These tentacles inherited the Pirate King’s trait of invulnerability—Hughes couldn’t cut them off no matter how he tried. All he could do was move them to less obstructive places.
Moreover, Hughes had a lingering feeling that these tentacles might serve some other purpose later. So for now, he simply left them as they were, intending to deal with them once he figured out how to use them.
Kenn and Jeremiah navigated their way through the tangle of tentacles, utterly shocked by how the islanders seemed completely accustomed to the sight.
At first, the two had assumed they were just some kind of pipes. When they heard they were monster tentacles, they were so astonished their jaws nearly dropped to the floor.
The tentacles stretched out endlessly, their ends nowhere in sight. Just how massive must the creature be?
Jeremiah even felt dizzy. He had often dreamt of terrifying creatures from the deep sea, but after arriving at Castel, he felt as if this place was even more terrifying.
The monsters in the deep sea laid all their horrors bare before you, while Castel...
Castel, on the surface, seemed unremarkable. But every now and then, a glimpse of a scale or claw would slip through—and just thinking about it could drive a man insane.
The most terrifying part was that the locals were completely indifferent to it all.
Those warriors standing three or four meters tall, that serpent whose head was never visible... these things were treated like mundane matters. No one was afraid, no one even cared.Had Kenn not been beside him, sharing his astonishment, Jeremiah would have started to wonder whether he was hallucinating.
Where had all these monsters come from? Which ones were truly monsters? Was it he who had gone mad, or was it this entire island?
By the time they reached the main cathedral, Jeremiah had lost all trace of his former composure.
Though he still wore a blank expression, cold sweat was now pouring from his forehead. He walked on edge, like a mouse that had wandered into a den of cats.
What exactly was Castel? Why did it feel like an entirely different place from the last time he’d been here?
Inside Hughes’ office, Kenn and Jeremiah had just stepped in when they saw Gaia, who was holding hands with Monica and talking softly.
Monica had only just woken up, and the *Black Pearl* had arrived. This was the first time Gaia had seen Monica awake again.
The two had always shared a deep bond. Back in the day, Monica, Chloe, and Gaia had been infamous as the "Troublemaking Trio."
But ever since Monica’s return, she had been avoiding Gaia, and Gaia hadn’t taken the initiative to see her either. It wasn’t until Monica had fully returned to her old self that the two finally met.
Hughes didn’t quite understand the nuances of their relationship. He could only look on with helpless amusement as Monica held both of Gaia’s hands in hers, wiping away her own tears with one pair while using the other pair to dry Gaia’s tears.
Anyway, it was good they had reconciled. Now all that was missing was Chloe. She would come back too—probably.
Jeremiah stared at Monica—six-armed and tailed—with a look of utter shock. He rubbed his eyes, confusion flooding his face before turning into outright horror.
“Ahem, Mr. Jeremiah, this is Monica. She’s a Banshee and a resident of Castel, also a friend of Kenn’s,” Hughes explained with a chuckle.
Jeremiah had already joined Hughes’ Mind Link as a worker and was closely tied to Kenn. Hughes intended to win him over completely and make him part of Castel.
Besides, the Pirate King’s Court in Gem Bay had been destroyed. Jeremiah and his *Black Pearl* were now the last pirates. Hughes wasn’t too worried about him leaking any information.
Kenn, though unaware of Hughes’ plans, quickly nodded when he saw the Lord take the lead. “Yes, Captain. They’ve always been here, though their identities weren’t made public until now.”
Jeremiah withdrew his gaze from Monica’s arms, looked at Kenn, then turned to Hughes. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he gave a slow, reluctant nod.
The Holy Guard saluted Hughes and left. Hughes pointed at the chairs in front of them.
“Please, take a seat. I believe you have a lot of questions, and truthfully, so do I. Communication between Castel and the outside world has been cut off.”
Kenn and Jeremiah exchanged glances. Kenn, barely able to contain himself, spoke up urgently, “Lord Hughes, what on earth happened to Castel? We actually saw the whole island vanish before our eyes!”
“Yes, Gem Bay vanished too,” Jeremiah added.
“That’s a long story,” Hughes replied, turning to Monica. “We’ll have to start with Monica.”
After a lengthy explanation, both Kenn and Jeremiah sat stunned once again.
They had speculated countless possibilities about Castel’s disappearance, but none had come close to the absurd truth.
A thousand-year-long ritual, the Pirate King’s grand plan, Monica’s accidental acquisition of soul fragments—an uncanny series of coincidences had all woven together into the current crisis.
Kenn stood up several times, too agitated to sit still. When Hughes described the truly dangerous parts, his hands began to tremble.
Castel had staggered from one near-miraculous victory to another. Had a single thing gone wrong, this meeting likely wouldn’t be happening at all.
Jeremiah’s gaze toward Monica also shifted—from fear and suspicion to something more complex, even tinged with admiration.
Pirates, too, had their own code of conduct. Otherwise, the Pirate King’s Court never would have been established in Gem Bay. The Banshee’s strength and character both earned his respect.
No wonder the islanders accepted her.
Aside from the convoluted tale, what shocked Jeremiah most was the island’s rapid technological development.
He had always held a bit of interest in machinery. Though his talent was mediocre, he had indeed been putting in effort to study.
But now, he found himself dumbfounded—his learning speed couldn’t even keep up with Castel’s pace of invention!
He had just grasped the fundamentals of the steam engine, only to learn that Castel had already advanced to the *Clamorer*, a steam engine that could regulate its own fuel intake?
And this was with Kenn earnestly tutoring him the whole time.
A sense of crisis suddenly welled up in Jeremiah’s heart. Castel felt like a massive ship speeding ahead, while he swam desperately behind in the sea, trying to catch up—but the ship only moved faster.
Then, there was Gem Bay.
Gem Bay—the pirates’ home.
Jeremiah couldn’t really explain how he felt about it. He was a pirate, yes, but that didn’t mean he had any close ties with other pirates. Pirate camaraderie sounded more like a joke than a reality.
Still, after drifting across the sea his whole life, even pirates longed for a place to call home.
No pirate would admit this, of course. But they had still gathered to establish Gem Bay.
Jeremiah was still young. His heart was full of ambition—he only wanted to roam the seas aboard his *Black Pearl* and live his life as a pirate.
But when he learned of Gem Bay’s destruction, he still felt an emptiness inside.
He didn’t know what his feelings for Gem Bay were. He didn’t even know what exactly he had lost—just that something had gone missing in his heart, and he felt lost.
Could Castel fill that void?
He didn’t know.
“Alright, now that your questions have been answered, it’s my turn. Come on—tell me what’s been happening in the outside world.”