The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 1750 - 80: The Great Sage Returns_2

He was frowning and grumbling intermittently, his beard shaved haphazardly, resembling a novice barber.

That’s not all; he occasionally cursed under his breath, "I’ve traveled around the Earth, at least I deserve some credit for my efforts, right? Just because of this ridiculous beard, I’m being treated like a monkey... I spit!"

At this moment, the cabin door creaked open, and Darwin dived in, bent over with two boxes in his arms.

He tossed the boxes onto the floor with a clang, then began unbuttoning his shirt to change clothes.

"You’re down here again?" El snorted, flicking away the razor, unconcerned about the half-shaved beard dangling on his face, "I thought moving those specimens would take you at least half an hour."

Darwin patted the dust off his shoulder, "I came down to get the navigation atlas."

"Why get the atlas?"

"The ship is about to dock, and Colonel Fitzroy suspects the Navy Department might board immediately for inspection, so he told me to unload the luggage first. As for those crucial documents for the Navy Department, they need to be delivered promptly."

"Huh?" Upon hearing they were about to dock, El’s anger vanished, and he smiled broadly, with a hint of excitement in his voice, "Hey Charles, do you have any... plans once ashore?"

Darwin, fastening his buttons, paused at the question, his face blushing, "I... I want to go home first."

El blinked, wearing a "I get it now" look.

He tilted his head at Darwin, "Oh, blushing now? I meant ’what are your plans tonight’, not asking if you’re rushing home to meet your little fiancée."

Darwin lowered his head, frantically buttoning the last one, his ears as red as if scalded by hot water.

He mumbled, "I do want to see her."

"Tut..." El gave him a sidelong look, while pulling on his shirt, muttering, "You see a female human and can’t move your legs, worse than a groundhog."

"Can you stop using ’female’, Mister Male Human?"

"What should I say then? Little sweetheart? Little darling? Come on, she’s your fiancée, not mine."

Darwin almost rolled up his sleeves to punch him, "Hey El, damn you..."

El quickly raised his hands in surrender, "Charles, don’t get mad, just joking."

Darwin didn’t really intend to hit him, he rolled his eyes and said, "So what about you? What do you plan to do tonight?"

Upon hearing that, El hastily buttoned his shirt with a grin, "Me... I plan to go to the Navy Department and withdraw all my savings from these five years."

"And then?"

"And then..." El shrugged, lost in memories, "I’ll go to Leicester Square... to unwind."

As he said this, El’s eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth curved, as he seemed to visualize a dream intertwined with theaters, cigars, champagne, ballet skirts, and long legs.

Unfortunately, Darwin didn’t react at all, not even a "tsk", he just kept tidying his crumpled collar.

"Hmm?" El frowned, "Charles, that’s not the reaction I expected! You didn’t even frown. What’s that about, changing your preferences?"

Darwin lifted his eyelids briefly, his tone as flat as a Londoner’s discussing the weather, "Nothing much. I already guessed."

"Already guessed?" El squinted skeptically, "How’d you guess? Did you peek at my diary?"

"Does your diary need peeking? With just a thought, I know you wrote ten pages of ’oh it’s been so long since I touched a woman’ and the like." Darwin said, smoothing his cuffs, "Besides... the sailors have long opened a wager."

"A wager? On what?"

"What you’ll do first after disembarking."

El froze, displaying a "what the heck" expression.

"Damn, they really bet on that?"

"It’s pretty lively," Darwin nodded, "One option was Leicester Square, another was anything else."

"Odds?"

Darwin brushed his sleeve, "Anything else has odds of one to a hundred."

El choked, "That high? What about Leicester Square?"

"One to one."

"Ah?" El almost dropped the razor, "One to one? Are you kidding me? No one bets I’ll do something else?"

Darwin was exasperated by his friend’s obliviousness, "No kidding. They’ve even betted which alley you’ll enter, and which girl you know. Heard old Tom even bet you’d tell a joke amusing a lady, then forgot to take your pants off because of drunkenness."

"Damn old Tom!" El paced back and forth in front of the mirror angrily, "I’m just... a normal Britain youth pursuing happiness and loving urban life, yet you shameless gamblers depict me like a chipmunk from the sewer."

"El, there are no chipmunks in the sewer, don’t flatter yourself."

El rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, "Let me tell you Charles, you’re such a narrow-minded person. Even if my first stop in London is to Westminster Abbey to confess, you’d suggest I have a fling with a nun there."

Darwin spread his hands, "What are you planning now? Will you clarify your reputation in front of old Tom and the others?"