But Charles seemed completely normal—he was steering the ship, eating as usual, only his actions were entirely different from before, a bit excessively energetic.

After finishing his meal, Charles went to his quarters. In the pitch-black cabin, he didn’t turn on the light. With a bitter expression, he took out a bottle of liquor hidden at the very bottom, sat on the bed, and started gulping it down one mouthful after another.

“Anna, why did you have to eat people…”

“If you hadn’t eaten my crew, I could have pretended not to know…”

Chapter 13: Returning to Port

On the dark sea, the monster’s corpse drifted with the waves. Just as it was about to sink to the bottom, a steamship two-thirds larger than the Mouse sailed by.

A barbed net was thrown down from the deck, easily covering it.

“Boss, look! I caught a giant squid! Look! Its tentacles are still moving.”

“Squid? Peter, are you blind? Boss, I think it’s a starfish!”

“Move aside, what’s so interesting about a big octopus? Hmm~ looks tasty. Peter, take it to the kitchen and have the chefs make something good out of it.”

“No problem, boss!”

When Charles woke up again, his head throbbed like it was being stabbed with needles. His hand loosened, and the empty bottle crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

He couldn’t be bothered to look at the glass shards all over the floor. Charles pushed open the door and walked straight out.

When the crew of the Mouse saw the cold-faced Charles return, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The captain with this expression made them feel safe.

“Captain, we’re already back on the safe route. At our current speed of 15 knots, we’ll reach port soon,” reported Dean, who was at the helm.

“How’s Bandage doing?”

“His wound is healing quickly, and there’s no persistent fever. Although he’s still unconscious, he should pull through.”

Hearing this, Charles’s gloomy mood lifted a little.

“Don’t let your guard down. I’ll go check on him.”

On the Mouse, only the captain had a private cabin. The first mate, Bandage, lived in the crew’s quarters like everyone else.

When Charles entered the cabin, he saw Bandage slowly open his eyes. Charles hurried over.

“Don’t move, lie down. Your wounds haven’t healed yet.” Charles pressed down on him as he tried to sit up.

“Captain… Anna is a monster… she tried to eat me…”

Hearing this, Charles felt a pang in his heart. He forced a faint smile and comforted him, “Don’t worry, that thing is dead. It’s all over now.”

“That… that’s good…” Bandage let out a sigh of relief and slowly lay back down.

“Get some rest. We’ll be home soon, and you’ll have completed your mission.”

Glancing at Bandage’s empty pant leg, Charles knew his seafaring days were over. No matter how skilled he was at steering, no ship would want a first mate with only one leg.

“Oh…” Bandage said no more.

Charles wanted to offer some comfort, but he really wasn’t good at it. In the end, he just patted Bandage on the shoulder and left.

The rest of the voyage went smoothly, and the Mouse returned safely to the Coral Islands.

It seemed that the followers of Fulton had some kind of prophetic ability. Before the Mouse even docked, Charles saw Hook waiting at the port with a large group of believers.

“Captain Charles, did you get the relic?!”

When he saw the golden Fulton statue being taken out of the crate, he was instantly overwhelmed with excitement. After dancing around, he led the followers in kneeling and worshipping the statue.

“My money?”

The excited Hook quickly stood up and, with trembling hands, pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“This is the original contract. Quick! Give me the relic!”

Charles took the paper, confirmed it was correct, and tossed the golden statue over.

Watching the ecstatic Hook clutch the statue and prepare to leave, Charles frowned. “Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

Behind him, the burly James carried Bandage forward.

“Deacon… I’ve… completed the mission…” the weak Bandage reported to Hook.

As if he hadn’t heard Bandage, Hook’s gaze fell on his leg. “What happened to your leg?”

“It was… eaten by a monster…”

Hook jerked his chin, and two followers behind him walked over to Bandage, intending to take him away.

“Well done, Bandage. On the next prayer day, you’ll have the honor of being a sacrifice.”

“Th-thank you, Deacon…”

“What? A sacrifice?!” All the crew of the Mouse showed looks of horror.

Suddenly, Charles raised his hand and stopped the two followers, staring hard at Hook as he asked, “Is this how your Fulton cult treats its own people?”

Charles didn’t want to get involved with these lunatics, but after all, he’d been through life and death with Bandage. This slow-talking guy was half a friend, and he couldn’t just watch a friend get thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

“Captain Charles, in our faith, becoming a sacrifice is an honor in itself.”