Since the eighth submersible No. 3 was recovered off the coast of Frost and sent to Dagger Island near the city-state, the island has been designated as a military restricted area by the city-state authorities, and even the two adjacent shipping routes around it are no longer open to the public.

This has certainly led to a lot of speculation, not only among the locals of Frost, but also among the shipowners who were forced to stay away from Dagger Island, as well as the nearby pirates and explorers, who are curious about what is happening on the island and what secrets the Frost authorities are hiding, and many of them are true, ranging from "researching new weapons" to "performing dangerous rituals" - but none of them are reliable.

There are very few people in this world who still know about the "Abyss Project".

"It's getting harder and harder for our people to gather information on Dagger Island now," Aiden said to Tyrion with a serious expression on the path on the edge of the port area, "The blockade level of that island has been adjusted recently, and they even monitor every inch of the coast, diving close is no longer feasible, and the spies and internal agents we bought and controlled have also been transferred out of key positions recently, but they have not been exposed, but the transportation of materials and personnel on Dagger Island has been completely completed within a special list of the authorities, and we can't intervene."

「…… It's completely a military exclusion zone," Tirion paused, "Did they find something from that 'No. 3 submersible?'" Or have you opened the hatch?"

"It's hard to say," Aiden shook his head, "but the last time we got information on the island, we saw an order from the Frost Authorities that specifically mentioned that the submersible's hatch should not be opened, and that any samples scraped from the submersible's hull must be thrown into the incinerator at the end of the study - at least from this order, it is clear that the city-state consuls are still cautious. But that was a few days ago, and no one knows if anything will change now."

「…… If you can't get it for a long time

The conclusion of the investigation is that in the event of some more dangerous and strange experiments, the wisest course of action for the Frost authorities would be to drop the submersible into the furnace and not continue to do any further research, as we did back then," Tirion frowned, "but they still lock down Dagger Island····· That means they must want to dig some secrets out of the submersible."

「…… Theoretically, the Frost Elite should have known about the Abyss Project, or at least the dangers and horrors in the deep sea."

"It's one thing to know, it's another to understand—future generations can hear the stories of their ancestors in books and oral accounts, but it's hard for them to imagine that fear and powerlessness unless they experience it again," Tirion shook his head, "In the face of a transcendent loss of control, humanity's greatest strength is that it can be 'forgotten', and so is its greatest weakness."

Aiden looked at his captain, and after a dozen seconds of silence, he finally spoke, "Captain, we're going to make some comparisons...... Take the initiative?"

"More proactive?"

"Contact the frost authorities, warn them, or more simply... The fleet raided Dagger Island and snatched the 'No. 3 submersible,'" Aiden said bluntly, "With the current garrison strength of Dagger Island, it should not be able to withstand a round of strong attacks by the Sea Mist Fleet."

Speaking of this, he paused, adding, "Otherwise, it would be unsettling to let those guys who don't know anything pound at a twisted clone floating up from the deep sea, and I really don't know when they're going to make a big mess."

Tirion was lost in thought.

After a moment, he shook his head, "Even if we succeed in raiding Dagger Island, can you be sure that we can find the whereabouts of Submersible Three before the Frost Force reacts?" The size of that island is not small...... If it takes too long to search, we will have to face several times the number of city-state navies. No matter how strong the Sea Mist is, it is not invincible, let alone ·····."

He paused, but the face of the Frost Queen came to mind.

In the next second, Tirion stopped thinking just in time - she barely saw another face identical to the Frost Queen.

"Nothing," he shook his head, "I still need to think about it."

"Then you'll need to make a decision sooner," Aiden nodded

At this moment, a bell suddenly rang from the direction of the port square, and the first mate immediately raised his head to look in the direction where the voice came from, "Ah, it's half of the night...... Captain, why don't you go to the square and be lively? It might also be good for you to adjust your mood and make decisions next."

"I'm not going," Tirion shook his head subconsciously, "I'm not interested."

"It's okay to show up once in a while,"

Aiden pouted enthusiastically, "The Badika dancers aren't always seen - they dance more beautifully than the black-tailed rock sparrows that have crossed the storm, "That's what I'm not interested in," Tirion spread his hands helplessly, "And to be honest, if I, the captain, really show up at the party, and the sailors can really mess around?"

"Yes, why can't that?"

Aiden said casually, "You don't know the skin of those guys, they are hard and thick, and they can regenerate......

Tirien: "......"

But in the end, Aiden finally failed to say anything about the stubborn captain, and went to the port square alone to attend tonight's party.

On Pirate Island after midnight, it is still boiling and noisy.

The sleepless undead have boundless energy, and there are no curfews on this island transformed by supernatural powers, and their festivities can last all day, from sunrise to sunset, and from sunset to sunrise.

The high platform on one side of the square has been transformed into a stage.

Improvised wooden walls keep out the cold winds from the coast, and the braziers around the stage more or less withstand the cold of the winter nights—the undead have long been afraid of the cold and heat, but the "human guests" visiting Pirate Island tonight need to be carefully protected.

Young girls from Cold Harbor dance passionately between the bonfire and the cold wind.

Skirts fluttering, dancers spinning, campfires bursting and jumping in the night, waves in the distance are endless, terrible undead people are clamoring offstage, and the misty pirate island has a noisy night rarely seen in this world.

Tirien stopped in an inconspicuous corner of the plaza and looked up at the vicinity of the stage.

He had not come to the party, but was about to return to his lodgings, just passing through the square.

The weekly gathering of seafarers was a "custom" that had existed in the Frost Navy at the beginning, and now it has remained in the Sea Mist Fleet even after leaving Frost.

In the course of half a century, many things have changed, and many things have not changed.

Tirion looked at the noisy appearance of the old subordinates in the square, and a smile gradually grew on his face, but suddenly, his smile was a little restrained.

He looked at the stage not far away, looked at the dancers on the stage, and saw that they were dancing enthusiastically, leaping like a shock, but their eyes were slightly dull and numb.

They must have drunk a potion made from a mixture of herbs and a few supernatural catalysts in advance—something not unusual.

The power of potions can protect them from the cold to a certain extent, but it also affects their cognition and thinking.

This prevents them from being afraid, leaving them with only the instinct to dance in their minds for a while.

Obviously, the owners of these dancers did not want their tools to be afraid of ruining the peace between themselves and the leader of the Cold Sea Pirates.

Tirion smashed his tongue.

This is actually very common, the "cold sea tycoons" who dare to do business among pirates, and even send people to pirate islands, have some similar methods, after all, the church and the authorities will not mix with their gray business, so of course ordinary people can only think of some "home remedies" to fight against the shadows and horrors of the endless sea, and the lives of pirates and "risk speculators" are never as romantic in thrillers as written in adventure stories.

In a sense, pouring the potion is also a protection for the dancers.

Tyrion just felt a little disappointed - he thought that "Machete Martin" would grow a little over the years, but he didn't expect that the other party was still using the old tricks of ten years ago to run his "cold sea entertainment industry".

He shook his head, ready to turn away.

But just as he was about to leave, one

A slight crackling sound of flame suddenly reached his ears.

The strange and somewhat familiar sound of fire instantly made Tyri tense in peace and almost didn't hold his footing, and then he glared in the direction from which the sound came.

A faint green fire was dancing on a frozen wall next to it, and with the spread of light and shadow, the center of the ice was instantly dark like night, and a tall and majestic figure stepped out of it.

"Good evening, Tirien," the figure began, "I hope I didn't disturb your rest."

Tirien stared at the figure emerging from the ice, holding back for a long time before trying to maintain a normal expression in response to the other party's greeting, "Night...... Good evening, father. Why did you suddenly ......?"

"There's something to discuss with you, and by the way, to see how you've been doing," Duncan said casually, "what are you doing?"

As he spoke, he looked up and looked over Tirien's shoulder to see the stage in the distance. and young girls who still wear only thin dresses in the cold wind.

「……」

"Not what you think!"