Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 73. Compensation For Her Assistance

"Aye! Charles! Long time no see, where have you been?" William raised up the wine glass in his hand in greeting. He was just like how Charles remembered him to be—intoxicated and disheveled.

Charles' eyes landed on the ordinary-looking young woman next to Elizabeth and asked, "This is...?"

"Charlie's daughter. He died, so she took over her father's ship and became the new Explorer Captain," the enthusiastic chubby man by the side answered.

Charlie? Charles instantly recalled the grim-faced, middle-aged man with his distinguishable hawk-like nose.

"How did he die?" Charles asked with a stunned expression. Despite being an Explorer for so long, he still couldn't get accustomed to others dying so easily.

William belched as he let out a light chuckle. "He's dead. Period. Does it matter how he died?"

Charles was struck by a pang of sorrow. It was all thanks to Charlie and his acquaintance that he was able to acquire the leads to Sottom and also the sunlight. He had wanted to express his gratitude when he returned, but little did he know their last meeting would be their final one.

Turning to the young woman, Charles carefully chose his words before he said, "I was a friend of your father. If you ever run into any difficulties, don't hesitate to find me."

Since her father had assisted him selflessly, it was only fair for him to look out for the daughter.

The portly man winked at the girl and commented, "Lass, Charles is a formidable dude. You could ask him for a livable island, and he might be able to get you one."

Charlie's daughter flashed a shy smile to Charles and said, "Thank you. My father had mentioned you."

Seeing her pure and innocent smile, Charles felt an impulse to dissuade her from becoming a seafarer. God knows what the cursed subterranean sea could do to torment her. However, it was not his place to interfere since this was her decision to make.

Charles then turned his gaze onto the towering beauty on the couch. She was the reason for his visit today.

"Can we step outside for a moment?" Charles asked.

Elizabet's lips curled up for a split second before she forcefully turned them back down. Feigning an indifferent expression, she answered, "Not today. I'm not feeling up to it."

William and the few other familiar faces burst out into laughter. Their hearty laugh echoed in the hall. They had long sensed the awkward relationship between Charles and Elizabeth.

Without uttering a single word, Charles fished out a woman's earring and waved it before Elizabeth before he headed straight for the door.

At the sight of the earring, Elizabeth's expression turned solemn instantly. She promptly let go of the young girl and caught up with Charles.

As the pair left their sight, the remaining captains started their speculations.

"What do you reckon their relationship is?"

"What else could it be? Surely it's that kind."

"Didn't Elizabeth fancy women? When has she taken a liking to men? I thought they were just having a fling."

"Who knows? Perhaps she wanted a taste of something else?"

"Such a large woman. That brat Charles sure has it tough at night, doesn't he?"

"True, dealing with one Elizabeth is like bedding two ordinary ones."

***

Meanwhile, the two subjects of speculation stood at the entrance of the Association.

"Why is my Illusory Earring with you?" Elizabeth asked with a somewhat grave expression.

Charles remained silent and returned the earring to Elizabeth. He then reached out a hand to lift up her eyepatch. Indeed, the black void beneath it was identical to those of the human husks back on the island.

Elizabeth swatted his hand away impatiently. "Answer my question. I lost this relic on an extremely dangerous island. How did it end up with you?"

Charles' gaze landed on the bustling port in the distance. After a few seconds of silence, he calmly recounted the events that transpired on the island to Elizabeth.

Charles paused briefly before he continued, "I do not hate you. To be honest, I feel glad to be favored by a beautiful woman like you. But I'm really sorry. I have something important that I need to do, so I can't give in to what you want."

Elizabeth adjusted the strand of platinum blonde hair that fell out of place and let out a dry laugh, "I see... So my eye helped you, and you feel guilty toward me now, huh?"

Her expression turned icy instantly as she turned to walk back into the hall. "You don't need to. Those were the words of my other eye, but it doesn't represent my thoughts. You can just pretend that nothing ever happened."

Charles triggered the Tentacle Ring to halt Elizabeth in her steps. He then pulled out a stack of papers from his chest pocket and handed them to her.

With a confused expression, Elizabeth unfolded the paper and scanned the contents. With every page that she read, her eyes widened even further in surprise.

"That island has freshwater?!" Her voice had even turned a note sharper out of extreme surprise.

"I've explored more than half of the island. There aren't other issues; the most dangerous matter to deal with would be 1002. I've jotted all the detailed information about it here. If you can find a way to deal with it, then this place will become a new livable island."

Holding onto the stack of papers, Elizabeth's hand trembled. She hadn't expected the man before him to present her with the island's intelligence. The value of the information in her hands was unimaginable. All captains of exploration vessels risked their lives for a livable island, and yet Charles had provided one that casually.

"If... If you are giving me this as compensation for the assistance my eye rendered, then I can't accept it!" Elizabeth tried to return the papers to Charles. However, her hand remained frozen in place.

"Just take it. It's not of much use to me. Our goals are different. Also, you landed on the island first. So, it should be yours." With that, Charles then turned and headed toward the busy harbor district.

Elizabeth stood in a daze as she watched Charles disappear into the distance. Her emotions were complicated.

"Right, look at how generous we are. A livable island is nothing. I can give it away without batting an eyelid."

Charles could sense the underlying sarcasm in Richard's words and retorted.

"Elizabeth saved us on that island. I don't like being in her debt. As for us, we only need a ship to explore the islands."

"You can repay your debt toward her with your body! Do you think you are some billionaire CEO? Gifting an island with the snap of your fingers? It's an island! A freaking livable island!"

"1002 isn't that easy to deal with. We don't have the time to waste on that. Don't forget that our goal is to return to the surface world and not to become some overlord in this cursed place."

"Aren't you being too hasty about it?"

"Then what do you suggest? Get it back from her?"

Richard fell silent for a moment before he resigned, "We've already given it to her. Asking it back from her would be so... disgraceful."

Just then, Charles felt an odd sensation. His left hand shot out and snagged the weasel-eyed figure behind him and threw him onto the muddy ground.

His transparent tentacles extended to retrieve the stolen wallet from the thief's hand. Then, a tentacle grabbed the thief's right hand and lifted it up. Charles then raised his feet and stomped down hard on the thief's forearm.

Crack!

The bone snapped and twisted into an odd L-shape. The thief's agonized cries rang out.

The onlooking crowd stared at the unfortunate man with horrified expressions before they swiftly distanced themselves from the sprawling figure on the ground.

After tossing the thief aside, Charles aimlessly strolled on the streets. He encountered fishermen with their nets over their shoulders, arrogant gang members, and clusters of sailors. Everyone seemed to be busy with their own matters. Walking amongst them, Charles felt like a reef in a rushing river—completely out of place.

Laesto had instructed Charles to rest, but he had no idea how to go about doing it. The concept of relaxing entirely had become foreign after all this while.

Ironically, taking a complete break seemed even harder than exploring an island.