God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Upon boarding the ship, Cain made it a priority to move with haste.

First, headed to one of the cabins to drop Susan off. Staring at the still unconscious girl, he let out a sigh.

'Ruby, can you watch her while I'm gone?'

'But master... I want to help you!' Ruby expressed her dissatisfaction immediately.

Cain rubbed her head, 'I'll be fine for a while. I'll bring back a ton of mean and mana shards for you.'

Mana shards was and vitality-dense flesh and fruits. An important part of every Mutating Creature's diet... How could the giant bear say no to that.

'Alright! You can count on me, Master!'

Seeing his trusty companion fold so easily, he couldn't help but sigh with a slight smile.

Next, he had Rollo, Idris and the other Crimson Warriors that surrendered, as well as Zue and the more loyal Lightslayers, locked up in the brig.

Yes... The ship also had a brig. It was unlike what he had expected too. Gwendolyn didn't seem like a vessel with humans origins, so the proportions were all messed up. The corridors between the cabins were short, and there were numerous rooms on the first floor.

However, the floor beyond that was just one large expanse. Beneath that was the store room, torture chamber, and the brig.

'What are we going to do with a torture chamber, thought?' Cain had no intentions of using that place. He had reluctantly grasped the art of murder, but torturing was an entirely different ball game.

"Captain Cain! I have news from the island!"

Just as Cain got back onto the deck, Haru, one of the only Beastmen that didn't join in the fighting, ran over to him with a pale face and wide eyes.

Cain frowned, "What is it? From who?"

Evangeline, who stood beside him spoke,

"Hunter. Only he has the ability to reach out as far as here."

Cain turned to Haru, "What did he say?"

The slightly bulky Beastman's face paled,

"He said the island is about to be destroyed by something... He doesn't know what exactly, but he did say it isn't something that can be faced, so you'd better not do anything stupid. I swear on my pops! Those were his words, not mine!"

Ignoring the latter part of his statement, Cain turned to Evangeline,

"Looks like you were right."

She smirked, "Of course I was. So what are we going to do?"

Jenny was also present, alongside Luke, Ignis, Steve, and the others.

"I suggest we steer the ship as close to the island as possible." Jenny said.

Cain nodded, "Hmm... But do we really need to?"

Everyone fell silent, not completely understanding his words.

Cain clarified, "As the captain of this ship, I determine who gets on and who doesn't. Of you get on without my permission, you'll find out some things are beyond your understanding."

A slightly uncomfortable feeling fell on Luke's like a ghost breathing down his neck,

"What do you mean?"

Obviously, Cain wouldn't reveal the curse of the ship to his just yet. Instead, he calmly deflected.

"What I'm saying is. We could always rescue the people we came with and leave everyone else to die. They aren't my problem either ways."

Transporting a large number of people, either before the apocalypse or now, was always going to be difficult, not something an ice bridge or two coidl solve. That could only work for a small number of people.

However, the number of people on this island was far to large. As such, a large ocean-faring vessel would be needed.

Unfortunately, it wasn't easy getting. Even Cain had been stumped about this problem for a while.

Luke frowned, "This... You want to leave everyone else to die?"

Cain shrugged, "They could save themselves. What's that got yo do with us?"

Hearing his words, Evangeline struggled to hide her smile.

Suddenly, a beautiful, yet pale looking girl turned to face him. Her eyes were a dull grey, and her head was a delicate golden blonde. She looked a lot like Lukas,

"Although I do not agree with most of my brother's ideologies, the powerless people on the island are completely blameless in this."

Cain smiled at her, "You might be right, but at the end of the day, I don't see any incentives for helping you all. If anything, you should be grateful I saved your lives and didn't throw you into the brig Luke those other fools."

Cain's words were harsh and insensitive.

Luke wanted to say something, but Chloe beat him to it. Despite her frail demeanor, her eyes were sharp,

"That is true. I have nothing to offer you."

"Then.."

"Except my loyalty. If you help us, I'll give myself wholely to you."

...

Silence...

Stark, deafening silence...

An absolute, blaring, loud silence...

Jenny couldn't help but speak up, a blush on her face,

"You... What do you think you are saying?!"

Chloe stared at her blankly, perhaps not fully understanding the gravity of her words.

"This is... Boss, is this how you pick up girls nowadays?" Steve had an uncomfortable look on his face.

Cain glared at him, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"As expected, this is what the world has turned to. Incredible... Absolutely incredible." Vincent had a look of stark understanding as he strikes an imaginary beard, Li and Stan nodding sagely beside him.

'What are these guys thinking?!'

To stop any further misunderstandings, Cain decided to give in,

"It's okay. I was just testing you. No need to give me anything."

Without waiting for her to reply, he reached out to the ghost of Gwendolyn with his mind.

'Move the ship closer to the island.'

The ship began moving. Most of the Beastmen, having killed a large number of Mutant Creatures were now back on the ship, treating their wounds and recovering.

There weren't a lot of casualties, which was a good thing. It was impossible for there not to be unfortunate cases. After all, the Mutant Creatures were ferocious and bloodthirsty.

These Beastmen were powerful, and had mastery over Ki, but at least three to four of them still had to gang up on a single Mutant Beast to defeat it.

Luckily, they had a huge stock of HP regen potions.

"This is what we are going to do. Move in and move out as fast as possible. Here, take these. Distribute them amongst your men, then keep the rest. Anyone that wants to board the ship has to wear one. If they don't, then I won't bare responsibility for anything."

Cain distributed the trinkets between Lukas and Chloe. He had bought a huge number of them, and although buying them stung a bit, he was the only one who could buy them.

The system was a very strange organism, if it could even be called that.

It was similar to a customizable digital device. Upon purchase, everyone would have something similar. However, over time, customization occurs.

Different purposes, different tastes, different ideals... All these would add up until two once similar devices became completely different with only the basic functionality being the same.

That was just how the system was.

In the system store, what could be purchased, be it material or not, by one individual would be entirely different from what could be by the next person.

In a sense, it spoke of the system's respect of each individuals uniqueness. Although it could get annoying sometimes.

Cain shook his his head. Before anything, he decided to see if he could reach Hunter.

'Hunter... Can you hear me?'

There was silence for a few seconds. Then, Hunter's voice came through,

'Loud and clear.'

Cain breathed a sigh, 'What's the situation?'

'The people on the island have been informed of what's going on by Leah and her entourage. They've decided to trust us.'

Cain nodded, 'That's good.'

Hunter seemed to hesitate, 'The only issue is getting them all safely out the wall. It is easier getting in that getting out. Right now, their wall is completely surrounded by these rabid monsters! Damn it! Stab it harder, Dan!'

Cain frowned, 'What?'

'Nothing... Just a minor headache.' Hunter said, his voice effortlessly sliding back into the usual undisturbed tone.

Cain was still a bit suspicious, but decided to leave it be. Everyone had their battles to fight, after all...

'I see... Then, finding a way to get everyone off the island safely is what we should be focused on. Hmm...'

Cain thought hard. Right now, the major issue was minimizing casualties. So far, they had down a good job, but that was because most of them had the ability to defend themselves.

The majority of people of this island were absolutely normal. Although they had offered a portion of their divinity to the Light God, Yagani, they were not fortunate enough to reap his blessings. As such, they could only become burdens.

Still, that didn't mean they were useless. On the contrary, they were absolutely vital in preserving the human race from dying out.

Cain took in a huge breath.

Looking around him, he saw faces gazing back. Some where familiar, others not so much.

Some wore honest expressions, so he had no way to smell the inauthenticity from them.

Some truly cared about him and whatever hazy goals he had.

So because of this, he absolutely couldn't afford to let them die.

"The plan is simple, get in and clear a path. Move through the island as quickly as possible and reach the walls, then get everyone out and retreat to the ship. As simple as that."

Steve chuckled, "That doesn't seem simple at all."

"Thank you." Chloe said, her smile blooming like a wildflower.

Cain was a bit stunned. This girl was truly radiant when she wanted to be.

"Alright. Let's move out."