Captain – Chapter 339 – Convince Me to Betray Him

This is our world, and everything that happens on it, all that we experience and sacrifice for, is the meaning of our existence.

The gods are too lofty; they can afford not to care about everything.

Humans caught in between, however, have no choice but to care.

Roy easily grasped the meaning behind these words. The confusion in her eyes dispersed like fog, and she no longer dwelled on these meaningless questions, instead adopting a posture of attentive listening.

The story wasn’t finished, so naturally, she needed to hear the rest.

“After I obtained that tear, Edward didn’t immediately execute his plan. Instead, he remained peacefully in the Southern Islands for nearly twenty years.”

Looking at the young woman with a flash of admiration in his eyes, Isaac continued in a deep voice: “During those twenty years, he never revealed anything about this matter. Instead, he proceeded according to his nature, implementing construction and control over the Southern Islands, while recruiting widely.”

“Those fanatical followers who rallied to him were born during this period. And those unremarkable names that appeared on the list also blazed with the most brilliant light during this relatively long era.”

“They became the original nine legendary pirates.”

At this point, the “Old Pirate’s” face finally showed some lamentation, for he too had once been one of those nine, even the first person that Captain Edward had bestowed the title of legend upon. Yet later, he became the mortal enemy of all pirates.

“Time can wash away many things, including memories. Those twenty years were the most beautiful times that I—that the Southern Islands—had ever experienced. They laid the foundation for the Golden Age.”

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“If not for that list and the wooden carving I kept hidden with me all along, I might have thought that conversation was merely a dream.”

“Back then, everyone, including myself, believed that Edward would become the king of a new era, that he would establish a prosperous nation in the Southern Islands, leading us—leading this world—out from under Auran’s shadow to become a second Stephen I.”

Seeing the strange look in Roy’s eyes, Isaac understood what she was thinking and said gently: “At that time, the Southern Islands were just emerging, without such a long history yet. The pirates who had come there hadn’t forgotten their past lives and naturally wanted to return to civilization.”

If one could live well in the civilized world, who would choose to be a pirate?

The world is still like this today, and the people of the Southern Islands when they were first established were naturally the same. They probably still had feelings for the Federation, other countries, and even Auran. They might have been homesick, possibly even planning to return once they had achieved something.

Of course, if they truly couldn’t go back, turning the Southern Islands into a nation would be good too.

If they could be free from Auran oppression, that would be even better.

Understanding the thoughts of people from the past, Roy nodded slightly to show her comprehension.

“It’s normal for people to have such thoughts, but what gave us such hope was Edward himself.”

Isaac’s feelings toward that man were incredibly complex, but as he spoke of this, his face still involuntarily showed reverence: “You cannot imagine what Edward symbolized in that era. He was simply a born leader, a born king.”

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“If he had truly established a nation, he would certainly have outshone Stephen I. He definitely could have led the Southern Islands—led us—to build a great and glorious civilization. If that had happened, none of what followed would have occurred.”

The “Old Pirate’s” tone grew downcast, his deep eyes no longer hiding his sorrow: “But not only did he fail to do so, he treated everyone except himself as pawns in that grand scheme, as sacrifices on his path to godhood.”

“After twenty years—peaceful and serene years—came the escalating chaos between the Southern Islands and the Empire, and the imminent, irreconcilable war.”

“But do you know what the truth behind those wars was?”

“What… was it?” Roy asked in an almost whisper, her dark golden eyes trembling as she vaguely guessed something.

“It was the least important link in that plan.”

The “Old Pirate’s” words made the temperature in the room plummet.

Isaac said bitterly: “To find a flawless opportunity to meet the Lady and conduct a transaction, he prepared for twenty whole years, drawing the curtain of his grand plan with countless lives and endless blood.”

“The Auran Empire’s military preparations and their initiation of the decisive battle, the things he told the people of the Southern Islands, his visions, including that false transaction and the tip of the iceberg of truth he deliberately revealed to me… all of it was fake.”

“Every event, every emotion, everything was an illusion.”

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The “Old Pirate” paused before adding flatly: “All just for himself.”

This statement betrayed no emotion, yet it made one feel a bone-chilling coldness, as well as the desolation of being used, betrayed, and discarded as useless dust.

All the glory and splendor, the thousands of followers and sacrifices, all for one man.

How heartless, how terrifying.

After hearing these words that concealed countless breathtaking scenes, even Roy couldn’t help but be dumbfounded, marveling at Captain Edward’s coldness and terrifying methods.

The great war as a curtain, the deity as a knife, countless lives as steps beneath his feet—even the betrayal of the equally great First Mate Isaac was just a mundane move in his game. Whether it was to drag the Lady into the game or to take the opportunity to eliminate this powerful threat.

In that era, the only one who could stand opposite Captain Edward, who could threaten his grand undertaking, was this First Mate.

That was why there had been those sleepless nights of conversation between the two. It was a funeral prepared by the devil for the deity, but wasn’t it also a trap set for this First Mate?

“You know the rest of the story.”

Like some kind of connection, after the “Old Pirate’s” statement, the Captain truly linked together all those magnificent epics.

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The Lady fell into the trap, and Edward transformed into a devil.

The devil was suddenly betrayed, and great men took action.

After this came the centuries-long game of chess between deity and devil, until she herself was chosen, entering the game under the guidance of fate. She experienced Devil’s Island, the Victoria, the Acherousian Lighthouse, approaching the location of the magical box, formally signifying this game’s entry into its final phase.

Taking a deep breath, Roy lowered her eyelids slightly. Her typically calm and untroubled heartstrings were disturbed by something unknown and could no longer find peace.

She could no longer see the path ahead, and even less the true nature of that devil.

So she could only stare at the “Old Pirate” before her, because he was the person in the world who best understood that devil, and also because she knew he still had more to say—those reasons, unknown to anyone else, for his betrayal of Edward.

And that persuasion.

If I am truly your chosen one, the one you waited hundreds of years for on that ghostly ship, enduring endless suffering for the chosen of fate, then…

Convince me.

Convince me to betray him.