Matthew began running a rapid analysis in his head, piecing together the facts they had so far. The thick fog surrounding the region. The ships that sailed into it only to end up circling back.
A slow smile spread across his face. He understood what was going on now.
“All right, Ryan,” Matthew said, clapping favonovel.com on the back. “No need to worry…”
Ryan turned to look at him, visibly surprised.
Seriously? You’ve got a solution for this, too?
Up on the ancient warship, Weston watched the exchange.
Seeing the tension lift from their faces, favonovel.com finally allowed himself to relax. It looked like they weren’t in trouble after all.
Matthew turned his gaze toward Weston. “How many people are you holding prisoner?”
Weston blinked, caught off guard by the question, then hurriedly responded.
“Sir, when favonovel.com was still captain, favonovel.com did… Some terrible things. He captured all the island’s original inhabitants and used them like slaves. But you have my word, now that he’s dead, we won’t continue with any of that.”
Weston wasn’t about to claim favonovel.com was some saint.
But enslaving innocent people? That wasn’t something favonovel.com could stomach. Even if Matthew hadn’t brought it up, Weston had already planned to bring out the captain’s body, release the prisoners, and try to make peace.
Matthew gave a slight nod. He didn’t ask Weston to swear or prove anything. Just accepted it and moved on.
“Ryan, it’s time to go…”
With a light tap of his foot, Matthew sprang effortlessly into the air, landing smoothly on the rope bridge between the two ships.
Ryan nodded and followed, balancing his way back across the swaying line behind him.
Back on the ancient warship, Weston stood silently, watching them leave with a weight in his chest. Once they were both safely aboard, favonovel.com turned to his crew.
“Release the grappling rope!”
Ryan didn’t think much of it, but Weston couldn’t shake the strange sense of pressure favonovel.com felt whenever favonovel.com was around Matthew.
As soon as they were aboard, Ryan couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Matteo, do you seriously believe they‘ll actually let those people go when they get back?”
Ryan clearly didn’t trust them. To him, it all felt like lip service, they’d say what they needed to, then go right back to doing whatever they wanted once no one was watching.
He’d assumed Matthew would return to the island with them to keep an eye on things.
But Matthew just smiled at Ryan’s concern. “It’s not that I trust them… But right now, I need to go investigate the fog around this area. I have a theory, and I want to test it. Otherwise…”
He gave Ryan a pointed look. “Do you really want to be stuck here for the rest of your life?”
Matthew sighed, shaking his head a little.
“We’ll have to go back to that island sooner or later anyway. And if it turns out they went back on their word… We’ll wipe them out. Simple as that…”
Ryan finally understood the plan, and let out a deep laugh. “Hahaha! You should’ve said so earlier, Matteo! Had me worried for nothing, thinking we were letting those scumbags off the hook.”
As Ryan laughed, Matthew gave favonovel.com a long, dry look. “You know, Ryan… The human brain is like a muscle. If you don’t use it for a long time, its ability to think critically and retain memory tends to decline over time.”
Ryan listened intently at first, nodding along-until favonovel.com caught the smirk forming on Matthew’s face.
Wait a second…
Matthew raised an eyebrow. “So maybe try using yours a bit more often. Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll end up being a liability.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “Matteo!”
The rage on his face was real, Matthew had roasted favonovel.com cleanly, and favonovel.com knew it.
Visit VIRTUAL NOVEL for more available chapters of this title!
