Captain – Chapter 184 – Withering and Rebirth

Waves washed over the white sand beach, making soft rushing sounds that intertwined with summer night’s insect chirping, like a requiem guiding souls on their distant journey.

Following Yadris’s eastern coastline, after passing through a bay dotted with strange rocks, one would reach an extremely quiet beach rarely visited by people.

The beach was covered with various seashells and conches, and between them lay scattered, unknown tiny stones reflecting faint light—looking like a reflection of the starry sky above.

Gazing out to sea from this picturesque beach, beyond the calm, sparkling surface, one could see two tall, pale red reefs standing opposite each other. Under the cool moonlight, they appeared as if draped in misty silver gauze, elegant and dreamlike.

“Well, isn’t this place wonderful? When dawn comes and the morning sun rises, casting rays from the horizon, it turns the entire visible sea to gold.”

Stretching her arms toward the ocean, Roy felt the cool sea breeze on her face and asked her First Mate with the ease of someone coming home.

Caine’s gaze passed through the wide gap between the reefs, looking out at the starlit, boundless sea, and he nodded slightly: “Indeed a good place. A good place for eternal rest.”

“Yes, after all, it was chosen as Captain Ilias’s burial site. Though he made no requests, to just discard the remains of someone who was…”

Roy paused, then continued naturally: “Like a father to me, well, even I would feel a bit guilty about that.”

After speaking, the young woman gave her First Mate a “follow me” look and walked to the other side of the beach. Soon, they arrived before a small, beautifully carved wooden boat.

Beside the boat stood a stone tablet bearing no epitaph or even a name—just two curved sabers and a pair of whiskers roughly carved into it.

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Kneeling before the stone tablet, Roy gently stroked the gravel in front of it and called softly: “Captain Ilias, I hope you’ve been well.”

Red-bearded Ilias, one of the few powerful pirate captains genuinely respected by others.

He had once sailed the Mermaid to defeat countless enemies, establishing a formidable reputation, and had also used this warship to save tens of thousands of innocent people and slaves—a true hero of the ocean.

Such a great figure, in the end, left behind only a beloved small boat and a nameless tombstone, remembered only in the heart of Roy, whom he had raised and cared for like his own child.

This was the sad end of a pirate’s destiny, yet also a kind of free and unrestrained romance.

The wooden coffin was carefully placed on the beach. Ben and the sailors stood quietly behind the First Mate, watching the Captain who seemed like a completely different person.

Including Caine, none of them had ever seen Roy display such unguarded closeness, like a child seeing a parent.

After some time, Roy finished reminiscing about that brief but beautiful period of her life.

She stood up, brushing the sand from her knees, then turned to order the sailors: “Bring the coffin to the boat.”

The sailors exchanged glances, their eyes revealing confusion, but they asked no questions and began carrying the coffin.

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“What, surprised?”

Seeing the slight bewilderment in Caine’s eyes, the young woman smiled and asked.

Caine nodded: “I thought you were planning to bury Richi here on this beach as well, but it seems you’re sending him out to sea?”

“Yes, because the little bastard is very different from the old Captain. Captain Ilias wanted to return to land because he had sailed for too long, long enough to grow tired of this sea full of treasures and dangers. But Richi is different.”

Looking at the coffin now placed in the small boat, Roy’s smile softened slightly: “All in all, the little bastard sailed with me for only six years. During these six years, he always stood silently behind me, never planning routes or choosing targets on his own. Even when he did, it was still only to oppose me.”

“In his final moments, he finally erased my influence from him and became a true captain in name and deed. But despite this, he never had the chance to sail far with his own ship. So I think he must still yearn for the ocean, yearning for the day he could set sail for distant shores.”

After the sailors finished moving the coffin and stepped away from the wooden boat, Roy led her First Mate to its stern and, under the sailors’ watchful eyes, pushed it into the ocean.

“So I’ll send him on his way, send him to the sea.”

Boarding the boat and rowing, the small vessel gradually moved away from the beach. After passing through the gap between the two reefs, it finally reached the faintly glowing open sea.

Seeing they had gone far enough from shore, Roy patted the edge of the coffin and said softly: “Richi, the Captain is sending you off in Captain Ilias’s most beloved boat. This is the extent of my obligation. From now on, all debts and grudges between us are settled. As for the rest… we’ll talk when we meet in hell.”

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As she finished speaking, accompanied by a slight rocking motion and the sound of water splashing against the coffin, the “small boat” carrying the young man gradually drifted away, setting sail toward the endless, spectacular sea.

Watching the coffin until it completely disappeared from view, Roy finally sat back in the boat, lying down with her arms folded behind her head, clearly having no intention of rowing back.

Though the young woman said nothing, her posture made her thoughts perfectly clear. Caine sighed lightly, picked up the oar and rowed toward the shore. The ripples left by the small boat spread out gradually on the sea surface, soon smoothed away by the waves, leaving no trace.

The oil lamp burned quietly and steadily, illuminating a room scattered with scrolls and lined with many bookshelves.

In the center of the room stood a spacious wooden table where Bivis was standing, hands on the table surface, intently focused on the slightly trembling dragon egg before him.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, he straightened up abruptly and quickly walked to the porthole, gazing at the inexplicably darkened sea surface, his eyes flickering intensely.

His gaze looked straight to the east, following the coastline all the way, then gradually turning north, northward… as if traversing countless miles to glimpse that strange white fog.

Identical to the one surrounding the Victoria!

At this moment, the scholar’s eyes flickered and transformed, seeming to become a mirror reflecting scenes happening in distant waters.

On the sea not far from Yadris, misty white fog rolled in, swallowing the sea surface along with the starlight. The grayish-white mist, thick as flowing water, ran across the calm sea and silently caressed a lonely wooden coffin drifting with the ocean current.

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The sacred cross carved on the coffin gradually distorted under the shroud of white fog, becoming fragmented. Meanwhile, solemn singing arose from all directions, sometimes distant, sometimes near, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, so ethereal that its source was impossible to determine.

Finally, the white fog parted to both sides.

A completely black ship emerged slowly from the mist—its hull adorned with sharp wooden spikes hanging down like fangs, rusty bronze cannons protruding from open gun ports—a gloomy warship as if having traversed endless time, eventually stopping quietly before the wooden coffin.

As if it had been waiting for it… waiting for him for a long time.

“Crack!”

A crisp breaking sound reached his ears, startling the scholar awake from that terrifying yet beautifully evil scene.

He retreated many steps, stopping when only half a foot remained between him and the wooden table, gasping for breath as if he had nearly drowned in the deep sea.

Turning his neck somewhat stiffly to look at the fine lines appearing on the rock-rough eggshell, Bivis’s unfocused pupils gradually sharpened. The corners of his mouth twitched a few times before forming an awkward smile.

“Welcome… welcome to this world, child.”