Captain – Chapter 326 – All Are Madmen

Black waves came from afar, one after another, like ink, quickly shattered into spraying white foam by the Mermaid.

Thanks to the mermaid figurehead with closed eyes in prayer at the bow, the crew felt no tremors at all, but they could still hear from the deafening tidal sounds that the force of the waves was constantly growing stronger. At this stage, even Auran warships would likely be unable to withstand it.

Yet the Mermaid and the Death Silence continued to sail smoothly forward, as if this terrifying storm didn’t exist.

Even more miraculous was the silver-white path of light between the two warships, like a galaxy, or more like a connecting bond, tying them together, inseparable.

That was the Lady’s blessing upon the Death Silence, and equally a curse upon the Mermaid.

As long as it existed, the Mermaid could not escape the hunt. Let alone freedom, even survival would be difficult to maintain.

Roy understood this clearly, and naturally had the crew make numerous attempts.

But whether dropping heavy objects to drive it away, or detonating gunpowder barrels to kill schools of fish, nothing had any effect. Those glowing sea fish defied their natural instincts, fearless of death, endless in number—it was impossible to kill them all.

Thus that silver chain-like path of light became, in the crew’s minds, an inescapable fate, causing their faces to pale and their lips to tremble incessantly.

Roy had no good solution for this either.

She stood at the helm, steering the ship, looking down at the deck, her eyes reflecting the varied expressions of the crew.

To the captain’s surprise, those feeling fear or even despair made up only a small portion of the crew. Most were checking their weapons, standing by the cannons, ready to fire at any moment.

Ben was mobilizing the sailors, Harriet was polishing her curved sword, Lance was making final checks on each cannon, Daniel was aiming a firearm that seemed too large for his height at what lay behind them, and even the usually unseen ship’s doctor had appeared on deck with his medical kit.

These important figures were all making preparations, too busy to care about other matters.

The crew members rushed about with even greater urgency, dispersing their inner tension with busy, hurried rhythms. In this atmosphere, that fear and floating despair on the Mermaid seemed to become like a splash in the sea, vanishing without a sound.

“How is it?”

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The first mate stood beside the girl, watching the pirates moving back and forth without disorder, and suddenly asked.

Whether on the old Mermaid or the reborn one, Roy rarely—or rather, never—managed the crew. Various arrangements, comforting and winning people’s hearts, and many other tasks were completed by capable assistants like Ben.

And those responsible for controlling the overall situation and balancing power figures were naturally the two successive first mates.

From this perspective, they were the true masters of the Mermaid, while the girl seemed more like a figurehead honorary captain.

Of course, everyone knew this wasn’t the case.

After Red Beard closed his eyes in eternal rest, throughout the Mermaid’s journey, the true and only soul had been the Golden-Eyed Devil. She was the Mermaid’s undefeated flag, the faith and pillar of all crew members, whether past, present, or distant future.

“Not bad.”

Giving her assessment, Roy’s gaze swept across the deck as she added with a smile: “Although they still fall short compared to the people of the past, I think with more experience following your captain, and more encounters with things like what’s behind us, they have a fair chance of catching up.”

To be able to maintain such composure in the face of the Death Silence upon first sight, executing orders and preparing for battle despite the pressure and fear those monsters brought—this would be considered exceptional not just among pirates, but even in the Imperial Navy.

Yet from Roy’s lips, they could only receive an above-average evaluation.

This wasn’t the captain teasing her first mate or deliberately underestimating his abilities, nor was it unfamiliarity or distance from the current crew. It was simply because the Mermaid of the past had been too brilliant, and the figures gathered around her were even more remarkable.

Richi, Old John, Victor, Lance, even Cassius whom she deliberately suppressed—which one wasn’t a notorious, terrifyingly capable figure on the sea?

When they stood together, not only was Solomon, who sought to reclaim Yadris, no match, but even Roy herself had been driven into a desperate situation. If not for some of them remembering old feelings and returning to her side, even with the devil’s power upon her that night, she would have had no path but death.

Not to mention the Fighting Squad members who had battled true monsters, the sailors who had raced against time with ghost ships, the gunners who had destroyed countless Auran warships…

Compared to such people, the current crew naturally fell short. Without those individuals, even the Mermaid itself could be said to have suffered a severe blow, no longer as powerful as before.

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But Roy wasn’t disappointed; rather, she was quite satisfied.

Because the current Mermaid already had the embryonic form of its past self, with hearts more united. So what if they couldn’t yet compare to those traitors?

After all, she was still here.

Her past self had raised a little bastard, cultivated such a terrifying force, and led the Mermaid to dominate the Eastern Seas. Naturally, she could do so again.

But first, she had to solve the problem of that broken ship behind them.

“Captain, there seems to be an issue ahead.”

Hearing the crew’s alarmed cries and Caine’s somewhat grave reminder, Roy gathered her thoughts and gazed into the distance ahead of the Mermaid. The next moment, her dark golden eyes were illuminated by a sudden flash of lightning, reflecting a grayish-white ocean.

It wasn’t the actual ocean, but a bank of fog.

But this fog was too vast, spreading horizontally for countless miles, connecting the black sea below to the churning clouds above, reaching from heaven to earth. It stood there like an insurmountable giant wall, as if to block the path of all who wished to advance.

Even the beam of light that cut through the eternal night could not penetrate that eerie fog.

At this moment, the Mermaid was less than a thousand meters from that wall of fog. By all logic, such an imposing presence should have been discovered much earlier, even with thin sea mist obscuring it. It seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh, finally here.”

Roy murmured softly, as if she had been waiting for its appearance all along.

Before reaching the Annalian Ice Plains, the captain had already deduced that under the Lady’s protection, the Mermaid could not escape the Death Silence’s pursuit. She had even calculated the time it would take to be caught, or rather, to be dragged into hell.

But from beginning to end, she hadn’t shown the slightest worry.

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Because Roy knew that the devil would never let such a thing happen.

He had established the Acherousian Lighthouse, effectively exposing Satin Island to the world, presenting that magical box before his mortal enemy. He must have known what would happen if the box fell into the Lady’s hands.

Given that, he naturally had to ensure that the box would fall into the hands of his chosen one.

Even if, because his opponent was a deity, he couldn’t completely control the game, he would at least ensure that his descendant could gain the advantage and reach Satin Island first.

Lighting the lighthouse fire and making Satin Island appear in the world with the blood of the devil’s descendant was for this purpose.

This wall of fog that reached from heaven to earth with no visible end, the scene behind the wall, or the imagination that Roy had once had but never realized—these too were for this purpose.

“Captain?”

This was Caine’s call, awakening Roy from her complex thoughts.

“Captain, we’re about to—to—to crash!”

This was Daniel’s nervous reminder from the lookout post.

By now, the boy had put down his firearm and shifted his attention from the Death Silence to this approaching giant wall. His voice grew higher with tension and panic.

Roy suddenly felt these dialogues were familiar.

What followed was the somewhat chaotic warning voices of the crew, and another sentry’s urgent report: “Captain, the Death Silence is less than a sea mile away from us!”

Less than a sea mile meant the Mermaid would soon be within the other ship’s firing range. No one knew how far the Death Silence’s cannons could reach, so naturally the sentry was anxious.

And even if the enemy fired at such a strained distance, it wouldn’t take much time for the Mermaid to fall within effective firing range.

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In other words, the Mermaid didn’t have much time left.

The crew all understood this, so the noise on deck gradually diminished, finally falling completely silent. Everyone turned their gaze toward the silent captain, waiting for her decision.

Seeing this scene, the girl’s sense of déjà vu grew stronger.

She pondered in vain, unconsciously raising her head to look at the approaching fog wall, which seemed so substantial it might shatter the Mermaid to pieces. Suddenly, she understood the crew’s concerns.

Then she remembered some past events and knew why all this felt familiar.

Because many years ago, on a warship named the Ghost Scythe, she had experienced a similar situation.

Just like the Mermaid now, the Ghost Scythe then was about to crash into the Victoria.

Just like Daniel now, she as a young person then had frantically reminded that madman.

Just like the crew now, all the people then had waited for that shadow of night to make a decision.

It was all exactly the same.

“Enzo, you truly were a madman, but now it seems…”

Roy gripped the helm tightly, showing no intention of changing course. A faint gleam of madness flashed in her eyes as her lips curled slightly, and she whispered as if in a dream.

“I am just the same.”

In the pouring rain and thunder, under the sweeping gale, the Mermaid raised all sails, advancing at full speed, heading straight for that wall of fog without hesitation!

As if to crash through that endless eternity.