Su Lesi sneered inwardly.
Help her?
That old fox wouldn’t let her off easy if he could.
Keeping a calm expression, she feigned impatience and said, “I already told you, I don’t have that treasure. Why can’t you believe me?”
Anthony didn’t give up and continued, “You have to understand, once we get back onshore, the purpose of this trip won’t stay hidden. The guild might even take you to the Sea God’s Truth Stone for questioning. You won’t be able to hide anything. It’s better to cooperate with me so we can figure something out together.”
That was indeed a problem.
The Sea God’s Truth Stone could detect lies, and Su Lesi hadn’t yet figured out how to face its judgment.
Before, she had successfully hidden her captain’s talent in front of the Truth Stone by playing with words.
But now, in this situation, there was no escaping it.
Still, even though it was a problem, cooperating with Anthony was definitely out of the question—it would be like bargaining with a tiger.
She couldn’t solve one dilemma only to plunge herself into another.
Su Lesi firmly shook her head.
“Then let the Sea God’s Truth Stone judge me! I didn’t take anything anyway. The truth will come out eventually.”
Seeing Su Lesi so determined, Anthony began to doubt his own judgment.
He had thought that since only Su Lesi and Cardi had survived, and Cardi wouldn’t lie, it must have been Su Lesi who took the treasure.
But she wasn’t afraid of the Truth Stone, which was very strange.
“Then let’s talk about what happened before you passed out,” Anthony said.
“I saw those people were all stabbed by some strange thing. Did you see what killed them?”
Su Lesi shook her head.
“I passed out too early and didn’t see clearly what happened.”
Anthony coaxed, “Actually, if you killed them, it wouldn’t matter much. After all, I don’t have any ties to Jian, and his death actually benefits me. You know that.”
How could Su Lesi ever trust this old fox?
Her eyes flickered with a half-smile, half-sneer.
“Captain Anthony, you don’t need to use a recording stone on me, right?”
From Anthony’s pants pocket, a hard block protruded—it was exactly the shape of a recording stone.
Caught by Su Lesi’s remark, Anthony’s expression remained unchanged.
“I brought it earlier, but I never turned it on. Captain Su, you’re overthinking it. Why would I do that?”
Su Lesi chuckled dryly, clearly showing she didn’t believe him.
Seeing her growing impatience, Anthony knew that since the recording stone was discovered, Su Lesi would become even more cautious.
After hesitating briefly, he said nothing more and left on his own.
What he didn’t expect was that after this departure, he wouldn’t meet Su Lesi again for an entire year.
That night, Su Lesi and Cardi came up onto the deck.
Cardi carried a seaweed sack bulging with clothes and daily necessities.
“Captain, I don’t know the way. You’ll have to lead me all the way.”
Su Lesi nodded and pulled out a contract.
“To prevent you from betraying me, you have no objections to signing an employment agreement first, right?”
Though Cardi looked straightforward and sincere, Su Lesi’s cautious merchant nature wouldn’t allow her to trust anyone blindly.
Without hesitation, Cardi took the contract and signed it without even glancing at it.
Su Lesi sighed helplessly and tapped his head.
“You don’t understand the principle of guarding yourself against others? What if this contract has something tricky that harms you?”
Her contract really had no problems—it was only for two months.
But Cardi’s behavior meant that if he ran into a bad person, it would be like serving them on a silver platter.
After spending a few days together, Su Lesi had already begun to consider Cardi one of her own, so she couldn’t help but scold his foolishness.
Cardi didn’t get angry, just rubbed his head and smiled foolishly.
“But even if you wanted to trick me, I probably wouldn’t notice it even if I read the contract carefully, right?”
Su Lesi opened her mouth but found no retort.
Somehow, Cardi was surprisingly clear-headed in this aspect.
Without much more said, the two decisively jumped into the sea and started swimming toward Alvis’s waters.
Both were excellent swimmers, and with the Water-Repelling Pearl, even if they got tired, they could rest underwater without worry.
Su Lesi had the system guiding her, so she knew exactly where to go.
After swimming about halfway, both were exhausted.
Neither of them had great endurance, so sustaining such a long swim was difficult.
Resting at an underwater reef, Su Lesi suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, Cardi, when Anthony asked you about the Sea God’s treasure, what did you say?”
She still couldn’t figure out how Cardi’s simple mind hadn’t exposed her.
Cardi blinked innocently.
“When Captain Anthony asked me who killed those people, I said I didn’t know. Then he asked about how the undead died, and I said I didn’t know that either. Finally, he asked if I got any good stuff, and I thought the little sculpture you got just made everyone target you, so it couldn’t be good stuff. I said no. After that, Anthony stopped talking and soon sent me off to help him look for something.”
Su Lesi was speechless at this blunder. In a way, Cardi was truly lucky.
The saying ‘simple folk have simple luck’ fit him perfectly.
Anthony was too clever for his own good, speaking in riddles that Cardi’s straightforward nature didn’t understand.
She shook her head with a smile and said nothing more.
With that settled, the two continued on their journey.
As mentioned before, Alvis’s waters weren’t far from them, so this time they didn’t rest and swam straight to their destination.
Not far off, they saw a third-tier ship.
Both showed looks of joy.
Ships navigating and fishing in this area all belonged to the Alvis family, no doubt.
Su Lesi called out as she moved toward the ship.
Since it was a third-tier ship and the deck was manned, they were soon spotted.
The cautious sailors on deck ordered them to stop and sent another sailor to fetch the captain.
Soon, a captain in a brown sailor uniform appeared.
He asked warily, “Who are you two? Why are you in the Alvis family’s waters?”
Su Lesi replied, “I’m a friend of Mr. Charles. I’m in trouble and seeking help. Could you take us to see him?”
Whether or not they were really friends was another matter, but she had to raise that flag first.
The name Charles was common enough, but in these waters, only one person was called Mr. Charles.
The captain hesitated but didn’t dare neglect them and quickly brought Su Lesi and Cardi aboard, handing them two towels.
While Su Lesi dried her hair, he introduced himself, “I’m John, a hired captain for the Alvis family.”
Su Lesi introduced herself in kind, but as usual, she didn’t give her real name, only “Su.”
After exchanging names, John asked, “The Mr. Charles you mentioned—is he Charles, the steward of the Alvis family?”
Su Lesi nodded naturally.
“Who else could it be?”
John still looked doubtful.
“What’s your relationship with Mr. Charles? How do you know him? Sorry to be suspicious, but if anything goes wrong, I’m responsible, so I have to ask.”
Su Lesi shook her head to indicate it was no problem.
“I only met Mr. Charles twice. He once told me that if I were ever in trouble, I could come to him for help. I happened to be nearby, so I came.”
Upon hearing that, John visibly relaxed and nodded.
“Alright, then. You’ll stay here for two days. The day after tomorrow, I have to deliver a task to the main ship, and I’ll take you along then.”
Su Lesi nodded.
She was already satisfied with this arrangement and had no insistence on being taken immediately.
Thus, the two settled on this ship.
During this time, Su Lesi began to observe the differences between the family’s territorial waters and the guild’s waters.
Since the family and guild were fundamentally different, their methods of governance should differ as well.
Sure enough, unlike the guild’s unfamiliar “king doesn’t meet king” state, where each fished alone in their own waters, this felt more like neighborly villagers freely visiting each other.
Within just these two days, Su Lesi saw this ship meet no less than five others.
Each time they met, the people on the ships chatted for a long time, seeming very close.
In the guild, people were either strangers or competitors; such warmth was impossible.
Curious about family rule, Su Lesi specifically asked Captain John.
It wasn’t a secret. Most of the major families in the Eastern Sea did the same, so John had nothing to hide.
He answered directly, “Because most of us are related by blood.”
Through his explanation, Su Lesi understood that so-called family rule was like ancient China—maintaining power through blood ties.
“I marry my daughter to you, you become my hired captain.”
Everyone was relatives, so naturally relations were more harmonious, and interactions inevitable.
Su Lesi had no particular opinion on this form of governance. In fact, even in modern times, such practices weren’t rare.
One good thing about the Alvis family’s rule was that they had clear rules to stabilize these kinship ties.
Even though everyone was related, no one could break the rules.
This effectively prevented relatives from covering for each other, because once they did, the punishment was even harsher.
When two days passed, Su Lesi and Cardi were taken to the main ship, finally meeting Charles.
Charles no longer recognized Su Lesi clearly, his expression puzzled, but he still politely asked, “Young lady, do we know each other?”
Su Lesi quickly wiped off her makeup and replied, “Mr. Charles, on the day Master Alvis awakened, you told me that if something happened, I could come to this sea and mention your name. I hope you still intend to keep that promise.”
Hearing this and seeing her unforgettable face, Charles immediately recalled. “Oh, right, I remember. You’re Su… Su…”
“Sulia,” Su Lesi prompted.
“Yes, Captain Sulia. Of course I’m willing to help you. So, what kind of help do you need?”
Charles asked kindly.
Though he hadn’t expected her to actually come for help, his status meant he wouldn’t back out.
Helping a young person was just making good karma.
Su Lesi answered clearly, “I want you to shelter me for a while and also help me deliver this to the Albatross Guild.”
She pulled out the recording stone and played the recording inside.
Charles listened with an unchanging expression.
Being over fifty, he was no longer surprised by the conspiracies and schemes at sea.
This was child’s play to him.
Su Lesi continued, “Once I clear my name on the continent, I’ll leave. It shouldn’t take too long. Though it might not mean much, if you need help during this time, you can come to me.”
Charles smiled and nodded, taking the recording stone.
“Alright, I’ll take care of this for you. But actually, I have a favor I need your help with.”