I stared at the ceiling, looking up from an unused bunk bed that the crew had to spare.

  I had joined a small merchant company called Sailor’s Silver. It was run by two brothers. Donovan was the jovial, pirate-looking one, whereas Destin had the persona of a stoic university professor. If you remember the beginning of my story (go read the prologue again…), it’s quite clear that none of this was a step toward making it home. That much was clear.

  This left Mimi, who I still wasn’t sure about but could tell was a close friend of the brothers, at the very least.

  They were pretty much the entire crew, save for the occasional contractor. It appears that they were doing rather well financially, judging by the size of the craft, but could not afford much help. Over the past week, I had learned quite a bit about the crew.

  First, Destin was very difficult. The man was unnecessarily stern. He demanded that everything be done his way and didn’t possess a single flexible bone in his body. He wasn’t unkind, but he was incredibly uncompromising and took a strong stance on everything.

  Donovan was the total opposite. Despite being the younger brother of a man who can only be described as a tyrant, he never really took things seriously. He walked from room to room with a grin on his face. He mopped with a smile, cooked with a smile, and fixed mechanical issues with, you guessed it, a smile. To be quite honest, he was a genuinely good person.

  Mimi was strange. In life, there are some people that, while you don’t know everything about them, they’re pretty much an open book.

  Mimi felt like an abyss.

  I could look into her eyes and have no idea what she was thinking or feeling. What was interesting, though, was that, despite this, I felt zero malice or hostility. She would simply just move her brown hair out of her eye and go back to polishing weapons.

  This crew was a very unique group of people.

  After a while, Donovan knocked on the door and walked with me back to the cafe area. He told me that if I was to be a part of the crew, it was mandatory that I receive a rundown of their day-to-day operations. I sat down at a small table with Donovan, Captain Destin, and Mimi.

  Destin spoke.

  “Welcome to the crew. I’m going to make this quick. We’re a small but efficient shipping company focused on shipping goods of exceptionally high value. We primarily transport things like rare goods, precious metals, and anything too large to fit on a civilian craft. I work with my brother and Mimi, as well as the occasional contractor. And now you, I suppose. Do you follow?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Good. Now, if you don’t mind my asking, where did you come from? How exactly did you end up in the middle of the sea?”

  I paused at that question.

  You are obviously aware of my background if you’ve made it this far into my story. I came from another world (twice), and here I am trying to become the champion of multiple worlds in order to see my wife again. I can only imagine that if I told them this, I would be looked at as if I’m a crazy person. So I did what any normal person would and lied.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I’m from another country.”

  “Which country?” asked Destin.

  “Canada.”

  “I’ve never heard of Canada. But very well."

  Of course. I had a hunch that I wasn’t back on Earth, but this just confirmed it. The first world that I was transported to wasn’t Earth. The year I spent on that island with Miko probably wasn’t on Earth either. I really was hopping into alternate dimensions.

  Donovan finally spoke up.

  “Sounds good! You’re gonna be part of the family! First things first, though, we gotta take you to our favorite spot in town and grab a bite to eat. The food is like nothing you’ve ever tasted!”

  “I booked a table for four,” said Mimi quietly.

  Things were going much better than I expected. I had ended up on a new planet and had already gotten a dinner invitation.

  Destin spoke once again.

  “One more thing. Being that we haven’t yet determined a role for you as we aren’t sure of your skills or how you’ll be useful, we’re going to have you work with Mimi for the time being. I’m sure she needs a rifle cleaned or something.”

  “No problem.”

  “No problem.”. Pfft. The last thing I wanted to do was spend any more time with the quiet girl who had a knack for playing with firearms. But, at the same time, I had zero income, nowhere to go, and no way to achieve my goal of getting out of here. With this in mind, I had decided it made the most sense to say yes to everything and deal with the consequences later. This seemed like a good plan at the time.

  ————————————————————————————————————————————————

  As the ship slowly moved closer to the city, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  Leaning over the edge of the ship, I saw the future.

  Imagine the city of Venice in Italy but one thousand years in the future. Colorful advertisements covered a city of water, filled with futuristic boats of different sizes. The city had the most complex architecture I had ever laid eyes on. How was this possible? What appeared to be police floated down the waterways holding laser beam swords (lightsabers?) while civilians dined at floating restaurants, and people bustled about the city’s many layers.

  This looked like something out of a dream.

  I felt out of place with my old hoodie and cargo shorts as many of the residents were dressed in the finest threads. Suits, sundresses, knit loafers, and expensive sandals. They watched television and news on screens projected into thin air. They swam in swimming pools suspended above ground level.

  The captain walked behind me.

  “We’ll be docking at our warehouse soon,” said Destin.

  “Where are we?” I asked in disbelief.

  “This is Neptunia Haven. More precisely, this is Neptunia Haven’s Upper District. You’re witnessing some of the finest living known to man and what most in our world aspire to have.”

  “How do I get to live like that?” I asked, half-joking.

  Destin hesitated before replying. He seemed annoyed by the question.

  “All in due time.”

  He stepped away to go back to his quarters but stopped.

  “Once we dock at the warehouse, we’ll be heading directly to the restaurant. We all live in said warehouse, but if we stop to enjoy a game of neptuniaball on air vision, we won’t make it in time.”

  I nodded in response. Truthfully speaking, only some of those words made sense, but the general gist was obviously just “don’t waste time.” In any case, I was ready to see the luxury of Neptunia Haven.