Captain – Chapter 329 – Only Pirates Can Deal With Pirates

When the devil’s power manifests, there won’t be time to talk about it then.

Clearly, when the girl said this, she hadn’t considered any logic or the threats they might face, but was instead…

Having a tantrum?

No, not like the willfulness of a young noblewoman, but because of some obsession, perhaps related to that black shadow passing through the sky, the girl beneath it, and what had happened in the ice tower. Specifically manifested, it was a shadow.

A shadow hidden in the depths of those blood-red eyes, yet unable to hide from him.

Richi silently gazed into Vivian’s eyes, looking at that shadow which perhaps even she hadn’t noticed. He privately made a judgment.

It was a faint fear that the girl herself couldn’t detect, not because she was truly unaware, but because it was deeply repressed. By all logic, it should have been impossible for others to notice.

But Richi was different after all.

Because of the Lady’s divine gift, he could see extremely subtle things. More importantly, that shadow was familiar to him, incredibly familiar—like an infant seeing the bed it had lain in for years, or a youth seeing the brother who had raised him.

So you can feel fear too…

The young man thought silently, but felt no contempt or mockery toward her.

Because when making that decision outside Devil’s Island—no, to be precise, when truly facing that captain until being killed by her—he had also been in that shadow. It was fear and awe from the deepest part of his heart, like shackles.

Compared to Vivian, he understood better how terrifying Roy was.

So when the girl questioned him earlier, he naturally showed weakness, in order to avoid an early encounter with the Golden-Eyed Devil.

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Yes, an early encounter.

This certainly wasn’t the only reason. As mentioned before, until being killed by Roy, he had been trapped in that shadow, unable to extricate himself, unable to take a step forward. But at the moment when his eyes closed, he saw darkness even deeper than the shadow.

How could he still fear after that?

Gratitude and death were the greatest pressures he had faced in this life.

In that war, he repaid gratitude with his life and tasted the flavor of darkness spreading throughout his body and heart brought by death. Now, having climbed up from hell, things naturally weren’t the same.

As for the true reason for not wanting to meet… only he knew.

“I have a condition.”

Richi withdrew his gaze, no longer looking at the “tantrum-throwing” girl, and said flatly.

Somewhat surprised by the young man’s reaction, and even more surprised by his words, Vivian raised an eyebrow, quickly returning to indifference: “What condition?”

She knew what he meant. Now she was being unreasonable, gambling the Lady’s grand plan, her and his lives, the crew’s lives, and everything about the Death Silence against the devil. This was an extremely risky request, completely outside the plan.

Of course he would set conditions.

This point also surprised the girl, because she had thought he would directly refuse her, grasping that authority again, and she would naturally have backed down.

Why was this?

Richi didn’t know Vivian’s confusion, nor did he have time to care about her thoughts. He said seriously: “For the remainder of this voyage, I want to ensure this ship falls completely under my control in all aspects. Of course, this includes you.”

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He wanted her to relinquish power and follow his orders.

“On what grounds?”

Finding this condition abrupt and absurd, Vivian was silent for a long time before asking with some confusion.

“You’ll only mess this up, whether it’s the Lady’s arrangements or your complete obedience to all her will without any autonomy.”

Richi’s voice was unwavering, as if he weren’t speaking of that omnipotent deity, but merely an ordinary partner.

This was indeed the pirate style.

“Are you questioning the Lady’s arrangements? She has never made a mistake.”

Hearing this, the girl’s voice grew much colder, with a hint of mockery, partly feeling he was overestimating himself, partly thinking he was being disrespectful to the Lady.

How incredibly ignorant for a mortal to dare question a deity?

“Never made a mistake?”

Richi shrugged, moving that somewhat oversized blood-red cloak, and said with a cold smile: “If that were true, why would she be forced into the current situation by Captain Edward, and why would we be left so far behind, dragged into this whirlpool?”

The young man’s words were jarring, but no fault could be found in them.

If deities truly never made mistakes, how could a devil possibly exist in the world?

If Vivian hadn’t followed her will, ordering the Death Silence to hold position and only pursue after the lighthouse light appeared, would they have needed to chase all the way to the fog wall?

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“But the Lady’s judgment was correct. That Siren was just a distraction. If we had destroyed the Mermaid earlier and killed the Golden-Eyed Devil, the Acherousian Lighthouse could never have been lit, and that fog wall would never have collapsed.”

Vivian felt uncomfortable hearing this and countered: “In that case, let alone approaching Satin Island, we couldn’t even enter the door.”

What she said was also correct, or rather, the Lady’s judgment wasn’t wrong.

The story about the ice tower and the Siren, though extremely secretive, was no secret to “people” like them.

Including Vivian, the scholar, and even the Lady, all believed that the only remaining Siren was the sole key to unlocking the mysterious veil of Satin Island.

Until the lighthouse appeared, when the Lady suddenly transmitted her will.

The meaning expressed in that will was very clear—she felt something was amiss and told Vivian not to interfere with Roy’s actions for the time being.

Feeling something was amiss actually meant intuition.

For this reason, they gave up the prime opportunity for pursuit. Looking at it now, there did seem to be an issue, but it couldn’t be called a mistake.

After all, human intuition, when applied to a deity, becomes divine will.

How could divine will be wrong?

The lighthouse shining brightly, the fog wall silently collapsing—all proved that the sole key wasn’t that Siren, but the devil’s descendant, Captain Roy.

The Lady had only made this one passive move, yet cleared all the fog on the chessboard, causing all the traps set by the devil at the lighthouse and fog wall to fail.

How remarkable was this? Where was there room for error?

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Richi agreed with this point as well, but still felt her arrangements were inappropriate: “This is due to fixed thinking. You should know that Roy is one thing, and the Mermaid is another. Since they’re enemies, settling matters earlier is the right path.”

“If we had destroyed that ship beforehand and eliminated those interfering people, Roy would have no ship and would just be an ordinary… somewhat capable pirate, unable to swim across the endless sea to reach that island. If she didn’t want to die stranded on the ice plains, she would have to board our ship.”

“At that point, with the key in our hands, what door could stop us?”

Hearing this, Vivian narrowed her eyes slightly, a dangerous cold light flashing in them: “How can you guarantee she would be willing to cooperate? Or did you plan to bring her aboard from the beginning?”

She had been tricked at the lighthouse, developing a shadow of fear toward that captain. Now, hearing the young man’s plan, she naturally exploded like a spark falling into an oil barrel, becoming extremely sensitive and vigilant.

“This is also fixed thinking.”

Richi glanced at her and explained: “For us pirates, there is no hatred that cannot be reconciled, no person who cannot be used. She used me for such a long time, even killed me once. Why can’t I turn around and use her?”

“This is the difference between me and you, and the Lady. You need to understand one thing, Vivian—it’s not that deities are inferior to pirates, but that deities are too proud, unwilling to understand more deeply, or even become pirates.”

This wasn’t entirely correct, because deities weren’t proud; it was just an innate indifference, feeling no need to care about human thoughts, just as humans view ants.

“If Lady Annisdora were willing to enter the mortal realm, willing to take to the sea as a pirate, I dare say she would be the most remarkable pirate in history. Even Captain Edward couldn’t compare to her. At that point, how could those despicable tricks deceive her?”

Richi turned his eyes back, gazing distantly at the Mermaid ahead, saying expressionlessly: “But she would never be willing. So being deceived is normal, because what we’re best at is deceiving people, whether it’s cheating them out of money, seducing them, or even divine power.”

“And the reason she brought me back from hell and made that deal with me is naturally because she already understood and accepted this point, knowing that on this sea…”

“Only pirates can deal with pirates.”