Shrouded Seascape

It was a hand with webbed fingers, sharp nails, and green scales.

When Maya saw the visitor's face, he stood up and nervously greeted, "Good afternoon, Chief Dipp!"

Dipp's status in Hope Island was high, as he was a crew member who had once followed the Governor of Hope Island through multiple life-and-death situations.

Maya knew that Dipp could determine her fate with just one word. He was truly a big shot.

"Dipp, is something wrong?" Lily put down her fork and smiled sweetly at the fishman. The figure in front of her wasn't someone she knew, but Dipp's familiar face resembling a fish always made her feel like she was back in her own plane.

"Ahem, the First Mate is looking for you," Dipp replied stiffly and turned around to leave.

"He's looking for me? Why? Hey, Dipp! Don't leave!" Lily exclaimed, but Dipp didn't even turn around to answer her.

Meanwhile, Bandages was sitting before a mountain of documents on a desk somewhere within the Governor's Mansion. Truth be told, Bandages was struggling. More and more troublesome issues would appear as time went on, and it was like there wasn't any end to them.

Moreover, the construction of the Subterra Railways, which was supposed to cover the entire seascape, had been halted. As the tracks expanded from Hope Island, something would always destroy them.

According to the collected intelligence, it was a deliberate attack; it seemed that something wasn't a fan of the Subterra Railways.

Hope Island's District 3 had already sent people to deal with it, but they still had to wait until the issue was resolved before they could continue with the Subterra Railways.

The witness accounts written on the documents reminded Bandages of what Charles had stumbled upon before—those mantises living above the rock layer. If the attackers were them, it'd be expensive to expand the Subterra Railways.

"I'm here, Mr. Bandages of this plane~ May I come in?" Lily asked playfully as she stuck her head into the room through the door.

"Sit..." Bandages pointed at the wooden chair in front of the desk.

Lily sat down with her legs closed and looked around curiously at the Governor's Mansion of another plane. After a while, she reached the conclusion that there was basically no difference between the two.

"I know... you. You're… that white mouse… At… the… time… the Captain... has specifically… instructed... us to take care of your... parents..."

"Mmhm! Thank you! It really doesn't matter which plane you guys are from; you guys will always be good people!" Lily exclaimed.

As soon as her words fell, eight thorny vines quickly grew out of the wooden chair she was sitting on and wrapped around her like pythons. There was a flash of golden light, and the vines shattered into pieces.

Then, the floor and the large wooden desk bulged as plants drilled out from inside them and rushed toward Lily.

"Mr. First Mate, what is going on here?!" Lily exclaimed, staring at the bandaged man in front of her in a panic. Only Bandages had the special ability to control plants inside this room.

Before Lily could do anything else, a clump of blue mist floated over from behind her and engulfed her head, cutting off her breathing. Then, a huge palm broke through the ground from below, reaching out toward Lily's heart.

Dipp and Bandages weren't just the only attackers. The top experts on the island had been mobilized to make a move toward her.

There were so many powerful attacks that Lily could no longer afford to hold back. She screamed, and everyone around her was blasted away.

"What are you guys doing?! I haven't done anything wrong!"

Tears welled up in Lily's eyes. She was crying not because of her wounds but because her friends had ambushed her. Yes, she treated them as friends, even though they all belonged to different planes. �

Bandages nodded from the sidelines upon seeing Lily's retaliation.

He waved his hand, and everyone else retreated, leaving Bandages and Lily alone inside the messy office.

"I… was.. right... There is… something… wrong… with you."

"Mr. Bandages! I'm not an enemy! I'm a good person! Why are you treating me like this?!"

Bandages shook his head slightly and said, "The Captain's... decree says… that those with… special abilities on Hope... Island... have to be... assessed... and registered..."

"Okay, so you just want me to register? I'm willing to register!" Lily said, standing up agitatedly.

"No... The decree… is for ordinary... Explorers... it's not… for you."

"Your strength... far exceeds... the range... that I can accept... As... the acting governor... I'm asking you to leave the island," Bandages added.

"What? You want me to leave? Why? I'm a good person! I'm serious!"

Of course, Bandages had been investigating Lily for a long time now, and he had long discovered the true personality of the woman who was once a mouse. It was unfortunate, but Bandages had to ensure the safety of Hope Island, and he had to be absolutely rational when it came to everything that could disturb its peace.

The woman who had just returned from another plane was just too powerful. She was so powerful that she could easily level the Hope Island. Someone as dangerous as her was like a ticking time bomb, and Bandages had to deal with her as soon as possible.

The captain had also handed over the island to him, and Bandages' job was to ensure that the island would not be destroyed on his watch.

"But my home is here! Why can't I live here?" Lily retorted with a pout.

"Look... at your purchase contract... The fine print... says that buyers only have… land use rights…"

On that day, Lily pleaded her case for quite a while, but Bandages remained completely unmoved in the face of Lily's pitiful pleas. Bandages had even gone as far as to threaten her, telling her not to bother forcing them to accept her here through a display of strength, as Bandages' backing was even more powerful than her.

It was then that Lily finally understood these people weren't her friends, even though they looked exactly similar to each other. In their eyes, she was just a stranger, and they were just strangers to her, too.

The people with whom she had built a friendship through overcoming multiple life-and-death crises were in another plane.

Lily had no idea how she made her way back home, but the holes in the canopy above Hope Island were already covered by the time she got back home.

Oliver and Oliva were terrified to see their daughter in a daze, and they hurriedly asked her what was wrong.

Lily hugged a pillow tightly and covered her face as she recounted today's events to her parents. Oliver breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. Earlier, he was convinced that his daughter was being bullied.

"It's okay. If they're not going to let us live here, then we're moving out. We'll go to another island. Don't worry, Daddy is rich now. We can buy a house anywhere we want," Oliver comforted Lily.

"Then where should we go?" Lily asked with her voice choked with sobs.

Oliver looked at the map of the seascape for a long time. Eventually, he raised his head and turned to his daughter, asking, "How about we go back to our hometown? I mean, the Coral Archipelago."

"Is that really okay? Daddy, Have I troubled you?"

Oliver stroked Lily's head and said, "This isn't troublesome at all. It doesn't matter where we go; we're going to be fine as long as you can live a happy life there."

Since Lily was asked to move out of the island, then she had to move as soon as possible. In just five short days, Lily and her family, along with their belongings, boarded a passenger ship out of Hope Island.

The family's journey took a while, but they eventually reached their destination.

With smiles tugging at their lips, the family stepped onto the island made of coral, and they were surprised to see the Governor of the Coral Archipelago receiving them personally.

"My apologies, dear, but this island does not welcome you as well," Nico said lightly while lounging in the arms of two handsome men.