In November of 1913, laconic sea captain Corto Maltese is left adrift in the middle of the Pacific. A boat captained by his traitorous bandit friend Rasputin who looks like an exact duplicate of the infamous historical figure, comes across him and rescues him. Corto finds that he's not the only one Rasputin rescued from the sea. Two shipwrecked teenage cousins, Pandora and Cain Groovesnore of the fictional rich industrial Australian Groovesnore family, are on board as well. Rasputin rescued them when their boat sank and is now holding them hostage for ransom. He is about to reach the island of Escondida, a fictional island located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean near the British Pitcairn Islands, that's not on any known map or nautical chart, where his crime boss, a secretive hooded figure known as "the Monk", resides. It turns out that the Monk apparently has some sort of history with the two young captives and he orders the highly unstable trigger-happy Rasputin to hold and protect the two. Corto befriends the kids and protects them from Rasputin. As WWI breaks out, the Monk and Rasputin's protection deal with the local corrupt German submarine officer attracts attention from the allied armies. On top of that, the nationalists among the island natives decide the time is right to unite the local islands, Corto falls of a cliff and is presumed dead, Rasputin becomes insubordinate and starts killing people and the kids try to escape with the help of a sympathetic native.