The captain of the ship reached out.

Chapter 18 [B-056: The Rat Emperor Twitch]

In fact.

Phoebe thought she had hidden it very well.

But as soon as she approached the creep, Horn immediately located her.

Even with the [Concealment Orb] activated, the few strands of mycelium wrapped around her feet still gave away her location.

Horn was genuinely surprised when he heard the rat-man speak.

You should know that he can't actually speak yet!

They can only communicate with their inner voice and the parasite.

Not to mention, this mouse displayed a high degree of intelligence and humanity, almost like a mouse version of an explorer.

Judging from his clothes and cane, there might be a highly advanced civilization behind him!

This forced Horn to take it seriously.

The reason he was able to grow so powerful in the swamp was largely due to his overwhelming tactical advantage.

Let's take advantage of these monsters' low intelligence.

However, it might not be as effective against an equally intelligent enemy.

Moreover, no one knows what attitude this unknown rat civilization would have if it discovered their existence.

Peaceful coexistence?

Or should we send troops to annihilate them?

In short, Horn was now on high alert, and even the tentacles of his main body stood up.

They were on high alert.

However, Horn soon realized that the ratman seemed too focused on the fungal carpet ahead to notice the danger beneath its feet—

A sturdy yet concealed spider web.

Feed, feed...

You're about to step in!

Stop right now, hell is ahead!

—Ah, I still went in.

Horn was speechless as he watched the little mouse struggling in the spider web, only to get stuck tighter and tighter.

Dude, I haven't even put up any effort yet, how come you've already fallen down?

This makes me look really bad!

This mouse doesn't seem to be that smart...

However, a new problem has now arisen for Horn.

To save or not to save?

If he were to save her, he would immediately expose his special abilities.

But if we don't save it, what if this mouse is a scout? Its death might attract a large group of mice, making the situation even worse.

After weighing the pros and cons, Horn decided...

Let's leave it for now!

Let's leave it for a while and see how things develop.

On the bright side, maybe the little mouse escaped from the spider web on its own?

……

……

at the same time.

"Alice, have you ever heard of the Rat People?"

Horn posed another question to his encyclopedia.

"Rat-people... Mr. Horn, do you mean demi-humans of the rat race?"

In this world, "demi-human" often refers to humans with animalistic characteristics, such as fox-people, tiger-people, minotaur-people, etc.

There is also a special type of marine subhuman, such as sharks, killer whales, and dolphins... They are very comfortable in the ocean and can undertake tasks such as diving, salvage, and fishing.

Due to the development of the maritime industry, marine people were particularly popular on ships.

A powerful ship is often equipped with several crew members of the Sea People.

In fact, there was another marine subhuman on the Golden Sun before, but he was killed because of his loyalty to Captain Ronan.

"They are not rat-like demi-humans, but rat-people who are the size of rats but possess human intelligence."

Horn corrected his statement.

"This type of rat-man?"

Alice shook her head: "Sorry, Alice hasn't heard of it..."

Well, it seems this is another specialty of [Mysterious Island].

Maybe it's a numbered experimental subject?

……Um?

Thinking of this, Horn suddenly remembered.

During my escape from that lab, I think I saw an empty experimental tank with a label below it...

【B-056: Rat Emperor Twitch】

Could this little mouse be one of Tucci's subordinates?

Probably!

Boom-!

Suddenly a muffled thud startled Alice. Thinking someone had come, she quickly hid in the mushroom pile.

As Horn felt the ship begin to rock, he immediately understood.

The Golden Sun has set sail again!

Encountering this island was an accident in itself. After capturing so many slaves and resting on the island for a few days, it's time to set off.

Let me see what those natives are doing.

Horn also took a look at the slaves in the lower decks.

The slaves lived in even worse conditions than ordinary sailors, and were reduced to living in the lower decks alongside monsters and goats.

They were crammed into the cramped cabin like sardines in a can, their hands bound with ropes, with no room to even stretch out their bodies.

The scariest thing is...

For the next two months or so, they will have to stay here for everything, from eating and drinking to relieving themselves.

There is no privacy, no freedom, and no human rights.

Foul odor, fever, dysentery, headache, heatstroke, scurvy... all sorts of diseases will follow one after another, ravaging people's bodies and minds from the inside out.

They are no longer people, but merely goods.

That's why the slave trade is said to be the cruelest business.

This place is a true hell on earth!

The situation on the Golden Sun was already a relatively lenient arrangement made by Bazel in an attempt to reduce the "loss rate".

The people of Loy had already foreseen the tragic fate that was to come.

Each of them wore a look of despair and remained silent, like numb sculptures.

"Don't give up!"

At that moment, a man's voice rang out in the cabin.

Everyone turned to look at Libitt, but most of their eyes were filled with sarcasm and resentment.

Weren't you the first to surrender?

Now they're jumping out again saying things like "don't give up"?

Libit felt a pang of pain, but continued, "In a direct confrontation, we are no match for these invaders."

"But anything can happen at sea, and our chance to fight back will surely come!"

"So please, everyone, keep going!"

The natives' expressions remained blank, with only a few showing a glimmer of light in their eyes.

Seeing this, Libit breathed a sigh of relief.

His goal was achieved if he could rekindle the hope of life in one more member of his tribe.

...This guy actually has some ideas?

From the perspective of the dependents, Horn witnessed what was happening in the slave ship's cabin and roughly learned about Libit's identity.

This one-armed man was originally a person of similar status to an "elder" among the indigenous people.

However, he was the first to surrender to Bazeir and his people, which led the natives to vent some of their resentment on him.

Horn was also unsure how to comment on Libit's act of surrendering and seeking survival.

You could say he was afraid of death, or you could say he endured humiliation for the sake of the clan's survival.

Neither of these ideas mattered to Horn.

The important thing is.

Horn saw the potential for cooperation in him!

He is a smart man who will stop at nothing to seek revenge.

Even if it's the power of a monster, Ribitt would use it without hesitation, right?

……

……

The Empress is above.

The great explorer Phoebe Tucci seems to be going to die here today.

Moreover, I did not die at the hands of an unknown monster, but simply stepped into the trap of a rat-eating spider!

This way of dying is so shameful!

Waaaaah... Help...

Who! Is there anyone who can save me?!