Captain – Chapter 318 – Hidden Motives

“I don’t think negotiation between us is necessary, Captain Roy.”

Facing this sudden, shocking statement, Vivian showed little reaction. She merely walked a few steps forward, her tone completely flat.

In her view, the shattering of the cat’s eye stone was this young woman’s declaration of war against the Lady and all her followers, indicating she had firmly taken her place beside the devil, unwavering.

With this as the premise, any negotiation would be meaningless.

“I understand why you’d say that, but whether you believe it or not, that incident was just an accident. I think if the Lady understood my difficulties, she would surely understand.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Roy spoke with feigned solemnity, as if she truly had “extenuating circumstances.”

“Difficulties?”

Vivian narrowed her eyes, repeating the word hoarsely, clearly disbelieving.

But Roy didn’t see it that way, because the other had stopped walking. Though her expression remained indifferent, she obviously had interest in hearing more.

“Yes, difficulties—those damned things everyone uses as an excuse.”

Roy sighed lightly, walking toward Vivian to her surprise, explaining: “Everyone has a unique past, either beautiful or tragic. Unfortunately and coincidentally, you and I both have the latter.”

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Seeing the young woman raise an eyebrow slightly, the captain smiled and explained: “I know you’re surprised that I understand your past, but in fact, it’s also quite a coincidence.”

“For certain reasons, my ship carries a scholar cursed by the Lady. He’s very knowledgeable about secrets buried in the river of history, including your story.”

Hearing this, Vivian’s eyebrow lowered, no longer surprised.

She knew the person the captain was referring to, understood the true identity of that so-called “scholar,” and thus everything could be explained.

“Your background is tragic, and mine isn’t much different. The difference is that you were fortunate enough to receive the Lady’s favor. But I’m different—my current glory was built by countless life-risking battles.”

“Can you imagine an eight-year-old child escaping prison alone, fleeing who knows how far, overcoming countless life-threatening challenges, finally managing to go to sea by working illegally on smuggling ships? And that was just the beginning.”

With a few simple sentences, Roy condensed countless storms, dark nights, and pain. What that small child experienced wasn’t the adventure from fairy tales—there were no fairies, no pumpkin carriages, only deep and cruel reality.

Perhaps because her own childhood was similarly tragic, or perhaps because she could imagine such scenes, Vivian didn’t interrupt, but silently watched the approaching captain.

But in the depths of those blood-red eyes, intense vigilance remained, always ready to meet the other’s violent attack.

After all, engaging in close combat with the Golden-Eyed Devil was something even Richi was unwilling to face.

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Yet even when Roy stood before Vivian, when they were well within the effective range of the curved saber, she still showed no intention of attacking.

Seeing this, Vivian’s eyes flashed with momentary bewilderment.

“Do you know what kept me going all this time?”

Hearing the captain’s calm question that nonetheless seemed incredibly heartbreaking, Vivian remained silent, waiting for her to provide the answer.

“My thirst for power.”

Roy lowered her eyelids slightly, speaking softly: “Because without power, my mother and I lost everything, were driven from our farmstead, endured a night of cold rain, which worsened my mother’s illness. She couldn’t hold on for long before leaving me forever.”

“Because without power, even though I knew I was being deceived and used, I could do nothing about it, could only be thrown back into prison, beaten until covered in wounds by the jailers, approaching death countless times.”

“And all this was just to please that hypocritical person. They even tortured a child to force a confession. Although I never confessed in the end, I could only wait to be sent to the gallows, to die for trumped-up charges.”

“I’ve experienced too much powerlessness, countless betrayals. Therefore, from the moment I could control my own destiny, I secretly vowed that no matter what, I would obtain power, become strong by any means necessary. Only this way could I make those people pay.”

“So the Lady guessed correctly—the desire I can’t escape from deep inside is everything contained in the word ‘strength.’ However…”

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After a long silence, Roy smiled bitterly: “This is what I want, but it’s intertwined with countless hatreds and pains. It’s not a condition I can bring to the table, nor something Lady Annisdora can grant me.”

Raising her eyes, feeling the meaning in Vivian’s gaze, the captain’s smile faded as she shook her head seriously: “I don’t mean to belittle the Lady, but in my eyes, only power I’ve truly obtained myself can be considered reliable.”

“Divine favor, an emperor’s esteem, and other similar external help don’t count as true power. At most, I can use them, but I won’t consider them my own.”

“But my refusal of the Lady wasn’t for this reason. I merely recalled some unpleasant, nightmare-like memories, which caused that intense reaction. To be honest, by the time I came to my senses, everything had already happened, too late for regrets.”

If Roy’s words were a mixture of truth and falsehood, they were surely nine parts truth and one part lie. Combined with her genuine emotional expression, even Caine might not detect any inconsistency in a short time, let alone Vivian, whom she had never met before.

Therefore, naturally, though this Blood Craver still didn’t fully believe, she had already accepted three parts of the captain’s explanation.

“These are my difficulties. Though it may be too late, I still wanted to tell you, as an explanation to the Lady as well.”

Having finished, Roy spoke no more, only quietly and “sincerely” gazing at the young woman, watching those slightly rippling blood-red eyes, waiting for her choice.

Whether to accept this explanation, clear up the misunderstanding and proceed with negotiations, or to treat those words as air, draw weapons and fight to the death—it all hinged on her decision.

Soon, Vivian spoke.

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But she didn’t give the captain an answer, instead asking: “Those people in your story you just mentioned, what happened to them?”

Suddenly hearing such a question, even Roy was momentarily stunned, but she quickly recovered, her face breaking into a warm smile: “The masterminds are all dead. Those who hurt me most cruelly are also dead. After all, they weren’t good people. Dying by my hand wasn’t particularly unjust.”

“As for those whose crimes didn’t warrant death, I didn’t go looking for trouble with them. Ultimately, they weren’t the masterminds, just acting out of desire-driven evil, so I…”

“No, you’re wrong.”

Vivian expressionlessly interrupted the captain’s narrative.

Just as Roy’s smile faltered slightly, wondering which part she had said wrong, she heard words she never imagined from the young woman’s lips.

As if recalling something, Vivian’s blood-red eyes dimmed somewhat, but they contained no disappointment, only hatred cold to the extreme: “You should have killed them all. Regardless of the reason, anyone who aided evildoers…”

“Should die.”

Hearing this, the smile at the corner of Roy’s mouth grew even wider, as if genuinely delighted to have gained the other’s understanding, or perhaps…

Like a fox’s smugness after a successful scheme.