Captain – Chapter 362 – The Satin

The warship was similar in specifications to the Mermaid, seemingly permanently fixed by the ice layer, devoid of vitality. Yet what made it strange was that warm light reflected from each of its portholes.

The light flickered, illuminating the intricate and beautiful characters on the stern, telling visitors the name of this legendary warship.

Roy didn’t recognize those characters because they were in ancient Auran, but upon first seeing the warship, she had already guessed its origin and knew it was the destination of her journey.

Because it was Captain Edward’s vessel that had conquered the seas, the most remarkable legend among all pirate ships—the Satin.

So the so-called Satin Island was actually the ice-encased Satin.

Looking at the increasingly closer warship, feeling the warm light falling on her face with considerable warmth, Roy thought silently, the unease in her heart that had been dispelled by the warmth surging forth again.

Even now, she didn’t know the source of this unease.

Perhaps the reason for its appearance, like the answers to all the questions she had been seeking along the way, would only be known after boarding that ship.

Finally, the iceberg was near.

The young dragon began to lower its altitude, circling the iceberg, searching for a landing spot as close as possible to the warship.

Ice crystals covered the entire deck of the Satin, forming sharp and steep peaks. Below were thick, interlaced ice ridges completely covering the hull, making it impossible to land.

After some time, the young dragon finally found a flat enough ice surface midway up the iceberg and slowly descended, placing her on it.

Releasing the Captain, Nidhogg flapped its wings, landing on the smooth ice surface, curiously observing this strange ice quality.

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Roy had seen this type of ice crystal at the ice tower before and had even tried to chisel it with a dagger. Knowing there was nothing to gain, she naturally didn’t pay much attention to it.

She just quietly looked to the side.

Whether it should be surprising or expected, at the end of this flat area on the mountainside, where it met the steep slopes above and below, there was clearly a man-made ice path. Ice steps connected the beginning and end.

On both sides of these ice steps were pairs of pillars, spaced far apart, burning with intense golden flames. The firelight intertwined with starlight, making the ice crystals’ colors appear deeper, eerily solemn, unlike anything in the mortal world.

At the end of the stairs was the devil’s palace.

Nidhogg’s birth, it seemed, was for this moment, to give me an advantage, to take a few quick steps on the celestial stairs, just like the Siren’s song, the fog wall, and the whirlpool. So…

Is my life also like this? Just a play you arranged.

This was the thought Roy had the moment she saw those ice steps. It seemed absurd and irrational, but when truly pondered, it made one’s heart grow cold.

The joys and sorrows experienced, the various passersby encountered, were actually false, deliberate arrangements. A life thought to be remarkable was nothing more than a puppet show with strings being pulled.

Such a possibility, just thinking about it, made one feel helpless, even desperate.

“I don’t believe in fate, ancestor.”

Roy didn’t despair; she just patted her cheeks to relax her somewhat oppressed mood, while softly murmuring.

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The Golden-Eyed Devil didn’t believe in fate. Even if strings were attached to her, she would cut them clean, swiftly and decisively.

Not hearing the Captain’s soliloquy clearly, the young dragon raised its head and growled at her with slight bewilderment, as if inquiring.

“It’s nothing, just random thoughts.”

The young woman smiled and shook her head, then softly instructed: “After I board that ship, stay here obediently. Don’t wander off.”

The young dragon obediently responded, indicating it understood.

Having received the response, Roy no longer hesitated. She approached the ice steps and began climbing, soon disappearing behind the ice wall.

The flames on the pillars burned silently, bringing not only bright light but also tangible warmth, as well as that closeness originating from bloodline that only the young woman could feel.

Roy walked quietly on the ice steps.

She lowered her head slightly, as if not caring about the distance to the destination, but in reality, she was forcibly resisting that feeling of closeness and comfort.

She had a strange feeling.

It was as if the higher she climbed, the closer she got to that “home,” the further she moved from the real world, viewing life and death more indifferently, as if about to transform into an emotionless devil like her ancestor.

So that dreamlike illusion on the streets of Frans Island, forgotten by all who knew her, rose in her mind again.

Don’t waste your effort; I won’t become someone like you.

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Silently reciting this, Roy continued walking with her head lowered, beginning to reminisce.

She revisited the experiences from her childhood, recalled those people she cared about and who cared about her, walking and thinking continuously, as if to light a fire through this to prevent her spirit from being frozen by the cold wind.

Because she was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice the changes around her.

Those pillars burning with flames, illuminating the path ahead, had somehow vanished without a trace. Even the natural—no, what should be called deliberately created—starlight had completely dimmed.

Not only that, the environment that should have been warm and cozy was cooling at a terrifying rate. Later, snowflakes even began to fall, cold winds rose, turning it into the true eternally dark northern region.

The Captain still had no awareness, walking forward in the darkness.

Whether because the destination was near or because it was known that such methods had no effect on a young woman of firm will, after a barely perceptible sigh, the snowstorm finally stopped.

As if sensing something, Roy awakened from her memories, raising her slightly reddened face from the cold, and looking at the pitch-black, abyss-like path ahead. Her dark golden eyes gradually brightened.

Warm light came, illuminating the ice steps.

The Satin, covered by crystalline ice layers yet still lit with light, sat before her, opening its door.

The young woman smiled silently, like a mischievous child, silently encouraging herself before quickly stepping forward and entering the hole in the middle of the ship’s cabin, just large enough for one person to pass through.

She finally boarded the Satin, standing at the convergence of her journey, centuries of conflict, and the echoes of the past.

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The calm sea surface was disturbed, rippling with waves.

Not long after Roy boarded the Satin, this sea area filled with icebergs welcomed another guest.

It was a small, completely black wooden boat, resembling a withered leaf, with a young man sitting in it.

No one knew how it had crossed the vast Ice Sea to suddenly appear here. It had no power system, not even oars for rowing.

It really looked like a coffin used for sea burial.

But this coffin-like vessel drifted along and arrived here, and in the next instant, it was already at the base of the iceberg encasing the Satin, as if crossing time and space.

At the bottom of the iceberg, there were also steps leading to the summit.

Captain Edward wasn’t a deity, didn’t love humans, yet seemed willing to treat the entire world equally.

The young man supported himself on the boat’s edge as he stood up, came to the ice steps, looked up at the endless stairs, and after a while, sighed.

“This is too high…”

With this faint complaint, the young man lowered his head, reluctantly lifted his feet to ascend, beginning the arduous journey of climbing to heaven. Soon, he became a splash of color amidst the mountain’s profound quietude.

Crimson, intense, like blood and fire.