On the third floor of the Red Dragon Boat, the air buzzed with activity. Part of this level was devoted to information trading— a hub where one could buy, sell, or request any kind of intelligence for the right price. rchants, bounty hunters and many immortal Practitoners are crowded the marble hall, their murmurs blending with the hum of arrays recording every transaction.
Yumina stood among them, her orange hair tucked neatly beneath a hood. Su Fei, the white-furred fox girl, waited outside near the railings, arms crossed and expression as still as ice.
At one of the open counters, Yumina placed a bank card on the desk. "I want information about two individuals," she said firmly.
The attendant —a slim Dragonion woman in a blue robe —bowed slightly. "Please describe."
Yumina nodded. "First, a man nad Ling Tian. He looks like this." She produced a small projection crystal showing a young man with ssy hair and a confident grin. "He’s a dual Fire and Wind Swordsman, Grandmaster level. He should be sowhere in these waters."
The attendant nodded and noted the details.
Yumina continued, "The second person is a girl nad Ella. Short, carries a giant hamr, Earth Aura user —also a Grandmaster. She might be with Ling Tian, or sowhere alone."
"Understood," the attendant said, placing the crystal onto a rune pad. "Please wait while we search."
Hours passed.
When Yumina finally returned to Su Fei, her face was pale. "We have to go," she said abruptly. "Now."
"What happened?" Su Fei asked, her tail flicking.
"They found soone matching Ella’s description near the Abyss Zone... and she’s in danger."
Without another word, Yumina sprinted. Su Fei followed close behind.
---
Back inside the White Pearl’s pocket dinsion, the room was quiet.
Tyler sat in front of a glowing holographic screen. Yumina’s ssage played before him — her voice trembling slightly.
> "Tyla... this might be goodbye. I heard my friend might be in danger, so I’m leaving right away.
I know you’d probably try to co with , but you need to focus on your recovery.
Fox girl —uh, Su Fei —lent her flying vessel. I’ll borrow it for now, okay?
I hope your mories co back soon."
The ssage ended with a flicker.
Tyler stared at the blank screen, then looked toward Su Fei, who stood silently near the door. "You can take any vessel you want from the ship," he said with a small smile.
But Su Fei’s cold eyes t his for only a mont before she turned and walked away.
"She’s... cold to ?" Tyler muttered.
"Of course," Darla replied from across the room, sipping her tea. "She’s your slave."
"What!?" Tyler nearly choked.
Darla blinked innocently. "She is actually an enemy. She has rare ti based domain. You already have plan to make her submit."
Tyler rubbed his forehead. "Great."
Before he could process further, his communication device chid. A soft holographic light expanded, revealing Vice-Captain Lily Gos.
Lily stood on a small wooden boat, smiling as sea spray brushed her tanned cheeks. Her whip coiled lazily around her arm, and behind her, faint flashes of electricity revealed sothing massive moving under the waves.
"Ohhh~ Tyler," she said cheerfully. "Welco back! I heard you lost your mories. Again." She chuckled. "This isn’t the first ti, you know."
Tyler smiled awkwardly. "Seems like it."
"I’m sorry I can’t be there," Lily continued. "I’m tracking down Isadora Nightkiss —the Manhunter. You rember her?"
Tyler frowned faintly. "Not yet. But maybe soon."
Lily’s tone softened. "You’ll recover."
Tyler nodded. "With the speed it’s happening, I think six to twelve months."
"Six to twelve months, huh..." Lily leaned on her whip, lost in thought.
"You don’t have to worry, Vice-Captain," Tyler said with a firm voice. "As Captain, I’ll take care of the crew and the Ship."
Both Lily and Dawn, standing beside her off-screen, blinked in shock —then burst out laughing.
"Pffft—Tyler, you? Taking responsibility?" Lily giggled uncontrollably. "You used to dump every bit of work on and disappear for days! You even begged to beco Captain so you could retire early!"
Darla snorted. "It’s true. Before losing your mory, you barely worked. You were obsessed with sothing called Project T. You and Ms. Serena were always tinkering with it."
"Project T?" Tyler repeated, confused.
Lily smiled, regaining her composure. "It’s classified, even I don’t know the details, but you’ll rember eventually. For now, I have a suggestion. On the third floor of the Red Dragon Boat, there’s a cultivation and information wing. They rent ti-dilated seclusion rooms —ancient ones. The ti ratio is incredible, and they’re perfect for restoring ntal energy quickly."
Tyler tilted his head. "Expensive?"
Lily laughed. "Money was never your problem, Captain."
Darla nodded. "Even mory loss can’t erase that truth."
Lily added, "You could try using VR for ntal training, but it’s not the sa. The world tree inside your consciousness needs real ti and resources to grow."
Tyler nodded slowly. "Alright. I’ll try it."
"Good," Lily said, smiling warmly. "Take care of yourself, Captain."
The connection ended.
Lily exhaled deeply, her cheerful smile fading. She turned toward the edge of her small boat, where the surface of the sea was bubbling violently.
A massive, electrocuted Kraken floated upside down in the water, steam rising from its scorched body. Its tentacles twitched weakly.
"Isadora... you better be close," Lily murmured, reeling in her whip.
---
Later that evening, the crew gathered again in the lounge.
"So," Tyler said, standing by the window. "I’ve decided to try the Ti Seclusion Room."
Mathilda perked up instantly. "Ohhh, I already looked into that!" she said proudly. "There are no normal ti rooms available— they’re all booked until next year. But..." Her grin widened. "There’s one special room open."
"What kind?" Tyler asked.
"It’s called an Illusion-Dream Seclusion Chamber," Mathilda explained. "It uses a compressed reality array. You can choose any scenario to live in, even fight illusions of people you know. You can bring one person with you, too~"
Before Tyler could react, she grabbed his hand dramatically. "Turn back into Tylaaa~ We can play Rock Paper Scissors in there!"
Darla bonked her on the head. "You only wanted to play scissors"
"Ouch!"
Before another argunt could start, Lanny quietly spoke up. "Please take ."
Everyone turned to her.
Lanny’s expression was calm as always, but her eyes shimred faintly. "If we share that chamber, we can use the ti to break my curse."
The others fell silent. Even Mathilda, for once, didn’t make a joke.
Tyler nodded slowly. "Alright. If it can help you, we’ll do it."
Mana materialized beside him, floating gently. "Then I’ll co too," she said softly. "I’ll stay in your consciousness and rest under the world tree."
She didn’t use her 3rd POV style talking.
Tyler blinked. "Mana, you... don’t sound like yourself. You’re quieter."
Mana gave a small, sad smile. "It’s nothing. Just... the color of that giant Red Dragon Boat—it reminds of my father’s ship. Maybe that’s why I feel strange."
The others exchanged glances but said nothing.
Tyler looked at each of them, his eyes softening. "Alright. Then it’s settled. Tomorrow, we go."
---
After everyone had gone their separate ways, the room grew quiet. Only three girls remained.
Darla glanced toward the door, then turned back to the others. "Should we tell Tyler about Mana?" she asked, her voice low and uncertain.
Mathilda, who was usually grinning or teasing soone, looked serious for once. "We shouldn’t," she said firmly. "If we do, Mana will find out imdiately. She’s bound to him as a ghost spirit—she can read fragnts of his thoughts. And Tyler’s spiritual consciousness is still unstable. If he starts thinking about her too much, she will notice."
Astrid folded her arms, her expression calm but thoughtful. "Tyler’s mories are still recovering. When they return, he’ll figure everything out on his own. If we interfere now, we might make things worse."
There was a heavy pause after her words.
"Then we keep it quiet. At least until things stabilize. Be mature girls...." Mathilda said simply, hugging the pillow close to her chest as she walked toward the hallway in her fluffy pajamas.
Astrid watched her go, a small smile tugging at her lips. "She’s going to Tyler’s room, doesn’t she?"
Darla sighed. "Yeah. She said she wants to ’play’ with Tyler instead of Tyla because Mana’s feeling depressed."
Astrid scoffed, crossing her arms. "Mature, huh? More like mature content."
The two girls glanced at each other — and blushed.
After a pause, Astrid raised a brow. "Wait... Darla, you already did it with him, didn’t you?"
"I— I don’t wanna talk about it!" Darla stamred, her cheeks turning crimson as she hurried toward the door.
"Hey, where are you—" Astrid started, but stopped when she noticed the direction Darla was heading. Straight toward Tyler’s room.
Astrid sighed, a small, knowing smile tugging at her lips. "She’s hopeless," she muttered.
Tyler with mory loss... might make things feel like a completely new experience, right? That’s what Darla thought.
For a brief mont, Astrid hesitated, Then she shook her head quickly. "Nope. Not now."
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