O'Rin's swordsmanship was formidable, but purely in terms of spirit rank, this ghost couldn't match Jason—who had his own body and could resurrect infinitely.
Bella didn't have a direct subordinate relationship with O'Rin. She had a contract with the ship, and the ship had contracts with the ghosts.
Summoning required the ship's consent before she could pull someone across.
"Hmm?" During the summoning, Bella discovered three new options. Who were these?
She examined them carefully. After quite a while, she recognized them—the three unfortunate souls Jason had killed at Crystal Lake. She'd given them a year to settle their affairs. Now that year had passed, and the three had returned to the ship for service.
Bella considered. Seeing the summoning burden was practically zero, she decided to call one over as well.
A golden-haired, square-faced, muscular young man who seemed to love football appeared, looking around in complete confusion. He couldn't fathom why he'd been scrubbing the deck on the ship one moment and standing on a sweltering island the next.
Bella checked the ship's records and finally learned his name.
"Mr. Trent DeMarco, long time no see. Remember me?" she asked with a smile.
The Flying Dutchman was domineering. It hadn't just recorded Trent DeMarco's name—it had documented everything he'd recently experienced.
Bella now knew he attended school in Los Angeles and had just started dating a girl with an explosive figure named Mikaela Banes. He particularly enjoyed bullying a boy at school named Sam Witwicky.
Though she spoke politely, Bella gave orders without hesitation.
They weren't equals. No need for negotiation.
Though O'Rin's traditional Japanese attire was normal in its original context, it stood out too much in the current environment.
This meant O'Rin could only scout covertly, while Trent DeMarco's role as a rich boy became apparent.
Bella's requirements were simple: go get captured. She wanted the rich boy to make some noise, then let the island's armed forces capture him and take him to their camp. His primary mission was finding Sadako and the others; his secondary mission was gathering intelligence.
"I... I don't have combat abilities. I'm afraid I can't complete the mission." The rich boy relied on his family's money and his muscles to start fights at school and bully classmates. But gathering intelligence? In an enemy camp? He balked.
"You won't die anyway. If you perform well, I'll give you another year of vacation. Now go. Don't disappoint me."
Bella's words brooked no argument. Though the rich boy felt extremely unwilling, he had to obey orders.
As she'd said, he wouldn't die anyway. What was there to fear?
He trudged unsteadily toward the other side of the mountain, pretending to be a shipwreck survivor. He'd deliberately reveal his location to get captured by the armed forces, bringing him into the camp.
O'Rin's mission was heavier. Bella wanted her to scout the island's supernatural forces.
"Be careful. This island definitely has entities that can threaten you."
Ashina's priests and monks had all died. A lonely ghost like O'Rin had nothing to worry about, standing at the village entrance playing her shamisen daily with no one bothering her.
But Yamatai was different. Himiko had founded Japanese kidō—the demon way. Some modern Japanese even considered Himiko an incarnation of Amaterasu. Regardless of her actual identity, her ability to restrain spirits was certainly formidable.
O'Rin strummed her shamisen, acknowledging the warning. The next moment, she transformed into a breeze and vanished from Bella's sight.
Trent's luck—whether good or bad—was hard to judge. Thirty minutes later, an armed patrol discovered him. Three soldiers pinned him to the ground and beat him thoroughly before dragging him back to camp.
As a school football player, he had decent build.
Plus, he looked like a typical clueless American. The soldiers didn't bother asking their leader—they just pointed guns at his head. Go! Get down there and work!
Trent didn't find the professor or Sadako, but he did spot the captain Lara had hired—Lu Ren from Hong Kong.
The three people's appearances had been transmitted to his mind through the contract.
During a break from hauling stones, he lowered his voice. "I'm here to rescue you."
Lu Ren was tall with bronze skin and a buzz cut. His sharp eyes showed he was quite shrewd.
Having been captured by the island's armed forces, he hadn't made a fuss. He'd played ordinary, doing whatever was asked, staying extremely low-key.
When someone claimed to be rescuing him, he looked over curiously, then asked in a mocking tone, "Rescue me? What's the price?"
In the wilderness, Lara discovered a wild deer. After long hesitation, she ultimately couldn't bring herself to kill it. Instead, she gathered some fruit to bring back and share with Bella.
Bella wasn't certain whether the current Yamatai Island matched the movie version or the game version.
She understood the Tomb Raider series less well than Assassin's Creed. Looking at Lara's greenhorn state, Bella knew she was just starting out. But what enemies would they encounter on the island? She couldn't guarantee anything.
Trinity's armed forces appearing here wouldn't be strange. A few Templar Knights showing up wouldn't be surprising. Even if Hydra popped up, she'd stay calm.
The rich boy had just found Lu Ren. Through the contract, she received the news and formed further plans.
Regardless, taking out the island's armed forces and rescuing her people was definitely the right move.
Just looking at her island-blocking display, Himiko was clearly extremely powerful. Bella estimated that even at full strength, she'd need to team up with Storm to stand against Himiko at her peak.
What condition the ancient Japanese queen was in now, how much combat power remained—that was unknown.
They ate some wild fruit together, then began discussing their action plan.
Bella didn't tell Lara she'd already sent people to gather intelligence. Instead, she analyzed based on logic. "Those guys on the beach last night could set up an ambush in advance. That means they knew your itinerary and have some detection methods... "
Bella paused here.
She believed these methods weren't ordinary technological equipment. Supernatural forces were likely involved. Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental? They'd just climbed onto the beach when four or five large figures appeared? In that massive thunderstorm, instead of finding shelter, they were hiding behind rocks waiting to capture them? Had they lost their minds?
If they didn't have solid intelligence, and they'd sent people to wait on the beach in a storm specifically for an ambush—that would be incredibly stupid.
What if they hadn't come? What if the ship had drifted elsewhere? Too many uncertain factors. Without concrete information, deliberately sending people to the beach for an ambush made no sense.