“Here come the enemy ships!! Everyone, prepare! Watch out for the pirates jumping aboard!!” Deep shouted loudly to his crew from the deck.

  He had no choice but to raise his voice; the entire sea had turned into a chaotic battlefield, and the fleet was already being swarmed by some fast-moving pirates. They were barely holding on, largely due to the disarray among their attackers.

  As the Sodom pirates charged forward, everyone braced for the worst, but for some unknown reason, the pirate leader halted their advance, leaving their ships motionless.

  The infighting among the pirates gave the crew a brief moment to breathe.

  Seeing the aggressive prow of a pirate ship approaching, Lily, stationed at the deck cannon, squeaked in alarm. The cannon quickly turned, firing directly at the ship that was now within arm's reach.

  The explosion was so close that the shockwave rocked the Narwhal violently.

  Although the immediate danger had passed, the crew’s faces remained tense, as the surrounding environment was still perilous. Bandage was maneuvering the Narwhal swiftly to evade incoming fire.

  Odric swooped down from above, landing on the deck in a hurry. “The eastern encirclement has been broken! Other exploration ships are retreating in that direction!”

  Wrapped in a semi-transparent cocoon, Keder exclaimed excitedly, “That’s great! Let’s hurry and follow them!”

  “No way! The captain hasn’t returned yet!” Deep immediately countered.

  “If he could come back, he would have done so by now! What are we waiting for?” Keder’s words drew hostile glares from all sides.

  Filled with anger, Deep stepped forward. “If you say that again, I don’t care who you are; don’t blame me for throwing you overboard!”

  “Are you just going to wait here and die while he doesn’t come back? Open your eyes and look at the situation around us!!”

  “Whoosh~” A cannonball flew overhead, crashing heavily into the sea and sending a towering spray of water skyward.

  “I’m not going anywhere until the captain returns!!”

  “You!!”

  Keder regretted ever being on this ship at that moment.

  Just then, a red shark’s head broke through the surface of the water, and a barely conscious Charles lay sprawled on its back.

  “It’s the captain!”

  Deep leaped over the ship’s railing and plunged into the water, quickly hauling Charles onto the deck. Charles’s abdominal wound had stopped bleeding, the circular injury now whitened by the seawater.

  “Ship’s doctor!! Where’s the ship’s doctor?!” Deep shouted helplessly as he looked at Charles’s injury.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Get away! What are you all crowding around for? Step back!”

  The doctor limped over, carrying various prepared medical supplies. He had anticipated this scenario when Charles had rushed out.

  “Get the ship moving…,” Charles said, summoning all his strength.

  “Set sail!! Quick, set sail!! Your captain has returned!!” Keder waved his arms frantically at the bridge.

  Thick smoke billowed from the Narwhal’s smokestack as the exploration ship’s speed began to pick up rapidly.

  Amidst the ongoing explosions and gunfire, the weakened Charles turned to the doctor. “Is there any medicine that can help me temporarily regain my combat strength?”

  The doctor shot him a glare. “You still want to regain your strength? You’re in this state and want to join the fight? Are you eager to die faster?”

  As he spoke, he increased the pressure of his treatment. “Two of you, get him inside! I need to operate!”

  Kneeling on one knee, Deep looked at Charles with determination. “Don’t worry, Captain. We’ll take care of the rest!”

  Charles was carried by two sailors on a stretcher into the ship’s interior.

  On the deck, Deep’s voice reached his ears. “Brothers! The captain has done his part! Now it’s our turn to protect him!!”

  The crew responded in unison.

  While the doctor worked on Charles, the sounds of explosions and chaos continued outside, but as they had promised, everyone kept the danger at bay.

  As the sounds of burning and explosions gradually subsided, Charles’s wound was finally stitched up.

  When the doctor wheeled Charles out in a wheelchair, he noticed that the pirate ships had vanished from the sea; they had retreated.

  Seeing Charles emerge onto the deck, the captains of the surrounding ships removed their tricorn hats and respectfully bowed in a gesture of gratitude.

  They all recognized that it was Charles who had held off the monstrous pirate ship; without him, they wouldn’t have made it out today.

  Through his actions, Charles earned the respect of everyone.

  Keder’s excitement was palpable as he rushed over, rubbing his hands together. “Charles, we did it! We can head to the Land of Light now!!”

  A faint smile crept onto Charles’s lips, quickly transforming into a radiant grin, a genuine happiness he hadn’t felt since falling into the Abyss. “Yes, we succeeded.”

  On the dark sea, aboard a luxurious three-deck passenger ship that had set sail from the Isle of Whispers, Anna reclined in a lounge chair, enjoying a massage from her maid while leisurely reading a newspaper.

  “April 30th Breaking News: Peter, the Finance Minister of the Isle of Whispers, unexpectedly becomes bedridden. A large amount of assets from the treasury have been transferred, with all clues pointing to his daughter-in-law, Anna. The governor of the Isle is furious and has offered a bounty of ten million Echoes for the capture of this former socialite. The Whispers Police Department also stated that recent disappearances are significantly linked to her, and they have reason to suspect…”

  Anna poked her finger at her photo in the newspaper. “The likeness is uncanny; I’ll have to cover my face when I go out.”

  The maid, confused, glanced at the portrait of Charles nearby and asked, “Mistress, didn’t you say you could change your appearance? Why not transform into a new one?”

  Anna tilted her head. “Hmm… I don’t like it.”

  The maid cast a side-eye at Charles’s portrait but said nothing, continuing to knead Anna’s soft shoulders.

  Flipping through a few more pages of the newspaper, Anna’s left hand instinctively reached for Charles’s portrait beside her.

  After studying it for a while, she grew irritated and slammed the portrait down onto the table. “Martha, put this away.”

  The maid obediently nodded and stored the portrait in the nearby wardrobe.

  She knew that it wouldn’t stay there for long, as this scenario had repeated several times.

  “Why are we heading to the Crown of the World? Even if we can’t stay on the Isle of Whispers, there are other large islands we could go to. I’ve heard that while the Crown of the World has a grand name, it’s not very populated and isn’t ideal for living; it’s more like a remote, impoverished place.”

  “The larger places have too many eyes from various factions; it’s hard to do anything without interference. Smaller places are better; they attract less attention. Now that the funds are in place, it’s time for me to do something significant.”