The night grew deeper.

The sea breeze carried a chill as it swept across the island.

A large bonfire crackled and burned on the beach, driving away the surrounding darkness and cold.

The repair work on the Seagull continued.

The sound of hammering was drowned out by the crash of waves against the reef.

Gauss's team and the other sailors sat around the bonfire, waiting for the portly cook to prepare dinner.

Many chunks of meat and dried provisions had been brought down from the ship, so there were no concerns about food.

For some reason, looking at this scene.

Gauss suddenly felt the scene before him was very familiar.

Late night, island, bonfire.

After thinking for a moment, a smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

He knew where the familiarity came from.

Memories from his previous life involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

That era when short video entertainment was highly developed.

He had often watched explanatory clips of movies or TV shows.

Accident survivors, a group of people stranded on a deserted island - wasn't this the typical opening of a horror suspense story?

Although the damage to the Seagull wasn't severe enough to sink it, they did need to stay on the island for one night because of it.

"Gauss, what are you thinking about?"

Aria noticed him suddenly staring at the bonfire with a mysterious smile, feeling somewhat curious.

"Nothing, I was just thinking this scene resembles the opening of those bard stories where an adventuring team meets with disaster and gets stranded on a deserted island?"

Aria blinked.

Then looked at the sailors sitting around the campfire waiting for food, and the outline of the Seagull in the distance that resembled a giant beast lurking in the night, and couldn't help but smile.

"It really does. So what comes next should be mysterious island ruins, discovering lost civilizations, or ancient curses sealed for a thousand years?"

"But we're much luckier than real shipwreck survivors - at least we have hot food to eat."

As soon as she finished speaking.

The cook nearby came over carrying a large pot of food.

"Chicken soup is here!!"

Gauss's team still got to enjoy dinner first.

Tonight's chicken soup was very fresh because the chicken was freshly slaughtered - they had been raising them on the ship as fresh food supplements.

Probably worried that Gauss and the others would get tired of eating fish and preserved meat for multiple consecutive meals, the cook changed their menu tonight.

"Thank you."

After expressing gratitude, Gauss looked toward the depths of the jungle.

"Shadow, hasn't she returned yet?"

After they arrived at the beach in the small boat earlier, Shadow had told them she was going to scout the surroundings for information, then her figure melted into the darkness.

"Let's wait for her a bit longer."

Although they could set aside a portion for her in advance, Gauss decided to wait instead, to eat together when she returned.

Aria and Serlandul weren't very hungry either.

After waiting a bit longer, just as Gauss was starting to feel somewhat worried and hesitating whether to go look for her in the direction she had left.

A dark shadow quickly slid out from the bushes close to the ground, arriving before Gauss and the others in the blink of an eye.

Then the shadow rose from the ground, coalescing into a slender female form.

It was Shadow returning.

"Did the scouting go smoothly?"

Facing Gauss's inquiry.

Shadow glanced at the sailors who were cheering while eating.

Hesitated for a moment, then nodded and shook her head.

She opened her palm.

A pale yellow crystal and a cluster of pale green mushrooms lay quietly inside.

Gauss leaned in to examine what Shadow had brought back.

First picking up the pale yellow sulfur crystal, rubbing it between his fingers, then leaning closer to smell the cluster of pale green mushrooms emitting a faint glow.

"It's sulfur and death-spore mushrooms."

He turned to look at the tall mountain behind them.

"So that mountain... might be an active volcano?"

The smell of sulfur is usually closely related to volcanic or geothermal activity.

"Probably." Shadow nodded, her voice still cool.

"As for death-spore mushrooms, they usually grow in places with dense mana and large accumulations of corpses." Gauss grabbed his chin, recalling quietly. "Although they contain the word 'death,' they're not inherently evil objects."

The existence of death-spore mushrooms was also quite intriguing.

On this island far from the mainland, what circumstances would lead to large piles of corpses?

Normally, even if elite monsters or a monster tribe were hunting prey in the area, they wouldn't specifically bury large amounts of corpse remains in the same place.

More likely, out of laziness, they would randomly discard them where they processed the corpses.

Gauss turned to look at the sailors who were still happily enjoying their dinner, thought for a moment, but ultimately didn't say anything.

"Let's be more alert during night watch tonight?"

He had a vague feeling that this island wasn't simple.

But currently, with a ship full of ordinary people following him, it clearly wasn't the right time for investigation.

So Gauss quickly suppressed his curiosity.

Perhaps when the timing was right later, he could come back to investigate.

Dinner ended.

Despite Captain Fourn's well-intentioned advice, Gauss's team still insisted on sending their own night watch members to stand guard alongside the Seagull's crew.

Tonight, the "Fold House" that Serlandul had exchanged was put to use for the first time.

Under the curious gazes of the surrounding sailors, Serlandul placed the seemingly ordinary leather satchel on a relatively flat empty spot on the beach.

As he chanted the activation spell in a low voice.

The next moment, an astonishing transformation occurred.

Within a few breaths, the satchel rapidly automatically unfolded and extended like a living creature with vitality, assembling and expanding.

In moments, a multi-room house spacious enough to comfortably accommodate several people stood steadily on the beach.

The house's exterior was matte dark brown, with faint patterns engraved on the surface - those were enchantment patterns for reinforcement, soundproofing, and warning.

The sailors exclaimed in continuous amazement.

Fourn had to stand up and smilingly shoo them away.

"Stop staring, everyone disperse. Go set up your tents quickly!"

"Captain, you all rest first. I'll call you when it's time." Serlandul proactively suggested.

He had been the least active today - aside from treating the wounded on the ship, he had hardly moved at all, so his spirits were best.

"Then I'll leave it to you." Gauss didn't say much either.

Soon pulling open the door, he entered the Fold House with Shadow and Aria.

The Fold House's door gently closed behind them.

Instantly, the noise outside and the chill of the sea breeze were cut off.

The interior was more spacious than it appeared from outside.

Soft magical lights illuminated the living room, and the air was filled with a refreshing faint scent of plants and trees.

"Wow, the interior decoration is unexpectedly quite nice." Aria touched everything around, full of praise.

This was her first time inside too.

"Indeed." Gauss was also quite satisfied - at least in terms of comfort, it was countless times better than tents.

The house had two floors, with six rooms total besides the living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

They had more than enough space to live comfortably.

"Use the house's energy sparingly." Gauss reminded. "Remember to turn off lights when not needed."

All energy within the Fold House was provided by the magic stone placed as the power source.

Each one cost several gold coins.

Much more expensive than electricity bills in his previous life.

"Mhm."

Soon, the three separated, each choosing a satisfactory room, and entered dreamland.

The next day.

Gauss stretched lazily.

He had taken the last night watch shift.

Besides him, there were several other crew members from the Seagull.

Now, at the boundary between sea and sky, a large red sun was slowly rising.

The long night had finally passed.

Thinking of this, he looked toward the distant mountain again.

Last night hadn't been uneventful.

There had even been one noticeable earthquake-level tremor.

Everyone sleeping had been shaken awake by the earth-shaking, mountain-trembling commotion.

Only after confirming the tremors wouldn't intensify further did everyone return to sleep under the onslaught of drowsiness.

As the crew members woke up one after another.

The Seagull's people had no plans to stay longer on the island, not even eating breakfast.

After checking the Seagull's damaged section repairs again, the sailors on the beach gradually all returned to the Seagull via rowboats.

Set sail!

The Seagull quickly left the island's vicinity.

Everyone had been unsettled by last night's tremors.

If night sailing weren't so dangerous, they might have fled overnight.

Fortunately, it ultimately ended up being a scare without real danger.

"Let's return to Sena quickly." Fourn gazed at the ocean, his heart yearning for home.

The Seagull sailed steadily on the return route, the morning sun dyeing the sea surface golden-red.

On the deck, although the sailors carried some lingering fear, their faces also shone with the joy of harvest as they enthusiastically counted and organized the spoils from this trip.

Mainly the gains from the second wave of Goblin pirates they encountered.

Valuable items from that mothership had all been dismantled and moved to the Seagull.

The main spoils included: three light bolt cannons dismantled from the ship, an iron-reinforced ram, some special ironwood planks, scattered canvas, and cables.

A small bag mixed with gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins - the accumulated loot from the Goblins' long-term plundering.

Some intact gold and silver accessories - necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc. Slightly unfortunate that they were ordinary decorations, not magical items.

Besides these, there were damp spices, several bundles of decent-quality furs, numerous iron tools and implements, etc.

Presumably many merchant ships had fallen victim.

But now, they had become substantial gains for Gauss and the others on this trip.

Monsters of the bandit profession were actually quite popular, since they made their living by plundering others, making them more likely to "drop gold coins" than normal monster groups in terms of wealth.

Back in Grayrock Town, such commissions would probably be quickly snatched up by waiting professionals as soon as they appeared, never reaching Gauss and the others.

But at the East District branch in Sena City, Gauss and the others had some small privileges, allowing them to freely pick commissions before other adventurers.

That's how they managed to get this lucrative assignment.

Even the other thirty-plus crew members were very happy.

While Gauss's team ate the meat, those who drank the soup could also share a considerable profit.

The rewards earned from completing this commission were enough for them to not need work for quite some time.

Of course, most of them would probably choose to return to sea after briefly returning to land.

This was the destiny of sailors - sailing was their livelihood, they had to stay at sea for long periods. Once they returned to land, they would actually feel somewhat unaccustomed.

Not far away, Captain Fourn walked over to Gauss holding several scrolls of charts.

"These are nautical charts of the surrounding area, perhaps useful for you." He paused. "This was tucked inside them."

He pulled out a slightly aged, edge-worn piece of tanned leather from the charts and handed it to Gauss.

Gauss looked closely.

Crude patterns were drawn on the leather using dark red cinnabar pigment.

From his understanding, the twisted lines represented coastlines or mountains. Among the many textures, there were several marking points of unclear meaning, and a line of blurred text that seemed to be in some ancient dialect.

"Looks like a treasure map, quite convincingly made too." Gauss observed for a while.

Fourn waved his hand.

"You keep this, but don't take it too seriously. On these seas, there are at least eight thousand similar 'treasure maps' if not ten thousand. Most are made by bored people or scheming scammers. These Goblins probably scavenged this from some unlucky merchant ship. Just treat it as an interesting souvenir."

Gauss didn't refuse either.

Reaching out to take this so-called "treasure map."

The images on it were somewhat too abstract - even if one really wanted to search according to its contents, it would be hard to find a starting point in the short term.

Perhaps the text on it was a breakthrough point.

He could learn the 1st circle spell Tongue of Languages when he returned.

However, Tongue of Languages wasn't omnipotent, or rather its functions were actually quite limited.

For some ancient texts, it could only understand surface-level information, unable to interpret deeper secrets.

"Thanks, I'll keep it and look at it when I have time."

The Seagull rode the wind and waves.

Time unknowingly passed another day.

In the morning, the Seagull cut through the blue sea surface, its bow plowing two white waves. The outline of Sena City's southeastern harbor gradually became clear and enlarged in their vision.

The bustle of the docks, the cries of seagulls, the busy figures of dockworkers and strongmen coming and going in the distance... the vitality of land rushed toward them.

The lively scene made Gauss, who had been away from land for several days, feel somewhat nostalgic.

Since they needed to find places to sell the spoils from this voyage, the Seagull didn't return to the small port they departed from, but instead chose one of the main ports closer to Sena City's commercial district - larger and more prosperous.

As the Seagull slowly entered its berth and dropped the heavy iron anchor, the dock's bustle instantly enveloped everyone.

Gauss looked around, taking in the busy harbor scene.

Various types of ships were moored nearby - majestic multi-masted sailing ships, large ocean-going merchant ships several times the Seagull's length, and some armed vessels that looked formidable from first glance, flying special adventurer group flags, reflecting cold, hard metallic sheens under the sunlight.

"That's the armed ship of the Great Serpent Adventurer Group!"

Fourn noticed Gauss's intense gaze and introduced.

Hearing the name, Gauss turned to look at Serlandul.

"Has nothing to do with us half-snake people."

"Yes, the Great Serpent Adventurer Group is one of Sena City's most famous large local adventurer groups. Their leader, Kid Vives, is a powerful bloodline warlock with serpent ancestry." Fourn continued introducing.

This wasn't some secret, but rather common knowledge known to almost everyone.

"Vives..." Gauss heard the familiar surname again.

From the same family as Adelle?

During those few days, he had never heard her mention this name. But strictly speaking, aside from the initial formal brief introduction to complete the family commission, she had almost never mentioned more information about the Vives family.

Was their relationship ordinary?

Or indeed... possibly not very familiar?

After all, Adelle had also wandered and adventured alone in her early years, only recently recalled to Sena.

While everyone was quietly conversing.

On that largest armed ship, a tall man surrounded by others descended from the ship.

He wore extremely luxurious robes, with black hair reaching his waist. His pair of snake-like pupils happened to look in the direction where Gauss and the others were.

Then those emotionless eyes casually lingered on Gauss and Serlandul for a moment. After seemingly saying something to those around him, he boarded a carriage convoy under the envious gazes of countless people in the harbor and drove away.

Only after respectfully seeing the snake-eyed man off did one person from the group that had descended with him turn and walk toward Gauss's direction.