"Okay everyone, you all know what you have to do," Dan finally said after spending a bit of time explaining their roles in what was coming, "let's be done with this."

  The few people he had chosen for this all nodded and started moving, and he followed after them heading to the corridor cluster in deck 4 where the passengers were kept. He still didn't have a target yet, but he was sure that he could find one there.

  Each of the people he chose had someone they were supposed to go and try and get as much information from as possible. Information about the system, the Empire, the skills and whatever they could think of. He went with this approach so they could get their information from different people and could compare and spot where someone might have hidden or given a wrong piece of information.

  Dan could see Marcus walking ahead of him, but the chief security officer seemed to be lost in his thoughts so he didn't try and engage with the man. Dan soon passed through the door leading to where their guests were kept after greeting the guards.

  He didn't really know how to go about finding a target for his interrogation. He kept on walking as his eyes scanned around for someone who didn't seem too scared to talk to him, while also not being a Karen. Suddenly, something caught his eye, and he found his feet changing course on their own.

  "Hello sir, can you understand me?" He asked the Western continent's native who seemed to be lost in thought.

  The old man lifted his eyes from the painting in front of him and looked at Dan, giving him an unmistakably curious glance. The man had a head and beard of silvery white hair. He was taller than most people Dan had seen in this new world, even taller than some of Dan's crew. He had sun-kissed skin and a surprisingly well-built body for someone who seemed to be gaining on the years.

  "Yes, I can." The man said with a smile, his eyes looking over Dan's shoulder for a split second before looking back at him. "It's quite rare to find someone who can speak our language this far from home."

  Dan unconsciously looked behind him but he saw nothing, just some of the western continent's residents gathered together. Putting that aside for the moment, he focused again on what the man said.

  It then hit him that he had totally forgotten about the translation skill, which made him even happier for his choice of a target. At first, he only chose the man because he was from the Western continent and everyone else had targets that were from the Empire. He felt that he needed to talk to someone from somewhere else, to understand how others saw the Empire. But now, he realised that with his skill, the more he interacted with people through different languages, the more languages he would be left with once the skill eventually expires.

  "I'm quite well travelled," Dan answered off-handedly before asking, "Can I ask you how you got into this mess?"

  "Well, it's the usual tale really," the old man shrugged, "We are from an island a bit far from the mainland, so no one had time to protect us when those slavers came and that's how we found ourselves here. I gotta thank you again for saving us, we heard the interaction between you and those pirates and I'm glad you didn't just let us be."

  "There's no need for that," Dan found the man's nonchalant demeanour interesting, he didn't seem as worried about their situation as everyone there. He also noted how the man seemed to know how to speak the Empire's native tongue.

  "So how is the situation between you and the empire right now?" Dan decided to start with this before going for anything else.

  ***

  Marcus massaged his head as he made his way to his target. The thought that he was about to meet that headache manifest on his own accord was something he couldn't believe. But Dan gave him a mission and he was going to complete it.

  Marcus could understand where he was coming from, too. But the boy had the excitement of a young kid who had just met a soldier for the first time, without being that young going for him.

  The guards at the door tilted their heads as he closed in with the others. Most likely unsure of what was happening or why all of them were there. Marcus just nodded in assurance as he passed them and entered.

  "Mister! You're here," Marcus was glad that he had his helmet back on because he was unable to hold back his grimace. The young man's chipper voice was undeterred despite no reaction from him, "As I was saying before! I'm fascinated with this place! At first, I thought it was just your weapons that were out of this world. But while you were gone, I noticed that a lot of the things here are just as mind-blowing!"

  "Slow down kid." He lifted his arm as he held him back. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

  "Oh," the young man tilted his head, before answering excitedly, "What is it, I would love to help you however I can!"

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  At least he got the spirit.. Marcus murmured inwardly.

  "What level are you?"

  "I'm a level 19 blacksmith!" the boy said proudly, "Uncle Darwin said that I had quite a talent for it, but unfortunately he said that he could teach me nothing new anymore. So I had to go to a big city to grow myself and find a new master."

  Marcus noted from the boy's proud demeanour that level 19 at his age was considered something to be proud of, at least for someone from a small village.

  ***

  "So you're saying that you only started levelling at the age of 15?" Keith asked the navigator, Rob, amidst their conversation.

  She tried to inject the questions Captain Dan wanted them to ask here and there without raising much suspicion.

  "I mean yeah," He said awkwardly. It was clear that he didn't find the situation he was in that comfortable, "The system welcomes you at the age of 15 only, recommending a class for you based on your interests 'till then and what you did. Is- isn't it like that from where you're from?"

  "You can say that," she nodded gently. Having them think they came from a place not known to them was much better than the truth, "So you think that the closest port from here is your original destination, Dannyport?"

  "Yes, it's probably just a few hours northeast of here," Rob nodded.

  "What about some small seaside villages, any nearby ones?" She asked. She wasn't naive enough to think that they could just show up at one of the biggest ports in this part of the map and expect nothing bad to happen, so a small village where they can drop their passengers would be much safer.

  "There should be a few," he said as he looked into space for a bit, probably checking his system map. "Some even less than an hour from here."

  ***

  "Is there any way to see the profile of someone else?" Robert asked Nulara. The situation was explained to him once he brought her and the navigator back. He decided after to be the one to try and get some information from the young girl.

  "Hm? Oh, no," the girl raised her head from devouring the ice cream cup he gave her, giving him a confused look before the question registered in her mind, "I mean, yes there are a few, but not just anyone can get them. The only classes that have them, well from those I know of, I mean, are appraisers, some high-level scholars and I also heard that some royalty have them too. Not sure about the last one though."

  Robert released a sigh of relief once he heard that. He knew that they had to keep a certain facade to survive in this world, at least till they became strong enough to survive based on their own power. Hearing that not just anyone could see their true levels and notice how weak they were lifted a huge load off his shoulders.

  He smiled as he watched Nulara's fascination with the ice cream. He had noticed how she seemed to be eyeing the shops they passed by when he took her and the navigator away, and decided to reward her for the information he was going to trick out of her. Though that did make him notice how much ready and cooked food they still had remaining. He made a note to talk to Nancy or Nik about seeing if they can refrigerate it so it doesn't just go to waste. Everything counts till they get a secure way to resupply.

  Resupply... Robert thought. The idea bringing another thing into the forefront of his mind. It seems that he had to leave Nulara and go see if the pirates left the natives with any coins...

  ***

  "And how many skills do you have?" Marcus continued with his questioning after he endured the boy's ramble for a while.

  "Oh, I only have 5 so far, all tier two," The boy let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping, "I've been holding back from adding any useless skills to fill my limited skill slots, but my luck with skill choices wasn't that good. I've skipped a ton of skills so far, but the pressure has really been mounting these days. Sometimes I feel that I should just take some acceptable skills and be done with it, but I can't bring myself to do that."

  Marcus mentally noted the mention of tiers as something to return to later on. Something else that stood out to him even more though was the mention of limited skill slots and he couldn't bring himself to just let that be.

  "Limited skill slots?" He questioned, cutting off the young man's ramble.

  "Oh sorry, I misspoke," The young man scratched the back of his head in a bit of embarrassment, "I'm aiming for a perfect 10. I know it's hard for someone like me, but I'm going to do my best, even if it takes me my whole life."

  Marcus didn't get much from that, but didn't want to keep on pushing, though he also didn't want to just drop the current subject, so he asked for something related.

  "So you've skipped some skill assignments? You ever regretted that?"

  "No, not really," The young man shook his head, "They just weren't up to my standards, and I couldn't see them working for the build I have for myself."

  Marcus again noted that. He hoped the bits and pieces he kept on getting would fit into the bigger picture once everyone met at the bridge.

  ***

  "All the people here are from the same village as you?" He asked as he looked back again at the Western continent's citizens who were gathered together. Meeting the gaze of a gentle-faced woman who averted her eyes hurriedly. He hoped his get-up wasn't really that intimidating to them.

  "Most of them," the old man nodded, "Even those who aren't were from nearby islands. We were all from the same archipelago after all."

  "Sad for what happened to you," Dan said genuinely. "Are pirate attacks something that you deal with often? I doubt the Dynasty did nothing about it."

  "They happened more after the first contact between the two continents, after the Empire finally crossed the ocean, things didn't go well back then. But the empire had been trying to fix relations with us so they outlawed that years ago. As you can see though, there are still some pirates who slip through the net. The dynasty is going to do their own investigation and demand an explanation if that leads back to the Empire."

  Dan nodded slightly, he was never into politics but he had a feeling that he might be finding himself thrust into it whether he liked or not.

  "The dynasty's navy isn't able to send its fleets across the ocean?" he asked curiously. from the way he said it, it seems that only the Empire could do that safely.

  "It's hard," the old man sighed, "The oceans are huge and most of them are unknown, even the Empire only knows a safe route or two, and who knows how much they sacrificed for those, and what's left in the unknown expanses."

  Dan's heart skipped a beat and a weird feeling filled his chest. The idea that the world's oceans and seas were almost unexplored, a vast expanse of unknown open waters, made feelings he hadn't felt in ages start filling his heart, excitement and wonder.

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