1918: A French military ship lands on the island of Fenua Poerava, "Pearl Island", a paradise lost in the Polynesian archipelago. On board, Captain Alfred de Morsac, decorated with the Croix de Guerre, comes to form a battalion of Ocean Skirmishers. Morsac is one of these intrepid heroes, who "never lets go" able to survive twelve days thanks to a seagull carcass. His courage and his sense of duty sometimes border on unconsciousness - without however protecting him from ridicule. On landing on this island, he discovered a people of ancient warriors, the Hiva, under the thumb of the despicable and greedy Commander Lefebvre. Morsac will win the friendship of a child, Reia, the prince of the island, who sees in him the "Tefa'aora", the one who according to an old Tahitian legend must liberate his people from oppression. Moeata, Reia's mother of French origin, on the contrary sees in Morsac only a "rotten dog" of European. Quickly undesirable, Morsac is forced to flee, carrying with him Barnabé, a crook with a tender heart but filled with ill will, leaving for twenty years in prison. This frantic escape will bring Morsac and Barnabas much further than they thought, fulfilling in spite of themselves a destiny which exceeds them. An adventure carried out at full speed on the greed of men, the vanity of power and the power of dreams.