Captain – Chapter 273 – Far From Over

Perhaps because it was too small, with insufficient strength to support carrying someone in flight over such a long distance, when Nidhogg had crossed more than half the river with less than thirty meters left to reach the Mermaid, its flight path began to zigzag, and its body started to shake uncontrollably.

“Hey, hey, hey, no, this can’t be happening.”

With the young dragon’s swaying, the Captain’s entire body dangled in midair. The possibility of falling at any moment and being swallowed by the turbulent currents made her cry out in alarm.

Hearing the Captain’s exclamation, the young dragon also called out somewhat anxiously, beginning to flap its wings more vigorously to increase its forward speed, seemingly on the verge of giving out and trying to deliver the young woman to the Mermaid’s deck before its strength was completely exhausted.

But the signals transmitted by the young dragon and its subsequent reactions, far from relieving Roy, made her face grow increasingly pale.

Earlier, after discovering those soldiers, to avoid being hit by falling lead bullets they might fire, she had the little one increase its altitude. So the distance between her and the water surface hadn’t decreased, but had actually grown greater.

Even though the height from the Mermaid’s deck to the water surface was much higher than ordinary merchant ships, it would only reduce the distance by twenty-some meters at most.

From a height of nearly forty meters, falling into the river, with Roy’s monstrous physique and some techniques to reduce impact, there might still be a slight chance of survival.

But falling straight onto the deck from a height of twenty meters, that…

At this cursed moment, the Captain suddenly recalled a past event, something that happened when Red Beard was still alive.

At that time, due to a battle with the Constantine, a sail rope on the main mast broke, so Captain Ilias sent a sailor to repair it.

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But whether that unfortunate fellow’s hand slipped, or he hadn’t fully sobered up from the previous night’s drinking, before he could climb even halfway up the main mast, he fell with a “whoosh,” making a dull thud on the deck.

When others reacted and went to check, the guy was lying there covered in blood, already not breathing.

With the image of that fallen man’s tragic appearance before her eyes, Roy couldn’t help but swallow. She extended her other hand to grab the young dragon’s claw and shouted loudly in the downpour: “Lower your altitude, Nidhogg!”

The young dragon, pulled by the Captain’s force, nearly lost its balance. It plunged downward sharply, almost colliding with an oncoming cross beam.

Fortunately, the little one reacted quickly, using all its strength to rise upward, narrowly avoiding the tragic outcome of “dragon falling, person dying.”

However, it couldn’t prevent the Captain’s scream.

The young woman’s shriek echoed over the deck, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.

At the same time, Alfie, perched on a crossbeam, discovered their trail and precarious situation. She flew down, anxiously circling around the young dragon and the Captain, encouraging Nidhogg: “Hang on! Hang on!”

The power of language can move hearts, but ultimately couldn’t lift the increasingly heavy wings of the young dragon.

After an extremely strained descent, Nidhogg finally exhausted its strength and fell downward with the young woman. Even with Alfie using all its might to pull on the Captain’s sleeve, it was of no use whatsoever.

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With Roy’s drawn-out scream, one person, one dragon, and one bird fell rapidly, separating in midair and “falling” in different directions, or rather…

Only the Captain was truly falling downward.

“Thud!”

A muffled sound.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the young woman protected her face with both hands, managing to land safely… though the process wasn’t particularly smooth.

Not hearing the crisp sound of breaking bones, nor feeling the expected intense pain, Roy felt as if she had landed on a “cushion,” except this “cushion” not only had warmth but was also soaking wet from the downpour…

No, rather than a “cushion,” it was more like a person.

With this thought, Roy immediately opened her eyes, then after blinking rapidly, carefully lowered the arms shielding her face.

What met the young woman’s eyes was not, as she had expected, the face of some sailor whom she had nearly knocked half-dead with foam at his mouth, but that same calm expression as usual, and a pair of ocean-blue eyes filled with composure and rationality.

After a brief eye contact, the Captain smiled awkwardly: “Are you… are you hurt?”

“Not hurt.”

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Hearing the First Mate’s unwavering words, Roy felt relieved, but looking at that face, made somewhat colder by the raindrops, a rather strange feeling arose in her heart, just like when she watched him slowly open his eyes on that isolated island during their first meeting.

In fact, she didn’t particularly like that cold and detached naval officer temperament, so she had determined to break the First Mate’s calm and give him a proper shock, which led to that scene of pointing a gun at him, though it didn’t seem to work.

At the time, she hadn’t taken it to heart, but now, feeling that familiar sensation rising in her heart, she once again developed some “mischievous intentions.”

“Really?”

As the young woman pressed heavily on his ribs, looking at her “malicious” gaze, even though Caine didn’t know what she was up to, he very wisely chose to “surrender”: “If you press any harder, Captain, I might actually break a few ribs.”

Hearing that surrender that didn’t sound like pleading at all, seeing the helpless expression on her deputy’s face, the Captain smiled mischievously, just about to make some victory declaration when she sensed something odd about the atmosphere on deck.

No talking, no footsteps, not to mention the sounds of loading and firing.

Looking around the deck, although everything was pitch black, with her vision gradually adapting to the darkness, Roy could still make out the crew members gathered around, watching them, and even see the rich teasing meaning in the eyes of those nearby, and their mouths struggling not to turn upward.

“What are you all looking at? Continue firing!”

Seeing this, Roy pursed her lips and coldly ordered.

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Hearing the displeasure in the Captain’s command, as well as that subtle dangerous flavor, the crew members’ eyelids twitched violently. They hurriedly scattered like birds and beasts, rushing back to their posts in a flurry to load cannonballs and readjust trajectories.

“Fire!”

Soon, with Lance’s powerful shout, dozens of black cannon muzzles suddenly spewed fire and smoke, and the building that had already collapsed into ruins was once again engulfed in fierce artillery fire.

Roy stood up, casually pulling the First Mate to his feet, then walked to the ship’s rail, taking the telescope handed over by the Gunner Chief, and looked toward the direction illuminated by the artillery fire.

After confirming that the building had been completely destroyed and was now engulfed in raging flames, and that the man had absolutely no chance of survival, she slowly lowered the telescope, returned it to Lance, and gently shook her head at him, dispelling his thought of ordering the gunners to reload ammunition.

“Gentlemen, weigh anchor and raise the sails, we’re turning around!”

Although it had been more than half a month since they had heard the Captain’s voice or received her orders, the moment her words fell, the crew moved without hesitation, executing with terrifying efficiency. The oppressive atmosphere of the past few days seemed to have completely disappeared with her return.

“Is it all over?”

Reaching out to play with Alfie that had flown back to her shoulder, Roy turned around, looked at her deputy who had asked the question and the capable assistants gathering around, smiled and shook her head, then tilted her head slightly, looking eastward along the lightless river.

“No, it’s far from over.”