Captain – Chapter 167 – Never, Elizabeth

Without a sound, without movement, Richi fell into a deep sleep.

A satisfied smile lingered at the corner of his mouth, as if he were having a sweet dream—only this dream would never end.

Roy witnessed it all. The moment the young man’s breath finally ceased, something in her heart shattered. Emotions that had been walled off for countless years, suppressed for who knows how long, came surging forth like a vortex, swallowing her whole.

The girl stumbled backward, weakly colliding with the ship’s railing. She raised her hand, looking at her blood-covered palm, feeling the weakness in her body and the profound loneliness of being utterly alone, so dejected she nearly burst into tears.

It was as if… she had lost everything she had again.

The sound of wind and rain, footsteps, and the crew’s angry roars gradually faded away. Roy turned her face in a daze, staring blankly at the chaotic deck, seemingly forgetting her identity and purpose—or perhaps she simply no longer cared.

She didn’t care about Cassius rushing toward her with a distorted face and a curved blade in hand. She didn’t care about the Fighting Squad members driven mad by fear, wanting to bury her along with this dark night. She didn’t even care about those who worried for her, willing to risk their lives to protect her.

Due to her lack of response, or perhaps because those sentenced to death were exploding in desperation, even though Lance and the sailors were converging toward Roy, they clearly wouldn’t reach the captain—who had completely given up resistance—in time.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

After a series of metal striking wood, dozens of iron hooks with hemp ropes firmly caught the Mermaid’s railings.

Immediately after, pirates climbed the ropes onto the warship’s deck. After briefly assessing the situation, they surged toward the dazed Roy under Harriet’s command.

Reаⅾ оո KаtRеαԁіոɡСαfе

But everything seemed too late.

Cassius, who had unexpectedly taken the lead, was less than ten meters from the girl. In just a few more breaths, that gleaming curved blade would pierce her heart, sending the devil on an early journey to reunite with the butcher.

“Bang!”

Brilliant gunfire blossomed from a muzzle, but not from the crow’s nest on the main mast.

Earlier, when the captain and first mate were conversing, the heavy-hearted marksman had set down his musket, quietly and patiently waiting for everything to end.

So when that young man who always wore a reserved smile and had never even touched a curved blade snatched a weapon from a nearby pirate and charged forward like a madman, even Victor couldn’t react in time.

So who fired that shot?

Tracing backward along the bullet’s path through wind and rain, past that black, crudely patterned pistol, at the end of that sighting line was a pair of azure eyes showing nothing but cold composure!

The bullet entered Cassius’s back, accurately piercing his heart.

After glancing in disbelief at his punctured chest, the true mastermind behind this deadly plot finally closed his eyes unwillingly, collapsing to the ground, gripping the curved blade until death.

Rеαⅾ οn KαtReαⅾіngСαfe

It seemed only after this shot did Caine regain his vitality, his heart beating as rapidly as a drum.

He breathed quickly, with no time for even a hint of fear. Tossing aside the pistol, he rushed toward the despondent girl.

Only at this moment, seeing the captain standing alone amid the clamoring crowd, did Caine understand what the tavern proprietress meant by “when she needs it most”.

Not when she was framed by conspiracy and trapped in a desperate situation, not when she was surrounded by enemies and engulfed in bloody battle, but… when she lost everything and was alone and helpless.

At this moment, she needed someone to tell her what she still had.

A flash appeared before her eyes.

Roy felt someone embrace her. That person’s not-so-broad back couldn’t completely block out the wind and rain, but his embrace was so warm, pulling her back from that turbulent, unstable tempest, bringing her back to the present world.

The haziness before her eyes gradually dispersed. The captain made out the silver-white hair dripping with raindrops, the familiar face, and those gentle, calm eyes like the ocean on a clear day. Then she smiled slightly, extending her only functioning right hand to caress that face.

Caine had never seen such a smile on the girl’s face—tinged with faint sadness and grievance, a cautious smile like that of a wounded animal.

“You came.”

Hearing that tired voice, the mate responded softly: “Yes, Captain.”

Reαⅾ on КаtReаdiոɡСafе

“Just in time. I happened to have a question for you.”

Roy gently stroked her mate’s face, smearing the congealing blood everywhere. Looking at that now dirty face, the bitter smile on her face finally gained some of the mischievousness he was familiar with.

“Caine, tell me… will you be another poisoned cup of wine I drink?”

“No.”

The young man shook his head gently. The sternness that had formed on his face due to urgency and anxiety softened the moment he saw the captain.

Now, he smiled tenderly: “Never, Elizabeth.”

Though she already knew her mate’s answer, hearing that name still made Roy’s dark golden pupils ripple slightly, brewing some intense emotion within.

Tilting her head slightly, after a brief silence, the captain’s hand moved across Caine’s cheek, hooking around the back of his neck. Then, under her mate’s astonished gaze, she suddenly kissed him.

More than a kiss, it was like a beast’s bite, like a fierce gust of wind—without any of the gentleness associated with emotion and love in people’s impressions, only wildness, passion, possession… all emotions befitting a pirate.

On the chaotic deck, in the seemingly endless storm, the two kissed passionately, completely disregarding approaching blades and surprised glances. Even as blood seeped from their lips, they showed no intention of stopping.

Rеаⅾ оn КаtReаԁiոɡСafе

The situation on the Mermaid was quickly brought under control.

Under Harriet’s leadership, the Fighting Squad members at full strength dispatched the twenty-odd pirates fighting like cornered beasts in no time. Those enemies who hadn’t participated in this desperate battle, with ashen faces, were bound and restrained.

“Good, now where’s the First Mate…”

Harriet looked toward where Roy was and, after freezing momentarily, roared at the equally stunned crew members: “What are you all staring at? Hurry up and take these people down, down to… uh, where should they go?”

“There are iron cages in the hold for prisoners. Take them there.”

Lance stood beside the Squad Captain, gazing fixedly at the sea, as if he could spot beautiful mermaids there.

“Damn it, truly damn it. Looking at that scene, they clearly have no issues. I’ll wait until everything’s settled before going up.”

On the gangplank between the Mermaid and the Osprey, facing Ben and Daniel’s puzzled looks, the ship’s doctor muttered something as he walked back to the Osprey, swaying with each step.

After handing the medicine box to Ben and carefully climbing down to return to the civilian ship’s deck, Anderson couldn’t help but glance back at the Mermaid once more. Although his view was blocked by the hull, he still seemed able to see that scene that left him speechless.

“It’s truly unimaginable. Where do they find the mood for that?”