Bandages looked down at Lily on the ground and bent over to pick her up. "Wait... let me... test... a bit more..."

While everyone was busy preparing the supplies and weapons for the upcoming exploration, Bandages probed Charles using a variety of questions.

However, Charles answered every single question with no issues, regardless of whether it was about the crew or other mundane topics.

Eventually, Charles found Bandages' activeness today to be a bit abnormal, and he cast a doubtful gaze at the latter, asking, "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to ask Linda to check on you?"

Seeing Bandages shake his head and retreat, Charles looked at Lily on his shoulder with puzzlement before turning to the others to dish out more orders.

With the exception of the two exploration parties that had departed earlier, roughly a hundred people from the four airships got ready for the upcoming exploration. There were so many people he had to order that Charles had no time to pay attention to his first mate's strange behavior.

Charles ran back and forth in the distance, checking the freshwater one moment and examining the relics the next.

Lily's round mouse ears swayed left and right as she stared at Charles, and then she shook her head, saying, "Mr. Bandages, we might be overthinking this. Charles has just arrived on the island, so I don't think that he's already been influenced."

Bandages nodded and put down Lily on the deck. He then turned toward the cabin and replied, "Perhaps... we really are... overthinking... but I still… need to... be prepared..."

The preparations were soon complete. Under Charles' lead, the group headed toward the vast expanse of white before them.

The Narwhale hovered above the group, serving as both a fortress and a defense against the relicfication of the explorers' items.

"Watch your steps. There are living creatures beneath that white layer," Charles reminded everyone down below as he stood on the deck of the Narwhale.

"Captain, I think it's a bit too risky to send every single one of us on this exploration. How about we leave a small group of people behind to report to the outpost?" Second Mate Nico asked, analyzing the situation rationally.

"Am I the captain, or are you the captain?" Charles asked, staring indifferently at Nico.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Nico's brows furrowed slightly. "I'm just performing my duties as the second mate. I believe that this plan is too risky."

Charles shook his head and replied, "Luke and the others have already scouted the path for us. There's no danger at all, and the Foundation members, along with their equipment, are just ahead of us. Anyway, did you bring enough rope? We'll use the Narwhale to tow those items back with us."

Realizing that it was impossible to convince Charles, Nico went silent. He shrugged and turned around to leave.

Charles glanced at Nico's retreating figure before glancing at Bandages near the smokestack. Then, he quietly called Dipp over to him.

"I have a task for you, punk. Tell your sailors to be wary against attacks among us. I feel like there's something off with them, and it started when we got on the island."

Dipp's eyes widened in great surprise. He followed Charles' gaze and replied, "Really? Everyone looks normal, though."

"Just do as I say. The sharp intuition that I've cultivated after years of exploration is telling me that something is amiss. Did you bring the black spikes that I gave you before?" Charles asked.

"Yeah, I brought them with me. Everything you've given me so far is here," Dipp said, flipping his webbed hand inside his sleeve, revealing three black spikes.

Charles had acquired quite a few black spikes back then, so he distributed the extras to his crew. The black spikes were powerful relics that only had pain amplification as a side effect, which was a win-win situation, considering their effect.

"I even brought that red robe, and it can easily tear apart souls," Dipp added.

"Great." Charles nodded with satisfaction and patted Dipp on the shoulder. "I want you to prepare those. If something unexpected happens later, kill who I want you to kill immediately, and don't ask any questions."

"Don't worry, Captain. I'm definitely going to do that." Dipp nodded firmly. As Charles' most loyal subordinate, he'd obey Charles' orders unconditionally.

Just like that, the roughly a hundred-person exploration party marched forward; the quiet environment covered in a layer of pervasive white made everyone's nerves stretch taut.

However, the majority of them felt at ease seeing Charles standing on the bow of the ship above. Charles was the Governor of Hope Island, after all, and he was arguably one of the strongest explorers in the Subterranean Sea.

Their chances of failing this mission were very low with Charles leading the way.

Lily returned to Charles' shoulder, also carefully looking around.

"Lily, have the mice been sent out?" Charles asked.

"Yes, they're performing reconnaissance below that layer of white on the island, but they can only detect whether there's something else hidden beneath the white layer," Lily replied.

Charles turned to look at her Lily's shining golden figure, and his brows furrowed, seemingly pondering something. A second later, he cupped Lily and patiently said, "Things might get chaotic later, so I'll tuck you into my pocket. Stay inside and come out only when I say that it's okay to come out."

"Okay!" Lily nodded vigorously, and she seemed happy to hear that Charles was concerned about her.

"Great, that's my good Lily," Charles said, kissing Lily's furry head.

Lily's heart raced at the softness of Charles' lips, and she felt shy as she covered her face with her tiny paws.

Just as the smiling Charles was about to say something, a sharp mouse squeak abruptly echoed from the right side of the crowd.

The Narwhale's searchlight swung in that direction, exposing a three-meter-tall, green, centipede-like creature.

The monster froze briefly, and then it tore off two branches of a tree and gestured rapidly toward the crowd using the tree branches. Everyone here was an explorer, so they immediately recognized the creature's gestures—flag semaphore!

Before anyone could decode its gestures, Charles abruptly waved his hand and shouted, "Attack! Attack now! Don't look at its movements, or you will be beguiled!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots echoed as soon as Charles' words fell, and the green, centipede-like creature was torn apart by the bullets, forcing it to stop gesturing with flag semaphore.

The green, centipede-like creature fled in terror at the hail of bullets, but Charles sneered at the sight. He clenched his prosthetic hand into a fist, and an invisible tentacle covered in radiant white electric arcs rushed out of him.

The next second, the radiant white light exploded, and sizzling noises echoed afterward. When the bright light disappeared, nothing was left aside from a twisted and charred corpse, which was still emitting a plume of black smoke.

Charles stood at the bow, looking down at the others below like a king gazing upon his subjects. "Everyone listen up. Do not approach them, and do not even try to understand what they're trying to say. Treat them like monsters in the sea!

"As soon as you understand what they're trying to say, it means that they've already beguiled you!"