Perched on Fisher’s shoulder, Emhardt looked at him incredulously, then glanced at Alagina beside him, his eyes bulging with anger. Just as he was about to speak, Fisher shook his head and explained,
"This was told to me by a friend of mine; before that, I knew nothing about it."
It was now Emhardt’s turn to light up with excitement. He silently puffed out his chest, exuding an air of pride.
"That is also after you understood it that you told me. Otherwise, with my capacity for understanding, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to grasp this buried history so clearly..."
Hearing Alagina’s polite words, Emhardt’s face soured significantly, even casting a disdainful side glance at her.
Ha, you foolish woman, I’m on the same side as Fisher now, and even if you are deceived by this bad man later, I won’t stand with you on the moral high ground to condemn him. I’ll only stand with him, laughing at you from the position of the victor!
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
As the ship drew closer to the island, its size in their view kept expanding until its complete shape was revealed.
The Iceberg Queen soon arrived at a spot a few hundred meters away from the island’s beach and anchored there, where most of the crew needed to repair the steam engine and clean up after the battle with the Sirens, while Alagina took a few crew members with her in a boat to land on the island.
A small boat was slowly lowered. Alagina, Pahetz, Fisher, and two of the strongest crew members got into the boat, watching as the crew on board slowly lowered the ropes to let them down.
There weren’t many weapons left on the ship, plenty of knives but some of the guns were soaked and others had fallen into the sea. Only seven or eight remained, so Fisher and Alagina, who didn’t need them, left them for the other three.
"Ossie, scan the surroundings."
Ossie, who was on deck and heard Alagina’s order, nodded her head and unfurled her wings to fly again, her large silhouette sweeping over the surrounding sea area with speed.
Fisher, aboard the boat, instinctively picked up an oar, only to find that before he had a firm grip, the two crew members in front of him were already reaching out with a sheepish smile to take the pair of oars,
"We’ll do it, we’ll do it. How could we let a woman row?"
Fisher just passed the oars to them, sizing up the increasingly close island, but he couldn’t make out anything.
Pahetz, by his side, took out a small flask from her bosom and subconsciously took a swig, but upon seeing Alagina’s glare, she blinked and, knowing she couldn’t leave a bad impression of alcoholism with Fisher, put the flask away and instead took out a small harmonica,
"Right, I forgot to ask you, Mr. Fisher. What’s the deal with those three Mouse Human Species, from the South Continent? I’ve never seen them with my own eyes before."
Fisher glanced at her, seemingly having seen through her true intentions, and said with a smile,
"Those three Mouse Human Species are children adopted by Old Jack’s son. Since his son’s death, he has always taken care of them... He always says aloud how much he hates those kids, but in reality, he is very fond of them. He’s a good man with a sharp tongue but a soft heart, just a bit older, already nearing fifty this year."
"Hey, I knew long ago what kind of temper he has. You don’t know, back when I was in the Female Country, I was known as the ’God’s Eye.’ I could tell at a glance which virtuous man was suitable to marry me... Besides, what’s age, how does the saying go, ’A man three years older, holding gold bricks...’"
Alagina coughed softly, interrupting Pahetz’s passionate speech. Her first love, her husband, had been dead for many years, serving in the military for over a decade before following her to sea. She had not seen many men in these years, so momentarily...
Just then, Ossie twisted her body in the sky, flapping her wings at Alagina to signal "No danger detected, all safe."
Alagina nodded, pointed toward the shore ahead, and said,
"Let’s not talk for now, focus up, we’re almost there..."
"No problem, no problem, I’m ready."
The waves pushed the small boat to the edge of the shore. After waiting for the boat to come to a complete stop, Alagina touched the sun-scorched sand with her hand, confirming everything was real before disembarking.
Right next to where they landed, the stranded giant ship lay quietly on the beach. Emhardt on Fisher’s shoulder saw the massive flag, and then secretly said to Fisher,
"That symbol, it’s the totem of one of the Phoenix’s Sons, though I’m not sure which one. This ship is from the Northern Realm of that era, but why is it here ?"
Emhardt too wondered about the presence of this ship at this point in time. If it was a ship of the Northern Realm from the Phoenix era, it must have been at least a few thousand years old, and the ships they used couldn’t possibly still be intact to this day.
Pahetz, with a stick in her mouth, went ahead, carrying her musket to the side of the ship, tapped on the hull, then pressed her ear against it, frowning as she listened carefully, knocking as she walked along the hull,