Captain – Chapter 175 – The Witch

“What do you mean?”

The rapier still pressed against Solomon’s throat. Caine would only need to push it forward half an inch to pierce the major artery, watching this tyrant bleed to death, thereby establishing his authority and firmly securing his position as the Mermaid’s First Mate.

But until the end, he didn’t move.

Hearing the young man’s question, seeing those fluctuating azure eyes, the smile at the corner of Solomon’s mouth grew more intense. His voice was low and gloomy, like the soft cawing of a night raven: “Let’s work together. I’ll help you take the captain’s position on the Mermaid. I’ll still command the Constantine, but everything will follow your orders. How about it?”

Caine’s gaze suddenly flickered, but instantly returned to coldness. “I think you’ve lost your mind. Not to mention whether I can trust you, but in the current situation, what do you have to turn the tables?”

The Black Emperor precisely captured that moment of wavering in the young man. He spread his hands, smiling and shaking his head, allowing the rapier to draw a thin line of blood on his throat. “No, no, Mr. First Mate. As long as you’re willing to stand with me, this war is just beginning, and I… I have absolute confidence in winning everything for you.”

“Not only that, I will show you my palace, my treasures, and my sincere loyalty. Of course, these aren’t empty promises. We can sign a contract, the kind of… contract that cannot be broken.”

At this point, Solomon’s voice suddenly dropped lower, floating eerily in the dim room, unnervingly strange.

Staring at the Black Emperor’s eyes that had suddenly darkened considerably, becoming like a deep vortex, Caine’s pupils slightly contracted. After a brief surprise, he coldly said: “What exactly are you?”

Reαⅾ oո ΚаtRеaԁiոgСаfе

“Oh, don’t be afraid, child. I’ve just had some dealings with a witch, a true… witch.”

Solomon’s face, somewhat fierce with excitement, instantly calmed when mentioning these two words. With a hint of yearning, a gentle but fearful expression, he said: “She was truly a noble, alluring, awe-inspiring lady. If you knew my story, if you had seen her even once, I think you would have the same thoughts as me.”

“Mr. First Mate, while there’s still time, would you like to hear a story?”

The battle on the deck continued, with roars and screams occasionally reaching the captain’s quarters. It would be some time before everything ended.

Silence, deathly silence.

After the recollection ended, a smile returned to the Black Emperor’s face, though no longer frenzied but mysterious and confident. Caine, on the contrary, frowned slightly as if lost in thought.

He recalled Solomon’s previous words, finally focusing all his attention on how this captain referred to that witch.

Lady.

A most common title, yet also a word with fatal attraction.

Rеaԁ oո ΚatReαԁіոgСαfe

It had appeared more than once from Bivis’s mouth, as a respectful title for the goddess of calamity—Annisdora. And not long ago, Caine had personally witnessed the great miracle of that deity calming a storm.

Could the lady he spoke of be… that deity?

Caine thought silently. After experiencing so many strange events and witnessing scenes that defied natural laws, he admitted that gods might truly exist, but he didn’t know in what form they existed or what secret places they hid.

It wasn’t until he heard the Black Emperor’s words that he began to contemplate this question, which had seemed so distant from him but now appeared within reach.

Because Roy had told him that her next target was to search for the nameless island where the magic box was buried.

And that magic box was Annisdora’s creation!

Finally, under Solomon’s satisfied gaze, Caine withdrew his rapier, flicked away the blood droplets from the tip, and slowly sheathed it. “What… is that witch’s name?”

“I don’t know. Her name, like her capricious heart, could change at any moment. Or in the next moment, even her face might be completely different. That’s not a secret you or I should pry into, and even if we knew it, it would be just one of countless possibilities, utterly meaningless.”

Solomon shook his head, slowly walking to the window at the end of the captain’s quarters. He forcefully pulled open the curtains, and lightning flashed, illuminating his face with a ghastly paleness.

Reαd οո ΚαtRеαⅾіոɡCαfе

“Twenty years ago, I was stabbed through the heart by an enemy and thrown into the raging sea. At that time, my consciousness quickly blurred, my whole body as cold as if I’d fallen into a glacier, and then I passed out.”

The Black Emperor’s eyes showed intense nostalgia. This tyrant now showed no trace of ferocity. If you could see his face, you might even detect something called peace in it.

“By normal logic, I would have had no chance of survival. But the fact is, I woke up again, on an unnamed island. When I examined my body, I found that all my injuries had healed, and I was even stronger than before.”

“As if guided by fate, as if a predestined encounter, I crossed through sparse jungle and came to a simple wooden hut. There, I saw many things I had never seen before, things that only existed in myths and legends, and she stood among them.”

“She told me she had snatched me back from death’s hands. She gave me new life and would assign me a mission. If I was willing to accept it and eventually bring back what she desperately desired, she would…”

He paused, and after hesitating for a moment, the Black Emperor seemed to make a decision. His voice became cold again, filled with intense mockery: “She would grant me immortality—the very immortality even the Night Curtain of the Western Seas desperately craves. But she also said I wasn’t the only chosen one; other captains were searching for her as well.”

As if lightning flashed, piercing the dim night, everything was connected by a clear thread.

The calmness in Caine’s eyes was finally broken. Looking at that silhouette, an immense sense of caution rose in his heart.

That deity truly existed, and her target must be that magic box!

Rеαԁ on ΚαtRеαԁiոɡCafе

The First Mate never imagined that on the night he came to kill the Black Emperor and establish his authority, he would learn such a secret. His gaze flickered slightly, his right hand already quietly resting on his gun handle, but his voice remained completely steady: “Immortality?”

“Yes, immortality. I don’t know what kind of existence she is. She called herself a witch, and I simply believed her, because her voice, her appearance, those dark purple eyes like vortices, all seemed to possess a different kind of magic, a kind of… irresistible attraction.”

Solomon, unaware of Caine’s thoughts or movements, continued speaking: “Naturally, I agreed. After that, everything seemed arranged. I obtained the Constantine, became the captain of this emperor of the sea, then occupied Yadris and became Red Beard’s arch-enemy… It was a brilliant twenty years.”

“During these twenty years, I almost forgot—no, I forced myself to forget this matter because of fear, fear of the unknown. Until tonight, when I was completely defeated, when I was once again pushed to the cliff leading to hell, I remembered everything.”

“So I thought, if you would spare my life, if I could find her again, get her help again, then…”

The Black Emperor slowly turned around, smiling as he said: “I think Captain Roy would be nothing. At that time, we would join forces—the Mermaid and the Constantine together would be unstoppable in the Eastern Seas and even across the ocean. Then, we would go find…”

Solomon didn’t finish his words, because Caine’s response came early.

It was a crisp gunshot and a lethal lead bullet.