"Come on, little brother, lie down on the bed. No need to look at me with such caution, I'm not going to eat you," Vanessa said with a smile, blinking her purple eyes as she stared at Ed's body up and down like a butcher sizing up a fat pig.

Ed, standing nearby with a chill running through him, sighed helplessly at her words. If this were their first meeting, he might have thought she, like Kaila, had fallen for his youthful body and couldn't wait to have some fun with him. Sadly, that was clearly not the case.

Ed glanced at the door, but finding no one to call for help, he could only fix his gaze on the ship's doctor.

The first time they met, she had been on the run, wearing a veil that left only her eyes visible. Now, he could observe her more closely.

She was a mature woman with lavender eyes set in a charming face. A tiny black mole under the corner of her mouth dotted her fair skin, adding an extra touch of allure to her striking appearance. Her figure was curvy, and despite her loose white coat, the garment couldn't conceal the pronounced swell of her E-cup breasts or her bubbly buttocks.

Although her figure was perfectly his type, her wicked heart was not something an innocent guy like him should go near.

"I think we should change your name. How about Ed, or Ted, Teddy, Ned? That would also be fine. What do you think?" She teased him with a bright smile, crossing one leg over the other and giving Ed a quick glimpse of her treasure.

Blue transparent fantasy panties. Quite a taste, indeed, as expected of someone with a succubus bloodline. But why is she wearing such hot panties and such a short shirt on a ship with barely a handful of people? And among them, the only ones who might interest her are probably the captain or me... Is something going on between her and the captain? Ed's brain, working on overdrive, concocted a dozen interesting theories from a single glance at Vanessa's panties.

But he also couldn't help complaining that, sadly, the second person couldn't be him. From the moment they met, Ed had felt this woman was deliberately targeting him. Reflecting on his past behavior, though, he realized there was little he could do now but endure. After all, who had asked him to meddle in other people's business?

Who would have guessed she was one of them back then? You can't be careless for a second these days, Ed thought, sighing helplessly.

"Not a little brother? Are you already an adult?" Vanessa chuckled playfully. She stood up from her chair, walked toward him, and reached out to touch Ed's chest. "Alright, little brother, take off your clothes and lie on the bed."

Ed sighed again in resignation. He removed his cotton short-sleeved shirt, revealing his slightly muscular upper body, which he had worked hard to develop, and lay down on the wooden bed nearby, feeling Vanessa's unabashed, scrutinizing gaze.

"You're a bit skinny. You need to exercise and eat more. Jason looks stronger than you," She complained while running her finger along his back.

Hearing this, Jason, who was lying next to him, quickly removed the clothes from his face, turned his head, and grinned at Ed, giving him a meaningful look.

"Tsk," Ed muttered, clicking his tongue in disdain at Jason's smug expression, and buried his face in the pillow.

"Get ready. It's starting," Vanessa announced, raising her hands. Light green threads began to extend from her fingers. One set of threads reached toward Ed's body, while another reached Jason's.

The tips of the threads thinned and transformed into needle-like points. One by one, they found precise locations on their bodies and inserted themselves gently. Ed frowned but felt no pain, only a mild itch and discomfort.

A faint green light began to flow along the threads, entering their bodies. Ed could feel something cold spreading through him. Soon, a layer of light, transparent green fluid seeped from his pores and gradually coated his upper body.

Vanessa's spell, called [Kneading Silk], was an adaptive and highly specialized magic. She had explained its basic principles to Ed before, though he didn't fully grasp the details. In essence, it allowed her to manipulate and transform materials into silk-like threads.

The spell had been improved by her ancestors and required significant skill to master. Bobby, another practitioner, could perform it too, but his abilities were rudimentary compared to Vanessa's expertise.

After a while, the green fluid vanished from their bodies. Vanessa waved the threads away, clapped her hands, and declared, "Alright, it's done."

At her signal, the two men stood up and began putting their clothes back on.

What they were doing now was exactly what Andre had suggested earlier, letting Elena and Vanessa help them prepare before the real challenge.

This was just the beginning.

The two left the medical room while chatting nonsense and made their way to the deck.

Elena sat on the edge of the boat, her legs hanging off the side, gently swinging back and forth as she enjoyed the cold wind on her face. Hearing their footsteps, she turned to look at them and smiled.

"Are you done with the check-up? Now it's my turn to train," She said with a grin, her voice carrying a hint of mischief.

Then a silver light shimmered at her feet, and her figure disappeared in an instant.

"Are you ready?"

Elena's voice, tinged with joy, suddenly sounded behind them.

"Wait, wait!" Jason shouted, a sense of dread creeping over him.

But before he could finish, Elena's right leg, glowing with silver light, struck his back with a swift kick.

"Ahhhh!" Jason screamed as he was sent flying off the boat like a cannonball.

Watching this, Ed didn't hesitate. He rolled forward, ran a couple of steps, and leaped off the boat on his own.

"Don't bother helping, I've got it!" he called back, his voice fading as he plunged into the water. Moments later, there was a loud splash.

Elena chuckled, clearly amused by Ed's shamelessness. She leaped gracefully, landing on the edge of the boat to peer down at them.

"Your task is to swim in the sea and try to keep up with the ship. When you're about to drown, I'll come and save you."

Hearing this, Ed and Jason, now bobbing in the water, reluctantly began to swim. Jason, who had been at sea for a long time and could swim better than Ed, soon started complaining about the training in a low voice so Elena wouldn't hear him and come down to "solve" his problems.

"I'm telling you, Ed, those two evil women are enjoying watching us suffer. Otherwise, why are their smiles getting brighter and brighter each day? At the start, Elena even warned us and showed some respect, but now she just kicks us off the ship without a word, as if we're her slaves. Even slaves don't get treated like that."

"Listen to me, Edward, this is advice from a big brother: never, ever get close to this kind of woman. They're like uncontrollable baboons, whoever gets close to them will suffer for the rest of their life. I was too naive at the beginning, and to gain their recognition, I revealed my true nature in front of them. After that, they stopped taking me seriously."

"Sigh, and now I'm getting treated like garbage. Sometimes I even wonder if I should retire early, after making enough money to build a harem and live the rest of my life in riches..."

Since Ed couldn't talk while swimming, he could only listen to Jason's nonsense, which was better than nothing to pass the time during their boring training. Fortunately, this was an ocean world, and everyone here knew how to swim, and swim well, with a lot of stamina. But of course, they still had their limits.

Even with the ship deliberately slowing down, the two of them managed to keep up for only about ten minutes before they began to lag behind. Slowly, they were left in the ship's wake.

"Come on! Come on!" Elena called out from the stern, waving her hands and cheering. But her playful tone gave her away, she was enjoying the spectacle.

"I feel a little hot!" Ed shouted to Jason, who had also gone quiet at a certain point and was struggling alongside him.

"Me too," Jason replied. "And I think something has gotten into my pants..."

"..." Ed, who was swimming breathlessly with great willpower, paused at Jason's words and looked at him with disbelief. But then he shook his head, thinking Jason's "little brother" could handle a bit of trouble, and continued swimming.

Soon, they both felt an unusual warmth coursing through their bodies, restoring some of their strength. With renewed energy, they sped up and managed to maintain a decent distance behind the ship.

Finally, after another half hour, the heat subsided.

Exhaustion hit them like a crashing wave. Their arms and legs began to spasm, making even floating a challenge.

Instinct took over as they struggled to stay above water.

A cold sensation emanated from the ring on Ed's finger, stimulating his mind and forcing him to focus in this life-threatening moment. He desperately tried to control his limbs, but panic crept in as the ocean seemed to swallow him whole.

The waves tossed him about relentlessly. He couldn't breathe.

The fight for survival clashed with the overwhelming fear of death, shattering his fragile calm.

Nearby, Jason had already lost his composure and sunk beneath the waves.

Just as Ed's vision dimmed and he sank deeper, having gulped down a lot of seawater, he felt something lifting him.

Suddenly, he and Jason were yanked out of the water like rockets.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

With a gasp and a shout, they were thrown heavily onto the deck.

It was Sankaka who had dragged them back, tossing them onto the boat with ease like rag dolls, showing no gentleness at all.

Jason collapsed to his knees, coughing violently and expelling seawater from his lungs.

Ed was no different. After coughing violently and throwing up all the seawater, he rolled aside and lay down on the deck like a dead dog, breathing heavily.

"Hehe, take a break. We'll continue this in the afternoon!"

Elena sat nearby, hugging her knees as she watched them with a cheerful grin, clearly amused by their ordeal.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.