Charles's unusual behavior had already attracted the attention of others—a person leading a group of rats would stand out anywhere. More and more people around him began to point and whisper.
"Don't rush," Charles frowned slightly as he led Lily toward a side street.
"Are you sure that's your home? That the little girl is really you?"
"Of course I'm sure! That's exactly how I looked, and that's obviously my mother," Lily's voice was tinged with sorrow.
"Tell your friends to scatter first. It's hard to make a move like this."
Lily squeaked twice, and the rats nearby quickly dispersed, setting off shrieks from the women around.
After wandering the street with Lily for a while, Charles returned to the little villa. By then, Lily's mother had already left the yard, leaving only "Lily" inside, sitting and reading a book.
"Don't say anything in a moment. Let me test her."
Looking around and confirming nothing was amiss, Charles pushed open the wooden gate and walked straight toward her. "Lily?"
The little girl looked up from her book in confusion. When she saw Charles, her expression changed. She dropped the book, her hands trembling, and ran panicking toward the house.
"Hm?" Charles lifted his left hand, and three invisible tentacles immediately wrapped around her.
Just as Charles expected the girl to show her true colors, this "Lily" only struggled desperately, shouting, "Mom! Mom! Help!"
Seeing this, a hint of confusion crossed Charles's face. He had seen plenty of shapeshifting monsters, but he had never seen one react like this. He lifted "Lily" up in front of him, pulled out his Black Blade, and made a sharp cut. Crimson blood welled up on the little girl's arm.
Licking the blade, Charles was surprised to find that it was actually human blood.
At that moment, a side door swung open and Lily's mother came out, clutching a flintlock gun with trembling hands. "Let go of my daughter! I've already called the guards!"
Ignoring the woman's completely harmless weapon, Charles calmly looked at the little girl and asked, "Why did you run when you saw me?"
The little girl looked terrified but answered quickly. "Because you smell like the sea. My dad said anyone who smells like the sea is a bad person."
"Liar! That's my dad!" The white rat Lily was about to leap at the little girl.
Charles caught the rat with one hand, released the little girl, and walked away.
Everything about "Lily" seemed perfectly normal—it was nothing like an act. This planted a new seed of doubt in Charles's heart.
"Don't be rash. Let's investigate this thoroughly first," Charles said, pressing down on the anxious white rat's head.
Charles took Lily back to the port district. After winding through a series of alleyways, they arrived at a secluded storefront. After making sure no one else was around, he knocked on the door and said quietly, "I'm looking for your boss, Big Ear."
The door swung open in silence, and Charles led Lily inside.
It was a messy warehouse where a group of men with various tattoos were playing cards. When they saw Charles walk in with a swarm of rats, a skinny man with a scar on his face stood up.
"Captain Charles, long time no see. Looking to move some goods? I heard you got yourself a big ship. It should be able to carry quite a lot."
Charles couldn't be bothered with small talk. He pulled out a stack of Echo Coins and handed them over. "I need information on Doctor Oliver."
If a direct approach wasn't working, he could ask some of the local thugs; perhaps they would have other leads.
The scarred man grinned, reaching out with a right hand that was missing two fingers to take the coins. "Easy enough. There's nothing our Sea Snake Gang can't find out on Coral Island."
Not long after, a sheet of paper full of writing was pushed under the door of Charles's lodgings. He picked it up and read it over in detail, his expression growing complicated as he glanced at the white rat on the floor.
"Lily, you turned into a rat after getting caught in a whirlpool on your way to visit your grandfather?"
"Yes, that's right."
"But… according to the information these guys dug up, your parents have been on the island for the past few years. They haven't gone out to sea."
A deathly silence fell over the room.
After a full three seconds, Lily finally spoke, her eyes full of disbelief. "So… so that means…"
"It means that the other Lily is real. She's Doctor Oliver and his wife's true daughter, not an imposter."
Since Doctor Oliver had never gone out to sea, he couldn't have been in a shipwreck. Naturally, it was even more impossible for his daughter to have fallen into a whirlpool.
"If she's real, then who am I?" Tears streamed endlessly from the white rat's eyes.
Charles chose his words carefully. "Lily, this may be hard to accept, but memories aren't always what really happened."
"Impossible! I am Lily! I'm not a rat! I'm the real Lily!" the white rat shrieked hysterically.
Hearing her cries, the brown rats quickly swarmed around her, squeaking with concern.
"Get away from me! I'm not one of you! I'm a human! A human!" The brown rats scattered slightly but continued to circle the sobbing white rat.
Charles didn't know what to say. He had considered many outcomes, but he had never imagined a situation like this. On second thought, however, it made a twisted sort of sense. The world of the Abyss-Sea was just that despairing.
Half an hour later, Lily lay motionless on the floor amid the rats, as if her soul had fled. "Mr. Charles, do you think I really am just a rat?"
Sitting on his stool, Charles remained silent. He didn't know how to answer.
Getting no reply, the white rat slowly climbed to her feet. Looking lost and dejected, she headed for the door with the brown rats following close behind.
"Where are you going?"
Lily's voice was filled with self-pity and sorrow. "I don't know… But if I'm a rat, maybe I should go live in the sewers. Mr. Charles, thank you for your care these past few days. You're a good person."
The rats quickly swarmed the door and easily turned the handle, following the white rat into the dim hallway outside.
Watching the rats disappear, an irritable expression crossed Charles's face. "So you're just going to give up? You plan to spend the rest of your life eating garbage in the sewers?"
Lily turned, her ears drooping, and stared blankly at Charles.
"If you believe you're human, and that the Abyss-Sea turned you into this, then you should go out to sea and take back what you've lost! Don't run away!" his voice rose sharply. "We can't choose our fate, but we can choose how we face hardship. Come back! My ship needs a gunner."
Tears once again welled up in Lily's eyes. The sobbing white rat nodded emphatically. "Mr. Charles, thank you. Why are you helping me so much?"
Charles wasn't a kindhearted man, but when he saw the despairing Lily walking away, he felt an instinctive resistance. They were both pitiful souls who couldn't go home, and he was afraid that one day, he might become her.