Captain – Chapter 470 – The Scholar in the Dream

As the call faded, everything became real.

The deck beneath his feet, the approaching crew members, and the raindrops so cold they seemed about to freeze.

“I still have some unfinished business.”

With no time to understand the cat’s meaning, Caine nodded slightly to the three approaching sailors, responding briefly, then asked with feigned casualness: “Roughly where are we now?”

He was asking about the Mermaid’s position.

The pirates exchanged glances, thinking that the captain had set the course just this morning, which the first mate himself had announced, so why was he now asking them? Oh, could it be…

Was this the legendary routine inspection?

Recalling the rumors circulating in the Southern Islands about Auran military officers conducting surprise inspections at any time, the sailors’ minds suddenly tensed. The leader hastily reported: “First Mate, sir, we are currently in the Far North, heading toward the Annalian Ice Plains.”

Annalian Ice Plains…

“Very good, I understand.”

Gesturing for the pirates to continue their patrol without minding him, the first mate recalled this place name, and soon determined that he must be at the stage between first entering the Far Northern waters and the midpoint to the ice plains, though he couldn’t narrow the timeframe more precisely.

This must be the dream the cat mentioned, but it had also said this dream was his, which suggested the captain shouldn’t be here. And why had it chosen this particular time…

The questions were endless, like countless tangled threads.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to untangle them himself.

“Meow.”

Rеaԁ oո КаtRеаⅾіոgСаfе

Hearing that familiar, flat call, Caine turned around, lowered his head slightly, and saw the cat sitting upright before a wooden door, impatiently urging him to follow.

Seeing the young man follow as “instructed,” the Siamese cat stood up, wagged its tail with its back to him, then leaped down to the lower deck, leading him through a maze of familiar passages.

After a while, the cat stopped, indicating they had arrived.

It was a not-so-spacious room near the stern, originally used for storing miscellaneous items, but chosen by its occupant for its remote location, where no one disturbed him, making it sufficiently quiet.

The guest who had stayed in this storage room for nearly half a year was Admiral Isaac Hedler, or no, at this time he should still be called Bivis, that frail scholar.

“Meow.”

Seeing the cat indicating him to enter, the first mate’s expression was somewhat complex, unsure of how to face this “old pirate” with his contradictory identity and intentions. After a slight hesitation, he knocked on the door.

The man had once pulled the girl back from the depths of despair; Caine could only hope he would help her again.

“Please come in.”

The voice from behind the door was as gentle as ever.

Caine’s tension and depression seemed to dissipate like being brushed by a gentle breeze, easing considerably, as if seeing the light of a lighthouse on a stormy sea.

The wooden door opened silently, and man and cat entered in succession.

Still wearing a snow-white robe, looking frail, the scholar closed the thick book before him, raised his eyes to the young man, and said politely: “First Mate, I believe I’ve made myself quite clear. Before the right moment comes, all I can tell the captain is that one sentence.”

At this point, the first mate understood that he was currently in the first night after entering the icy sea, and he had just followed the captain’s request to invite the scholar over, but without success.

Rеαԁ οn ΚatRеαⅾіոɡСafе

Listen to the song beneath the eternal night, for that is the beacon that guides the way.

This cryptic phrase that had puzzled both him and the captain at the time was now fully understood by Caine, but tonight, this was not his purpose: “Yes, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, the scholar was quite surprised and asked: “Then, First Mate, how may I be of service?”

With those words, the room fell into a brief silence.

No matter how carefully he chose his words, the first mate didn’t know how to begin, because the situation was truly absurd.

Aside from explaining this dream and the other’s existence, just clearly stating the captain’s current condition and the help he sought was already as bizarre as a mythological tale.

Although the person before him was equally a figure of legend, could he really accept all this?

Accept that he was merely a phantom in a dream?

“Admiral Isaac, the captain, she…”

After remaining silent for a while, unable to find a solution, Caine took a deep breath, prepared to forge ahead and explain the complex situation in full, but he was interrupted as soon as he began.

Raising his hand to stop the young man from continuing, the scholar changed his usually gentle demeanor, his face solemn, his gaze flickering as if pondering where he had revealed a weakness.

And why it was the first mate, who had little to do with the matter, rather than the captain, who was exposing him.

“First Mate, what did you just… call me?”

Reaԁ оո КαtReаⅾiոɡСαfе

With no clue himself, the scholar pondered for a long while before throwing out what seemed like a probing question.

“Admiral Isaac.”

Hearing the other’s unperturbed answer, the scholar retracted his hand somewhat stiffly, completely abandoning that trace of wishful thinking, and asked with a grim expression: “You… knew all along?”

In reality, the captain might have had suspicions early on, while I only learned your identity at the very end.

The first mate thought silently, but before he could explain, the scholar seemed to suddenly realize something, his expression becoming quite strange as he began to scrutinize him.

“No, something’s wrong here.”

Murmuring as if to himself, the scholar quickly shook his head, denying his previous view: “I should say that apart from you, I, everyone else on the ship, even the entire world, has a problem.”

“You are out of place with us, like a stranger who appeared out of nowhere, but what you represent is the real aspect. This is very interesting, because this suggests…”

“This is just your dream.”

Stunned as he listened to the scholar’s continuous reasoning, until he reached his final conclusion, Caine only then reacted, shock hidden in his blue eyes, unable to comprehend the situation.

“But that doesn’t make sense either. If I haven’t misjudged, you are definitely just a mortal, and mortals’ dreams are all illusions. How could they understand, reach, or even configure?”

“Unless you possess some special identity, and with the aid of a special medium, only then…”

The scholar analyzed verbosely, immersed in this “interesting” phenomenon, showing no intention of stopping to hear the young man’s explanation, until someone who could bear it no longer voiced a protest.

“Meow.”

Rеad oո ΚаtRеaⅾinɡСаfe

The words immediately halted. The scholar raised an eyebrow, looking toward the source of the sound, his eyes showing disbelief.

Then, he saw the cat that had jumped onto the table.

And so all the aforementioned questions dissipated like clouds, but simultaneously, more questions arose.

“Oh, tell me you’re not my hallucination.”

Standing up slowly while supporting himself on the table, the scholar stared intently at the cat, at those gorgeous blue eyes looking directly back at him, and after a long while, said with a bitter smile: “How can you be here, Mango?”

“Meow.”

The cat responded with dissatisfaction, telling him not to use that name, while using the simplest “language” to explain the changes in this world afterward and the girl’s current situation.

In this, Caine only caught vague fragments such as “don’t call me that,” “you’re dead,” “she has taken that path,” but the scholar seemed to understand completely, pinching his chin thoughtfully and saying: “It has already come to this?”

“Meow.” The cat repeated the “you’re dead” fragment.

“I know, you don’t need to remind me.”

Glaring at it with annoyance, the scholar sighed lightly, saying with some satisfaction: “What does it matter? I should have died long ago; living on in a state worse than death was all for those obsessions. Now that everything is about to be fulfilled, what regrets could I have?”

Looking at the young man who was constantly watching him, the scholar smiled and said: “Let’s focus our attention…”

“On that path.”