At Castle Rock, activity was frantic, charged with an urgency that left no room to breathe.

  In the inner courtyard, soldiers rushed back and forth, dragging supply crates, checking weapons, preparing the ships anchored at the docks.

  Voices overlapped, tense, fractured by haste.

  Two recruits had escaped.

  A rare event.

  And, above all, an unforgivable one.

  Captain Sharlok observed the scene from the balcony above, a cigar clenched between his teeth, his hands clasped behind his back.

  His gaze was still, but in his mind time was moving far too fast.

  Every passing hour worked against him.

  Behind him, Commander Surez approached.

  He stopped a few steps away, rigid at attention.

  “Captain,” he said. “The ships are almost ready. But there’s an issue I must raise.”

  Sharlok did not turn.

  “Speak.”

  “Sending the new recruits as well is risky. They lack experience. They could slow the hunt.”

  Sharlok slowly exhaled a stream of cigar smoke.

  “Precisely because they lived side by side with those idiots, they’re the best choice.”

  He turned just enough to meet Surez’s eyes.

  “They know them. They know how they think. How far they might push themselves when they’re tired, hungry, and on the run.”

  Surez hesitated.

  “And if something goes wrong?”

  Sharlok clenched his teeth around the cigar.

  “Then we sink together.”

  Surez understood the conversation was over.

  Shortly after, Sharlok entered his office. The door closed behind him, cutting off the noise of the courtyard.

  A large map of the Central Sea lay spread across his desk, dotted with markers indicating islands, currents, and possible escape routes.

  A labyrinth.

  Scouring that region was a titanic task.

  Dozens of islands, peninsulas, minor ports.

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  Most under Imperial control, some remote areas left to small independent clans—too weak to rebel… but perfect places to disappear.

  In theory, the entire region fell under the authority of an Imperial general.

  In practice, generals rarely moved.

  Daily management fell to the senior sergeants.

  Sharlok tightened his jaw.

  If the hunt dragged on too long, someone higher up would take command.

  A name crossed his mind like a blade.

  Rood Arrow.

  One of the most feared senior sergeants. On the verge of promotion to general.

  If Arrow got involved, there would be no second chances.

  “Better that I find them myself…” he muttered.

  “Before Arrow smells blood.”

  He shifted a marker on the map.

  For him, this wasn’t just a mission.

  It was political survival.

  The hunt began at dawn.

  Sharlok personally moved through the coastal villages of the region, accompanied by a small contingent.

  He carried with him a drawing of an Imperial fishing boat, worn thin by repeated interrogations.

  Every time, the same question.

  Every time, the same pressure.

  “Have you seen a ship like this pass by?”

  He leaned slightly toward the villagers, his gaze icy.

  “Think carefully. What you say could save your life.”

  He received only silence, lowered eyes, shaking heads.

  Some told the truth.

  Others lied out of fear.

  Sharlok understood that.

  And that was exactly what made him furious.

  He was feared.

  But fear was not bringing results.

  When he left a village behind, the sea before him looked exactly the same as before.

  Calm.

  Endless.

  Indifferent.

  No traces.

  No signs.

  Only empty routes.

  The cigar slowly burned down between his lips as he stared at the horizon.

  Sky and Shark were out there.

  And he had to find where.

  Meanwhile, Luna and Fasten had already left Castle Rock, setting sail with a small search unit.

  Officially, their mission was no different from the others’: to locate the fugitives and deliver them to the Empire.

  In reality, they were following a route of their own.

  Before separating, Sky had asked Luna for only one thing. Not a plan, not a strategy. Just a promise: to take care of Fasten, no matter what happened.

  From that moment on, everything else had ceased to matter.

  Their objective had become one and only one.

  To find Sky and Shark before the Empire did.

  They traveled aboard a fast, discreet Imperial ship, combing the Central Sea—a vast maze of islets, reefs, and sea caves where it was easy to vanish… and hard to survive.

  From port to port, they changed landing points, following ever-shifting routes, moving as if they were simply carrying out orders.

  But every detour, every question asked of fishermen, every unplanned stop had a single purpose.

  To arrive before the Empire.

  Calm and composed as always, Luna approached the fishermen naturally, asking her questions as if nothing were amiss.

  “Have you happened to see a small boat pass by? Two boys on board… they seemed in a hurry. Or frightened.”

  Most people, intimidated by those questions, limited themselves to firm denials.

  Fasten, on the other hand, was far less patient. The tension was wearing him down, and the thought that Sky and Shark might be captured before they could reach them hammered relentlessly in his mind.

  He glanced around, nervous.

  “These people know something, Luna. I can see it in their eyes. But if we keep asking gently, they’ll never talk.”

  Luna shot him a cold, cutting look.

  “And if you scare them, they’ll talk even less. And you’ll draw unnecessary attention. Remember, we need to look like any other Imperial unit. Or we’ll end up in trouble too.”

  Fasten clenched his fists.

  “I know… but the other squads are moving faster than we are. If Sharlok finds them first, Sky and Shark are finished.”

  Luna stepped toward the bow, watching the horizon swallowed by dark waves. The salty wind struck her face, sharp and biting.

  “I don’t think they’re fleeing blindly. If they found the courage to escape, they’ll also have the clarity to stay one step ahead.”

  She paused briefly.

  “We just need to reach them before the others do. Then we’ll figure out how to move.”

  For a moment, only the sound of the sea against the hull remained.

  The mission was madness. The Central Sea was immense, and the fugitives could be anywhere.

  But Luna had no intention of stopping.

  And Fasten, even without saying it out loud, knew he was following a promise he had never made… but one he would never betray.

  —

  Next Episode — The Most Dangerous Meal