Captain – Chapter 372 – The Mystical Sea Chart

The iceberg encasing the Satin still stood under faint starlight, wrapped in warm mist that didn’t obscure visibility and carried little chill.

On a platform halfway up the mountain.

The young dragon lay on the smooth ice layer with eyes half-closed, seemingly resting after playing, only its occasionally swaying tail proving it wasn’t asleep.

In fact, not much time had passed since Roy left.

Yawning, the young dragon knew this wasn’t a good time for sleep, but since the captain had told it not to run around, boredom had brought on drowsiness.

This wasn’t entirely its fault.

Being in an important growth phase, it had become increasingly sleepy lately—not just lazy.

As the young dragon was drowsily battling sleep, it suddenly heard a sound that, upon identification, immediately dispelled all drowsiness.

Footsteps.

But they weren’t coming down the ice stairs from above, rather approaching from below the mountain, gradually drawing closer.

This meant the owner of these footsteps wasn’t the captain, but… an enemy.

Opening its eyes, with flashes of brilliant purple, Nidhogg rose, vigilantly watching the ice stairs and adopting a combat stance.

By now, the young dragon’s size approached that of a full-grown beast, not to mention its armor-like scales and absolute air superiority.

Unless facing a well-trained, well-equipped firearms squad, or monsters like Vivian, it could generally handle most situations.

This was why Roy felt comfortable having it follow her.

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After all, Nidhogg was arguably the strongest individual combatant on the Mermaid now.

The young dragon didn’t wait long.

Though the footsteps sounded unhurried, even somewhat lazy, the upward progress was swift. The person appeared shortly after the young dragon had risen.

The first thing visible was that blood-red, fire-bright cloak.

Then came the figure shrouded within it, wearing a tricorn hat, looking like a “one-size-too-small” youth.

Reaching the middle of the mountain, Richi seemed to sense something and slowly stopped, then turned his face toward the flat ground, his blood-red eyes meeting the dragon’s purple ones.

There was no standoff or deadly silence typical of mortal enemies meeting, no sudden disturbance in the starlight or swirling winds. The youth merely paused briefly before continuing forward.

But not upward—he walked toward the young dragon.

Watching the approaching “enemy,” Nidhogg maintained its pouncing stance but, for some reason, felt no desire to attack.

Something strange about this youth evoked a sense of… affinity.

“So you’re the dragon Roy picked up?”

Arriving before the young dragon, Richi knelt on one knee, ignoring its fierce expression and the deep warning rumbles from its throat, naturally stroking its head.

Hearing the word “picked up” from the youth’s mouth, the young dragon shook its head in dissatisfaction, breaking free from his caress while growling lowly, as if in refutation.

I was destined to follow the captain, you’re the one who was picked up!

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“Don’t be so agitated. I’m not insulting you, just curious, after all…”

Richi placed his hand on its head again, stroking while explaining: “I was also picked up by her, so was Alfie. She always likes to meddle.”

From the youth’s tone, the young dragon could tell those words “likes to meddle” weren’t derogatory, and sensing this person seemed to have a close relationship with the captain, its fierceness gradually subsided.

When the young dragon was born, Richi had already fallen into eternal sleep, not yet returned from hell.

And because Roy didn’t want to recall memories that would bring heartache, she mentioned him less and less, at most saying “little bastard” a few times without elaboration.

So even though the young dragon tilted its head, pondering hard for a long time, it still had no impression of the youth, and called out in frustration, as if questioning.

“It’s normal you don’t recognize me. I had already left the ship before you were born.”

Richi lightly patted its head a few times, stood up, and said with a smile: “As for who I am, you’ll know in the future.”

The young dragon called out again, signaling persistence.

“Not now.”

The youth turned toward the ice stairs, waving his hand to indicate he wouldn’t reveal more.

Hearing the threatening low growl from behind, Richi still didn’t stop until he stepped onto the ice stairs, then turned to look at it.

“Don’t worry, I’m just going to see her, and besides…”

The youth paused, eyebrows drooping, looking quite pitiful: “I’m no match for her anyway.”

With that, he turned away and continued upward.

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Hearing this, the young dragon seemed to find some logic in it and stopped its warning calls, watching the gradually disappearing figure, hesitating for a moment before deciding not to follow.

Coming to face the captain when you can’t win? Isn’t that asking for a beating?

Thinking this, the young dragon lay back down, continuing to feign sleep to pass the time.

“Ancestor, what is this mist?”

A sea chart, not particularly large, showing signs of age with its yellowing surface, was spread out on the table, with faint mist swirling above it.

“That is the manifestation of a deity’s curse and eternal seal, which in reality appears as the ever-changing, bewildering fog that shrouds the Cursed Sea.”

Hearing the Devil’s explanation, Roy couldn’t help but be amazed, thinking how terrifying the curse and seal must be to cover an entire sea.

The sea chart on the wooden table was naturally one of the young woman’s primary objectives upon coming to Satin Island—the chart of unknown waters.

This chart was quite mystical, vastly different from the tattered old paper Roy had imagined.

Made of an unknown material, according to the Devil, it was not only indestructible but also impervious to water and fire. Even cannon fire couldn’t leave the slightest mark on it.

But this wasn’t the most amazing part.

What truly astonished Roy was that this chart wasn’t drawn by her ancestor with ordinary dyes, but was imprinted with the world’s landscapes through boundless might!

And it wasn’t just a simple imprint—through this strange paper as a medium, it established a bond with the world, allowing it to change with time.

To give a simple example:

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If the chart currently displayed scenes of Yadris, it would show, in hazy light and shadow, the general terrain, buildings, and even weather.

You could even see the fortress that had been repaired months ago, now taller and more solid.

Of course, this was limited to general environments and things that changed minimally over long periods.

“Long periods” here meant decades, so using the chart to see ships that frequently sailed or familiar figures was impossible.

Even so, the value of this sea chart far exceeded the young woman’s imagination.

If she were to—no, if she could sell it, both the Federation and the Empire would bid for it, perhaps even going to war over its strategic value.

Being able to see scenes from around the world at any time, even if unable to detect the deployment of soldiers and warships, only buildings in general, was tempting enough.

Or rather… frightening.

As for how to manipulate the chart, to shift its display to what one wanted to see, that was even simpler—just lightly press the ruby embedded at its bottom and direct your thoughts.

Roy had already mastered this skill.

“I say, Ancestor, aren’t you afraid this chart might fall into someone else’s hands and be used against you?”

Hearing the young woman’s seemingly “foolish” question, the Devil rarely rolled his eyes, appearing to doubt whether she was truly his most perfect descendant.

“Child, I’m rather curious, who do you think would dare to steal from me?”

Unless they were mad.