Dealing with the smuggling merchant ship had not delayed them for long. The two warships followed their planned route and arrived at Lighthouse Island on schedule three days later.
Vice Admiral Snyder and his attendants went ashore, while most of the combat personnel from the two warships remained aboard to provide security for the celebration.
Evan had no interest at all in this celebration, which was more of a merchants' carnival. Aside from the unavoidable patrol duties, he stayed aboard the ship to meditate and train, while doing his best to avoid Zorro's attention.
His current relationship with Zorro was this: he knew Zorro, and Zorro knew him; he knew Zorro's true identity, but Zorro had never connected him with the Navy Captain named Evan Garratt.
In Evan's view, they might not cross paths again in the future. Rather than risk the uncertain consequences of exposing his identity, it was better to avoid him from the start.
After all... his father was a vice admiral!!!
It was not that Evan was a coward, but the man had a powerful backer. Better not to provoke him. Better not to provoke him. Goodbye!
As time passed.
Ships large and small, along with bustling crowds, gradually gathered on this usually desolate little island. Under the organization of numerous merchant associations arriving from all over, the celebration's warm-up events began early.
Colorful flags fluttered across the island, and temporary theaters had been erected.
During the grand rehearsal, brightly dressed dancers, uninhibited artists, scruffy poets, and reporters sent by major newspapers moved among all sorts of people, injecting new vitality into this remote island.
With so many people of complicated backgrounds gathering together, the naval personnel sent by the Three Major Fleets did not have an easy job. As representatives of the Kingdom, they