"Thank you, I'll come when I have time."
As soon as Charles finished speaking, his expression suddenly turned ugly, not because of Elizabeth next to him, but because the auditory hallucinations in his head had started again.
The expression on Charles's face twisted as he began to knock his forehead with his wrist, each knock harder than the last.
Elizabeth, standing next to him, immediately noticed Charles's abnormal behavior, her eyes wide open in surprise.
"My goddess, how long has it been since you've rested?"
She pulled out a piece of green, jelly-like substance from her chest and handed it to him. "Eat this quickly, it can effectively relieve it."
Charles hesitated for a moment but finally took it and swallowed it in one gulp.
A cool sensation slid down his throat, and although the whispering in his ears continued, the irritation had dissipated.
"Thank you, what is this?" Charles's gaze at Elizabeth became much friendlier.
Elizabeth chuckled lightly. "You're welcome, I don't know what it is either, I just know it can alleviate the whispers of the Futan God. If you want, you can dig some up from Redwood Island. Just don't consume too much—it's addictive."
Redwood Island... Charles silently noted down the new location in his mind.
At some point, a brawny man, muscles bulging all over, had walked up behind them and clapped Charles on the right shoulder. "Newbie, if the whispers of the Futan God are already affecting you this much, you need to rest."
Charles's guard was mostly down, and although he didn't know why, he could feel that these people meant well towards him. It had been a long time since he had felt such obvious goodwill.
Elizabeth glanced at the staff still operating nearby and pulled Charles towards a nearby sofa.
"Come with me, I'll tell you some things that ordinary people don't know."
Charles wanted to refuse, but the brawny man next to him wrapped an arm around his shoulder and steered him forward.
"Don't be shy, as an old saying goes, if you want to survive at sea, you need to make more friends."
By the time Charles realized what was happening, he was already being pressed onto a sofa, surrounded by seven or eight oddly dressed captains curiously sizing him up.
There was curiosity and confusion in their eyes, but no hostility.
Elizabeth plopped down next to Charles, her soft body leaning directly towards him,
"Feeling we're a bit too enthusiastic? Hehe, it's already dark enough at sea, let's be friendly on land." Elizabeth spoke.
"It's a bit unexpected, not what I researched at the museum," Charles relaxed a bit.
Hearing Charles's words, a fat man with round eyes glared and shouted,
"What do the books say about us? A bunch of legal pirates? Madmen who want money over life? People who say such things should be thrown to the fishes!! If I ever become the Governor, people who talk like that will have their tongues cut out!!"
Elizabeth gave the fat man a glare, then turned to Charles with a smile, "This is the gathering place for the explorers of Coral Island~ You can exchange information here in the future."
Charles understood, this was essentially a salon for the conversation among exploration ship captains.
"What kind of information are you dealing in? Information about the islands?"
"There's information on islands, navigation routes, relics, anything useful can be shared. Perhaps someone has a solution to a problem you couldn't handle; you're free to ask any questions, and we here can answer them for you."
At her words, Charles seemed to have a question confirmed in his mind.
After pondering for a few seconds, Charles posed his question. "Does anyone have clues about the Northern Bright Land?"
The power of Charles's question was greater than he had anticipated; the sound of chairs scraping against the floor rose abruptly as everyone distanced themselves from him, as if he carried some plague.
Even Elizabeth, sitting beside him, moved to the other side of the sofa, frowning. "You're not a member of the Light God Sect, are you?"
Charles chuckled dryly. "I'm not, and I don't believe in any God."
Elizabeth sighed with relief, patting her ample chest as she said, "That makes sense, you don't look like one of those fanatics."
The tension eased immediately, and everyone burst into discussion.
"That scared me; I definitely don't want to deal with those fanatics. The Land of Light? What do you want with it?"
"If you're asking about that legendary ballad, I've heard of it, let me sing a bit for you: situated in the Northern Island~ where lies the stairway to the Land of Light, eternal brightness and—what was it? Sorry, I forgot how the rest goes."
"How could we possibly know about the stuff of legends? We are not Gods."
"New guy, you sure have a sense of humor."
A hint of disappointment showed on Charles's face; he had hoped that the seasoned exploration ship captains might have some leads, but it seemed the humanity here had stayed in the Earth Sea long enough that their true homeland had become a distant legend.
While everyone was talking, a woman from behind the counter carrying a stack of books walked over.
Smiling, she said: "Mr. Charles, you are now a qualified explorer. Any islands you explore will be protected by the Explorer Association for the first three years. Here's your proof; please take good care of it. Now let me introduce you to the mission details."
She opened the stack of books she had, revealing pages filled with dense text, which were sea charts.
"Any exploration missions just need to be registered with the association, and supplies like food and fuel will be reimbursed. The reward varies depending on the danger level."
Charles took the sea charts and began examining them painstakingly.
He could see, on the borders of areas already explored, unexplored territories of darkness sectioned off like slices of cake, each marked with potential rewards.
What surprised Charles was that a few isolated islands within these unexplored waters were marked, including Golden Statue Island, which he had previously visited.
A fair hand reached from the side, pointing at the sea map, and Elizabeth's seductive, magnetic voice sounded beside his ear. "Charles, since you're new, I suggest you explore the seas for a few years, and get used to it before tackling the islands."
Although she was right, Charles didn't see it that way. He pointed to Golden Statue Island and asked, "What does this number mean?"
The island was marked with a bright red 4.
A chubby fellow remarked, "That's the danger level. Islands that have been explored are marked as 0. Every time an exploration captain doesn't return, the danger level increases by 1. For a level 4 island like this, you should forget about it as a newbie and try exploring the sea for a couple of years first."
Elizabeth glanced at him, then whispered in Charles's ear: "Don't mind him; I think you have great potential; you could probably explore this island within a year."
"I've been to this island," Charles said lightly, and the chatter around them suddenly stopped as everyone stared wide-eyed at the young man before them.