Charles was thinking further ahead. Rats were always at the bottom of the food chain, and with so many of them around, there must be other predators on the island. He didn't know what they were yet, but he was certain they weren't cats.
As Charles mulled this over, the tide of rats had already receded, leaving not even half a fish bone on the yellow-white sand.
"Sailors, drop anchor! Bring your weapons and explosives and prepare to disembark," Charles commanded, and the crew sprang into action.
He had prepared extra explosives for this exploration. Gunpowder might not be useful, but it was better to have some than none.
If the only danger on the island were those rats, these explosives would surely come in handy.
Two wooden boats were lowered to the sea's surface. Everyone disembarked, apart from an injured, bandaged crewman who was left behind to watch the ship. Each person had a strip of cloth tied around their shoulder.
Their names and duties were written on the strips to ensure no one was silently added to or lost from their ranks when they returned.
The group moved slowly among the rocks. The veteran sailors who had been through this before were relatively calm, but the newcomers were on edge, startling at the slightest rustle.
The farther inland they went, the looser the rocks became, and scattered animal skeletons began appearing on the ground.
Charles's face showed a hint of disappointment. It seemed the passage to Earth's surface was not here.
As Charles hesitated, wondering whether to press further inward, a red light suddenly drifted among the rocks in the distance.
Charles ducked behind a massive boulder and whispered to the others, "Quick, extinguish the torches!"
Although the other crew members didn't know why, they still followed their captain's order.
With the torchlight gone, the distant red glow became even clearer. The bright hue flickered in and out of sight among the rocks as it drifted toward them.
When it drew closer, everyone saw the source of the light.
The creature looked like a bloated leech, about five meters long. The red light emanated from luminous spots buried beneath its translucent skin, pulsing on and off in a terrifying rhythm.
The leech, despite having no wings, could glide freely through the air. It appeared to be searching for something. Six eye stalks at the front of its body twisted constantly, surveying its surroundings.
The crew huddled behind the rocks, barely daring to breathe. Some of the more faint-hearted squeezed their eyes shut and began to tremble.
Charles stared intently at the eye stalks. Just from its appearance, I can tell that thing isn't peaceful. Better not to provoke it if we can help it.
GURGLE. Someone's stomach rumbled. The sound was soft, yet in the silence, it was as loud as a clap of thunder.
WHOOSH! The leech's eye stalks instantly swept toward the humans. Its mouth, bristling with sharp spines, let out a terrifying low growl. Its translucent body flashed once, and then it simply vanished.
"Damn it! That thing can turn invisible! It's coming for us!"
Charles gripped the explosives at his waist, his body tense and his expression resolute. He was ready to fight the monster to the death.
The other crew members also gripped their weapons, their hearts pounding in their chests.
Charles counted the seconds in his mind. Just as he was about to throw the explosives, the darkness was illuminated by a red glow. The leech had reappeared above a rock, its eye stalks peering into the distance.
SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK! The sound of rats came from that direction, growing louder as if it were being made intentionally.
The leech twisted its swollen body and swiftly "swam" through the air toward the sound, its red light fading from view.
In the darkness, Charles let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, cold sweat beading on his skin. He never expected to be saved by rats.
He turned to speak to the man beside him, only to find a pair of glowing green eyes staring back at him from his left.
But that was only the beginning. More pairs of eyes began to light up, layers upon layers of them, until the sight was enough to make one's skin crawl.
Charles took out a match and struck it hard against the rock wall. The sudden flame illuminated the surroundings, revealing countless rats piled atop one another in a living wall around them. They were completely surrounded!
"Hello there! My name is Lili. I'm pleased to meet you!"
The sudden female voice froze everyone's instinctive move to attack.
After a moment's inspection, Charles saw that the speaker was a white rat standing amidst the horde. Its movements had a grace completely unlike its kin, and its eyes shone with an intelligent spark.
The rat seemed to recognize that Charles was the leader of the humans. It jumped down in front of him and looked up. "Hello. I'm Lily. What's your name?"
Charles glanced at the sea of rats around them before answering softly, "Charles."
Just as they finished this brief introduction, a fierce roar echoed from the direction the flying leech had gone.
"Oh no! Hurry! My friend can only hold it off for a moment, and that thing is coming back! I'll take you to my home," the white rat said, before she and the others began a rapid retreat.
Seeing the red glow rising again in the distance, Charles dared not linger. He hurriedly led his crew after them. Compared to that monster, at least there's a chance we can communicate with these rats.
In the darkness, Charles and his men scrambled after the rats through a confusing maze of passages, finally arriving at a tunnel entrance just over a meter high.
As the men with torches crawled inside, they found themselves in darkness. Countless pairs of eyes stared fixedly at the humans entering their domain, and a constant rustling filled the air.
A dozen torches were lit and thrown high into the air. The light illuminated everything in a cavern roughly the size of a football field. It was filled with blackish-brown rats, all staring intently at them.
Rats themselves weren't strange, but the sight of some holding bone tools just like humans was deeply eerie.
Low, dome-shaped houses were arrayed in neat rows. Charles even saw one large rat teaching a group of smaller rats how to count! He felt as though he had stumbled into a land of little people.
The white rat, Lily, dragged over a toy-sized stool from somewhere, hopped onto it, and sat down. "Can you take me home? I miss my mom."
A swarm of rats surged forward, placing a bowl of brown liquid in front of each human in a clear gesture of hospitality.
Home? Charles looked around at the peculiar rat warren. "Isn't this your home?"
"Of course not! I'm not a rat! I'm a person!" the white rat retorted, her fur bristling as she stood on the stool.
"A person?" The crew members' eyes went wide as they stared at the little rat, completely unable to see how it could be a person.
Sensing their disbelief, the white rat, Lily, quickly began to explain.
"I really am a person! My mom and dad were taking me on a boat to He Fang Island to see my grandpa, but we ran into a whirlpool. I fell into the sea, and when I woke up, I was like this. I don't know why."