Chapter 372: Setting Sail

The Narwhale prepared to set sail. The mice seemed to have sensed the departure of their boss, and their morale was at an all-time low as they bit each other's tail and crawled onto the deck with drooping ears.

"Mother, you don't have to send me off. Go back home. The ship has a brand-new telegram machine, and I'll send you telegraphs while I'm out at sea," Weister said with an awkward smile toward his mother.

Weister felt embarrassed, knowing that the other crew members on deck could see his mother tugging at the hem of his clothes.

"Son, will you really not consider working as a mail carrier? The sea is really too dangerous," Elena said, trying her best to dissuade her son.

"Mother, I'm really going to be fine. I mean, come on. It's not like this is my first voyage. I'm really going to be perfectly fine," Weister replied.

"Once I come back, we can sell our basement home and buy a house close to school. My siblings won't have to work so far away just to get to school by then," Weister added.

Bandages stared quietly at Weister arguing with his mother down below. His eyes seemed to radiate confusion as he stared deeply at the two.

"Jealous? Why don't you just retire and find a woman to start a family with? It's better to have someone than no one, you know?" Feuerbach said as he walked up to Bandages from behind.

"No, it's not that" Bandages replied, "This sceneis familiar to me I think I've had a similar experiencelong ago."

"Then, you should really write that down, man. Who knows? You might be able to recover your memories by piecing together fragments of your memories? I don't think you should keep on doing nothing. You have to do something," Feuerbach said.

Bandages nodded quietly. He turned to the sailors engaging in idle banter and asked, "The Captain where is he?"

"He went into the Captain's Cabin as soon as he came on board. I guess Lily's death was a bit too heavy of a blow for him to recover quickly. Among us, that little mouse was the closest to him, after all.

"In contrast to him, Tobba right here doesn't seem sad at all. I guess lunatics will always be lunatics."

Tobba didn't seem to be sad even in the slightest, as he was laughing with the mice on deck. However, the mice were no longer as kind to him as before. They bit back fiercely in response to Tobba's playful provocation.

"The Pope is with us we have to be cautious around him," Bandages muttered before turning around and walking toward the bridge.

At Bandages' words, Feuerbach turned to the side and found a massive ivory-colored ship three times the size of the Narwhale.

"Yeah, we're going on a voyage with that guy. This is going to be annoying," Feuerbach muttered.

The Narwhale's steam whistle fleeted across Hope Island, attracting the gaze of every single islander. They all watched as the two ships departed the harbor area of Hope Island.

Meanwhile, a nervous Weister was standing in front of the steering wheel inside the brightly lit bridge of the Narwhale. He listened carefully to the instructions of the First Mate standing next to him, but his trembling fingers made it clear that he was extremely nervous as he held the steering wheel tightly.

Seeing Weister quivering out of nervousness, Dipp became irritated and chided, "I told you to relax, so relax! What's up with that tight grip on the steering wheel? Are you afraid that it'll sprout wings and fly away?"

Weister turned his head to say something, but Dipp grabbed him by the chin and twisted his head back to face up ahead.

"Keep your eyes up ahead while manning the wheel! Do you have a death wish or something? Seriously, this idiot

"How about I take over as the helmsman, Bandages? I think this guy is hopeless."

"Get out. Now." Bandages spat coldly. He had spoken only three words, but Dipp instantly shut his mouth and obediently exited the bridge.

Weister cast a grateful gaze upon Bandages and muttered, "Thank you so much for that, First Mate. The boatswain was making me feel really nervous."

"Eyes up ahead."

"Oh"

Under Bandages' tutelage, Weister learned everything there was to learn to become a successful helmsman. Technically speaking, a helmsman's job wasn't that difficult.

Unlike driving a car, one didn't have to worry about traffic or colliding with a ship on the vast open sea, so anyone would fare well as a helmsman as long as they knew how to maintain a firm grip on the steering wheel.

It was exactly the reason helmsmen were mostly just sailors. The First Mate or the Second Mate just had to watch over them, and things would usually go swimmingly.

As time went by, Weister became more and more proficient at his job. He was no longer as stiff as when he had just started, and his eyes didn't leave the distant navigation markers even as he spoke and asked, "First Mate, did Captain teach you how to man the wheel?"

Bandages staring at the nautical chart shook his head. "No, itwas someoneelse, butI forgot"

Weister had also heard of Bandages' amnesia, so he decided not to probe any further and went silent.

Although he had failed to become the Narwhale's Second Engineer, being a helmsman still received a pretty remuneration; it was just a bit more than ordinary sailors, but it was good enough for Weister, and he swore to cherish the opportunity.

Just then, Weister's eyes clapped on a figure walking on deck. The figure belonged to none other than Charles, and he stood motionless on the deck while looking up at the sky.

Charles was staring at something incredibly high up. The surface was up there, but Charles no longer felt like going up to the surface. All of a sudden, a tremor ran through Charles' hands. His hands would sometimes shake uncontrollably, and it all started when Lily passed away.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Charles smashed his fists on the Narwhale's steel plates, but the tremors didn't slow down at all.

The rumbling of a steam whistle interrupted Charles' thoughts. He turned and saw blinking lights at the pitch-black stern of the Divine Light Order's ship to his left. Someone was signaling to him using two flashlights. Charles jumped down the Narwhale and rode the waves bouncing off the Narwhale to reach the blinking lights.

As soon as Charles came on board, he instantly noticed the stark difference between the Narwhale and this ship. He had expected it, but he was still surprised to learn that the crewmen were all followers of the Divine Light Order.

In addition, they were more organized than the average crew of an average exploration vessel. Every single movement they made seemed to adhere to a rigid procedure and regulations, so much so that they made Charles feel as if he were staring at a group of robots.

A sailor led Charles to the cafeteria. The Pope was eating in the cafeteria, and he was focused on eating his meal, which consisted of nothing but green beans.

Charles couldn't even bother to call attention to himself by speaking; he simply sat down on a nearby stool.

Meanwhile, the Pope stuffed the last remaining green bean into his mouth using a fork, and he licked the plate clean afterward. Then, he wiped his mouth clean with a napkin before finally turning to look at Charles.

"My child, I heard you've installed a brand-new telegram machine in your ship."

"So?"

"I need you to remove that telegram machine and install it in my ship instead."

"What do you mean? Are you implying that there could be spies on my ship?"

"I'm not implying. I'm saying it because I'm certain that there are spies on your ship. The exit to the surface world is also important to them, so they'll definitely come with us in order to stop us from finding it.

"Actually, I'd prefer to thoroughly examine your crew members, but you'd never agree to that, so I decided to choose another method," the Pope said.

"Who are 'they'? Who are you talking about? And why do they want to stop us from finding the exit to the surface world?" Charles asked.

"Will there be any difference even if I tell you? Since they want to stop us, then they're our enemies. And we must eliminate our enemies," the Pope replied.

Charles pondered briefly over it before eventually nodding in agreement. They had been navigating the vast open sea without a telegram machine so far, so Charles was confident that they would have no issues without it.

"Is that it?" Charles asked.

"No, there's one more thing. The great Light God wants to know about your life on the surface as well as what the surface looks like."

Charles' wariness level instantly shot through the roof. "What? Your Light God wants to chit-chat with me?"