"Come in, Keg."
Old Jack, at this moment, unhesitatingly stepped forward and seated himself in the captain's chair, while Anna and Ante respectively stood by his side.
Creak—
The brown wooden door to the captain's cabin was hurriedly pushed open.
A middle-aged man with a beard swiftly entered, gave a respectful bow to Old Jack, and then quickly said,
"Captain Jack, Monk Lian is here."
"Lian..." Old Jack's somewhat frosty brows furrowed together, a sense of foreboding instantly arose in his heart.
Why would he come at a time like this, just when the three of them, just when Miss Anna had come to this vast, unclaimed sea?
...It was clearly no good intention!
"I understand. You go outside and handle it for now; we'll be right there."
But now, Lian clearly wasn't the most important issue at hand, as he dismissed the Sailor Chief Keg.
"Yes." Keg didn't sense anything unusual, nodded, and turned to leave.
He even closed the cabin's wooden door behind him with polite consideration.
After waiting a few seconds, Anna was the first to speak up from the corner, "Wizard sir, are you still there?"
"Mhm." Colin responded indifferently, revealing his form from the corner of the room.
At the same time, he reinforced the captain's cabin with a Silent Spell.
Anna, clearly startled by the voice coming from behind her, turned to look at Colin and hesitated before asking,
"So what do we do now...?"
"Continue on, but keep it brief," Colin instructed Ante, who was beside him.
Ante, gathering his interrupted thoughts, began to explain,
"As you suspected, it's a Transmission Array, specially built by our father before his death—Anna, you should know about it too, it's the place we often went to as children, it's just that I once accidentally saw the Transmission Array appear... Well, after much pestering, father told me it was a Transmission Array..."
"Cut to the chase. Where is the Transmission Array, and what are the conditions for its use?" Colin interrupted Ante's reminiscence with a frown.
"Sorry." Ante hurriedly shut his mouth, paused for a brief moment, and then continued succinctly,
"It's on a Deserted Island near the Pahama Islands."
"And the conditions for use are a bit complicated... but they have something to do with Monk Lian, who has just arrived."
Complicated conditions... Colin's brows knitted together, and then he looked up, seemingly at the door.
"Let's deal with him first."
He ordered softly, dispelled the Silent Spell, and then once again vanished into the corner.
The next second.
Bang, the door to the captain's cabin was suddenly pushed open.
"Long time no see, Captain Jack... and my dearest Miss Anna."
A lean man strode in, followed by a resigned-looking Sailor Chief Keg.
Jack calmly seated himself in the chair of honor and looked at the entering Lian with a frown.
This monk's appearance... was rather unattractive.
A long, horse-like face, high cheekbones prominently jutting out, nostrils flared outward, and during his speech, his crooked, yellowish teeth flashed briefly, causing a turn of the stomach.
Yet, Lian himself seemed oblivious to this, believing he had gracefully executed a poor imitation of a noble's salute, while waiting for Jack's response.
It's worth mentioning that this etiquette was something he had just learned in the past few months.
Like all those who suddenly rose in the aftermath of disaster, he never saw the arrival of the Divine as a bad thing.
On the contrary, he even believed it to be a genuine boon!
Before, he was merely a loathed lowlife, but now, he had transformed into a respected monk!
"Do you need something, Lian? If you delay the fishing task set by the boss, you won't be able to bear the consequences..." Jack finally spoke coldly.
Looking at Jack's unfriendly and ungracious attitude, Lian wasn't annoyed but merely smiled faintly.
A great man doesn't dwell on petty slights; the increase in status and power had made his once narrow mind more open.
Still, he paused, then couldn't help but remind,
"Please address me as Monk Lian, Captain Jack, as that is the basic etiquette... Although you are not a monk, you are a captain now, no longer the mud-covered peasant of the past. Mind your speech and behavior."
As Lian said this, he also glanced at Anna beside him, with a desire in his eyes that he couldn't quite conceal.
"For example, your beautiful daughter here, why not dress her up nicely? I swear, Captain Jack, as long as Anna dresses up, she wouldn't be inferior to the misses of noble families from the past!"
"You don't need to bother yourself with that, Lian," Jack said calmly and then continued urging, "If you've just come to exchange pleasantries, then please leave soon. It's getting late, and our fishing task isn't finished yet."
While speaking, he was also quietly searching for Colin's location, wondering if his Great Knight's abilities would allow him to observe.
Hearing that Jack still hadn't addressed him as Brother Lian, Lian involuntarily frowned, but thinking of his subsequent plans, he relaxed his brow again, putting on a smile that he thought was benevolent as he said:
"With the mighty power of the Lord, mere darkness is insignificant, and besides, you weren't planning to return until tomorrow evening. There's plenty of time to complete the fishing task."
"Alright, Captain Jack, I'm here this time to ask for your permission to court Anna," he finally said.
As soon as Lian finished speaking, Anna's expression turned cold.
Ante, who was beside her, seemed to vent his roller-coaster emotions and didn't hide his anger, speaking coldly:
"Lian, don't think I'm unaware of your schemes. In these past few months, who knows how many girls you've harmed, and now you have the audacity to set your sights on Sister Anna!
Courtship... huh! Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror to see if you're worthy?!"
"Are you saying I'm ugly?!" Lian suddenly burst into rage as if his scales had been touched, roaring in a low voice.
"Ante!"
At just the right moment, Jack turned and feigned anger to scold Ante, then calmly continued speaking to Lian:
"Anna is still young, it's not yet the right time, and it's too soon to discuss such things."
Lian took a few deep breaths to suppress his anger and then continued, "Her young age doesn't matter, feelings need to be nurtured from an early age."
Jack, of course, firmly shook his head.
"Please go back, Lian... Brother," he said.
It wasn't that he didn't want to pretend to comply, but if he agreed, given Lian's current status, the next moment he might very well directly take Anna back to his home!
The same had happened to those girls in the past.
...This was the bottom line, there could be no further concessions.
"So...what you mean is that you do not agree, Captain Jack?" Lian's expression turned cold, a glint of icy light flashing in his turbid eyes.
Jack remained silent, continuing to shake his head, but he felt somewhat puzzled about where the mysterious wizard was, as he truly sensed nothing!
"It's your choice, Captain Jack," Lian said, curling up the corners of his mouth to reveal his crisscrossed, yellow-brown teeth.
There were no women Lian wanted that he couldn't have!
Before coming here, he had already made all preparations, specifically choosing this deserted ocean precisely for this second contingency!
"Keg," he called out the name without disguising it.
As the words fell, the Sailor Chief who had been standing behind him slowly stepped out, looking at the three of them with some embarrassment, waving his hand and muttering,
"Captain Jack, don't blame me, one has to aim higher in life, even if it means changing masters from a wizard to the Divine... it's the same."
Jack's expression remained unchanged; he did not speak, seemingly unconcerned.
Seeing that Jack did not reveal the dismayed expression he had expected, Lian suddenly felt somewhat empty and couldn't help but emphasize, lowering his voice and saying coldly:
"We are on the vast sea, and you're just a bunch of fishermen who die off from time to time! Don't you get my meaning? Today in this room, aside from Anna, both of you must die!"
Saying this, it seemed as if explaining so bluntly made him feel slightly less imposing, so Lian paused and deliberately lowered his voice even further, speaking coldly:
"Captain Jack, the confidence you have is all because of your Great Knight's strength! But do you know? Today I did not come alone!"
Lian sneered, unaware that suddenly a new voice sounded from behind.
"Oh, do you mean—these two companions of yours?"
Thump, thump.
Colin released his grasp, allowing the two thoroughly knocked-out Great Knights to fall to the floor of the captain's cabin, and then smoothly closed the door behind him.
In that short time, he had not wasted any minute inside the captain's cabin, instead thoroughly checking around the fishing boat and conveniently bringing these two only suspicious individuals over after knocking them out.
"Who are you?!" Lian asked, his voice filled with shock and uncertainty, raising his arm, instinctively conjuring up his half-baked Divine Arts.
Colin, unwilling to waste words, simply waved his hand and effortlessly knocked Lian and the Sailor Chief Keg unconcious with a force field.
After doing this, he turned to look at Ang and continued,
"You can continue now. What exactly are those complicated conditions?"
Ante swallowed subconsciously.
The Pahama Islands had been overrun for nearly half a year, and he had almost forgotten the mighty power of wizards... his father was likewise powerful back then.
A wave of bitterness surged in Ante's heart.
But it was only a moment before he shook his head, dispelling the distractions, and began to speak:
"The first requirement is the blood of the Basa family, the second is a large number of Magic Stones, the third is at least the strength of a First Rank Intermediate Wizard, and the fourth is a broken lightning-shaped pendant that my father always kept on him."