"Goddammit! Really got to experience the feeling of a nighttime forced march today—we didn't come to the wrong place, did we?"
Looking at the small island in the distance, Drake first cheered excitedly, then looked at Lin Qi with some uncertainty.
"There's no mistake, it's definitely here!"
Lin Qi shook his head, his tone ironclad.
Unlike before, where he could only give a vague direction, this time it was a genuine [Revelation], quite clear and complete in terms of the route, the appearance of the destination, and various other aspects.
He was practically following a walkthrough. If Lin Qi could still get it wrong at this point, he might as well find a block of tofu and crash into it to death.
"That's good then! Alright, crew, prepare to make landfall! Time waits for no one. Once this battle is over, you'll have plenty of time to rest!"
Drake turned around to cheer on the exhausted, ordinary human pirates.
The pirates listlessly acknowledged her.
Lin Qi, Drake, and the others were either Servants or possessed physical abilities comparable to Servants. Staying up a bit late and pushing themselves wouldn't leave them too fatigued.
But the pirates were having a much harder time. They had barely stopped all day, hadn't slept well, and were mostly completely drained of energy.
Under the pirates' control, the Golden Hind began to approach the island ahead.
Lin Qi watched the gradually clarifying coastline of the small island with considerable tension, the flag already summoned and held firmly in his hand.
Although [Revelation] provided a slightly future-leaning vision, Lin Qi wasn't sure exactly how far into the future that "slight" lean was.
If they arrived too late, and David and Atalante had already been taken out by Jason and his group, that would be really bad.
Amidst the crew's anxious and somewhat apprehensive mood, the Golden Hind finally reached the coastal waters and temporarily anchored there.
"The coming battle is on the island. My crew probably won't be of much use… Who do you plan to take ashore, Little Lin?" Drake asked, glancing at the seemingly calm island.
Lin Qi took a deep breath, his tone slightly somber: "Everyone. Except for the ordinary humans, everyone is to go onto the island."
Euryale frowned, somewhat puzzled. "Do I have to go too?"
"Mn, you're going too," Lin Qi looked at Euryale and affirmed with a nod.
"But Master, I remember you emphasizing several times that if I so much as touch the Ark of the Covenant, it would directly cause the Singularity to collapse, right?" Seeing that Lin Qi genuinely intended to bring her along, Euryale grew even more confused. "No matter how you think about it, wouldn't it be better for me to stay on the ship so you can fight more freely?"
"Besides, Artemis also has an Anti-Male Noble Phantasm. Whether I'm there or not shouldn't make much difference."
Artemis, hearing her name mentioned, cutely shook the bow in her hand and said with a smile, "That's right! Although my Noble Phantasm isn't very powerful, it does have an Anti-Male trait!"
Faced with Euryale's confusion, Lin Qi simply pointed diagonally upwards towards the island.
Everyone looked up.
Only then did they notice that Hector was standing brazenly on a high point of the island. Realizing he'd been spotted, he even waved at the group looking his way.
Everyone withdrew their gazes, finally understanding why Lin Qi had said that.
"As you can see, there's no chance," Lin Qi shook his head bitterly. "Our movements have been seen through. If we dare leave Euryale on the ship, Hector will dare to come aboard and kidnap her. We'd be even more passive then."
Orion, upon hearing this and thinking for a moment, sharply inhaled. "Hiss! This isn't just being seen through; this is being checkmated!"
It would have been better if the timing were earlier; Lin Qi and the others could have placed Euryale on the island where Artemis and Orion had been staying before.
But because they were searching for David and the Ark, they hadn't rested on an island this time. Instead, they had slept rough on the ship after traveling a distance. By the time Lin Qi received the [Revelation], the Golden Hind was still out on the open sea.
Lin Qi and the others had immediately thought of this crucial point and originally planned to find an island to leave Euryale on first. But although the sea area was vast, islands were few and far between. Along the way, they hadn't even seen the shadow of an island.
Thus, the plan to place Euryale on an island in advance naturally came to nothing.
And they couldn't just throw Euryale into the sea…
Lin Qi, who had thought that with the [Revelation] boost, they could find David and Atalante faster than Jason's group, and that bringing Euryale along would mean one more person, one more strength, had ultimately underestimated the heroes of the world.
He had also underestimated the changes brought about by his own arrival.
"Right now, I'm afraid our only path is to take Euryale-chan onto the island with us, or…" Orion looked at Euryale, hesitating to finish his sentence.
"Darling~, since when did you start using such an intimate name for Euryale? Even I don't have such an affectionate nickname…" Before Orion could finish the latter part of his sentence, Artemis once again grabbed him by the neck, her bright eyes having somehow lost their light. "No way! This is such a serious topic, Artemis, don't ruin the atmosphere—"
"No cheating, okay? Even if Euryale is very pretty, it's not allowed…" Artemis kneaded and squeezed Orion's stuffed animal body, her hollow gaze fixed on the various changes in his shape.
Wait, this seems like… a different kind of 'heavy'!!!
Hearing Artemis's somewhat distorted voice, Orion broke out in a cold sweat.
The male members of the group watched their interaction in silence, feeling no envy in their hearts, only sympathy.
Feels like finding a girlfriend like this would ruin your whole life…
Although the interruption lightened the mood a little, the key problem still remained.
"Or, you could have me withdraw from the field immediately. Right?" Euryale took over Orion's unfinished sentence, a self-deprecating tone in her voice.
Lin Qi looked at Euryale in silence.
This thought, which had flashed through his mind, was now unavoidably laid bare before everyone, throwing Lin Qi's mind into chaos for a moment.
Everyone felt much the same as Lin Qi. Even Artemis and Orion, who had been "fooling around" nearby, paused their actions and watched the scene unfold without a word.
They were the last to join the team, having been there for less than a day, and were thus the least qualified to make this decision.
Seeing everyone's silence, Euryale, on the other hand, was in good spirits.
Perhaps she had had this premonition ever since she learned of her own importance from Lin Qi's mouth.
So when it really came to this point, she instead felt a sense of release.
"Then do it. Since it's the most suitable method, why not go through with it?" Euryale's gaze was gentle as she looked at Asterios, Lin Qi, and Drake. She spread her arms open, as if awaiting the arrival of her execution.
…