The 'exploration' continues.

Throughout the trip, Lucilia thought that there would be more accidents.

But the reality is often not what would one expect.

It was peaceful.

That's all.

Looking far into the horizon. Feeling the gentle cool breeze pass her cheeks.

It was a good feeling.

Taking a deep breath, and then opening her eyes. She was now once more filled with renewed vigor.

"You look renewed."

"Well, after what happened today. I think that having a renewed, adventurous spirit, would be nice."

Mercalos sighed.

"How about you? It was just the first time you entered the Sea of Fog. I wonder how that experience felt."

"Ha! I tell you, it was 'great'."

Knowing what Mercalos meant, Lucilia laughed and said,

"You'll get used to it."

"..."

.....

Time passed, the sun had set.

The night slowly arrived. What came next after the light was the beautiful starry sky and the noteworthy double moon.

The crew didn't need torches which they would normally need during the night since this is the first time they saw such a beautiful night sky that even the earth would be illuminated.

Everything was clear in this bright night.

"Such beauty." (Mercalos)

"This is the first time I have seen the skies so clear." (Lucilia)

"First time? You mean you never encountered the skies to be this clear?" (Mercalos)

"Not once." (Lucilia)

Each gave their own silent moment to engrave this in their memories.

Who knows, maybe this would be the only time they would see this.

"It seems like beneath that deadly veil, was a beautiful woman all along." (Mercalos)

"You really referred to it like that?" (Lucilia)

"Is it not the truth?" (Mercalos)

Looking into the beautiful night sky, she replied,

".... I suppose it is." (Lucilia)

.....

It has been moments after their grand scenery.

Glancing at their 'escorts', although visible, only had these red and green lights.

Only few are awake at this moment but nevertheless, with the wind, they would not slow down from their current speed.

Lucilia, also sleepy, went on to preceded to do so, however...

"Hmm? Am I seeing things?"

She saw light.

It was small but she was sure it was light.

She woke up Mercalos.

"Hey wake up."

"Hnnugh, wha, old hag I want more sleep."

"Old hag?!"

A vein popped, then an ear-piercing cry was heard.

This woke everyone up.

Even the headlights from the destroyer and the cruiser turned on and went to the La Camesa to immediately check if something happened.

The spotlight then dropped to Lucilia and Mercalos.

What was seen was.....

Quite unexplainable.

When it dropped to Lucilia and Mercalos, they saw Lucilia bending Mercalos's..... knee.

Arms bent backward....

And a very noticeable black eye.

The people on the Cruiser and the destroyer that saw this, well, stayed silent and slowly removed the spotlight from them.

Lucilia, who noticed that the attention was on her, was embarrassed.

She just made a few casual martial moves on Mercalos and this is what she gets.

Thinking like this, she became even more irritated and continued to 'break' Mercalos as a way to vent her irritation.

And so, another ear-piercing cry was heard.

Although this time, no spotlight, no attention.

Seeing this, she no longer felt embarrassed but is now calm once more.

She then proceeded to heal Mercalos.

After healing him, she received a very, very, penetrating to the soul like gaze from Mercalos.

She felt chills from this type of gaze.

She wanted to break it, and then, she remembered her reason for waking him up.

"Ahh, look there's actually a glistening light over there. What do you think that is?" Said Lucilia, nonchalantly.

"Hey! Don't try to change the atmosphere!"

Mercalos sighed.

"Haaaa, this is useless."

Then he looked at where Lucilia pointed.

There was light, just as she said.

This made him wonder.

What is that?

He then looked at the destroyer and the cruiser.

Perhaps they know about it?

And with this lucky guess, he was right.

He was observing the ships for some moments and soon, he noticed that they were headed to the light.

He looked at Lucilia, seemingly she wasn't paying attention to their direction, only at the light.

He smiled, then said,

"I think I know where we're headed."

.....

It was bright.

Really bright.

They are currently at the Naval base Subic Bay.

Established by the Spanish in 1885 and then was taken by the US in 1899 followed by it being taken by the Japanese in 1942 and ended up being taken by the US once more in 1945.

Later it was fated to be decommissioned by the government until 2069 when it was once more opened since, during this time, the military was now powerfull to an extent.

One can say that this Naval base had one heck of a history.

They dropped at one of the given areas to them.

The La Camesa was grand and all but, compared to the ships in the Naval base.

They were nothing!

Lucilia felt small.

Mercalos felt small.

The whole crew felt small.

They were like an ant looking at a dragon.

All they could do is look. And that's it. Nothing else.

They were to shallow on their views.

Moreover....

These ship sizes..

There are bigger than that of the Empire...

Especially that big red ship with some sort of large colored boxes on it (Cargo ship).

They couldn't help but lower their heads.

As a sailor, normally one would want to boast how great the ship they are in.

If it's the largest, you have the right to boast and proudly proclaim It's greatness.

However here, they couldn't help but be ashamed of that 'greatness' of theirs.

Lucilia looked up, and there she saw Markwin, followed by a woman and other two men, headed towards them.

"Cough, cough, Ms. Lucilia are you and your crew alright?"

Lucilia nodded.

Currently, there are many things in her head at this moment.

Even answering straightforwardly was hard to do.

Markwin noticed her slight, daze moments when responding.

He sighed.

"It is late into the night, we will provide lodgings for you for the acquaintance of your days. Is that fine?"

And again she nodded.

"Alright then, follow me."

"Wait."

Markwin looked back, he saw Lucilia looking straight at him.

"My crew..."

Markwin pondered for a moment and said,

"You can bring some of your people with you to check the place where you can stay in for the following days. After that, I'll order some of my men to lead you back here to help your men to disembark. You don't want your people to be sleeping here the whole night would you?"

Lucilia nodded. He's right. Based on the environment in the area, sleeping here would be quite a challenge.

So, she decided to spent her first night in the unknown territory, sleeping.