While her mouth obeyed her partner's good intentions, the little girl's heart didn't hold much hope.

His Majesty Roland also knew about this matter. If the other party had heard any news about her father, His Majesty should have called her over already. Since he hadn't, the other party was likely unaware of anything.

Oh well, she'd treat it as a performance for the two who cared about her.

Walking to the side of the explorer, Lightning couldn't help but frown. This person was too… flamboyant, wasn't he?

Judging by his age, this visitor from the fjord calling himself Sander Flyingbird was only about thirty years old. He wore an eye patch over his right eye, and his face was embroidered with a bright red rose. The branches and green leaves below the flower were tattooed onto his face, taking up almost half of his cheek, making one wonder about his taste.

Although an excellent explorer shouldn't judge by appearances, his words and actions weren't much better.

During the conversation, Sander Flyingbird seemed to be telling everyone about an arduous adventure. His exaggerated vocabulary almost made Lightning think he was traveling at the end of Yudàhai or the edge of hell, but in fact, the scene he was describing was just the Scorching Fire Islands. Of course, it was indeed full of dangers. Lava often erupted from the seabed, forming huge steam plumes, which not only easily blocked the line of sight, but also the scalding water droplets were a deadly threat to the crew... but after generations of exploration, the area already had a complete chart. As long as you chose the right route and timing to enter according to the chart, you could basically avoid the dangers.

When she was less than ten years old, she had already followed her father to the main island of the Scorching Fire Islands—Mount Lava.

For the fjord people, only those who have discovered new sea routes, islands, or ruins can be called explorers, but the Whirlpool Sea has at least a thousand islands, which will inevitably lead to a situation where the levels of different explorers vary greatly.

In Lightning's eyes, there were only a few people who could be compared to her father, and Sander Flyingbird was clearly not one of them.

For a moment, she had little interest in greeting him. As she hesitated, someone suddenly took her hand.

She looked up and saw that it was Aunt Margie.

"Little one, you've come at the right time," the businesswoman said with a kind smile. "Let me introduce you. This is the explorer from Double Dragon Island, the chief of the Dragon Head Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Sander. He is also one of your father's admirers."

He already mentioned his title, Lightning thought to herself, but since Aunt Margie had started it, she had no choice but to force a smile and say, "Hello, I'm Lightning, and I'm also a fjord person—although I wasn't born in the fjord islands."

"Ah, you are Thunder's daughter?" Sander said with a delighted expression. "I heard about it from Margie, that the greatest explorer's daughter is now in Graycastle, and now I've finally seen you in person. Hmm… you do have a bit of resemblance to Thunder!"

Liar, her father clearly said that her appearance was more like her unseen mother. Lightning twitched the corner of her mouth, "Thank you, do you have any news about him?"

"I've only heard some rumors. Some say that he drifted to an unknown island, and some say that he has actually returned to the fjord, but because he encountered an incredible experience after the shipwreck, he didn't publicize it, but was silently preparing a new expedition. As for other rumors... especially those malicious rumors, they are not worth mentioning at all." Sander said eloquently, "Of course, I personally prefer the second one. After all, there are several reef islands around the storm, which are by no means an insurmountable danger for Thunder—in fact, many people in his fleet survived."

This judgment was similar to her guess, and the other person's appearance was a little more pleasing to the eye.

As for whether her father was looking for her, that wasn't important.

As long as she followed the path of the explorer, she believed that one day she would see him again.

"By the way, may I ask, which island did you discover?"

"Uh—" A hint of embarrassment flashed across Sander's face, "In front of His Majesty, I'll tell you the truth. I can become an explorer, you could say it's thanks to your father. Since the Shadow Islands were discovered, it has become a pioneering place for many people, and the Chamber of Commerce is no exception. My fleet wanted to transport a batch of supplies to Turn Island, but it encountered a sea
monster attack on the way, which caused it to deviate from the route, but unexpectedly it arrived at an island that was not marked on the chart."

Okay, this confirmed the last point. He was indeed the lucky one who had only traveled a few remote routes and had extraordinary luck.

"I see, that's one of the charms of exploration, isn't it?" Lightning replied pretentiously, "Then I won't disturb your conversation with His Majesty." Then she turned to Roland and gave a noble salute, "Your Majesty, please allow me to take my leave."

Roland seemed a little distracted and didn't react until a while later, "Ah... go ahead."

Although His Majesty's expression was a little strange, Lightning didn't take it too seriously, thinking that Nightingale was protecting him. After all, she was about to face the first challenge after the establishment of the exploration team, and she couldn't lose no matter what!

...

Seeing the little girl jump away, Roland couldn't help but stare in amazement.

Thunder was simply a drama queen!

After a performance, the other party didn't have any doubts!

No, if he didn't know for sure that the person in front of him was Thunder, he would have a hard time connecting the current "Sander Flyingbird" with the person who got off the boat.

According to his initial idea, the welcome banquet was to arrange a reasonable identity for Thunder, and the meeting could be divided into two halls, one large and one small. The small hall was for VIPs, which was also a common practice for banquets. Unexpectedly, Thunder thought it wasn't necessary to bother so much and could all be gathered together.

Roland didn't care, after all, Thunder was the one who didn't want his daughter to recognize him. As a result, when he attended, he found that the other party was very different—after taking off that feather suit, Thunder completely turned into another appearance. According to the other party, it was covered with a layer of gelatinous substance, supplemented with pearl powder, to achieve the effect of changing faces. Those exaggerated tattoos and eye patches were also decorations, which could distract people's attention and weaken the difference between the gelatinous substance and the real skin.

As for controlling his voice, it was a skill Thunder had mastered during his exploration.

But in Roland's opinion, none of this was the point.

He believed that everyone had their own characteristics, and the person he was trying to deceive was his daughter, who had been with him for more than ten years. Even if his appearance and laughter had changed, he could still be recognized.

Then, when Thunder started performing, Roland discovered that there was indeed such a gifted person. The explorer in his late forties disappeared without a trace, replaced by a rather flamboyant, like to exaggerate, and somewhat complacent young leader of the Dragon Head Chamber of Commerce.

He had only seen such acting skills in May.