Around these same days, something strange is happening in the underground depths of Divine Mountain...

The secret entry of three mysterious individuals onto the steamship was just one stage in a plan by forces unknown to you.

Meanwhile, something is happening on the territory of Divine Mountain...

The body of Noseless Pete, exhausted by blood loss and pain from a severe injury, is carried by pirates on a medical stretcher along a long and wide dark corridor that looks like one of the parts of a branched network of underground mines.

The group of pirates moves surrounded by a group of twice as many individuals, each of whom is dressed in gray robes. In the dim light of the torches, strange tattoos on the bodies of these escorts are barely noticeable: symbols in the form of a triangle, inside which is inscribed an image of an eye with a vertical pupil. Such tattoos are in the center of the forehead of each of these individuals.

Bonita Quezada continues to walk next to the pirate captain named Silent Joe.

Silent Joe looks like a bald, sullen man (about 40 years old) of average height with strong and large muscles. He is dressed in a leather vest with protective metal elements, leather pants and boots. On his belt is a scabbard with a saber and a holster with a revolver. A small chestnut-colored beard, a large hooked nose, blue eyes, scars in the throat area...

Bonita looks around anxiously and whispers in Joe's ear: "These fanatical sectarians... They can just kill us all! Are you sure they will cure my uncle?"

"They didn't even demand that we hand over our weapons... This means they are confident in their own power. If they wanted to destroy us, we would all be dead already..." - this sullen pirate captain gloomily answers the girl in a hoarse voice.

Noseless Pete groans in pain...

It seems to be getting worse with time.

And that's not surprising: the loss of the left arms is too serious an injury, which is fraught with great blood loss and ****.

However, Noseless Pete's gaze manages to notice Silent Joe walking next to him.

"Khhhhhh... Joe... Why didn't you leave me? You could have run away with the loot... Surely, you did it for a reason..." - Noseless Pete manages to say, coughing.

"A deal... I owed one favor to the Tribal Union of Divine Mountain..." - Silent Joe answers laconically.

Soon, Noseless Pete loses consciousness from the pain.

His body continues to be carried further down the corridor.

The sounds of mining equipment are heard from somewhere to the right...

Further on, large wooden double-leaf gates are visible...

A creak... The gates are opened by someone from the inside...

The group enters a large hall, at the end of which an altar made of stone rises.

Twilight and rare torchlight...

The hall is filled with a crowd of local inhabitants, each of whom is dressed in a gray robe.

They raise their hands up in reverent awe and pronounce ritual prayer phrases: "In the name of the life-giving the Great One! In honor of the mighty God of the Mountain Depths! Accept our flesh, accept our lives, accept our souls!"

A cacophony of many voices.

Figures in gray robes approach the medical stretcher, on which lies the **** body of Noseless Pete.

"What the fuck is this?! What do they want to do with my uncle?!" - Bonita Quezada screams in fear.

Silent Joe comes up behind her and covers her mouth, whispering in her ear: "Don't scream, stupid girl! If you interfere with them, they'll take it as blasphemy! And what will happen? We'll all die a painful **** here! Calm down! I know for sure that they can cure Pete!"

The prayerful cries of the crowd intensify and approach a state of some religious exaltation.

The pirates see that some of the local believers begin to take out daggers and, in a fit of religious ecstasy, cut their own skin, drawing strange symbols on their bodies with the blood that comes out.

A triangle with an image of an eye with a vertical pupil inscribed inside...

The next moment, persons dressed in gray robes take the medical stretcher with the body of Noseless Pete from the pirates.

They carry this body to the stone altar, which rises in the far part of the hall...

At the same time, a group of muscular and tall men armed with melee weapons, dressed in gray robes with hoods, approaches the group of pirates.

"Uninitiated persons must leave the Hall of Sacred Ritual!" - says one of these men.

Silent Joe nods and leads the group of pirates out of the room.

Bonita Quezada looks at him with an angry look and whispers: "If these bastards harm my uncle, I'll finish you off, Joe!"

Silent Joe does not deign to answer her.

A group of pirates, accompanied by armed figures in gray hooded robes, moves along the dark underground corridors...

At this time, some kind of religious action continues in the Hall of Sacred Ritual...

The crowd of believers is seized with ecstasy.

Among the cacophony of prayerful cries, the fact that somewhere in the area of ​​the ceiling, some kind of gaseous substance is released from small holes, which gradually covers the entire room, is almost unnoticeable.

This event further increases the exaltation of the crowd.

An **** degree of euphoria is visible in the eyes of the people. Foam is coming out of the mouths of some people...

It seems that many of these people are starting to see hallucinations...

At this point, the body of Noseless Pete is already on the stone altar.

Soon, a grinding sound is heard behind the altar - part of the stone wall is moving away.

Strange "creatures" appear from this imperceptible secret passage...

Who are they?

If the people in the crowd could think sensibly now - they would be able to closely examine these silhouettes.

These silhouettes...

Small (about a meter in height) robotic devices made of an alloy of different metals and plastic.

Several blinking green indicators, antennas, three robotic arms-manipulators, a large number of spider-like "legs"...

Alas, instead of observation and analysis, all the people present in the room are seized with euphoria and religious ecstasy.

"Angel-like Messengers of the Great One! God of the Mountain Depths has heard our prayers!" - such cries are heard from the crowd.

It seems that looking at these robots, people see something completely inconsistent with reality.

And probably this is the effect of the hallucinogenic-narcotic gaseous substance that completely filled the Hall of Sacred Ritual.

The robots take the body of Noseless Pete from the stone altar.

And then the robots again hide in the secret passage in the stone wall.

Soon the secret passage closes.

Now it looks like just a stone wall.

For several hours in the Hall of Sacred Ritual, the crowd of believers continues to be in a state of religious ecstasy. In the end, this ecstasy develops into a mass orgy.

At this time, the robots deliver the body of Noseless Pete to the elevator, which goes down for a long time into the remote underground depths under Divine Mountain. A vast and branched network of corridors of some ancient bunker...

And there are no people here - only robots move along the corridors.

The robots carry the body of Noseless Pete into a surprisingly clean operating room.

Here, a larger stationary robot-"medic" begins scanning the body of the mutilated pirate.

And then the multi-hour operation begins...

As a result of this operation, a hand prosthesis made of alloys of various metals is implanted into the flesh of the pirate's bloody left arm stump.

This is an extremely detailed prosthesis, completely repeating the structure of a human palm and human fingers.

It's good that the pirate is ****...

Otherwise, he could easily go crazy from the pain during the operation.

However, the operation is not limited to installing a left arm prosthesis...

A large stationary robot-"medic" implants a miniature microchip into the pirate's flesh (in the back of the head).

The scars and traces of the operation are carefully cauterized by the robot's lasers.

What is the result of all this?

A day later, a stocky and muscular man dressed in a loose black shirt and worn leather pants enters one of the underground rooms of Divine Mountain, where a group of pirates is located.

His body is covered with many scars and burns. The ugly face of this man almost resembles the face of a ghoul.

Nasty scars and burns on the forehead and cheeks...

No nose...

A gloomy and merciless look of dark green eyes...

"Uncle, you're alive!" - a beautiful latina-woman

Jumps up from the table and rushes to the man, hugging him.

There are tears in the girl's eyes...

Silent Joe nods phlegmatically - his appearance expresses confidence in the correctness of his own actions.

The pirates notice that instead of a left hand, Noseless Pete has a metal prosthesis that looks very technological (like a legacy of the ancient pre-war world).

This prosthesis is not just a good functional replacement for the left hand - this prosthesis can also be used as a weapon.

A blow with a metal fist is much more effective than a blow with a regular fist...

"Everything is fine, Bonita... I managed to cheat **** again! Ha! Ha!" - the hoarse voice of Noseless Pete sounds confident.

"But how?! I thought those savages couldn't do something like that?!" - asks Bonita Quezada.

"I can hardly explain all this... But one thing I know for sure - I heard the voice of God..." - Noseless Pete answers.

The pirates look at him incredulously.

"And now we have a place to return to. Here we can sell the loot... We will act in the name of the will of the true God... The Great One! For the glory of the God of the Mountain Depths! Now we have a goal..." - the words of the pirate captain sound with sincere conviction.

The pirates look puzzled - but none of them dare to contradict Noseless Pete.

It seems that the cult of God of the Mountain Depths has gained new adherents and will now be able to influence the region more...

And also: some members of one of the tribes managed to infiltrate the vessel, on which you and your companions are now traveling.

The consequences of all this will clearly affect the future...