Knowing that the most advanced warship in the world and its one-man-Navy of an Admiral might be after them didn't do much to lower the amount of stress Dan was under.

  "You alright?" Robert asked as he returned from sending Nulara back to the bridge. William had also gone back inside and was talking to his wife, "You don't seem too well."

  "You know how it is," Dan chuckled, "This just seems too much to handle, and that warship only makes it worse."

  "Come on, we already talked about this, we are going to take things as they come, and hope for the best," Robert said as he patted him on the shoulder, "So tell me, what's really bringing this up this time?"

  Dan remained silent for a while as he looked at the deep blue waters. The sun was getting closer and closer to the water, it was a long day for sure. They went through so much and he almost couldn't believe that it was just a day.

  "I've put us in great danger." he finally said with a heavy sigh, "Taking all those natives in was something I did on my own. I didn't consult any of you, I didn't even give you the chance to veto it. I just went and did what I felt like doing."

  "Yeah, that wasn't very smart of you," Robert chuckled, "but hey, nothing bad came out of it, and saving those people was the right thing to do. I'm sure the whole gang appreciates it, I do!"

  "You see, that's the problem," Dan grumbled as he massaged his face, "It would have been alright if nothing bad came out of it, but that's not the case. I've fucked up, I've put us in danger. We now know that a warship could be after us, and most likely with a whole fleet alongside it. Guess what our current passengers are going to say once they disembark? I've painted a target on our back."

  "Uh..." Robert turned speechless, "When you say it like that... We are in quite the pickle, huh."

  "That we are," Dan said as he sighed again.

  "Don't beat yourself up over it," Robert comforted him, "We never could have hidden from everyone forever. And as you said before, we can't just keep on going blindly, we would have needed to make contact eventually. Without this, we would have never even known how to get to land. We might have even just ran out of fuel and ended up stranded in the open ocean. Yes you took a gamble, and it was kind of a dick move that you didn't consult anyone about it, but you're our captain, and sometimes you have to make those decisions without turning back to us, we trust you enough for that."

  Dan looked at Robert as his mind went to his title, Trusted Captain, it clearly said that his crew trusted him even after what he did. It seemed that as Robert said, he was their captain, and they trusted him enough to make some choices on his own. He sighed for the final time before gathering himself and nodding to Robert. Whether those choices he made were good or bad, only time would tell. Till then he could only do his best and aim to improve.

  Dan then returned to the bridge, where most of the crew were at the moment, the only ones who weren't there were Fleta, Old Raily, Jackie and the others who were working as guards. The other crew members and a few of their families who couldn't just sit and do nothing were there on the bridge.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "Robert, can you lead Nulara and the navigator away for a bit?" Dan turned to his right hand man, "I need a bit of time to talk to the people here."

  Robert gave him a deep look before nodding.

  "Keith, let the poor man breathe for a bit, you're squeezing him dry," Robert said as he smiled at their First Officer, "here, let me take him outside to have a bit of fresh air. Oh, you too Nulara. Join us for a bit."

  "What?" Keith said as she turned in displeasure, it was clear that she wasn't too keen on letting a source of knowledge get away from her just like that.

  Dan had noticed how fast Keith seemed to be getting into this system shenanigans. She was probably the first one who chose a class and a skill. Back then, while he was still unsure about what was happening and just going through his profile, she had already chosen both. The situation didn't seem to distress her that much.

  "There there, Keith, let them be for now," Dan interjected.

  Keith gave him a look. She must have seen something in his expression as she just sighed and nodded, grumbling something to Robert about making it fast. The man only laughed at her as he dragged the still-confused Nulara with him.

  "First, I want to say that I'm sorry for choosing to bring the natives into the ship without your approval," Dan said once the two outsiders were away, "I should have sought your thoughts on that. I could give you many reasons as to why I didn't, but they are merely excuses. So again, I'm sorry, and I hope you forgive me."

  "It's alright Captain," Mrs Raily said from amidst the crowd, the old lady giving him a kind smile, "None of us here would have felt right about leaving those poor souls there to suffer who knows what. We are in a difficult position, but that doesn't mean that we should throw away our humanity."

  Dan saw a few heads in the crowd nod at her words. He could feel a heavy weight lift off his shoulders, but he still said:

  "I appreciate you saying that, and it makes me happy." He smiled at the gentle grandma, before continuing, "But I also know that you see me as your captain, and you trust me to make the right choices when time calls for it. Believe me when I say that I would always put your survival and best interests first. I'm not going to let something like this happen again. If there's time for it, I'm going to consult you and see the best course of action, if not, then I'm going to try and take the big picture into account and hopefully come up with the right choice."

  Seeing them receive his words well, Dan continued with the rest of what he wanted to bring up.

  "Unfortunately, that isn't all I had to discuss with you at the moment. We; me, Robert and William, just realised something. Our existence in this world might already be known by one of the strongest powers in it..." Dan then went on to explain his title, Supreme Captain, and what it meant.

  After he was done with the explanation and answered some follow-up questions. He clapped to get their attention again before saying,

  "Things aren't that good, nor are they that easy. But it's not as bad as it could be, we can still turn it for the better." Here he turned to Keith and said, "Keith, see what you could get from the navigator, try to gather all and any important pieces of information. From geographical locations like the nearby ports and known routes, to the system side of the matter, like the best skills you're expected to take and how you're expected to operate in your class. Also, try to get as much general knowledge about the system as you can, it would be of great help."

  "Aye aye, captain," Keith nodded, as if what he said was already something she had in mind.

  "Good," He continued, "Let's aim for dropping off the passengers tonight. Choose a nearby port for us to do so. It doesn't even have to be a port. It might be best if it's a small seaside village or whatever equivalent they have here.

  "Knowledge is our friend here, and it's also what we're missing the most right now. That's why we should try and amend that while we can." He turned to the crowd, "Knowledge about the system, the world, the waters, everything. We have to use the passengers for that. We will try and get as much from them before we drop them off tonight."

  -20 followers. 50 followers!

  -10 ratings. 20 ratings!

  -1st review 5 reviews!