As he spoke, Dax leaned forward to press his face against Goddad's.

"Aargh!"

The kid could hardly handle Dax's face full of stubble as he cried out in indignation. "Your beard's pricking me, Uncle Dax! Put me down, put me down!"

Haha!

Everyone burst out laughing.

Chester cast a glance at a still-unconscious Shannon, frowning slightly.

The next second, Chester asked Ambrose, "What's going on, Ambrose? Weren't you supposed to go and check on the situation with the pirates? How'd you end up with Shannon?"

As the words rang through the air, everyone's gaze fell onto Ambrose.

Ambrose took a deep breath, flashing a bitter smile. "The South Cloud Royals had just failed at trying to take down the palace when I got to the fishing village. Shannon had barely gotten out of it all alive as well…"

Ambrose spent the next few minutes describing everything that had happened in detail.

Toward the end, Ambrose said regretfully, "I thought that everything would be fine after we sent her back to