The Captain stood and stared at the cars driving into the distance. Then for the first time he sighed. But it was also one of sadness.
After the cars drove into the distance, everyone had snapped out of their reverie and went to meet the Captain.
He had a solemn expression on his face as he watched the cars disappear. He then turned to face the rest of the team.
Zuro couldn't hide his curiosity and asked. "Captain, who were those people?"
The Captain lingered for a few seconds before he answered. "People I know... from somewhere. But I can't explain, please don't ask me again." The Captain's expression was somber.
"Uh, sure."
Zuro scratched his head and then shrugged. Nobody wanted to ask the Captain what this was about, so the air was silent as they walked into the scavenger camp.
Because Grey had been with the Captain for a long time, the hostile gazes he usually sensed locking on him had dissipated and he couldn't feel them anymore.
Zuro and the others went their separate ways as Grey and the Captain went to their house in a desolate area.
As they entered, the Captain went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Grey followed, but he didn't do anything in the kitchen. He just stood and watched the Captain cook.
When the food was prepared, they ate in silence. But for the first time, this silence was awkward. Although Grey had some questions he wanted to ask, he ruthlessly suppressed his curiosity and focused on the meal.
After the meal, Grey quickly washed the plates and went with the Captain to patrol the scavengers camp.
Wearing their disguises, they walked casually like they were used to it and took their normal route. Up till now, Grey never knew the reason for this stroll. But he followed the Captain anyways.
Meanwhile,
High above the scavenger camp stood a woman holding a blue umbrella as she looked down. By her side, stood the old man who exchanged words with the Captain.
He had a faithful look on his face as he stood by the side and looked down at the scavenger camp as well.
"My lady, what do you think? Should we return back to the academy?" The old man said.
The young lady did not answer at first. Underneath the umbrella, her face could not be seen as there was mist blocking direct view of her face. You could only see the faint outline of her face and you could tell she was very pretty.
"He truly has changed.' She did not immediately answer the old man as she continued to look down intensely at the scavenger camp. Her direct focus was on the Captain and Grey could casually patrolled the scavenger camp.
"Just as you said. He had truly changed. He now takes responsibility for his actions." She said with a pause. Then he voice turn furious.
"If only he had this sense of responsibility then, my sister would not be dead and he would not have been exiled." Then her tone lightened and she stopped speaking.
"I will stay and observe him for a while. Don't worry Sebastian, you can go." She said with her gaze still locked on to Captain, who was completely oblivious to it.
The old man then gave a low bow and flew some several meters away before he flicked his hand and a bottle suddenly came out. The bottle opened and a huge magical ship appeared.
This magical ship was as long as twenty meters and emitted strong spirit energy fluctuations and an even stronger sense of divinity. The sky seemed to tremble in the face of divinity and the clouds wanted to open up, but the old man clenched his hand and the clouds did not part. The ship's masts were half the size of its entire length and was painted sky blue. The old man landed on the boat before it started to sail off into the distance at a very fast speed. Then it turned into a flash of white light and disappeared.
The young lady turned her attention back to the Captain and the young boy who was with him.
Because all this happened high up in the sky, no one noticed the disturbance and continued on with their day.
But only the Captain took a quick glance at the sky before retracting his gaze.
When it was evening, they ate lunch then Grey washed the plates before he went to his room to cultivate.
Once more, he sat down on the bare floor and entered a meditative state. As he sensed the spirit energy particles entering his body and fusing into his being, the corrosive substance within his body also continued to accumulate.
When morning came, he opened his eyes and the purple lines and light in his eyes disappeared. He let out a long sigh and mist came out from his mouth.
'I will soon break through to the fifth level of Qi accumulation! But it's too slow.' He said inwardly as he felt his body reaching a breaking point. Which meant that he would soon reach the limit of the fourth level of Qi accumulation.
His cultivation had been rather fast. Most people would spend months and even years breaking through just one realm, but he was breaking through rather and didn't even know it.
As the sunlight beamed unto his skin, he felt a nice warmth. As he went out and saw the Captain who was once more standing over the scavenger camp like an ancient protector, he felt somehow safe.
As the sun fully rose over the horizon, the Captain coldly stepped down from the air. His cold expression was gone.
He then paused and looked at Grey. "Luo is coming here to pick you. I will not be around, so you'll stay with her till I come back." The Captain said and Grey nodded.
The Captain nodded his head curtly in satisfaction, then he turned and entered into the house to cook breakfast.
Before they had even finished breakfast though, Luo had come. She spoke with the Captain for a few minutes then he left with her. As he looker back at the desolate house that was standing alone in the distance, he decided to ask.
"Miss Luo, why does the Captain stay alone?" Luo seemed to have expected his question and answered.
"Because he prefers the silence."
"Is it because of his cultivation?" He asked again.
"I don't know..." And with that, the question an answer session ended.
As they made their way to the inner settlements of the scavenger camp, some men gave Luo a look of list as they eyed her pretty figure. But when they saw her face, their expressions turned to fear and they quickly looked away. Some even left the area.
Luo did not seem concerned though and she just continued to walk silently. As they got to the inner settlements, the people looked more better than those in the outer settlements.
They wore good clothes and their houses were cleaner and more tidy than those in the outer settlements.
In the inner settlements, more big shops could be seen selling things like medicinal pills, to weapons and food stuff.
Grey thought about the dagger that Zuro lender him. He had forgotten to return it. He promised himself that the next time he saw him he would be sure to return it.
They did not go to Luo's house though, instead they went towards a big shop that mostly sold equipment and medicinal pills.
Grey recognized this shop as the one where he bought the medicinal pills the last time. He remembered that the medicinal pills he had wee nearly finished. This would be a good time to restock.
'Is Miss Luo maybe buying something here?' Grey tilted his head in thought and followed Luo towards the back of the shop. He then noticed in shock when she brought out a key and opened the door.
'Huh...'
"Aren't you getting in?" Luo beckoned him inside before locking the back door.
The inside of the shop was much bigger than the outside. Inside he saw a pharmacy were pills were being refined. The counter were you could normally buy stuff. But there were also books by the side, like someone was studying.
Grey wanted to check out the contents of the book. After he transmigrated, he gained the knowledge to read the language of these people. He wanted to check if it was true or the language on the jade slip just changed to one he could read.
He couldn't follow up with his plans though because he heard the sound of a door behind him. He wasn't too bothered about that until he heard a voice.
"Anty Luo, you are back already. Hm, who is that?" Grey heard a small voice say and turned him to look. The voice sounded familiar but he tried to remember whose voice it was. He rarely had any interaction with people except for the Captain and the rest of the team, so he wondered who it was.
When he turned his face, he saw the girl he bought two medicinal pills from days before. She had in her hands several bottles of medicinal pills. Her face was still as bright as always and her eyes held a bit of softness even in this cruel cold world.
Her eyebrows were raised in surprise. She seemed to have remembered Grey as she could still recognize him despite the dirt and mud on his face.
Grey's expression was also one of surprise.
'En, what is she doing here?'
''Hm, what is he doing here?'
Both of them said at the same time but Grey said inwardly while she said it out loud.