Lin Ye's sudden grabbing of Skyfire's hand had stunned everyone for a moment. The rest of the team didn't know why Lin Ye had done that, but a few seconds later they got their answer.
Skyfire's panicked expression slowly disappeared as Lin Ye held her hand. As she gradually calmed down, surprise replaced fear, as she stared down at their hands.
Seeing that she had regained her bearings, Lin Ye releases her hand.
"Are you okay now?"
Skyfire looked at Lin Ye, back down to her hand, before asking in a slightly bewildered tone, "What did you do? Why do I feel... weird?"
Everyone present noticed the change in Skyfire behavior.
Lin Ye replies, "You were acting a bit weird just now. So, I tried to help you."
Matoimaru stared at Lin Ye in confusion, "What do you mean?" Lin Ye didn't answer her and just continued looking at Skyfire.
The feline in question lowered her head and thought for a while, "Yes, now that you mentioned it, I was feeling strange. My heart started beating rapidly, like I was afraid of something, but I didn't know what. I was beginning to sweat all over."
Magallan hummed in thought, "Isn't this similar to how Dr. Lin Ye's acted last night?
Skyfire raises her head and turns towards Magallan with a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"
Magallan doesn't answer, unsure whether or not to tell her about the events of last night.
Lin Ye sighs in resignation, "As of now, there is nothing to hide from you. Your actions just now can explain a lot of problems. We won't hide anything, since what happened last night has probably just happened here."
Although Skyfire didn't know what Lin Ye was talking about, she vaguely felt that it wasn't simple.
Wth Lin Ye's permission, they shared what had happened to them last night, keeping in mind to not mention Skadi in their explanation. Though, thankfully Skyfire seemed to either not notice or care about their omission.
When she learned that Lin Ye had stood in front of the underground river and almost went insane from fear, Skyfire's eyes widened. "You mean...", Skyfire looks at Lin Ye, "I experienced the same thing as you just now? But I don't think I saw anything strange."
"That's just what you think.", Frostleaf says faintly, "Doctor Lin Ye thought the same thing last night, if it wasn't for Matoimaru stopping him, he would have happily jumped into the river to join the corpses in it."
Lin Ye adopted a mixed expression.
Although I know that Frostleaf is right, why does it sound so harsh?
"This is very odd," Skyfire mutters, and stares back at Lin Ye again, "Then, you just treated me again. What did you do? You were able to cure me instantly."
After a few seconds, she added, "Well, it's not the first time. I wanted to ask you a week ago," she glances down at Lin Ye's hand, "I always feel something when you touch my hand. There's a very special force when you do that, can you tell me what it is?"
Lin Ye didn't really know how to explain it to her, and could only generalize it as his own unique talent. But Skyfire, evidently wanted to know more, and wasn't satisfied with his answer. She only gave up the questioning for now, considering the current circumstances they were facing.
"Now that you've recovered, we can discuss the current situation," Lin Ye says to change the topic, "Many signs indicate that the sudden absence of the Ursus, Lungmen, and Sunset Chamber of Commerce contingents is not a normal event. They have disappeared just like the missing residents of Harlan Town.
"From under our noses?" Magallan asks.
"Yes," Lin Ye takes a deep breath, "Right from under our noses, and it's very likely that Skyfire almost joined them."
This time, Skyfire's expression didn't change. There was no obvious sense of fear like before, verifying Lin Ye's guess about her character. She was indeed a person who wouldn't be afraid of something like this. Her fear had come from being affected by some mysterious power. That's it.
"Were they taken away?" Matoimaru asks, "Didn't you suggest that the island was actually a large creature? Did it come back?"
"You think that island was a large creature?", Skyfire is slightly surprised "That's a bold guess for you to make. Although I haven't seen that island, if the island really did come back, and even went ashore to abduct the people here, why didn't we notice anything?"
"Indeed.", Lin Ye nods, "The Ursus and Lungmen tents weren't that far away from us. It's impossible for us to miss an island coming ashore. So that means that they walked to the island themselves.
Skyfire mulled over Lin Ye's suggestion "You mean, they were hypnotized just like me?"
"That's the only way that I can think of.", Lin Ye says softly, "If this is the case, that answers how all the residents of the small town of Harlan suddenly disappeared. If it's large-scale hypnotism, it is indeed impossible to have survivors."
"But if it's large-scale hypnotism, why weren't you affected by it?" Skyfire stares at Lin Ye, "Your group alone remains."
Lin Ye silently considers how to answer, before drawing Maple from its sheath, "Probably because of this."
Before leaving, Kal'tsit had reminded Lin Ye that it would be best not to let outsiders know the origin of Maple. Because the value of Maple would likely be higher than even the so-called deep-sea treasure. However, at the moment Lin Ye and the others might have to face an enemy that was even stronger than Skadi, and the possibility that they couldn't beat it wasn't good for their morale.
Therefore, if Lin Ye wanted Skyfire to cooperate with them, it's necessary to show some appropriate sincerity.
Honestly, Lin Ye wasn't afraid of what had happened tonight, rather he was somewhat happy. Because as long as the island was around, he still had hope of finding Skadi. If the island disappeared, then he'd most likely never find Skadi again. Lin Ye knew he must seize the opportunity tonight, vaguely feeling that this was also the last chance that he'll ever get.
Lin Ye takes a deep breath and partially explains Maple's origins to everyone. He still needed to conceal the most important parts, but he believed that in order to fight against a powerful enemy like the deep sea, it was important that you believed that you could beat it in the first place.
As a divine tool, Maple had the power of Messiah, a god. Lin Ye feels that it could bring enough confidence to the people present to help them fight the deep sea and find Skadi.
Sure enough, after learning the origin of Maple, the expression on everyone's face changed dramatically, and almost all of them were in disbelief.
"God's blade?" Magallan, who firmly believes in science, was naturally the most incredulous. "Does God really exist?"
Matoimaru was intensely staring at Maple, "A blade that was forged by a god... Let me feel it! Ah, you seem to have refused before. Okay then, let's exchange some blows."
Lin Ye shakes his head with a small smile on his face, "I think that's a bad idea."
This seemed to upset Matoimaru a bit but she nodded, nonetheless.
Skyfire says softly, "I'd heard of the existence of a true god in Karlan, but I didn't expect it to actually be true."
"Yes," Lin Ye coughs twice to get back to their main topic, "Let's talk about Maple later. What we should consider now is how to find the missing people."
Frankly, Lin Ye didn't really care about the missing Ursus and the Sunset Chamber of Commerce contingent, but the Lungmen contingent was different. Especially because Swire was involved in this. Even though Skadi hadn't been found yet, he still needed to find Swire too. In Lin Ye's view, finding Swire was no less important than finding Skadi.
"If that island really did come back. Then the hypnotized people must have somehow reached the island," Blue Poison says, "In that case, we can go to the coast to take a look."
"Do you think people who were hypnotized rowed out in a boat to reach that island?" Skyfire asks.
"It doesn't sound impossible that they did.", Blue Poison says, "If there are any missing boats, it can be directly proved that they did so."
Magallan hesitated for a bit, "But if that's the case, what should we do? It's far too dangerous for us to go out to sea, in this kind of weather."
Everyone fell silent because Magallan did have a point. If the island had come back, what could they do in these conditions?
"Don't worry," Skyfire declares, her words full of confidence, "If the island really is a living creature, let me deal with it."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Skyfire frowns, continuing in a displeased tone," Do you think I'm weak?"
"It's not-," Lin Ye's denial was interrupted when Magallan suddenly let out a startled "Huh?".
"What's the matter?" Lin Ye asks her.
Magallan turned her computer towards him with some confusion, "The feed from the drone placed in front of the Ursus tent stopped showing anything. It must have happened while we were talking."
"Nothing?", everyone gathers around and finds that the screen was completely black.
"Why is this happening?" Lin Ye asks, "Did you lose signal?"
"The connection is still there." Magallan says while operating the computer, "I don't know if it's a problem with the camera, I want to go over and see what's happened to it."
"Is it broken?" Matoimaru asks.
Magallan shakes her head, "No, it's just that the camera is showing all black."
Lin Ye was about to say something, when the camera suddenly moved, and the black screen disappeared.
"What's happening?" Lin Ye glances at her.
"I'm moving the drone." Magallan says, "The lenses aren't broken, but they are being blocked by something."
"What's blocking it?" Skyfire asks
"I don't know." Magallan replies, while adjusting the drone's camera.
Suddenly, a scarlet eye appeared in the frame.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft by Jaq
Proofread by PanzerComrade56
Edit by Jaq