Captain – Chapter 343 – How Annoying

“A vessel built from curses will naturally perish when those curses vanish. If the Box is completely destroyed, allowing the power that symbolizes the rules to return beyond the shore, the Death Silence will naturally revert to the Taranhof. Once that happens, it will no longer pose any threat to you.”

The warship named Taranhof was the Castein family’s most precious possession. Its various designs and craftsmanship, even by today’s standards, would still be at the forefront of sailing warships, possessing battle capabilities not inferior to ordinary military vessels.

But even so, once it lost its magical power, it would be nothing before the Mermaid.

Roy understood this point, but her face showed no delight at learning her enemy’s weakness. Her eyebrows raised slightly, occasionally twitching, looking quite helpless.

“Admiral Isaac, if I could obtain the Lady’s Box before the Mermaid is sunk, why would I need to worry about the threats posed by that ship, or its weaknesses?”

The young woman pouted and complained: “Isn’t what you’ve told me the same as telling me nothing?”

Destroying the source of a curse to eliminate its manifestations was the most obvious, direct, and universal method of breaking curses and countering them. For Roy, who frequently encountered strange phenomena, this was no secret at all.

“This is the only way to banish the Death Silence.”

The “Old Pirate” seemed to have anticipated the young woman’s response and calmly added: “Besides, trying to destroy that ghost ship is impossible, but if you just want to temporarily halt its pursuit, you can use the same methods as you would against ordinary warships.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly faced with this turn in the conversation, but hearing only a solution so simple it hardly counted as a method, Roy let out a surprised sound and stammered: “This… this will work?”

The Captain truly found it hard to believe that the Death Silence could be driven back so easily.

If she hadn’t harbored great caution toward it, she wouldn’t have first instructed Caine to avoid battle, and even after her return, she wouldn’t have had any thought of turning back—not even the slightest.

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Now, hearing such an assertion so abruptly, she was somewhat dazed by the contrast.

“A ghost ship is still a ship.”

Knowing that this conversation was probably drawing to a close and that there would be no bloodshed, the “Old Pirate” stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and selected his reading material for the night, while casually saying: “Although the Death Silence can repair itself, that still takes time. If damaged severely enough, it will still be paralyzed.”

“If you want to face it head-on, there’s no need to worry excessively to the point of being timid. You just need to find a way to counter that ghostly fire.”

Because their specifications and models were similar, the Death Silence’s firepower was comparable to the Mermaid’s. If you didn’t count those difficult-to-extinguish ghostly flames, then in terms of destructive power and ability to impair enemy ships’ mobility, it was actually slightly inferior.

So Isaac’s view wasn’t wrong. As long as they found a way to extinguish that ghostly fire and prevented the Water Ghosts from the Death Silence from having a chance to board, in terms of naval battle alone, the Mermaid indeed had a chance to disable it to the point where it couldn’t sail.

Of course, that was the most they could hope to achieve.

“Do you know how to extinguish the fire?”

Roy scratched her cheek and continued down the chain of questions, but quickly turned her thoughts elsewhere, knowing that asking this question was a waste of effort.

If the “Old Pirate” knew, he wouldn’t have stayed away from the hold earlier.

“I truly don’t know, but I think this problem will be solved soon, because before long, we might welcome a special guest.”

Just as the Captain was silently mocking herself, Isaac had already returned to the table with a thick stack of books, smiling as he placed them on the table.

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But the conversation ended there.

Afterward, no matter how Roy pressed for more information, the “Old Pirate” didn’t reveal anything about this guest, only saying that if she herself was willing, she would definitely come. All they could do in this matter was wait patiently.

Finally, the negotiation came to a complete end.

After the wooden door closed, the small room returned to silence, with only the sound of burning candles and the slight friction of turning pages.

When the footsteps outside had disappeared into the distance, Isaac raised his head again, looking at the tightly closed wooden door, complicated emotions flashing through his eyes.

Determination, relief, and deeply hidden guilt.

Guilt toward his beloved.

Because of the curse he bore and the connection with the deity’s tear in that wooden carving, as long as they weren’t too far apart, the divine consciousness contained in the tear could see, hear, and sense everything he could sense.

It could even communicate with him directly.

But from the beginning of this negotiation until its end, that wooden carving had seemed like an ordinary inanimate object, without the slightest change.

The Lady had silently listened to everything without revealing any emotion, nor had she communicated with him in the slightest through that strand of divine consciousness.

Whether it was trust or indifference, he didn’t know.

Only when the wooden carving was taken by Caine and left the room did it finally emit a faint, indecipherable sigh.

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A sigh that only Isaac himself could hear.

The sigh seemed to still echo in his ears, as if he had returned to countless years ago when he first made his choice. The “Old Pirate” no longer touched the books on the table but lowered his head, his arms hanging limply at his sides, trembling unceasingly.

Then the trembling gradually stopped.

“Forgive me… Annisdora.”

No one heard the “Old Pirate’s” emotionally charged, guilty yet determined prayer, not even the all-knowing deity and devil.

Since Caine still had to arrange some matters, such as specific personnel assignments and encouraging crew members whose resolve was wavering, Roy returned to the Captain’s quarters alone.

Raven and the young dragon were already waiting for her inside.

She didn’t know who had let them back in, but just looking at their soaking wet appearance and drooping eyelids, they had obviously had enough play.

So when the Captain returned, they only made symbolic sounds of welcome, barely expressing their greeting. Alfie was even too lazy to speak.

Roy simply adjusted her clothes a bit and, with a face full of weariness, climbed into bed without making any plans for the upcoming voyage and battle.

Firstly, with the lighthouse beam as a guide and the need to race against time with the Death Silence, their route would inevitably be the most direct straight line, with no alternatives. As for the battle…

That ghost ship would probably take quite a long time to cross the whirlpool, so there was no rush to prepare; at least, the urgency wasn’t so pressing.

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Secondly, she was tired.

Truly tired, both physically and mentally.

Although the eternal night had dispersed, the heavy rain continued, making it still difficult to judge the passage of time. During this period of unknown length, she had experienced too many events and faced too many choices.

Those deductions, battles, decisions, and psychological games involved matters that were too grand and complex. Everyone in this game, whether friend or foe, was an extremely challenging figure. With one thing after another, even she felt deeply pressured and mentally exhausted.

But these weren’t the most critical issues.

What truly made her feel at a loss, even somewhat helpless, was the question brought forth by Isaac revealing his identity and stating his position.

Devil and deity—whom should she ultimately choose?

Or… should she choose neither?

Roy climbed over the young dragon’s tail, which was dragging off the edge of the bed, and crawled to the porthole at the side of the bed like a little fox returning from a hunt empty-handed and hungry.

She didn’t know. She truly didn’t know.

The young woman pressed her temple against the cold window, gazing at the alternately bright and dim sea, her gaze somewhat unfocused. In her dark golden pupils, usually full of imposing majesty and dignity, there was now only profound weariness and a rarely seen trace of vulnerability.

How annoying.