Captain – Chapter 299 – I Hope So

“Tap… tap…”

Boots trod on the creaking deck. With each step, droplets of water dripped from the scarlet coat like rainfall, hitting the ground with a rapid patter.

The blood-eyed youth walked across the still-damp deck, stepping over fish that continued to flap their tails and gasp for breath, making his way to the bow of this eerie warship.

He silently gazed ahead, as if he could see through the obstructing rocks, glimpsing the mermaid swimming toward her doom, seeing that person again.

I have returned from hell, Captain.

Richi thought silently, his blood-red eyes devoid of emotion. Only when he felt a weight at his collar and heard the crisp clicking sound near his ear did his gaze sharpen as he slowly looked down.

On the collar of his captain’s coat was a palm-sized deep gray crab, firmly gripping the fabric with its powerful claw while extending its other pincer toward the youth’s slightly pale face.

The youth and the gray crab “silently” stared at each other for a moment.

Whether sensing the terrifying nature of the person before it or paralyzed by the freezing air of the nearby North Sea, the gray crab gradually ceased movement. Even the claw gripping the clothing loosened considerably, swaying in the cold wind and threatening to fall at any moment.

Quite satisfied with this scene, Richi tore the gray crab from his collar and casually tossed it to a monster not far to his right—a creature with half its face covered in seaweed—saying in a slightly hoarse voice: “Keep it. We’ll have crab tonight.”

The monster extended a hand that had become nothing but bone, clutching the gray crab tightly, completely indifferent to the white marks its pincers left on the bones.

The seaweed on its face gradually parted, revealing a yellowed, rotting eyeball. In that eyeball was reflected the youth’s thin figure, along with undisguised ferocity and murderous intent, as if questioning what right he had to command it, or perhaps…

An overwhelming desire to tear him to pieces immediately.

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This being called Longfellow Keene was, apart from the blood craver who appeared to be a young girl but whose actual age was unknown, the only “person” on this ship with a name. The rest of the monsters were generally collectively referred to as “water ghosts.”

Under these circumstances, having a name naturally signified exceptional qualities and high status.

During their time together, Richi had not observed what made Longfellow exceptional, only knowing that in the hundreds of years before he boarded the Death Silence and became captain, Longfellow had already been Vivian’s first mate, fully responsible for all matters on the ship.

Meanwhile, the former captain, that young girl, was only responsible for determining the direction and destination of the voyage.

Beyond this, Richi also knew that all the water ghosts, including Longfellow, had an almost fanatical respect and support for Vivian. For this reason, they naturally resented him for taking the captain’s position and constantly wanted to send him to hell.

Faced with the monster’s chilling gaze, the youth showed not the slightest fear. Even his expression remained completely unchanged, maintaining pure indifference.

His gaze met Longfellow’s, and after a moment, he asked flatly: “Don’t forget who’s captain now. With that attitude, are you looking to be thrown off the ship?”

The Death Silence was no ordinary pirate ship, and naturally, there was no such thing as retirement. For these water ghosts, expulsion meant death—complete and eternal death.

Threatened, the monster’s breathing grew heavier as it silently stepped forward.

Seeing this, Richi narrowed his eyes, indicating that if the other continued with this behavior, he would unhesitatingly use some secret authority to make it truly lose its vitality and have its soul scattered.

Noticing the confrontation between the youth and Longfellow, the water ghosts working nearby silently gathered around, and the atmosphere on the deck suddenly became tense.

But just as the powder keg was about to explode, slow yet exceptionally elegant footsteps sounded from nearby, reaching everyone’s ears.

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Hearing those familiar footsteps, Longfellow twisted his neck bones several times, producing a series of crackling sounds, left a cold snort, and turned away with the gray crab in hand. From his direction, he appeared to be heading to the lower deck, to place it in the “kitchen.”

If that small room with only a broken iron pot could be called a kitchen.

With Longfellow’s departure, the water ghosts dispersed, and the area around the youth quickly became empty again, as if the tense confrontation had never happened.

Richi turned back toward the bow, his face showing no smugness of victory, because such incidents occurred almost daily.

In his view, these tattered water ghosts were countless times stupider than even the most foolish pirates under his former command. In other words, they seemed to completely lack intelligence.

“That ship stayed in the Empire much longer than you anticipated.”

Hearing the footsteps stop behind him and that “person’s” equally hoarse yet more chilling voice, the youth remained silent for a moment before saying: “I didn’t expect her to stay in that wretched place for so long either.”

“What was she doing? Preparations related to this journey?”

“No.”

The indifferent eyes of Richi flickered with reminiscence, and without much thought, he gave his answer: “I think she was just dealing with some… boring and uninteresting matters.”

Such as hatred, or perhaps gratitude.

He had never heard Roy speak of her past, but in her drunken fragments of speech, he had heard of somewhat incomplete yet still heart-wrenching tragedy, as well as the slight warmth within that tragedy.

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An ordinary person, hearing such an answer, would naturally become interested, or at least ask a few more questions until rebuffed by the youth and losing interest.

But the “person” behind him did not. After hearing that the Mermaid’s stay in the Empire was unrelated to this journey, she no longer cared about those boring and uninteresting matters. Instead, she changed the subject, asking him: “I heard your relationship with her was good. Why did you betray her later?”

Hearing that flat question, Richi slowly turned around, gazing at that bloodless yet uniquely beautiful face, which seemed the same color as the purest pearl, and calmly asked in return: “What does that have to do with you?”

“It certainly matters, because I intend to kill her, and you are on my ship.”

These two things seemed entirely unrelated, but the youth understood her meaning.

After a quiet moment, he said coldly: “I have no relationship with her. Even if we had one before, after dying by her hand, it no longer exists. If I hadn’t seen through this, how would the Lady have chosen me, trusted me?”

At the words “the Lady,” Vivian’s blood-red eyes beneath her snow-white hair rippled slightly. In this world, perhaps only that person could cause her emotions to change.

The bow of the Death Silence fell into brief silence.

Staring at those eyes, crimson like his own yet even more indifferent to life, the girl broke the stillness, saying impassively: “I don’t trust you. Over these hundreds of years, I’ve witnessed too many vile deeds from you pirates, each proving that you could betray at any moment.”

“Betray your most beloved captain, betray the Lady who brought you back from hell, betray… every word you’ve ever spoken.”

Hearing her view of pirates, Richi turned his face slightly, pulling from his pocket a small, elongated crystal bottle. Admiring the colorful little insect occasionally flapping its wings inside, he said carelessly: “You’re right. For us pirates, betrayal is just routine, depending only on how great the benefit is.”

“The Lady promised me that if I bring back that box for her, I would regain control of the Mermaid, with power of life and death over those people. It’s a good deal, so at least until I get the Mermaid, I won’t back out.”

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Although her understanding of Roy came through intelligence provided by the Lady and the accounts of this new captain of the Death Silence, Vivian knew clearly that someone of that captain’s temperament would never willingly surrender leadership of the Mermaid, let alone bow to this youth.

So for Richi to obtain that ship, there was only one way—kill her, and kill all those who supported her.

Looking at the little insect crawling back and forth in the crystal bottle, Vivian’s eyes showed a faint trace of disgust. She then gave the youth a deep look, leaving one final sentence before departing.

“I hope so.”

With those words, she turned and walked toward the captain’s cabin.

At the same time, the rocks obstructing the view in front of the Death Silence gradually parted, and through the white fog, the distant silhouette of the Mermaid became faintly visible.

“Submerge.”

The girl’s voice was somewhat faint, difficult to discern, but the numerous footsteps of the water ghosts were quite clear.

After a slight high-pitched sound, the ship body swayed slightly, followed by the urgent sound of rushing water.

“Sigh…”

Knowing that the sound of rushing water was seawater flooding into the hold and engulfing the lower deck, Richi put away the crystal bottle and sighed deeply, revealing a weary expression.

This wasn’t a sigh for his past on the Mermaid, nor disappointment at Vivian’s suspicion and vigilance toward him. He simply disliked the feeling of being immersed in seawater all day, and also… he wouldn’t be able to eat crab tonight.