Dan remained silent at Robert's words. He didn't know how to react. A major part of him wanted nothing more than to call him crazy and delusional, but a small part of him understood where his chief officer was coming from

  "You should have noticed this by now," Robert continued as he saw him not answering, "We don't just need those levels for fuel. Every one of us can get a skill that could push us further along our quest for safety. Just like that skill of Keith's. It helps us in ways that seemed unbelievable in our old world. Who knows how many other skills like that are hidden behind higher levels. Just dealing with those pirates got everyone involved a level. It's clearly the way to go."

  "I understand where you're coming from," Dan finally said after Robert was done speaking, "But you should remember why we would even consider doing that. It's for the safety of everyone. Yet, going after monsters would put them in so much danger. I don't know if it would be worth it."

  "Except that we are already in danger!" Robert could barely keep his voice calm, "Believe me, Captain, everyone's safety is a top priority of mine. My wife is here for God's sake. But that doesn't mean that I would just hide my head in the sand and hope for the best. That would do nothing but put us on our back feet. Rendering us passive in the face of whatever might be coming our way. And don't forget, our existence is already out there, Supreme Captain made sure of that. And speaking of Titles, you saw it too didn't you? The average level in this world is 45, we are too underleveled!"

  Dan wasn't carefree enough to forget the possible navy that might be on their tails. He knew that they couldn't just hide and hope for the best. Yet, he also knew that that seemed to be exactly what they were doing. All their actions seemed to be more of a reaction to something or another, and he doubted that would lead them far in their quest to survive this new world they found themselves in.

  "Let's revisit this later," he finally said, he couldn't deny what Robert was saying, yet he also couldn't just agree to it, this was too important for just him and Robert to choose, "Let's see how the trip to the nearby village would go before bringing this up with everyone."

  "That's enough for me," Robert nodded with a sigh of relief, "As long as you keep that in mind. You're too gentle and too much of a kind person, Captain. Unfortunately, that won't do us any good in this world we found ourselves in."

  Dan sighed as he watched his friend leave. He liked Robert, and he trusted him. The man was with him for years and had always been there by his side. And one of the reasons why they stayed together for this long, why Dan appreciated him for this long, was because he never shied away from confronting Dan when he felt that he wasn't doing the right thing. And Dan never just threw him aside when he did that. He took whatever he brought to him seriously and reconsidered his approach.

  Dan lifted the papers he had been going through before Robert came to him, looked through them for a bit before just dropping them again on the table. His mind couldn't focus on anything else but what Robert said. It didn't help that going over their inventory only seemed to highlight what his right hand man said. They were limited in their supplies and fuel. No matter how much they had, it was still limited. It would run out eventually and they would have to leave their ship at that moment.

  Dan sighed as he once again felt a headache coming. Robert might have been right with the fact that they couldn't keep going as they were. But he wasn't sure that putting themselves in danger by hunting monsters, pirates or whatever his chief officer had in mind, was the right approach to this. But again, part of him felt that there was no right approach at all.

  "Hey, captain do you... Are you alright?" Keith's voice pulled him back to the present, "You don't seem too good."

  "I'm alright," Dan waved her off, "I just had something on my mind. What were you going to say?"

  "I just wanted to call you for lunch," Keith hesitated before answering. It was clear that his words still didn't calm her down.

  "Oh, it's that time already, I didn't notice," Dan got up to join her and the others in The Skyline.

  "Nothing approached us right?" Dan asked as they walked, referring to her skill.

  "No, we are safe," Keith shook her head, before adding in confusion, “Which is weird. Come with me for a second."

  Unsure of what she meant, Dan still followed after her, just to stop in front of the screen with her skill projected on it.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Do you notice anything weird with this?" She asked.

  Dan gave the screen a searching glance before his eyes fell on something he had noticed before. The smaller radius without any dots in it. A field around the Voyager stopping any creature from getting closer

  "This?" He traced the circle with his finger.

  "Exactly!" Keith nodded, "Nothing even comes close to the Voyager. That radius feels like a force field keeping all those creatures at bay."

  "Do you have any idea why that's the case?" Dan scratched his chin.

  "No, I actually wondered if it was a skill you or... the Voyager had," she whispered that last part.

  "I don't have anything like that, neither does the Voyager, I think at least," After a bit of silence, Dan remembered what happened yesterday with Marcus, Rose and the others while returning from dropping the passengers. "Last night, while returning, Marcus and the rest were chased by some eldritch mermaids. But the closer they got to the Voyager, the further those monsters fell back, till finally they stopped following them altogether. I think whatever is at play here, was what made them stop their chase."

  "That does prove that something is keeping all those creatures at bay," Keith said, "But not what it might be."

  "Yeah, there must be a reason..." Dan murmured.

  He called the system up and went through his profile. He felt that whatever this might be, it should have been mentioned by the system at some point. The more he went through it though, the more he frowned as he found nothing. Just as he was about to lose hope and drop the matter for now, he reached his next to last Title and a flash seemed to pass through his mind, and as expected there it was,

  Kin of the Abyss: You've met a being beyond your comprehension and survived to tell the tale. It sent you to this world because you managed to hold Its interest for a fraction of a second, a monumental achievement! Even It never would have imagined that you would manage to assimilate a fraction of Its aura and make it part of you. Beasts, monsters and keen people sense a dreadful aura from you, making them hesitant to attack you. You find it easier to intimidate people when you want to. Ocean Dwellers feel a closeness to you.

  "It's Kin of the Abyss!" Dan half shouted.

  "What?" Keith seemed to jump in shock before his words registered. "You mean that Title?"

  "Exactly!" Dan answered excitedly. There was no better feeling than finding a solution to a mystery, "The Title we all have. It says that Beasts, monsters and keen people sense a dreadful aura from you. I didn't link them to each other, but that might be why no creature is approaching the Voyager. She probably has the same thing about her, just much bigger and more powerful."

  "I can see that being the case," Keith nodded slowly as she looked again at the screen.

  "I feel much better now," Dan joked, "At least one thing made itself clear to us."

  "I get what you mean," Keith smiled as she shook her head lightly, "Lets head to the Skyline then, the others must be waiting for us."

  Making their way to the restaurant, Dan and Keith talked about different things while walking. Keith was probably the only person, besides him, who was on the Voyager with no one else with her. She didn't invite anyone to the party on the Voyager. Dan didn't know if she simply didn't want to, or she just didn't have anyone to invite. In the end, it was good for her. Dan doubted knowing that you were the reason someone ended up in this situation would be good for your mental state.

  Once they entered the Skyline, Dan scanned the restaurant and soon found Robert, Marcus and old Raily sitting at a table on their own. He paused for a second when he noticed his chief officer, but ignored that fast. Leading Keith there, he greeted the trio before sitting down.

  "How were things with the islanders?" he asked after the greetings.

  "They are surprisingly well-mannered," Marcus answered, "I think that can be attributed to their leader. Corgan was his name? He seems to have a lot of say among them, they listen to and respect him very much."

  "Some of them are like what you would expect from normal civilians in their situation," Old Raily interjected, "But others feel off. They are too collected, too organized and too calm."

  "I noticed that," Marcus nodded, "I've told the guards to keep an eye on them, maybe see if they could spot which ones are problematic, hopefully it's nothing."

  "Hopefully," Dan said with a tired sigh, "We don't need another mess to deal with. Make sure that they aren't having any weird thoughts, being that organised could mean trouble."

  Both Marcus and Old Raily nodded in understanding. It seemed that they had already kept that in mind.

  "We can also use the coming trip to ask about them." Robert said slowly, "Try to get as much information about how the islanders are and how they might be treated."

  "Yeah, it's something I've had in mind." Dan said. Then continued, "Anyway, let's have our lunch first before continuing."

  Dan waited till everyone finished their food before finally bringing up what had gathered them there in the first place,

  "What did you decide on for the coming operation?"

  "For the personnel going, we have decided that Marcus would be leading them, we probably need two guards other than him just in case. You see about the others, but it's better if no more than two join the guards," Old Raily said, "We are going undercover, so unfortunately we can't take the full body vests and protection with us, we would stand out too much. Same for clothes, don't know if you noticed, but the clothes we have aren't exactly the usual fashion from what we've seen."

  Dan didn't reply, he took his time considering what he had just heard before starting as he scratched his chin,

  "For the people joining the guards, one of them will be me. As for the second, I will see which of the others is best to join us. The clothes are something that wasn't at the forefront of my thoughts really. We might have some costumes on board, I will check. But in case we don't, we either are going to have to take some from the islanders, or steal some from the village when we land. Neither of those two is preferable, but they are all that we have."

  They talked a bit more, finalising a few things before Dan finally said,

  "Good then, let's aim for the operation to happen tonight, any problems?" Seeing no arguments he nodded, "Here's to a safe operation.”

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