Quinn sat as he waited for Admiral Kain to call him in for the much-needed briefing. The last few days were quite messy, but fortunately, it all ended well.

  The best thing that had happened was how Sticky Reefs returned to its slumber again, they did lose the Kraken that had been under the watch of the Empire for long, but it was a needed sacrifice. All in all the end was a good one considering what had happened the few previous times the colossal Behemoth awoke.

  He knew that many of the nobles would be angry about losing it, but he honestly couldn't even bring himself to care. Just like how they would be happy with exchanging a few coastal towns with the nesting Kraken, he was happy with doing the opposite.

  "Admiral Kain is ready to meet you," a crewman said while he was lost in his thoughts.

  Quinn just nodded as he stood up and made his way to the Admiral's office. After knocking and hearing the Enter from inside, he took a deep breath as he opened the door and went in.

  Quinn's apprehension for the meeting came mostly from what the Empire had to say about what he had done. He didn't really worry much about what Admiral Kain would say. The old admiral wasn't the kind of person who would explode on his crewmen for no reason, and Quinn knew that the Admiral was never on the side of the nobles when it came to it.

  The first thing Quinn saw when he entered was the admiral sitting behind a big desk while reading some documents, the man put them aside and looked up at him. Quinn stood straight as he saluted, no matter how casual they were with each other, respect was still expected and needed.

  "How are you doing?" Admiral Kain asked after returning his salute.

  "I'm doing well, Admiral," Quinn answered as he sat down, "A bit worried about what the Empire has said, but I'm happy with how things turned out."

  Admiral Kain just grumpled deeply before saying,

  "You don't have to worry about that, I will take care of it. You did well, Sticky Reefs is back to its slumber, without us losing any ships or personnel, it's a miracle."

  "Thank you, Admiral," Quinn said sincerely.

  "So," Admiral Kain said slowly after calming his worries, "What can you tell me about the party you came into contact with, the Voyager, that's what their ship was called, right?"

  "Yes, admiral." Quinn nodded. "That's what they said, the Voyager from Earth. As for what I can say, I think that they are truly the new holders of the Title, there's no mistaking that."

  "Well, at least we put a name to them now," Kain said, then asked after thinking for a bit, "Do you think the alliance has a chance of getting the title?"

  "Quite small." Quinn didn't even have to think about it. "They were close to 350 meters in length, it wouldn't be easy to beat that. Plus..."

  "What?" Kain raised an eyebrow.

  "The ship was most likely made of metal," Quinn finally said while shaking his head, "Just what kind of power could achieve such a feat? To put a huge metal vessel like that on the water.

  "That wasn't all, their speed was also astonishing, I'm sure that it was way more than 30 knots. Their structural integrity isn't something to scoff at either, the manoeuvres that ship was able to accomplish under the effect of Flagship's Command weren't something any ship could do, even the King would need to be careful while executing them, but that ship was able to do it in a heartbeat, it was fascinating."

  "Flagship's Command didn't indicate that it was under stress?" Kain asked.

  As a high-tiered skill, Flagship's Command could notice when a ship was under major stress, and would drop before the ship exploded due to the pressure of the speed it was under.

  "No," Quinn denied, "There was nothing like that, the ship was perfectly normal."

  Kain didn't ask another question straight away, he fell into deep thought as the room was clouded in a faint pressure. Quinn didn't say anything and only awaited his admiral's next question.

  "How do you think a fight with them would go?" Kain finally said.

  "I'm not sure." Quinn had been thinking of that a lot the last few days, and still didn't come up with a good enough answer to that question. "I wouldn't engage against them without the full power of our Fleet though, I wouldn't take any chances."

  Admiral Kain didn't say anything else to that.

  ***

  Tosig leaned back into his chair as he threw out the latest report he got about the situation with Sticky Reefs.

  Since his last meeting with Corgan, he had pushed for changes to the way that reports were handled inside the Agency. What happened then was a wake-up call for him about how much the council and other heads dragged the Agency's efficiency down.

  There was no longer any representative from the council in the Intelligence Agency, there had been some push from them about that, but after Tosig talked to the Empress about the matter, she silenced them as he knew she would, after all she was looking for ways to strip the council's huge interference from the many branches of the Dynasty and a chance like this was always welcomed.

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  His eyes fell once again on the report on the table, and he sighed. Sticky Reefs's awakening was a surprise for sure, the fact that Captain Dan and his crew, as Corgan had called them, might have been part of the reason why it was back to sleep so fast was an even bigger surprise. Tosig massaged his head as he felt a headache mounting at the possibility of the Empire establishing a strong relationship with that unknown power.

  The fact that the huge ship seemed to have evaporated like ocean foam after that operation was a small mercy, as it meant that the two weren't working together just yet. But the fact that that might have just been the Empire spreading misinformation was always at the forefront of the matter.

  Leaning forward once again, he decided to have his people work on a contact handbook in case they ever found themselves facing the unknown crew and their ship.

  After completing that, Tosig went to the next headache that he had to deal with, the matter of growing the relationship between the Empire and the Dynasty.

  That had always been something that the two powers, under the push and support of Ocean Dwellers, had tried for; the two powers putting their previous grievances aside and working towards a new future together.

  Finally, after years of trying, things seemed to be moving forward in the right direction. The attacks and kidnappings on the islands away from the mainland put a bit of a strain on that, but once it was almost proven that the Empire had nothing to do with it, things calmed down a bit.

  "This is going to be a pain..." Tosig murmured as he read through the update that had been urgently sent to him the night before.

  Below all the countermeasures put in place in case someone other than him read it, a title was seen, Marriage Proposal Between the Crown Prince and the Princess.

  ***

  Red walked slowly up the stairs leading to the deck, his blood-red cane clanking with each step he took.

  As the sunlight hit his face, a tiny grimace forced its way to the surface, he brought it under control fast though. He didn't like how as time passed, his body seemed to be getting closer and closer to that of one of those bald monkeys. He did consider changing his vessel, but the First didn't accept for some reason, saying that getting used to one body would ground him and make controlling it and understanding life easier.

  Red didn't care for the bugs hurrying to get away from his path as he walked to the bow, just the fact that he looked like them was disgusting enough for him, he didn't want to have to deal with them too.

  Red heard the commotion coming from the bow before he even got there, he also felt the mounting pressure on his soul, and the chains that bit into it made themselves known as they made it to their source.

  "I-I used to be a deckhand," Red heard one of the bugs say desperately, "My skills are useful for you for sure, I can help you, I can be a great addition to your crew!"

  He didn't even look at the bug, his eyes moving to the source of the chains binding his soul, the man wearing a pristine Captain's get-up sitting at a wooden table while cutting a fruit slowly and bringing it to his mouth. The man had a bored expression as he regarded the bug that kept on talking.

  "You seem to like the sound of your voice," the man finally spoke, cutting off the bug's unending stream of words. "Unfortunately, I don't find it that fascinating, nor did you offer anything valuable."

  As the man spoke, he stood up and walked to the bug. Red hated to admit it, but even he felt his soul jolt as the man stood up. It wasn't from fear like that bug though, it was an unfortunate side effect of being what he was, no Ghost Pirate in his place would have reacted differently after all.

  "I would hate silencing you forever though," the man spoke as he closed in on the bug who pushed himself back with his hands and feet, "Let's see, why don't I send you to a place where your voice could be heard and you would find so many ears to keep your company."

  With that, the man waved his hands and the bug flew so fast out of the ship and into the open water. It all happened so fast that the bug only started shouting after he was halfway down to the water.

  "Red, my boy!" The man turned to Red with a big smile, his fully black eyes digging into his soul as it froze. "What did you bring me? These idiots don't really have anything interesting to share."

  Red took a deep breath to calm himself, hating every moment of it, he wouldn't have been reacting like this if he didn't have such a vessel. He then went on to explain what had happened with Sticky Reefs and the weird unknown party.

  "That's quite interesting," the man said to himself, "Tell me, Red, do you think the Emperor is going to be bigger or this new unknown ship?"

  "From what I've heard," Red said slowly, "The unknown ship should still be bigger."

  "Well, that's unfortunate." The man shook his head. "It's alright though, the title would have been a welcomed addition, but not having it wouldn't change much. Oh well, that's for us to deal with later, let's continue with our recruitment."

  Watching the man focus again on the bugs that were on the deck, knowing that he was just using them as a way to pass time, Red calmed his soul as he fought against the chains binding it. He tried futilely to get a bit more control over it, knowing the result before he even started.

  Failing at it just like he did countless times before, Red eyed the man again. The First, one of the only two Fallen Pirates out there, and his eternal master.

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