"Haha, it doesn't matter whether you are from the Foundation or not. If the Foundation that Charles mentioned really wanted to help us find the darkness, they would have come out long ago."
"Now that there is no contact, they are not in the same group with us." Julio said with a smile.
Jax nodded in agreement. "Judging from the information we got from Charles, they don't have the strength to take back the darkness. If we want to get the darkness back, we can only rely on ourselves."
"Yeah... you're right, we can only rely on ourselves." Julio's eyes became firm.
"Let's go. Hope Island has shared their technology. Let's see their new tricks and see what has enabled them to develop so quickly."
After Julio finished speaking, he put his hands behind his back and walked towards the majestic palace in the distance.
"Are you really letting your grandson go to the East Sea? The people of the Futan Cult are not easy to deal with. He is likely to die there."
"Let him die. I can't protect him from the wind and rain for his whole life. The reason why those bastards are so useless is because I protected them too well."
"If you want to enjoy the benefits, you have to pay the price."
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"Hey! Steady the fuck up! If you crash my boat, I'll skin you alive!"
In the Gobi desert outside the station, Dipper looked at the Narwhal floating in front of him with fear.
The huge streamlined exploration ship was slowly floating up, top-heavy.
Every time the huge ship shook, his heart trembled violently, for fear that it would fall down.
Also standing next to him were the First Mate Bandage and the Second Mate Nico, the three of them tilted their heads and looked at the modified ship.
"Don't worry... The Narwhal... won't break down that easily... It's made of... No. 3 alloy..."
The metal halyard of the Narwhal twisted and stroked upwards against the bulging grey leather strapped to the top. On the leather was a black circle, marking the giant pit leading to the surface.
The Narwhal was still rising, and the amplitude of its swaying was getting smaller and smaller. Finally, after sailing in the air for ten minutes, it slowly landed on the ground again.
Facing the three people approaching, the engineers who modified the Narwhal seemed very confident.
"Don't worry, the three of you. With a few more sea trials and modifications, this ship will be able to sail safely in the air. You are not the first exploration ship I have modified, and it will not be the last."
"How long will it take? We don't have much time to waste here." Nico asked, gently twirling his fingers around the hair around his ear.
"Ten days. There will be absolutely no problem within ten days."
After repeated instructions, they prepared to go back, but Bandage was still worried and planned to keep an eye on the place around the clock.
Dipper and Nico walked towards the busy site.
"Why didn't the captain come for such an important matter?" Nico asked.
"I heard that he is looking for a way to prevent it from becoming a relic. If we can't keep those things out, we won't be able to explore further. Come on, let's go to the bar and have a drink." Dipper stretched out his hand and scratched the itchy scales on his body.
Dipper didn't ask Nico out for a drink on a whim, he wanted to bring them closer.
Nico is a new crew member, and there is an invisible barrier between him and the old crew members. Dipper can see it, and he wants to break this barrier so that they will trust each other in future explorations.
In the bustling and crowded tent bar, the crew members were talking loudly at the top of their lungs.
The smell of alcohol, sweat, and cigarettes mixed together, and Dipper felt a special sense of peace when he walked in it.
Once upon a time, this place was like his home. He would have fun here when he had nothing to do, drink, listen to others brag, and play cards with his friends.
But since he got married, he hasn't set foot in such a place for a long time.
However, Nico seemed very uncomfortable with this dirty environment. With a frown on his face, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the stool.
"Hey! Girl! Two beers over here! Hurry up!" Dipper raised his right hand and snapped his fingers at the plump waitress in the distance.
When Dipp raised the transparent glass of wine and gulped it down, he breathed a sigh of relief, and the uncomfortable feeling in his body finally disappeared.
The dry surface made Dipper, a deep diver, very uncomfortable, but he never said anything to others. This little thing was not worth complaining about.
When Dipper started to drink his second glass, Nico was still wiping the table next to him.
"Hey, weren't you an explorer before? Have you never been to this kind of environment? If compared with the bars at the dock, this place is pretty clean. Come sit down quickly."
After wiping it thoroughly, Nico sat down, raised his little finger and took a sip of beer.
"I'm different from you. Before I became an explorer, I lived in the center of the island with my father and mother. They didn't allow me to come to the bar in the dock area. According to my father, it was a place where low-class people gathered."
"Swoosh~" Dipper whistled and said in surprise, "Islander, this is really rare. Now I'm a little curious about how you got into this business."
"Generally speaking, there are several types of explorers: pirates, captains who owe a huge amount of money, and fools with dreams. But for me, I am none of them."
"I became an explorer because of my love. At that time, I was very young and impulsive. I always thought that love was everything. He was a fool with dreams. In the end, he died and I became the governor." Nico held the wine glass with a hint of reminiscence in his eyes.
"Guess how old I was when I discovered the coral island?" Nico leaned his shoulder towards Dipper and blinked his right eye with long eyelashes.
Dipper studied Nico's face, trying to determine his age from it.
Long brown hair fell down from his beautifully contoured face. Although Nico's appearance could be said to be quite outstanding, the sharp-eyed Dipper still noticed the crow's feet that he tried to cover up with makeup.
"Coral Island is a new island, and it was discovered less than 20 years ago. So you should have discovered the island when you were in your twenties, right?"
"I am forty-nine this year. I indeed discovered the coral island when I was twenty-four. You guessed right."
"Sometimes life is always unpredictable. I thought I would die on a coral island, but who would have thought that I would be exploring the sea when I was approaching fifty."
"You are amazing. You haven't been to the sea for more than 20 years, but you can still explore. I have a buddy who hasn't been to the sea for three years. He is as fat as a pig and has lost everything."
Nico's mouth curled up slightly, looking at the fishman next to him, "Is this how you want the island to praise people?"
(End of this chapter)