Captain – Chapter 242 – The Root Cause

“I can’t remember.”

The woman’s tone was completely flat. Her distant, indifferent demeanor suggested not that she truly couldn’t remember, but rather that she didn’t want to recall.

Not surprised by her answer, the old man reached for the dull crown, gently caressing its uneven surface as if wiping away nonexistent dust—and perhaps also clearing away the misunderstandings and barriers created by their long separation.

“So… have you decided to return, to come back to my side?”

The old man’s dry eyes reflected that dim light, rippling with extremely rare guilt. Even his words carried a careful, probing tone.

Time is like flowing sand. As it continuously slips through one’s fingers, everything changes with it.

Even the world’s most powerful man had undergone subtle changes after more than a decade of time’s baptism, as the grains of sand in his palm were about to run out. Perhaps it was a faint regret for the past, or maybe… a longing for family bonds.

But correspondingly, some emotions are never diluted by time, like deeply carved hatred or unforgettable sorrow.

Thus, the woman’s answer seemed predestined by fate: “No, I believe this should be our last meeting.”

Pressing his slightly trembling lips together, the old man slowly put on the crown. When that symbol of supreme power silently settled on his head, all the soft emotions within him vanished without a trace, replaced by the majesty of being the Empire’s ruler.

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“Then why have you come to see me, Founder of the Black Raven Society?”

Benjamin Alexander, Emperor of Auran, the most brilliant and greatest figure in the Empire’s nearly three hundred years, asked expressionlessly.

“Why?”

The Founder closed the fairy tale in her hands, as if bringing this conversation back to cold, cruel reality: “For this seemingly strong Empire that is actually riddled with holes and in decline, for those who live here whose lives are closely tied to Auran’s glory and weakness, and also for…”

“The Alexander family that is already walking on the edge of a cliff.”

Hearing this, the Emperor was silent for a moment, then said coldly, “After the war with the Southern Islands ended, the Empire recovered and grew strong at an unprecedented speed.”

“Especially in these years of peaceful coexistence since signing the agreement with the Federation, whether in military, economic, cultural, or religious aspects, we can compare with the golden age since Auran’s founding.”

Hundreds or nearly a thousand years ago, Stephen I, with his extraordinary military talent, powerful charisma, and meritocratic governance, led his subordinates to rise in a chaotic era of city-states, unified the eastern continent, and established the most massive empire of that age.

After Stephen I’s death, his eldest son succeeded him, becoming the second Emperor of Auran.

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He reversed his father’s land-based policy, vigorously developing maritime power. While other city-states and empires were still fighting over every inch of land, he was the first to establish a navy of unprecedented scale and gained dominance of the seas within decades, relying on sturdy ships and powerful cannons.

During that period, Auran accumulated wealth at a terrifying speed through naval battles and plundering, replenishing the treasury and elevating its somewhat weakened economic strength—due to heavy military spending—to the world’s pinnacle in one leap.

Because of Auran’s actions, numerous merchant ships went bankrupt. Those merchants and sailors who either feared prosecution or were already penniless and desperate, became pirates who likewise lived by plundering.

To escape the Auran navy’s pursuit while seeking revenge against the Empire, pirates gathered in the accidentally discovered Southern Islands, which is precisely the origin of the free and chaotic “Pirates’ Nation.”

Also during that era, the nations of the western continent, feeling the enormous threat from the Auran Empire, united for self-preservation, establishing the Pronora Federation.

By the time Stephen III took over the Empire, Auran’s prosperity had reached its peak, becoming the world’s undisputed hegemon.

From the beginning of his reign until the Empire’s strongest fleet was defeated by the Pirate King and his supporters, this period was the golden age in the Auran Empire’s history.

Now, although the Empire had once again been defeated by Captain Gerard and the pirates, it did not decline as it had hundreds of years ago, nor did it change dynasties due to internal troubles and external threats. Instead, thanks to Benjamin’s governance, the assistance of three outstanding governors, and the rise of military stars like Caine, Merri, and others, it had once again become immensely powerful.

“In terms of military might, even with the complete destruction of the First Fleet, looking across the entire world, the Empire still has no match. And economically, except for the Pronora Federation, there is no second entity in the world that can compete with the Empire.”

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The Emperor looked directly into the woman’s silver-gray eyes and asked slowly, “So I’m very curious, why in your words would Auran be associated with decline?”

“Because of you.”

As if unwilling to meet his gaze, the Founder turned her face slightly, returning the fairy tale to its original place, while calmly saying, “If you are a major reason for Auran’s strength, then your departure will ultimately become the complete reason for the Empire’s downfall.”

After hearing these words, the Emperor fell into a long silence.

Her words were not difficult to understand, especially for him who knew the hidden truth.

He had devoted his entire life to forge the glory of the Auran Empire, but as age approached, looking around him, there was no one capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility to carry on this glory.

What the Founder said wasn’t entirely correct.

Because the old Emperor’s passing might not cause the Auran Empire to decline—it might even grow stronger—but without doubt, the Alexander family, having lost its pillar and with no one able to step forward, would definitely fall into an extremely difficult situation.

They might even suffer the same fate as the Stephen family—losing royal power and facing a brutal purge.

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From this perspective, the Founder’s view was not wrong at all, because for the Emperor, the decline of the Alexander family and the dynasty’s change were no different from the downfall of the Auran Empire.

Having waited for a long time, seeing the old man remain silent, the Founder turned to look at him and continued, “The Empire is like an impregnable fortress. No matter how foreign enemies invade or natural disasters strike, it cannot be shaken in the slightest. But if there’s a problem internally, it will collapse like a dike hollowed out by termites, without even needing to be attacked.”

“On this point, Father Emperor, being in the midst of it, you must understand more clearly than I do.”

With that, she stopped speaking, quietly waiting for the old man’s response.

Hearing the implicit meaning in the woman’s words and her address to him, even the iron-faced Emperor couldn’t help but be moved slightly.

After some time, he finally broke the silence.

The old man sighed deeply. He drank the long-cold black coffee in one gulp, feeling that bitter taste that awakened the mind, and his previously cold tone softened: “Well then, tell me, Gloria, in your view, the root cause that has made the Empire terminally ill…”

“Who exactly is to blame?”