When Bob and his team got ashore, they saw something was wrong. Jalen was trembling all over in the hot weather. The captain's expression seemed a little strange.

  "Hmm... every time I see the captain like this, I know he wants to tear this idiot apart..." Bob muttered while stroking his beard on his chin.

  "Eh... erm... ah! Captain! Look! It's a footprint!" Jalen glanced around quickly, trying to find something to distract the captain's gaze of death.

  This glance also revealed an important clue, which is the footprints. This is the footprint of Castor returning at noon, which also lets them know the path leading to the depths.

  "...Everybody be ready, follow the footprint." Captain Raigh commanded his fellow pirates.

  "Alright, boys! Grab your cutlass and raise high, let's protect our captain!" Jalen shouted, unleashed his cutlass from his waist, and pointed at the forest.

  "Guys, hold your guns tighter and be ready for danger!" Bob commanded and put a bullet into the chamber.

  "Stop those craps! Let's get moving!" Captain Raigh walked towards the forest entrance and unleashed his cutlass.

  Captain Raigh's cutlass is different from other pirates. There are faint green runes on his cutlass. The appearance of the runes made the surrounding gale surge and then rotate with mysterious green orbs around him.

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Captain... what does your cutlass carry again?" Jalen clicked his tongue, he stared at the captain with awe.

  "Arcane rune." Captain Raigh said lightly and entered the flowery path in the dense forest.

  When the captain entered, the others followed him quickly. They also kept an eye on the sides to prevent any monsters or beasts from attacking from the side.

  "Captain... where are we going?" Bob asked loudly, but they couldn't get closer to their Captain because of the gale and green orbs around him.

  "Just follow these footprints and find its owner." The captain replied with the gale that blew the flowers and plants so that he could see the hidden footprints.

  Jalen and Bob stopped talking and led everyone to follow the captain silently. Soon after, the flowery path came to an end. The sky here was no longer blocked by trees, but a clear blue sky.

  In front of them was a black castle. The castle seemed to be quite old. Broken bricks and tiles and wild vines covered the building, making it look like a ruin.

  "A castle...?" Captain Raigh muttered and gazed at the broken wooden door.

  "Does anyone really live here? It looks like it's been here for a long time. Even the door looks like it will fall down if I push it lightly." Jalen said and subconsciously walked around the gale around Captain Raigh and opened the wooden door.

  "Jalen!!!" Captain Raigh and Bob spoke out to stop him, but it was too late.

  Bong!

  The huge, broken wooden door fell to the brick floor with a loud sound, echoing in the huge castle after being touched by a slight push.

  "ALERT!!!" Captain Raigh yelled, withdrew his gale around him, and pulled Jalen back.

  "Jalen! Stand back!" Bob shouted and kept Jalen behind him. He raised the rifle and aimed at the entrance of the castle.

  Although Captain Raigh and Bob wanted to tear Jalen apart. But when they encountered real danger, they would not blame him but were ready to face the danger, even though it was Jalen who brought the danger.

  "I'm sorry!" Jalen apologized and gripped his cutlass tightly.

  After a few moments, nothing happened. Just as Captain Raigh was about to go in, a footstep was heard from inside. The people who had let down their guard became more cautious again.

  Finally, a boy, Castor, stood in front of them and said in a flat tone, "You guys are so noisy... ugh..."

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Castor was stunned for a moment, he stared at the pirates outside the castle blankly. After a few seconds, he suddenly walked towards Captain Raigh, seemingly not afraid of the cutlass in his hand.

  "Human...? Are you human from that ship? Are you here to pick me up?" Castor asked a series of questions.

  "Humans? Humans from the ship? To pick you up?" Captain Raigh said in his mind, he was the one stunned this time. He examined the boy in front of him carefully.

  A boy wore a white patient gown with no shoes but a wreath on his head. His black hair is messy, but it doesn't affect his handsome face with his attractive facial features. But the strange point was his pupils were dull and grey, seeming to lack vitality.

  While Captain Raigh was pondering the questions from the boy, Bob spoke.

  "Who are you?!" He shouted and aimed at Castor's head with his rifle.

  "HEY!!!" Captain Raigh shouted in anger and pressed down the rifle, "What are you doing, Bob?! What an immoral idiot you are! He was just a child!"

  "But..." Bob was prepared to speak, but Castor quickly took the lead.

  "My name is Castor." Castor replied, his tone still flat, without rising and falling pitch.

  "Castor, huh. So you're name is Castor, little boy. Where are your parents?" Captain Raigh withdrew his cutlass and asked.

  "They are in the basement... doing something..." Castor lowered his head as if thinking about something, and the next moment he raised his head again and said, "You guys can come in."

  "Ah.. thanks..." Captain Raigh turned around to the pirates behind him, "Let's get in."

  Although everyone felt it was strange, the captain loved children very much, so they didn't say anything and went in obediently.

  "Castor, can you call your parents? We want to ask them something." Captain Raigh asked and sat down on a dirty and broken sofa carefully.

  "No, I can't because they are... doing something. But maybe I can answer your question." Castor shook his head slightly and sat on the opposite sofa.

  Hearing Castor's words, Captain Raigh gave Jalen and Bob a look, signaling them to search the entire castle.

  "Understood, so... how long did you live here?" Captain Raigh asked, the first impression Castor gave him was that he was someone who lived here.

  "Thirteen years." Castor replied lightly.

  "Sure enough! I guessed right!" Captain Raigh muttered in mind and asked a peaceful question, "What did you eat in lunch?"

  "Lunch...? What's lunch?" Castor tilted his head, his eyes filled with confusion.

  After hearing this, Captain Raigh was stunned, his eyes widened, and he stared at Castor with an unbelievable expression. It was impossible for someone not to know the word "lunch".

  "You... don't eat anything... and live here for thirteen years straight...?" Captain Raigh asked, his tone trembling.

  "Ah, lunch is... eat? No... I don't need to eat anything..." Castor enlightened and replied.

  Captain Raigh fell into silence again. His brain was working rapidly. His past experience told him that this child was not simple. He thought about various possibilities and came to an uncertain conclusion.

  "Could it be... that he is someone's experimental subject?" He recalled that the storm before coming to the forbidden sea seemed to be created by arcane, "Those arcanists...!"

  "Wait, no... arcane can't affect the living thing directly..." He closed his eyes, buried himself into his mind again, "Sorcery! Sorcery can affect a living thing directly! Not eating or drinking has already entered the field of biology!"

  His rich past experience has taught him the difference between arcane and sorcery. Arcane is an indirect attack on others, similar to forming a fireball and throwing it at the enemy, while sorcery is a direct attack on living things.

  "Oh no... his parents might not be his parents but the wizards!" Thought of this, Captain Raigh immediately rose up with widened eyes, "Jalen! Bob! Get back!!!"

  He shouted and rushed to the hall that they had gone through. At a corner, there is a downstairs that seems it be connected to the basement, everyone was right there.

  "Phew..." Captain Raigh breathed a relief, "Jalen! Bob! And everyone! Be careful! That boy's parents are no longer his parents but wizards! He seems to be their experimental subject!"

  "Huh? Wiizards?!" Jalen shouted in surprise.

  "Wizards? Then they might be in this basement! We've opened every door, but we can't open this door! The wizards might be inside!" Bob frowned and pushed the door harder with the other pirates.

  "Open... sesame!" Jalen cast out a spell that doesn't exist and pushed the doors with everyone. Unfortunately, their faces turned red, but the door didn't move at all.

  "Tsk, stop trying, let's go back! I will bring that boy with us." Captain Raigh said and turned around, but saw Castor standing behind them.

  "Castor! Let's go! We will bring you out of here!" Captain Raigh said and grabbed Castor's hand.

  "Castor? Hey! Castor! Are your parents inside?" Bob asked, "Let them open this door!"

  "Yeah, Castor! Have they died?! We have shouted and knocked many times, but they don't reply to us!" Jalen asked in anger.

  "Jalen!" Bob stared at him angrily, "Check your words..."

  "So...sorry..." Jalen was stunned and apologized.

  "Of course they didn't answer you..." Castor said lightly.

  The atmosphere thickened with an unsettling stillness, each person holding their breath, caught in the web of expectation, waiting for the chilling continuation. As the sun retreated behind a shroud of ominous clouds, the castle walls darkened, shadows stretching like fingers across the stone.

  "Did I say... they were alive?" Castor spoke word by word with a cold gaze.

  "...Huh?" Jalen opened his mouth slightly, and he froze in fear.

  Captain Raigh, Bob, and all the pirates stared at Castor with wide eyes. It was a hot noon, but everyone felt a coldness in their hearts. If they are not alive, then what are they? the question appeared in their trembling mind.