It was an abnormal ratio, and each of these soldiers was armed with rifles that looked more advanced than flintlock muskets. Furthermore, according to one of the Bugborgs, an eccentric scientist with a mechanical device on his back was wandering the island.
Bill became interested in this scientist, but his special operator only knew his name - Henzo.
Either nothing was going on here and they were just weird people who didn't want the Marines there, or it was a heavily militarized island with a mad scientist, in which case they definitely didn't want the Marines there.
It was hard not to jump to the obvious conclusion, but Bill knew that as a law enforcement officer, he couldn't jump to conclusions.
Sitting in his office, Bill began to go about the routine management work that Ricky usually assigned, thinking that he urgently needed a good secretary, when the snail began to ring.
Purururu PurururuAfter answering the call, he heard a familiar voice.
Rance: "Hey, partner, we just reached those pillars you were talking about. We'll stop here for the night and reach the shore at dawn."
Hearing that his lieutenant was nearby, Bill felt a huge sense of relief, but after much deliberation, he decided to proceed with the plan.
"Just in time!" Bill said before explaining to Rance what he'd learned about Ruluka Island. Once he'd finished explaining the details, Bill told his childhood friend what he needed to do.
"Look, something is clearly wrong on this island, but there are too many soldiers here for us to act rashly."
Bill knew that even if he could deal with 400 or more armed men, he could not do it instantly, and that many soldiers could cause significant damage before they were all subdued.
If his suspicions were correct, the goal was to keep bloodshed to a minimum.
The arrival of Rance and Fia was a significant boost to his capabilities, but even so, Bill was not prepared to recklessly risk the lives of his people or the island's inhabitants.
The plan was simple, but it should give him the information he needed.
"Rance, you and Akisu will don civilian clothes and take a boat to the island. Your cover story is that you two are the only survivors of a shipwreck. Take 10,000 beli to pay the port tax, and hit the bars, mingle with the crowd, and see what you can find out. You'll only have two days, by which time the mayor will be wondering why my lieutenant hasn't arrived yet."
After this, Bill said that he would meet him at the bar at the end of the second day, and offered a few more details about the city, especially about the big tower.
After the call, Bill slept for a few hours before waking up early the next morning.
It was his third day at anchor off the island, and if before he thought he would fly over the tower, now he wanted to talk to a scientist named Henzo.
Bill thought it wasn't the scientist himself that was strange, but the fact that a scientist with advanced technology was on an island with an archaic infrastructure.
The technological level of this world was basically the same, but there were some notable exceptions.
Why these exceptions occurred was interesting, since in places without real production it was a mystery how children ever encountered advanced technologies.
"If only all this isn't a coincidence," he thought to himself, quietly passing the morning patrol and rising into the air.
Having adjusted his vision, Bill rose high into the sky and flew around the city several times.
The stone buildings blended into each other, even the torches at the taverns looked the same.
Thinking from a military standpoint, Bill knew that such features would make storming the city a nightmare if it had been seriously defended.
"If these were ordinary people," Bill corrected himself, realizing the stone fortifications were unlikely to impede decisive action. Aside from the military aspects, the only thing that was noticeable was the city's poverty. There were no clotheslines, no washbasins, and, oddly, no trash anywhere.
He didn't linger on any one street for long, as he was searching, and his efforts soon paid off: after half an hour of circling, he spotted a man he assumed was Henzo. He emerged from a small stone building wearing protective goggles and carrying a metal device on his back, which held a satellite dish.
Acting quickly, Bill decided that speed was the best approach and rushed down towards the man.
From several hundred feet in the air, Bill reached the man before he could take three steps, grabbed him by the collar, and, carefully avoiding breaking anything, pulled him back into the house.
This tactic would have worked perfectly if Bill had not noticed that the man had locked the door, and in his haste he broke the wooden door handle.
After a loud crash, Bill froze for a moment, then carefully placed the old man on the floor and, using the pieces of the broken door as wedges, closed it.
Turning back, trying to remain calm and pretend that this was all intended, Bill looked down at the old man he towered over.