Vic dragged Enid and Wednesday through the crowd, finally squeezing into the best viewing spot on the upper deck, only to find that Dracula and his old friends had already occupied the prime terrain.
Frankenstein's monster, Frank, was tilting his suture-covered head back, marveling in English with a heavy accent:
"Ah! These fireworks are truly beautiful!"
Dracula nudged him dissatisfiedly with his elbow.
"Hey, Frank! Did you forget how you crawled under the table scared to death just seeing the fireplace flames at my hotel last time?"
"When I proposed setting off fireworks for the hotel anniversary, you were the first to jump up and object!"
"Oh, come on, Drac!" Frank waved his thick arms. "This is on a luxury cruise! In the middle of the ocean! The atmosphere is completely different, OK?"
"Uncle Frank, Aunt Eunice, Uncle Murray, Uncle Wayne, Aunt Wanda..."
Vic grinned and leaned in, greeting them one by one, his eyes searching the empty air.
"Uh... is Uncle Griffin here? Ah, sorry!"
He felt his foot step on something soft.
A muffled voice came from the air:
"It's fine... I can't feel my toes anyway. But Vic, you could at least watch where you're going. Being an invisible man, I can't exactly wear fluorescent underwear just to remind everyone 'I'm here,' can I?"
"Aha! Vic!"
Seeing Vic, the monster elders immediately surrounded him enthusiastically.
Frank gave Vic a solid bear hug, his strength astonishing.
"Good kid! You got sturdy!"
Vic grimaced from the squeeze, feeling like he could hear his bones groaning.
"Oh! Easy, Uncle Frank!"
Frank quickly let go, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sorry, kid, the arms aren't quite used to controlling their strength yet."
"Did you swap arms, Uncle Frank? Feels like your strength is even more terrifying than before."
Vic asked while rubbing his aching shoulder.
Frank's wife, Eunice, also a construct, rolled her eyes helplessly and answered for her husband:
"This guy lost his arms playing cards with someone last week!"
"This new pair is something I just scavenged for him from an online 'antique parts' store. Supposedly they belonged to some Nordic Viking Berserker... the muscle memory might still be lingering a bit."
"Hey, are these two girls your girlfriends?"
In no time, the female monster elders—Wanda the Werewolf, Eunice, and others—had affectionately surrounded Wednesday and Enid.
"Oh, look at these two cute little ones!"
Wanda gently touched Enid's cheek with her fingertip.
"Are these our Vic's little girlfriends? Truly adorable!"
Eunice also looked Wednesday up and down, casting an appreciative glance at her iconic gothic attire.
"This temperament, this taste, matches our Vic quite well. If Vic dares to bully you in the future, just come find your aunties, we'll back you up!"
"Thank you, Auntie~"
Enid's small face flushed slightly, feeling both shy and sweet inside.
"But Vic is very good to us."
She stole a glance at Vic. Did this count as... meeting the parents?
Wednesday nodded stiffly, acknowledging the overly enthusiastic elders.
Faced with this direct and noisy affection, she was somewhat at a loss, though a deeply hidden, barely perceptible warmth quietly flowed through her heart.
Frank draped his massive new right arm around Vic's shoulder, his voice low and concerned.
"Kid, having two girlfriends at the same time... being a playboy isn't a good habit. Want to consider becoming a Frankenstein monster?"
"Uncle can give you a modification. That way, if one of your girlfriends gets mad and chops your head off, you can at least keep your life, switch bodies, and keep partying."
Vic immediately straightened his back, his face written with "Righteousness."
"Uncle Frank! That is incredibly rude! This is Pure Love!"
Just during this lively and warm moment, a spotlight suddenly hit the high point of the main mast, where no one was standing.
Just as the monsters looked at each other in confusion, an agile figure grabbed a rope hanging from the rigging. With an extremely graceful and clean arc, she swung down, landing precisely in the center of the spotlight circle.
A vibrant female voice rang out.
"Everyone, welcome aboard the 'Legacy'! I am your captain, Ericka!"
Under the spotlight, a white-haired beauty in a well-tailored white captain's uniform was waving enthusiastically to all passengers on the deck.
Her smile was confident and infectious, her azure eyes as clear as the seawater beneath her feet.
"Yes, as you can see, I am a human!"
Captain Ericka admitted frankly, her voice clear.
"But I ask everyone not to hold any preconceived prejudice against me because of that!"
Her honesty and enthusiasm instantly won the monsters' favor, and the deck erupted in enthusiastic cheers and whistles.
"Whoa!"
Vic couldn't help but whistle, praising, "This captain is truly charming, right, Uncle Dracula? Uncle Dracula?"
Vic turned his head, only to find Count Dracula standing frozen in place as if under a petrification spell.
His mouth was slightly open, staring unblinkingly at Captain Ericka under the spotlight.
On that pale, handsome face that hadn't changed in a millennium, a suspicious blush actually appeared.
Most outrageously, Vic could even clearly hear the violent heartbeat coming from Dracula's chest, like a war drum—THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"What's the situation? System crash?"
Vic was dumbfounded.
"And what the hell is that heartbeat? Did the King Engine start up? Mavis! Mavis! Come look! Your dad seems to be having a heart attack!"
Hearing this, Mavis squeezed over to check on her father's condition.
"Impossible. Unless someone drives a stake through his heart, Dracula doesn't get human diseases like 'heart attacks'."
Wayne, who was draped with dozens of wolf pups, commented from the side.
Wayne looked at Dracula's soul-lost state, rubbed his chin with his claw, and pointed thoughtfully at the figure under the spotlight:
"Actually, I think... Dracula's current 'symptoms' are likely because of her."
Everyone's gaze focused once again on the radiant white-haired female captain who was flashing a bright smile in Dracula's direction.
Dracula felt that for the first time in his thousand-year vampire life, he had encountered a "light" that he couldn't look directly at, even more so than the sun.
Captain Ericka let go of the rope, landing lightly on the deck, the spotlight following her like a shadow.
She opened her arms, her white captain's uniform rustling in the sea breeze, her voice clearly reaching every corner.
"Monsters have lived in the shadows and anonymity for too long. You no longer need such a life. You can stand up, wave your arms, claws, or tentacles, and loudy declare: WE ARE HERE!"
"Let us cheer to our heart's content! Before reaching our destination, you will enjoy rare delicacies, experience thrilling adventures, and never-ending entertainment."
She paused slightly, whetting everyone's appetite, then suddenly spread her arms as if announcing a great secret:
"That sunken island is no longer silent. That's right, it is Atlantis!"
"ROAR—!!!"
The entire deck was instantly drowned in deafening cheers! The monsters' excitement reached its peak.
Atlantis! That legendary mysterious kingdom held an irresistible attraction for all monsters!
Vic blew a loud whistle. glancing at Dracula who was still dazed beside him, he whispered with a wicked grin:
"Extraordinary charm... Now I finally understand, Uncle Dracula. No wonder your old heart, which hasn't moved in over a hundred years, is beating like it has a motor installed... It's a 'Zing', isn't it!"