron nails, each step nailing firmly into the dark, polished planks. No wonder his footsteps were so loud.

All along, the Fuchang had been rocking with the waves. When we first boarded, we had to hold onto something just to keep our balance, but this short man, thanks to his seven-toed feet, walked as steadily as if he were on solid ground.

We were instantly overawed by this man’s presence and stood there, stunned.

The strange man walked to the hatch behind us. All the sea scavengers kept their heads down, busying themselves with whatever they could find to do. Not a single one looked up at the short man who had just walked by.

I was puzzled, wondering why the sea scavengers who had been joking around just moments ago had suddenly changed their demeanor. Then I heard the strange man speak in a hoarse voice to the lower hold: “What happened just now? Why were you making a racket in the lower hold? Don’t you know the rules?”

Frank Grant looked up. “Mr. Carter, I checked that gangway over there when we stowed it away yesterday—it was fine. But just now, someone came aboard and it broke. Some poor guy almost fell to his death. Should we fix it?” He was almost rambling.

“I asked what happened just now!” the strange man interrupted Frank Grant, looking down coldly at him from the deck.

“I don’t know who broke the gangway. I told Shrimp Boy to fix it, but he was slacking off here, so I scolded him a bit,” Frank Grant said quickly, head lowered.

“Tell the truth!” The short man raised his eyes.

“Really,” Frank Grant seemed a bit scared. “I wouldn’t dare lie to you…”

A chill ran through me. This fierce, bearded man was actually covering for us, but it definitely wasn’t to help me out. It must be that if this Mr. Carter found out we’d gone down to the lower hold, they’d be in trouble too.

It seemed that Mr. Carter had set a deadly rule about the lower hold—whatever was down there was definitely extraordinary. One touch meant death. But this Mr. Carter’s authority was truly immense.

At this moment, the strange man turned around and faced me directly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “There are still scavengers running behind the helm. Since when did the Fuchang allow that?”

“Mr. Carter, I’ll get them out of there right away!” Frank Grant said, immediately scrambling up. Before he could do anything, Annie grabbed me and blended us in with the other passengers heading into the cabin. Then I heard Frank Grant shouting loudly, “You two shameless bastards, if you go behind the helm again, I’ll throw you straight into the sea!”

As we entered the cabin, I looked back. Mr. Carter had already turned and was walking away in silence. This short man with seven toes was actually the captain of the Fuchang, the famous Mr. Carter. Whether our journey would be safe was now in his hands.

Suddenly, I remembered what my uncle had said to comfort me before. Now I was starting to believe that someone like this might really be able to kick a bull to death. However, his behavior just now clearly confirmed my suspicions—there was something extraordinary about the lower hold of this ship.

But what exactly was hidden in the lower hold of this ship? Thinking back to the moaning sounds coming from below, it was either something supernatural or someone on the verge of death—my earlier doubts resurfaced. What was really going on with this ship? If, as Annie said, the ship wasn’t like this three years ago, then what exactly happened to it in those three years to make it seem so strange?