Chapter 92

Smiling at the girl, he said, "Yes, I'm just going to climb up and look for land." Then, raising an eyebrow, he continued, "Why? You don't want me to spit in your mouth, do you?"

When he said this, the girl laughed.

The joke was grim because Bill was the only man here who could get drinking water from the ocean. He didn't find it too funny, but a few lieutenants under Captain Hina, upon learning that he had mastered the technique of the Return of Life, spread the news as a joke.

The joke was that they would have water even if all supplies ran out, provided they were willing to go to extreme measures to get it. After all, Bill could only separate salts and other impurities from water by swallowing it. Although the process of regurgitating the salty water was extremely unpleasant.

Nevertheless, Marron laughed, because they still had a few days' worth of supplies on the ship, and despite all their hardships, such a struggle for survival still seemed distant.

Seeing her quiet laughter and nods, Bill continued, "Alright, then rest. Try to meditate. I told you all how I felt when I mastered the Return of Life; maybe today is your day for success too."

Receiving her affirmative response, Bill watched as she closed her eyes. Whether she was sleeping or meditating, he didn't intend to find out.

Honestly, although he shared his experience with them, he wasn't sure it would be very helpful. The Return of Life was primarily a technique based on consciousness prevailing over reality. The way one mastered this technique could be as unique as the person themselves.

When Bill explained this, he couldn't help but resort to general phrases like, "I can only show you the path, but you must walk it yourself," or "Visualize the reality you project."

If someone had told him such things, the likelihood of him gaining any insight from it would have been extremely low. Despite having been a teacher in the final years of his past life, he simply didn't have the vocabulary to explain it.

Walking towards the bow of the ship, Bill felt a gentle breeze.

Although this was an ordinary occurrence for the Marines, Bill could only be grateful for the fate that Marine ships had hulls made of sea stone.

Sea stone was a strange ore: on one hand, it was stronger than diamonds and almost indestructible. On the other hand, it was light enough to be used for sheathing ship bottoms, and thanks to its nature, the ship literally glided on the water.

Although Bill had never seen it, he read that it was thanks to sea stone that sky islands could exist, as dispersed sea stone was so light that it could mix with air and water to form solid clouds.

He even read about entire cities surviving on these unusual clouds!

Shaking his head, Bill passed by the broken main and fore masts.

While others considered it normal, Bill knew that if he were in his previous world, a ship without a main mast, foremast, and with only a battered mizzenmast would effectively be immobile.

"No," thought Bill, "Any ship without a sea stone hull in their current situation would be at the mercy of ocean currents—both in this world and the last."

So, despite the lack of water, despite the shortage of medical supplies and the poor condition of many crew members, despite the old flying pirate having stolen the ship's compass and communication snails, and despite all the other difficulties he faced in the past two weeks, the ship was still afloat.

And when Bill reached the ship's bow and looked out at the sea, he felt a sense of hope.

Leaning on the rail for almost an hour, he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning his head, he recognized the silhouettes.

Bill spoke first, gently saying, "Seems like nobody can sleep tonight."

Not responding until she came closer, the captain replied, "Hina wants to know who else is awake?"

Shrugging, Bill replied, "It seems I woke Marron, or she sensed movement, and after our conversation, I heard someone else stirring."

Nodding her head, Hina approached and leaned on the rail next to Bill, "Have you seen land?"Caught off guard by the question, Bill thought the captain came to chat and, chuckling slightly, replied, "Absolutely, Captain! We just passed by a whole island made of cake. I would have woken you, but decided our luck was too good to waste time on that."

Bill noticed Hina looked at him strangely before laughing louder than he had ever seen.

"No, Lieutenant Ox, Hina thinks we'd be lucky to stumble upon Whole Cake Island in the midst of this nightmare."

Not understanding what she meant, Bill didn't dwell on it and instead asked, "Are we still on the same course?"

The captain nodded and said, "I believe so. We're likely near the Calm Belt, opposite the East Blue. Hina thinks we're off the trade routes, but there should be some small, remote islands here. If we find one, at worst, we'll have to deal with some pirates."