[The underwater trek is the only viable and possible solution to your current predicament. Your suits are fitted to withstand depths of 150 kilometers. According to Yeti's measurements, the Gherfun Strait is only 90- 140 kilometers deep]

"That does not dissuade our main concern. The ocean floor is still treacherous, our vision would be hampered, our movement slowed and we'll be left vulnerable to whatever the hell is lurking in their oceans," Yeti said.

"Look, Eva, we encountered a flying whale in the middle of the Taiga just a day after arriving here. I could already imagine what sort of nonsensical supernatural creature is in that strait," Diplomat added.

[Your concerns are noteworthy. The chances of a creature within the scale of the FLYING WHALE you encountered is relatively high but that is only a rough prediction. Your weapons database contain information of weapons effective underwater, namely the miniature torpedo launcher. Defense will not be as hampered as you expect]

"Look.. Eva, the risk is far too great. Plus, we have a child here who doesn't even have a suit. How the hell do you think we'd get her across?" Diplomat said.

[Kill her. She serves no purpose and will only prove to be an obstacle]

Eva was blunt. She did not hold back what she wanted to say, she had a point though.

The rest of the group were silenced. They did not dare to answer for a while. Our actions were hypocritical at best, there was no immediate reason as to why we spared her but killed the rest. There was no immediate reason for us to use her because she had no use.

At least, that was what the surface displayed.

I had the answer to Eva's question, of which I told her in my thoughts. The child had witnessed what transpired in the settlement, the massacre we orchestrated and committed.

There was no doubt that the trauma had already invaded his mind. The trauma that will be the foundation necessary for the assimilation of this world's population to ours.

But I did not expect that she was a slave, a young slave like her has value. She would be full of hatred to those who sold her into slavery and to those who took her from her family.

Perfect, that was what I thought.

Eva, understood.

[Acknowledged. Despite the flaws in your logic, I have no choice but to follow. The girl has been added into the equation, commencing calculations for best solution]

I thanked Eva for following my command. Despite my silence, I still was the commander of this group. We were all silent while we waited for Eva to finish her calculations.

The calculations were taking longer than expected, Diplomat decided to take a stroll around the burning and desolate settlement with Yeti to find anything with worth and they both took off.

Snake stayed, tending to the girl as she slumbered on her lap still.

The silence was at first, tense but as time went on, I began to notice a noticeable shift in Snake's expression.

It was when I noticed it did I become lost in my thoughts.

I never knew her past but I was certain the little girl reminded her of something or someone back then.

She did not open her mouth but I could hear a shriek within her leaking out. It made me realize why we were put together in the first place in the first place.

Mentally unstable psychopaths who follow a philosophy governed by fear.

We were the perfect embodiment of the United Bloc.

As I was caught in the tides of my thoughts, Eva jolted me back into reality with a simple phrase, a phrase I had long not heard.

Diplomat and Yeti came back not too long after, they had things in their hands that obviously belonged to the settlement's residents.

Diplomat had a tattered and slightly burnt red flag with a red eagle in the middle. Yeti, on the other hand, had a book.

"We found these while scanning the rubble. I thought it would pique your interest, Ghost," Diplomat said.

I nodded to give my approval and Diplomat exchanged things with Yeti and opened the book. The book was dirty, covered in ashes but there was something peculiar about it.

The book's cover had these runes scribbled all over it and whenever Diplomat rubbed his hands against it, the runes glowed orange, highlighting the runes.

"I believe this is a grimoire, what you call a book of magic spells and invocations. Though, I do not understand what is written since my linguistic know how of this region's language is still limited. I thought maybe that Eva can help after she's done with her current task," Diplomat said.

I nodded. Yeti then unveiled before us the flag.

"This flag can be of use to us. We can use it to deter hostiles by flying it high if the symbol is influential," Yeti said.

"IF it's influential. We do not know if this Empire Of Hilrida has that much influence anyway. But the name is 'Empire' still, we can't be certain," Diplomat explained.

[Calculations Complete. Presenting solution to Ghost]

Eva brought up the holographic projection of my visor and showed me what she had cooked up.

It involved making our own ship with the materials we had at hand, by that, she was referring to the surrounding land and whatever we could recycle from the settlement and the galleons.

She also explained that Yeti had the necessary engineering prowess with Diplomat as an able aide. We also had a separate database for tools, meaning our nanites could form tools as well.

This raised an obvious question, our nanites weren't renewable and our energy source.. what was it and how could we replenish it? Surely we needed something to refuel.

There was also the question regarding sustenance, what the hell was keeping us fed?

[Your suits are powered by an experimental miniature nuclear reactor in the center. The nanites are self-reproducing as long as the necessary materials are met but the nanites are yet to reach a critical low, there is no need to search those materials for now as the nanites are mostly reusable unless used as ammunition. Regarding the need for nutrients, the suits have a storage of nutrients. These nutrients are distributed across the nanites and are injected via microscopic needles and enter the bloodstream whenever the suit detects you need the nutrients..

Eva was proving herself to be useful, more than what I anticipated.

[..I have no knowledge of any way to replenish these nutrients once they ran out. And so, I recommend you resort to a natural human diet and use the nutrients as only a last resort. I have already calculated a way to ration said nutrients if the situation becomes dire]

Eva's explanations continued for about half an hour until I gave her the go-ahead to disseminate the plan to everyone else.

The other three were more satisfied with the new plan. Diplomat and Yeti immediately went out to scavenge for supplies, Snake took the little girl someplace where she would be more comfortable. I followed Snake and we found a suitable house just across the stone path that separated the sandy beaches and the town.

The house was not that burnt since the fires were redirected by the ocean breeze that came in. The interior was relatively intact but had many holes in the walls and ceiling. The mangled remains of those who hid inside were still there, I had to pull them out and threw them into the ocean.

Snake then prepared the most suitable bed, dusted it as much as she could, and tucked the girl inside.

"Ghost, hand me that torch," Snake asked as I entered the room where they were. I obliged and took the torch from the wall and she lit it up using a lighter she had in her hands.

The torch lit up and she placed it on the handle against the wall that looked like that was were they placed torches. The skies were cloudy with a hint of smoke from the burning parts of the settlement and the galleons.

We hoped that no ship would come visit in the middle of the night. Eva estimated the ship's construction to take only the entire night if Yeti and Diplomat were able to procure the necessary materials. The ship that Eva came up was relatively small, had a single mast but could fit us all. It was just her version of a smaller than average Cog ship used back in medieval Earth.

Snake sat on the side of the bed and continued to caress the girl's brown hair. She then maneuvered her fingers to the collar around the little girl's neck and proceeded to rub the surface.

"I know this seems weird to you, Ghost," Snake said. I did not answer and continued watching the both of them.

"We massacred this town, the women, the children too.. but yet.. when you gave us the approval, something inside us died.. everytime you told us to do something.. something inside us would die.. we will have no remorse.. no compassion or empathy.." Snake continued.

I only listened to what she was saying.

"Does this remind you of that day?.." Snake asked me.

In truth, whatever she was telling me, I had forced myself to forget it. Yet, I knew it was within me. I refused to embrace it.

"This is your power.. to make us not feel.. the burden of which you chose to carry.." Snake said.

I said nothing.

After that, Snake was silent.

I could only watch as she fell asleep beside the little girl. This was a sight for me to behold, something soft within Snake was showing.

[Ghost, it seems like Yeti and Diplomat have started construction of the ship. What shall the name of the ship be? It requires a designation to differentiate it from the rest of the future fleet]

This Eva was thinking far ahead, we had only just begun making our first ship, she already had plans for an entire fleet.

I thought for a good minute on what we should name the Cog.

I didn't really think that it would hold much of a significance other than being an identifier.

I chose the name Royalty, to give a false sense of power to those who hear about it.

[Acknowledged. Ship has been dubbed 'Royalty ' it has now been designated as the flagship]

Eve was very ambitious.

I was standing next to the door that connected the room where they were sleeping in to the rest of the small house. I took a closer look of the interior, there was only a sparsely furnitured living room and the bedroom.

The lack of a kitchen either meant that the owners had no money for it or the settlement revolved around a system of food distribution that was carried out by the lord.

I was probably giving it too much thought.

The walls were bare as bone, nothing but course plank and splinters all over the surfaces. There were no pictures, hell, I expected photography to be a thing for some reason.

The desolate living room reminded me of something, however. I chose to ignore it and walked out of the house.

My sense of time seemed to be out of place, when I went out Yeti and Diplomat were at the beach across the stone path and had the bow of the ship done.

[The two of them are more effective than I have anticipated]

Indeed, they were the most effective.

Count Druk, why haven't I heard a report from you about the port-colony on the northern continent?

Forgive me, your majesty. The mage there is yet to send out a report, we had tried contacting her but she is slow to give an answer.

Hm, make sure that the port is not lost, Count Druk. Lest we risk my Empire's disintegration.

Yes, my emperor.