four hours ago.

North Atlantic Ocean.

Hebridean Islands.

This is the northernmost island of Scotland and one of the most desolate sea areas in the world.

There are rolling waves, empty beaches, dangerous cliffs, and no man's land on all sides.

The nearest city here is Dramberg, which is more than 100 kilometers away.

That city was used as a prison for exiled prisoners during King Arthur's time. During the Age of Discovery, it was occupied by the famous pirate Drake and became his lair to escape capture. During the time of George I, it became a hoarding place for black slaves.

tax evasion port.

But now, with the disappearance of the pirates and the abolition of the slave trade, there is only a sparsely populated town left there, with a hundred people living on fishing.

Except for birds and herring, basically no other species is willing to visit this area.

But now, in this sea area full of cliffs, there is an old diesel fishing boat speeding through the waves.

There were four people in the boat.

The man who drives the fishing boat is named Terry. He is a typical Caucasian race, with a big nose, thin lips and a big beard.

He was wearing worn-out jeans, knee-high rubber boots, rough hands and feet, and a gray fishing hat. He was dressed just like any other herring fishermen in this area.

But he is not a fisherman, he was, and he is not now.

Before the age of 0, Terry and his father fished at sea, but since he returned to his hometown after experiencing life and death in World War I, he no longer looked at a stable job with no future like fishing.

After struggling in the waters of his hometown for more than 20 years, he now has a job that is more lucrative than fishing for herring.

Smuggling.

People smuggling.

The Hebridean Islands connect Scotland, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway.

Since the outbreak of World War I, the number of stowaways here has never stopped. Thanks to the desolate environment here, from time to time foreign wanderers try to use Scotland as a landing point, and then head to the British Empire from here, hoping to stay in a stable environment.

Find a job in England.

But Terry knew that most of those were just unrealistic fantasies. After layers of exploitation, most of those stowaways ended up dying in a foreign land.

Over the past twenty years, Terry has seen all kinds of guests, but this time...

He is truly unprecedented.

Through the rearview mirror that was blurred by the sea water, he could see three weird guys sitting upright on the deck behind him. They were sitting in exactly the same posture. The sea breeze and waves blowing on them were no different from hitting them on the rocks.

This kind of temperament is very familiar to Terry. Only soldiers can sit upright like this.

But to say that they were soldiers, Terry felt there was something strange about them. Because the three of them were all wearing large robes, their appearance could not be seen clearly, and they also had pointed and high hoods on their heads.

That was not the tattered robe worn by stowaways. The robe was pure black and brand new. It was tied with a scaly leather belt. Even in such a strong sea breeze, it was not messy at all.

He had seen so many troops in World War I, but he had never seen any country's troops dressed like this.

The only thing that can identify them is a red swastika on each of their arms.

Which symbol looked familiar to Terry. I often saw it when reading newspapers in the past two years. It seemed to be a workers' organization in Germany.

But Terry wasn't sure, because the people in the newspaper didn't dress like them.

Passing through a wave, the ship jolted violently.

"Which direction did your guest from this morning go to?"

Suddenly, the one in front of the three, who was also the tallest, suddenly asked.

He sat motionless on the boat, as if his buttocks were welded to it.

"Uh..." Terry, who was thinking about it, was caught off guard. These three people had not spoken since they boarded the ship. He originally thought that they did not speak English.

"What did you say?"

"I asked which direction your morning guest went."

"Sorry, I don't know what you are talking about."

Terry pushed the question back. Although he was a smuggler, smugglers also had rules. More than 40 years of life experience told him that the smartest way to live is not to involve any contradictions.

"Really? It seems that he gave you a lot of money."

The tall hooded man said softly, his voice seemed to have an inexplicable magnetism that made people relax.

Terry, who had been vigilant just now, suddenly became distracted.

"Oh, are you talking about that generous little guest? He did give me a lot of money."

Hooded Man: "Which direction is he walking in?"

Terry: "He also went to Handa Island, and went along the Tai River to the southern part of the Scottish interior. There is nothing there, and many people get lost when they go in, and they never even come out again. I advise you not to go in.

......."

Snap!

The fishing boat passed through another wave and bumped violently. The sea breeze blew, and Terry came back to his senses with a jolt.

He felt like he had just said a lot of things, but he couldn't remember what he said.

In the rearview mirror, the three people were still sitting like rocks. Just like before, their expressions had not changed at all.

"Hell..."

Terry muttered and speeded up the fishing boat. He wanted to end this somewhat weird list as soon as possible.

Fortunately, the boat soon arrived at the shore of the island. There were lichens and moss everywhere, the cliffs were made of mottled sedimentary rocks, and there were rugged rocks. The cliffs along the coast were covered with guano.

On the shore, two sturdy men stood, smoking cigarettes and waving to the ship.

Seeing them, Terry breathed a sigh of relief. He was a cautious person and would not do anything he was unsure of. The two were his cousins ​​and they were in the smuggling business with him. They were very reliable partners.

Terry parked the boat, and one of his two cousins ​​came up and broke off a rusty iron drill, and the other tied the cable to it.

Terry: "Just get off here. The total price is 45 pounds. I'll give you a discount and count it as 40 pounds. If you want to take a car, just walk 0 kilometers east along the coast."

After saying that, he stood by the boat with his hands on his hips, waiting for one of the three people to come out to pay the bill. His two cousins ​​also stood beside him to prevent any accidents from happening. After all, they were doing illegal business, and the reception was

The guests were a mixed bag.

The three people on the boat stood up, and the tall man at the head asked softly: "Did the little man get off the boat here too?"

"Yes, yes, don't ask, just give the money and leave. There are also coast guards in this area." Terry said anxiously.

Ignoring Terry's uneasy mood, the tall man turned his head and said indifferently: "überprüfen." (check it out)

The other two people got off the boat in silence and dispersed, turning to look around. One of them took out a black stick and drew circles.

Seeing their behavior, Terry narrowed his eyes, with a dangerous light flashing in his eyes. He slowly lifted up his half-wet shirt, revealing the mahogany revolver handle at his waist.

His two cousins ​​saw that Terry looked unkind. After they looked at each other, they put their hands into their pockets. There were two thick knife handles.

Terry is a smuggler, a man with blood on his hands. He has also seen dangerous stowaways, murderers, robbers, thieves... But in the past 20 years, no one has ever taken advantage of them.

However, a scene that shocked Terry occurred.

The chest of the tall hooded man in front of him suddenly swelled, and then, a shiny silver monkey head emerged. It had long silver hair and huge eyes.

It climbed up to the shoulder of the tall man in the hood in twos and twos, looked at Terry with sympathy, then closed its eyes and shook its head in the air.

Terry had never seen this kind of monkey, not at all.

His two cousins ​​were also completely dumbfounded.

The silver monkey suddenly opened his eyes, pointed in a direction and screamed.

The hooded man nodded, and the other two men with black sticks immediately put away their black sticks.

The three of them walked together in the direction pointed by the silver monkey, with no intention of stopping to pay the bill.

Terry was angry. He pulled out the revolver from his waist and pointed it forward with a click.

"Hey, stop, what are you doing!"

His two cousins ​​pulled out their machetes with a clatter.

However, the three people walked in front, one behind the other, with steady and determined steps, with no intention of stopping. They seemed to ignore his calls.

Terry put his hand on the trigger, and a fierce light flashed in his eyes. He had also participated in the war, and he was not shy about killing at all.

However, at this moment, something suddenly fell down and landed on Terry's shoulder.

Terry originally thought it was a seabird in this area, but when he turned around and saw it, he was immediately dumbfounded.

This was a creature he had never seen before.

It has a body like a butterfly, but is as big as an eagle. It is green all over, with purple horny bumps scattered on its wings. It has cold red eyes and sharp claws.

Terry was stunned.

Then the next second, the creature opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth and purple nostrils.
To be continued...