Ken and Jeremiah stood at the bow, staring blankly at the sea before them.
Seagulls drifted lazily across the sky, crying out. The sun shone brightly—it was a rare stretch of good weather on the Storm Ocean—yet both men felt chills run through their bodies.
"Mr. Jeremiah, are you... sure this is the place? Could you have miscalculated our position?"
Under normal circumstances, Jeremiah would have fiercely shot back at such a doubt. He had been a captain at sea for half his life—how could he possibly miscalculate their position?
But now, he merely said stiffly, "I didn't miscalculate. This is the place."
He unconsciously tugged at his collar, as though something were wrapped around his neck, then unwillingly scanned the surroundings once more.
"This is the Masha Archipelago. An archipelago, understand? Even if I got the position wrong, there shouldn't be a single island missing here."
Ken and Jeremiah fell silent once more.
After searching for Castel for a long time and finding nothing, Jeremiah hesitated before deciding to sail back to Gem Bay first.
The refugees could be settled temporarily in Gem Bay. He knew some island lords there, and they could resupply the ship as well, allowing them to properly investigate what had happened to Castel.
But.
Gem Bay was gone too.
Castel was merely a small island, but Gem Bay could practically be called an entire nation.
The Masha Archipelago had hundreds of islands. Dozens of them were larger than Bister, and Gem Bay's total population numbered over a hundred thousand. Only then could it support an entire Black Sail Fleet.
Taken as a whole, Gem Bay could fight the Empire's navy evenly—and even the Royal Army could come ashore and still be met blow for blow. That was the Pirate King's confidence in challenging the