"Hey, Charles! Long time no see. Where have you been?" William, looking a bit disheveled, raised his drink.

  Charles glanced at the ordinary-looking girl beside Elizabeth. "Who is this...?"

  "This is Charlie's daughter. Charlie's passed away, and she's taken over as captain of his exploration ship," a nearby chubby man answered enthusiastically.

  Charlie? Richard immediately recalled the dark-faced middle-aged man with a hooked nose.

  "What happened to him?" Charles asked, a bit taken aback. After all this time as an explorer, he still struggled to adapt to the frequent deaths around him.

  William let out a burp and chuckled. "He’s dead, so what? Doesn’t matter how he died."

  A wave of sadness washed over Charles. It was Charlie who had helped him gain vital information about the Sunlight in Sodom, and he had wanted to thank him. Now, it turned out that was their last meeting.

  Turning to the girl, Charles carefully chose his words. "I was a friend of your father's. If you ever face difficulties, feel free to come to me."

  Since others had helped him without asking for anything in return, he felt it was only right to look after Charlie's daughter.

  The chubby man winked at the girl. "Hey, little one, Charles here is quite impressive. If you ask him for a living island, he might just pull it off."

  The daughter of Charlie smiled shyly at Charles. "Thank you. Dad mentioned you."

  Seeing her innocent smile made Charles want to dissuade her from getting involved in this dangerous world. Who knew what the treacherous seas would do to her? But it was not his place to interfere.

  Charles then shifted his gaze to the voluptuous woman lounging on the sofa. This was the reason he had come. "Can you step out for a moment?"

  Elizabeth managed a slight smirk before forcing it away, feigning indifference. "Not today. I'm a bit tied up."

  Nearby, William and a few familiar faces burst into laughter, clearly recognizing the awkward tension between them.

  Charles waved the feminine earring in front of him and walked toward the door.

  Seeing the earring, Elizabeth's expression turned serious. She released the girl and quickly followed Charles.

  As the two left, the other captains began to murmur among themselves.

  "What do you think their relationship is?"

  "What else could it be? That kind of relationship."

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "I thought Elizabeth only liked women. Is she switching things up now? I thought she was just experimenting."

  "Who knows? Maybe she just wants to try something new."

  "With a woman like that, Charles must be exhausted every night."

  "Yeah, one could easily be worth two."

  At the entrance, the two stopped. "My illusion earring—how did it end up with you?" Elizabeth's expression was grave.

  Charles remained silent, handing the earring back to her. He then reached out to pull off her eye patch, revealing a black void identical to the shells on the island.

  Elizabeth impatiently pushed his hand away. "Answer my question. I lost this relic on a highly dangerous island. How did you get it?"

  Charles looked out at the bustling port, pausing for a few seconds before calmly recounting everything that had happened on the island.

  After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "I don't dislike you. Honestly, it's flattering to have a beautiful woman so interested in me. But I'm sorry; I have important matters to attend to, and I can't agree to anything."

  Elizabeth brushed a stray white hair from her face and let out a dry laugh. "So that's it. You feel obligated because my other eye helped you?"

  Her expression suddenly turned cold as she turned to walk back into the hall. "There's no need for that. That was my other eye's intention, not mine. Just pretend nothing happened."

  Charles activated his ring to block her path and then pulled out a stack of papers, handing them to her.

  Elizabeth looked at him in confusion, then opened the papers. As she read, her eyes widened in disbelief.

  "There’s freshwater on the island?!" Her voice rose in pitch from sheer astonishment.

  "I've explored most of the island. The most dangerous part is 1002; the details are all written here. If you can figure out how to deal with it, that place could become a new island."

  Elizabeth's hands trembled as she held the papers. She couldn't believe that this young man was giving her such valuable information.

  "If... if this is my eye's way of repaying you, then I can't accept this!" Elizabeth struggled to return the papers, but her hands wouldn't move.

  "Take it. This information isn't of much use to me. Our goals are different, and since you were the first to explore that island, it should belong to you," Charles said, turning to head toward the lively port area.

  Elizabeth stood there, watching Charles walk away, her expression complex.

  "That's right, we’re that generous. A living island? We can give it away without batting an eye."

  Charles caught the sarcasm in Richard's voice. "Elizabeth saved us on that island. I don't want to owe anyone. Plus, for us, one ship is enough for exploring islands."

  "If you want to repay her, you could offer yourself! Do you think you're some kind of domineering CEO? Just hand over a living island like that? A living island!"

  "1002 isn't that easy to deal with. We can't waste time in a place like that. Remember, our goal is to return to the surface, not to reign over this cursed place."

  "That seems a bit reckless."

  "What do you want to do? Ask for it back?"

  Richard fell silent for a moment. "Well, it’s already given away. Asking for it back would be embarrassing..."

  Just then, Charles felt something unusual. He reached out his left hand and tossed a shifty-looking thief into the muddy ground.

  Transparent tendrils snaked out to retrieve the thief's wallet, and then he grabbed the thief's right hand, lifting it and then stomping down hard on his forearm.

  "Crack!" A chilling scream echoed as the thief's bone bent at an awkward angle.

  Watching the unfortunate thief, the nearby crowd quickly backed away in fear.

  Throwing the unlucky thief aside, Charles wandered aimlessly through the streets.

  Fishermen with nets, brazen gang members, and groups of sailors were all busy with their own affairs. Among them, Charles felt like a rock in a raging current, completely out of place.

  The doctor had told him to rest, but he had no idea what that meant. Truly relaxing was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.

  It seemed more challenging than exploring islands.