Avril invited Shobe and his men to go board Raine together.
"Lieutenant Shobe, the cabin is a little small, sorry," Avril said apologetically.
"It's okay, the fact that you guys can use such a small boat and defeat your enemy rather makes me admire you guys even more," Shobe said while walking over to the starboard side of the ship and gently stroking the smoky board with his hand.
Being touched so gently by a man, Raine felt goosebumps run all over him.
"The damage is not serious, it seems to have avoided the frontal attack of the fire bomb." Shobe finally withdrew his hand.
"Where was this ship made? It has very good craftsmanship."
Avril's eyes darted around and she stammered, "Well, it was made by an old craftsman who was quite at home in the craft."
Her words were the equivalent to not saying anything at all.
Shobe shook his head with a smile and walked up to Avril, "Don't be so nervous, I'm just wondering."
"Well, I won't beat around the bush, I'm here for a specific reason."
Shobe continued, "And you guys don't need to hide anything from me, I know everything."
Several of the crew's eyes glazed over, almost scared to hell.
"Hahahaha, I said no need to be nervous. Look at you guys. Other people can't see this girl's mutation progress, but I can see it clearly."
Avril blinked dryly, maybe now she should be glad that this lieutenant just knows that Arsan is a mutant.
Mutants were rare here, but they weren't that scary in human-class waters. As long as he wasn't aware of Raine's existence, that was all that mattered.
"Your mutation level is quite high!" Shobe looked at Arsan admiringly.
At this point in time, Shobe was the only one talking now.
These people actually did not react at all after throwing out such strong information!? A little embarrassed, Shobe continued, "Here's the thing, I'm here to ask something of you. I hope this young girl, and you, Captain Avril, can consider joining the Navy!"
"What! Join the Navy?" Avril and others exclaimed.
Avril was able to figure out the reason, the Navy values mutants. Since the lieutenant could see that Arsan was a mutant, it was reasonable to invite Arsan. But why did he invite her?
"So, Lieutenant Shobe, you're inviting me too?"
Shobe laughed, "Yes! I admire your ability to control the ship and your psychological and tactical qualities. And I'm not exaggerating to say that the role of a good captain and helmsman is no less important than the mutant crew. Your performance has quite impressed me!"
Avril gave an awkward smile, "Lieutenant Shobe..."
"Stop." Shobe realized the situation was not going in a favorable direction. He stops Avril at once, "Don't rush your decision for me, you should think about it later and then reply to me tomorrow. You can meet me on my ship. Don't worry, with me around, no one will dare to covet you."
"Thank you very much for your hospitality. I'll see you tomorrow then... Huh, you still have a dog here, it looks a little seasick."
White wobbled out, the previous sea battle almost shook him to death, finally he was starting to calm down. As soon as he came out, he saw a stranger on the boat so he showed a fierce look at a moment's notice.
Now Avril was too late to explain to Shobe because of White's sudden appearance, she stopped White in a hurry and said awkwardly, "Well, then we will meet you on your ship tomorrow."
.........
The boat seemed a little quiet, and both Arsan's family and Avril felt preoccupied.
Later in the evening, Arsan asked Avril to go around the market... All this was witnessed by Raine.
The next morning, Arsan's family and Avril went to the Navy warship together.
All of a sudden, Raine and White were the only ones left on the ship.
"Looks like they want to join the Navy," Raine let out a long sigh.
White leaned against the bow of the ship in a relaxed manner.
"It's okay. They are all people with no one to depend on. And there is no future in following me, so it would be good for them to join the Navy."
"Avril wants to gain revenge, so joining the Navy she might be able to quickly realize her wish, right?"
"Arsan will also be useful when the time comes, their family can still live together..."
"Well, they're all gone. White, you are my best man, we are back in the world of a two person crew."
Raine's mood was far less open-minded than he showed. After so many things, whether it's Avril or Arsan's family, Raine has taken them as his most important partners.
For their sake, he risked his life to fight for a chance to live in the storm. For their sake, he defeated the far stronger Biao... However, in the end, all the effort was no match for the Navy Lieutenant's words.
"Hey, White, do you think... the reason is that I was too mean to them?"
White lifted his head and then leaned down again.
Raine looked at the azure sea of the sky in front of him with a heavy heart.
Avril and the others were there from morning to noon. He guessed both sides chatted a lot and stayed for lunch.
"The food in the Navy should be much better than mine."
"But it does not matter. White, from now on, the dried fish here is yours alone! Happy or not! Excited or not!"
White took a look at the dried fish, shook his head with no interest, and continued to lean against the bow of the boat, lying there listlessly.
Raine didn't know how long it took until a sound of laughter grew in the distance.
Avril, Terry, Armin, and Arsan came back, laughing and talking.
When they reached the front of the boat, the three women jumped down at once and then helped Terry down together.
"Haha, it turned out Biao had so much money. This time we can share at least 30 pearls!"
"Yeah, and they said they have no money!"
"Avril, there is so much money. Can we talk to the captain to go buy some meat and eat something good today?"
Avril showed an excited look in her eyes, she ran to the bow, "Captain, we have 30 pearls now. Can we go to buy some food? We're getting sick of eating dried fish."
Raine got a boat load of confusion.
"You guys... aren't you going to the Navy?"
"Yeah, we went in the morning. Lieutenant Shobe took us to raid the house in person."
"No, you guys are not going to stay in the Navy?"
Avril frowned strangely, "Stay in the Navy? Captain, you just don't stop making fun of me. They don't know who runs the ship, don't I know it?"
"Well, what about Arsan? I see that lieutenant seems to think highly of her."
"Her? She said she only follows you." Avril said while her expression became more and more strange, "Hiss~ Captain, you haven't said a word in the past two days, you wouldn't be... jealous, right?"
"Jealous of what? How can I be jealous? I was just wondering how many pearls I could get this time."
"Oh~ so that's how it is." Avril nodded exaggeratedly, "But you actually don't care about pearls at all, this is not your style, you care about other things!"
Too smart and clever is not a good thing, this girl's eloquence made Raine freeze in place.
"Captain." Avril put away her smile, "I know what you're thinking."
"Joining the Navy indeed is a great temptation for us, but... there are many reasons besides the fact that we have all said that we will always follow you, Captain."
"What are the other reasons?" Raine asked curiously. He wanted to know what was keeping these guys from joining the Navy.
Avril sat down and leaned comfortably on the bow, looking up at the azure sky.
"I remember the sky was as beautiful as today, but at that time, my heart was so desperate and clouded that I couldn't see a ray of sunshine, and at that time, you came to me."
"With our resources so tight, when Uncle Terry and the others were desperate. It was you, too. You lent them a helping hand."
"You said that you never leave your crew behind."
"You also said that you would take us far and farther away."
"Although you were fierce at times, I believe that even in the Navy there would not be a better captain than you!"
Raine started feeling a little emotional. He actually felt a little touched by this woman's words... Did he really do all of this? Sounds a little unlikely.
But at this time, he had to say something.
"Ahem, correction, not the captain... it's the captain AND the helmsman!" Raine said condescendingly, "But you are right, one day I will lead you all to conquer this world!"