Third person's POV
The kitchen wasn't on this deck. The cargo the ship was transporting wasn't alive or fresh food products.
Under normal circumstances, the smell of blood should not have appeared out of nowhere.
However, thinking of the gunshot last night, Wilmot became more vigilant.
He would not overlook any opportunity that could potentially harm Tabitha.
After preparing breakfast for her, Wilmot quickly headed to the surveillance room.
He figured that by checking the surveillance footage, he should be able to clear up all his doubts.
The crew member in charge of monitoring the cameras was fast asleep, snoring loudly.
Wilmot skillfully operated the equipment, starting to review the footage from half an hour ago.
His fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, but he found that the surveillance system had malfunctioned, making it impossible to retrieve any relevant records.
It was clear that someone had tampered with the surveillance system!
It seemed that an unidentified individual had quietly infiltrated the ship.
Even if this intruder wasn't targeting Tabitha, Wilmot couldn't just ignore it.
He had to find this sneaky intruder as soon as possible.
Captain had his men search the island all day, only to find that no families on the island had lost any children.
For two children, injured and appearing on the cliff edge in the middle of the night like that, it was unlikely that any normal parents would do such a thing.
No matter how much Captain inquired about their parents, the children remained tight-lipped, unwilling to utter a single word.
Captain speculated that these children might have been deliberately abandoned there.
"We are setting off today. Would you like to come with us?" Captain patiently squatted in front of the two children and asked softly.
Both children nodded obediently.
They knew their father was on this ship. They needed to rely on it to evade those people's attention and then leave safely, so they didn't show any resistance.
The little girl was a bit scared, clutching her brother's clothes timidly and whispering, "Helios."
"So you can speak! What are your names?"
The little boy finally spoke in a childish voice, "I'm Helios."
The little girl followed, "I'm Ayla."
Captain's eyes brightened, "The meanings of the sun and the moon, what beautiful names. What about your mom and dad?"
"Dead," Helios said calmly.
Captain sighed softly, wondering what kind of environment these children had grown up in that they could speak so nonchalantly about such a thing.
"Do you have any other relatives?"
"No."
Since the children were young, further questions didn't yield much information. Fortunately, both children agreed to leave with him.
"Alright, let's head back to the ship for now."
This island was not under the jurisdiction of any country, so it attracted many dangerous individuals like fugitives and drug lords.
These two lovely children might have been trafficked to this island and had finally found a chance to escape.
If they really had no other family, taking them back to Seattle would likely result in many people willing to adopt them due to their appearance.
As the sky darkened, the cargo ship set sail after completing its resupply.
The two children were very well-behaved and did not run around the ship. They stayed obediently in Captain's room.
They were not picky eaters and ate whatever was given to them.
Captain didn't know how they had lived before. But thinking of his own newborn grandson, he felt particularly compassionate towards these children.
There were no clothes on the ship specifically for children, so the captain took apart his clean clothes. Having been sailing for so many years, he had developed a good set of sewing skills.
He made two sets of small clothes for them.
"For now, you can wear these temporarily. Once we dock, I will buy you new clothes."
"Thank you, Captain."
These children were so well-behaved that it was hard not to feel compassion for them.
Initially, Captain thought about sending them to an orphanage, but the longer he spent with them, the more reluctant he became to part with them.
Under Captain's meticulous care, the children's injuries healed quickly.
"Kids, the sea area we are about to pass through is very dangerous. The ship might rock a lot. You must stay here and not run around, understand?"
"We understand, Captain," the children replied obediently.
After two days of careful searching, Wilmot quietly checked each room and finally focused on the storage room.
He slowly approached the door of the storage room.