Eddie boarded a small boat heading for the Sea Mist. The undead sailors with scary faces looked him up and down as if he were a rare animal.

This made the confidential secretary feel uncomfortable and even a little creepy.

"I didn't expect you to ask for one person to come," the swollen undead sailor said, with a sigh in his tone, "Our captain has said that three people are allowed to come on board."

"There's no difference between three people and one person," Eddie shook his head. "If General Tirian allowed me to bring a whole team, I would certainly take all my advisors and assistants with me, but he only allowed three people... then it's no different than me going alone."

"You can bring two soldiers with you to give you courage." An undead sailor beside him laughed, and a hissing sound came from his leaky throat.

"I don't need courage. Soldiers can't help me." Eddie shook his head and said seriously.

His attitude made the undead sailors feel quite bored. Someone on the boat muttered, "... a pretentious official."

A moment later, Tirian saw the envoy from the city-state - a man in his thirties or forties wearing a suit, gold-rimmed glasses, and meticulously combed hair, looking as if he was drinking tea in the office a second ago.

He had a greasy face and came alone.

This was quite a surprise to the pirate who had been well prepared, and he even felt an awkward feeling of having no place to use his power - he had thought that the first person to board the Sea Fog would at least be a military personnel.

But soon, he roughly guessed the intention of the Frost authorities' arrangement:

The relationship between the Sea Mist Fleet and the city-state is already tense enough. The two sides have been confronting each other on a powder keg for fifty years. At this sensitive time, there is no point in sending a few more officers to deal with them - sending a clerk over can at least show a hint of friendliness.

The clerk was obviously a little nervous.

On the deck of the Sea Mist, Tirian looked up and down at the "city-state diplomat" in front of him. He could clearly make out the other party's forced calm eyes and the disordered rhythm of his breathing - this gentleman's calmness skills are actually very good, but unfortunately, this skill can deal with ordinary people, but not a captain who commands an army of undead.

Tirian could even hear every heartbeat of the diplomat.

Eddie was also observing the big pirate in front of him - observing the man who once defended the city-state but has now become the source of horror legends in the hearts of almost all Frost people.

Tall, strong, silent, and majestic, his single eye carries a look of scrutiny and contempt, and every glance seems like a judgment.

In front of this big pirate, even breathing seemed to have become a very strenuous task.

"General Tirian," Eddie took two deep breaths and stood up straight, facing the pirate's scrutiny. "On behalf of the Frost City-State, I extend my greetings to you. I am very happy to be aboard this legendary warship."

"Half a century has passed," Tyrian calmly looked at the man in front of him who was a head shorter than him. "Frostbite has finally mustered up the courage to talk to me?"

Eddie didn't care about the provocation in the other party's words at all, and just continued: "I came here with a mission - the dispute between the Frost and the Sea Mist Fleet does exist, but that's not what we want to talk about today. You should know the troubles the city-state is facing now. We just want to know the purpose of the Sea Mist Fleet - General Tirian, what do you want and what do you want to do?"

"General... please stop calling me that. It doesn't make me happy." Tirian glanced at Eddie and slowly walked to the edge of the ship. "As for what I'm going to do... isn't it obvious enough? I'm blocking this city-state that's about to fall - to prevent your disaster from spreading and harming my 'trading partners' on the cold sea."

"Trading partner?"

"I think that's a fair name. They pay the price, and the Mist Fleet protects them on the cold sea." Tirian turned back. "Don't you think that's a very good trade relationship?"

The corners of Eddie's mouth twitched slightly, but he quickly concealed the change. He glanced at the undead sailors around him, then slowly walked to Tirian's side: "You mean... you just want to help Frost control this crisis?"

"It's a bit self-indulgent, but it's okay if you want to think so," Tirian said casually, "I don't need you to do anything, just don't make trouble for me."

Eddie was silent for two seconds, and finally spoke cautiously: "...Can I know why you want to help?"

Tirian rested his hands on the railing at the edge of the ship, without looking back: "Is the reason important?"

"I need a reason that will reassure my superiors and colleagues."

"Ah, Mr. Eddie, so you actually need a reason to be at ease," Tirian laughed. He turned his head and looked into Eddie's eyes. "Then I'll tell you the reason - my father's order."

Eddie was stunned.

After a moment, his expression became visibly horrified.

"It seems you have thought of it. Yes, my father's order, you can regard it as sent from the warp. He asked me to send troops to besiege your poor little city-state. So go back and tell your superiors that the Sea Mist Fleet is carrying out the will from the warp." Tyrian's tone was quite pleasant, "Then they can have a baby's sleep."

The big pirate's happy expression was very obvious. Eddie finally reacted - or thought he reacted. He was relieved and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Your joke is not good at all, General Tirian... Captain, I understand what you mean. Since you don't want to explain more, I don't need to ask."

Tirian stared at the "Frost Ambassador" in front of him, and after a moment he clicked his tongue.

No one believes the truth these days.

But he was still in a very happy mood.

It was always a pleasure to see this serious senior Frost official startled in front of him.

"You may leave now, Mr. Eddy," he said politely. "There is no dinner for you on board."

Eddie was obviously stunned for a moment: "Ah? Wait, I still..."

"You still have a lot to ask, such as the next plan of the Sea Mist Fleet, the matter about Dagger Island, the Queen and the Abyss Plan, but unfortunately I don't have much to say to Frost," Tirian said calmly, "You have achieved your goal and completed your mission. Go back and tell your superiors. If there is anything else, you can contact directly by wireless telegram, and there is no need to send anyone. We can receive any open frequency band."

Eddie was startled, then immediately reacted, with a hint of joy on his face: "Ah, okay, Captain Tirian, thank you very much for your understanding..."

He paused for a moment, as if he suddenly remembered something, and then hurriedly said, "Ah, wait, there is one more question, the last question!"

Tirian raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Regarding... the mysterious light signal you sent to our reconnaissance boat earlier," Eddie said with an awkward expression, choosing his words carefully. "We spent a long time trying to decipher it after we returned..."

Tirian stared at the messenger in front of him quietly, until the other's expression became more and more awkward under his gaze, and then he suddenly smiled.

"The sailors neglected maintenance and the signal light was faulty."

Eddie: “……?”

At last Tirian laughed with delight.

The expression on Eddie's face changed several times, and his hands brushed over the buttons of his dress, but gradually he began to laugh, and laughed with Tirian.

Tirian suddenly stopped smiling.

He stretched out his hand and patted the shoulder of the "Frost Ambassador" in front of him.

"They've sent a very nice man, Mr. Eddy—I almost wanted to ask you to stay on board for dinner."

"But I have to return to the ship in time." Eddie stopped laughing and shook his head slowly. "Too many people are on edge. We can't keep focusing our energy on mutual vigilance and speculation."

Tirian said nothing, but nodded slightly, then stretched out his hand to the side, as if to see the guest off.

Eddie also nodded slightly, then adjusted his dress and tie and prepared to walk to the ladder on the other side of the deck.

But at this moment, he seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye and stopped suddenly.

The Frostbringer came to the side of the ship in surprise and looked at the sea below: "...Captain Tirian, what is that?"

"Hmm?" Tirian frowned and looked in the direction of Eddie's finger in confusion.

He saw the thing—it was a shadow.

Below the sea surface, at an indeterminate depth, a hazy shadow was crossing the vast area between the Sea Mist and several frigates, moving towards the distance at a very fast speed.

The shadow was illusory and transparent, just like the reflection of a ship in the water, but no structure on the ship could be seen clearly. Tirian stared at the thing for a long time, but he only felt that it seemed to be... the bottom of a ship.

It was as if there was a boat upside down in the water, sailing beneath the surface.

Tirian raised his head and looked in the direction where the shadow was sailing.

That is the direction where Dagger Island used to be.