Add boarded the boat to the Sea Mist, and the terrifying-looking undead sailors looked him up and down as if they were watching a rare animal.

This made the confidential secretary awkward and even a little creepy.

"I didn't expect you to ask for a man to come," the swollen undead sailor began, sighing in his tone, "our captain has said that three people will be allowed to come aboard." ”

"There is no difference between three people and one person," Eddie shook his head, "If General Tirion allowed me to take the whole team with me, of course I would go with all the advisors and assistants, but he only allowed three people...... It was no different than going on my own. ”

"You can take two soldiers to be brave." An undead sailor laughed beside him, hissing in his leaky throat.

"I don't need to be brave, the soldiers can't help." Add shook his head and said solemnly.

His attitude made the undead sailors feel rather bored, and one of them muttered in the boat: "...... Pretentious officials. ”

Moments later, Tirion met the emissary from the city-state—a man in his thirties and forties, dressed in a tuxedo and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with meticulously combed hair, who looked as if he had been drinking tea in his office a second before.

Oily noodles, and he came alone.

This surprised the prepared pirate, and even had an awkward sense of power and nowhere to use - he thought that the first person to board the Sea Mist would be at least a military personnel.

But soon, he roughly guessed the intention of the frost authorities' arrangement:

The relationship between the Sea Mist Fleet and the city-state was tense enough, the two sides had been facing off on powder kegs for fifty years, and at this sensitive point in time, there was no point in sending a few more officers over to deal with them - sending a clerk over would at least show a hint of friendliness.

The clerk was visibly a little nervous.

On the deck of the Sea Mist, Tirion looked up and down at the "city-state diplomat" in front of him, and he could clearly distinguish the forced composure in the other's eyes and the rhythm of his breathing—this gentleman's calm skills were actually very good at home, but unfortunately he could deal with ordinary people, but not against a captain who commanded an undead army.

Tirion could hear even the diplomat's every heartbeat.

Add was also observing the great pirate in front of him—the man who once defended the city-state and is now the source of terrifying legends in the hearts of almost all the Frost people.

Tall, strong, silent, majestic, with a sense of scrutiny and overlook in one eye, every gaze is like a judgment.

In front of this great pirate, it seemed that even breathing became a very laborious task.

"General Tirien," Eddie struggled to take two deep breaths, straightening himself up to meet the virate's scrutinizing gaze, "on behalf of the Frost City-State, I greet you—it's a pleasure to be aboard this legendary ship. ”

"Half a century," Tirion looked calmly at the man in front of him, who was a head shorter than herself, "Frost finally mustered up the courage to speak to me?" ”

Add didn't care about the provocation in the other party's words, and just continued to speak: "I'm here with a mission - the entanglement between the Frost and Sea Mist fleets does exist, but that's not what we're going to talk about today, you should know the trouble the city-state is in now, we just want to know, the Sea Mist Fleet is here - General Tirion, what do you want and what do you want to do?" ”

"General...... Put it away, it's not pleasant to me," Tirien glanced at Add and slowly walked to the edge of the ship not far away, "As for what I'm going to do...... Isn't it obvious enough? I'm locking down a city-state that is about to fall—to prevent your misfortune from spreading to my 'trading partners' in the cold seas. ”

"Trading partners?"

"I don't think there's a problem with that title – they pay the price, and the Sea Fog Fleet protects them in the cold seas," Tirion said, turning back, "Don't you think it's a very good trade relationship?" ”

The corners of Add's mouth twitched slightly, but he quickly disguised the change, and he glanced at the undead sailors around him, and then slowly walked to Tirion's side, "What do you mean...... You just want to help Frost control this crisis? ”

"It's a bit of a sentimental understanding, but it's okay if you want to," Tirion said casually, "I don't need you to do anything, as long as you don't mess with me." ”

Eddie was silent for two seconds, and finally spoke cautiously: "...... Can I see why you're here to help? ”

Tirion propped his hands on the railing on the edge of the ship's side and didn't look back: "The reason is important? ”

"I needed a reason that would give my superiors and colleagues some peace of mind."

"Ah, Mr. Add, so you actually need a reason to calm people's minds," Tirion laughed, turning his head to meet Add's eyes, "Then I'll tell you the reason—my father's order." ”

Add was stunned.

After a moment, his expression visibly frightened.

"Looks like you've got you figured out, yes, my father's order, and you assume he's from subspace, and he asked me to send troops around your poor little city-state - so go back and tell your superiors that the Sea Mist fleet is carrying out the will from subspace," Tirion's tone was pleasant, "and then they can sleep like babies." ”

The happy expression on the pirate's face was obvious, and Eddie finally reacted—or thought he did—and he breathed a sigh of relief, raising his hand to wipe the fine sweat from his forehead: "Your joke is not good at all, Tyrion will ...... Captain, I see what you mean, and since you don't want to explain more, I don't have to ask. ”

Tyri looked at the "Frost Ambassador" in front of him steadily, and sighed after a moment.

In these years, no one believes the truth.

But he was still in a good mood.

It was always a pleasure to watch this serious high-ranking official startled in front of him.

"You may leave, Mr. Eddie," he said politely, "and there is no dinner for you on board. ”

Eddie was visibly stunned: "Huh? Wait, I'm still ......"

"You still have a lot to ask, such as the plans for the Sea Mist Fleet next, such as about Dagger Island, such as the Queen and the Abyss Project back then, but unfortunately I don't have much to say to Frost," Tirion said calmly, "You've achieved your goal, completed your mission, go back and tell your superiors, if there's anything else going on, you can contact you directly by wireless telegraphy, and you don't need to send someone - we can receive it on any open band." ”

Add was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted, with a hint of joy on his face: "Ah, okay, Captain Tirien, thank you very much for your understanding......"

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, as if he suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly spoke: "Ah, wait, there is one more question, one last question!" ”

Tirien raised an eyebrow, "Oh? ”

"About ...... The mysterious light signal you sent to our recon boat earlier," Eddie said with an embarrassed expression as he pondered his words, "We've been cracking the ...... for a long time since we got back"

Tilry quietly stared at Mr. Emissary in front of him, and only suddenly smiled when the other man's expression became more and more awkward under his gaze.

"The sailors were negligent in maintenance, and the signal lights were out of order."

Add: "......? ”

Tirion finally laughed happily.

The expression on Add's face changed several times, his hand brushing the buttons on his gown, but gradually, he laughed too, laughing along with Tirien.

Tirien suddenly stopped smiling.

He reached out and patted the "Frost Ambassador" in front of him on the shoulder.

"They've got a nice guy, Mr. Eddie—I almost want to invite you over for dinner."

"But I have to get back to the ship in time," Eddie stopped laughing and shook his head slowly, "Too many people's nerves are on the line, and we can't continue to focus on mutual vigilance and speculation." ”

Tirion didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, and reached out to the side, making a gesture of seeing off the guest.

Add nodded slightly, straightened his gown and bow tie, and prepared to walk to the ladder on the other side of the deck.

But at this moment, he seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye, and his footsteps suddenly stopped.

The frostbringer came to the side of the ship in surprise and looked at the sea below: "...... Captain Tirien, what is that? ”

"Huh?" Tirien frowned, looking quizzically in the direction of Add's finger.

He saw the thing—it was a shadow.

Below the surface of the sea, where it was impossible to judge the depths, there was a hazy shadow that was moving through the vast area between the Sea Mist and several frigates, moving into the distance at a very fast speed.

The shadow was illusory and transparent, like the reflection of a ship cast in the water, but he couldn't see any structure on the ship, and Tirion stared at it for a long time, but he only felt that it seemed to be ...... The bottom of a ship.

It's as if there's a boat upside down in the water, sailing below the surface.

Tirion looked up in the direction of the shadow's voyage.

That's where Dagger Island used to be.

(End of chapter)