Chapter 48: Opening the Sunshine

"\"You know that thing is like a bullet, right, used once and it's useless?\""

"I only need one, can you get it here?" Charles's words were somewhat urgent.

The skeleton woman crossed her arms and pondered. "Hmm... just one, let me think about it..."

A few seconds later, she clapped her hands, "Right, I heard Shark intercepted a shipment a while ago, which included mirror boxes. If you need one urgently, I can charge you 40,000 Echoes for one. Don't say I'm ripping you off, this stuff isn't cheap to begin with."

"No problem! Please give me one right away."

Seeing how swiftly Charles agreed, the skeleton woman immediately regretted it, thinking she had quoted too low a price.

"Luna, take good care of this friend for me, I'll be right back." Just as the skeleton woman turned to leave, a young girl in a sheer dress crawled over the bar like a kitten.

The enticing flesh before him was no match for the urgency in Charles's heart; he was very anxious.

Generally speaking, the only thing that could turn a vampire into ashes was most likely sunlight, but sunlight wasn't supposed to be packed away, right? This illogical Earth Sea had already thrown too many surprises at Charles, so he couldn't be sure.

"Man~, why are your legs shaking so much? Are you trying to resist something?" the sheer-dressed girl said as she attempted to lie in Charles's arms.

An irritated Charles, with a hand bearing the Tentacle Ring, lifted it and pushed her away.

Audric, secretly delighted, pounced with his cloak and enveloped her, covering her mouth with his hand and revealing two sharp vampire fangs as he bit into her pale neck, his bare feet trembling outside the cloak.

What followed was an eternity for Charles.

The skeleton woman returned a half-hour later, holding a mirror box identical to the one on the paper.

Charles was eager to open it.

"Wait! Captain! Wait until I get out!" Audric, with his mouth full of blood, made a messy dash for the door.

Charles's shaking hands held down the lid, his breathing a bit rapid.

"You're opening it now?? For 40,000 Echoes, you really treat it like a toy?" the skeleton woman said, wide-eyed.

"Whoosh!!!" With the box open, a blinding light instantly illuminated the entire bar.

The light from the box wasn't like the blazing sun of summer but rather like the sunlight in winter—warm and comforting on the skin, involuntarily bringing a hint of sleepiness to mind.

Charles's former anxiety and unease turned into tranquility at this moment, feeling the sunlight brushing over his skin. He had never felt so close to home.

The dazzling light came quickly and departed just as swiftly. In a short three seconds, the brightness in the bar returned to its previous state.

The men and women in the bar quieted for a second or two, then the noise returned to its former level.

Smelling the scent of mites being killed on his clothes, Charles smiled faintly, tears sliding from the corners of his eyes.

The box indeed contained genuine sunlight, sunlight from the sun, which also served as a beacon on Charles's journey home.

"Seadog's friend sure is rich, playing with mirror boxes like they're toys. Hey, do you lack companionship? How about me?" the skeleton woman returned to the bar, continuing to mix cocktails.

Holding the mirror box, Charles sniffed and asked the skeleton woman, "Where does this thing come from?"

"Haven't I told you already? The King releases a batch of goods every half month."

"No, I mean where did the stuff inside come from?"

The skeleton woman's shaking wine jug came to a halt, a trace of gravity showing on her face. "What are you going to do? Those who tried to snatch business from the King before were all speared with harpoons and fed to the sharks."

"I don't want to snatch his business. I just want to know the source of this sunlight."

"Isn't that the same thing? If it were you, would you tell others? Do you know how much money this business has made for the King? In the name of the sea dogs, I advise you not to seek death."

But Charles was not deterred and asked again, "When does he usually appear?"

The skeleton woman sighed, "The King usually shows up at the auction event half a month from now."

Charles's fingers tapped rapidly on the bar top. "Is he the King of Sodoma? Does he own all of Sodoma??"

"That's right, not just Sodoma. His power is very great. He has over a dozen large ships, each over a hundred meters long, and the pirates of the North Sea must obey him, even the Governors of those islands must be wary."

Charles sat there with a heavy expression, deep in thought.

"Stop dazing off, hurry up and pay," the skeleton woman said, hands on her hips.

Charles had been helped back to bed by Audric, yet the pain from his wound couldn't obscure his puzzlement.

If this so-called King had a route to Earth's surface, why didn't he go up, instead of staying in this sunless underground?

Was it by relying on various resources from Earth's surface that he could easily become a higher-up underground?

Or was it that this sunlight wasn't really from the sun at all?

No matter the reason, Charles was determined to make contact. It was the only clue he had found so far.

As he was considering all these things in his mind, Second Officer Krona burst in. "Captain, I've got some information about the old man from the local snakes!"

"What is it?" Charles propped himself up from the bed.

After hesitating for a moment, Krona spoke, "Captain, this information cost me quite a bit of money. Could you reimburse me?"

"No problem, speak quickly."

"Well, the people around here all say this old man has been here for a long time. Nobody knows precisely when he arrived, but most pirates found him here healing and saving people when they came. No matter how severe the injuries, he could cure them. That's all there is to know about him. He's a doctor and hasn't been troubled by other pirates—after all, no one can guarantee they won't get hurt in the future."

"I see..." Charles said thoughtfully.

"Captain, why are you investigating his background? Isn't he just a doctor?" Krona asked curiously.

"Don't you think the Unicorne is missing a ship doctor?"

Krona's mouth fell open slightly, a look of surprise on his face. "You mean you intend to—"

Just as he was about to finish his sentence, the door was pushed open. The doctor walked in limping. "Undress, time to change your dressings."

Seeing Charles give him a look, Krona quickly left.

The doctor used his mechanical hand to clip the bandages on Charles's chest, exposing wounds that should have been healing but were again seeping blood outward.

"Running around with such serious injuries—are you eager to die more slowly?"

After evenly spreading a layer of black powder on the wound, the doctor's mechanical hand plucked up a device resembling a stapler and, pressing it against Charles's wound, started stapling it shut with rapid "thwack thwack thwack" noises.

Charles felt no pain, finding the sensation of his flesh being connected by metal rivets utterly peculiar.