Captain – Chapter 473 – Gone

“It’s right… here.”

Hearing the first mate’s murmur as if awakening from a dream, the scholar smiled with satisfaction, unhurriedly closing the booklet, speaking as if in both acknowledgment and farewell: “Yes, child, it’s right here, on this ship, so hurry. If it starts ticking again…”

“That means the countdown has begun.”

As the “old pirate” finished speaking, Caine felt his vision blur. The scene before him seemed to be covered by a layer of fog. The white candle on the wooden table, the pile of books, and that kindly elder all receded into the mist, becoming vague and elusive, like a dissolving mirage.

“Meow.”

The cat’s low call reached his ears, and this time, the first mate understood its meaning.

Although its call remained lazy, it was urging him to move and never look back.

And at the moment the cat’s call faded, the thick fog surged up.

With no time to hesitate, not even a chance to ask the cat “What about you?”, Caine pushed away the wooden chair and stood up, leaving the room before being engulfed by the mist. Abandoning his usual composure, he sprinted through this familiar, gradually disintegrating warship, his footsteps like urgent drumbeats.

Glancing back occasionally, he could still glimpse those sailors who were astonished by his behavior, standing and watching as they were one by one devoured by the tide-like fog, as if returning to nothingness like things that never existed.

But what about the pocket watch? Would it also disappear in the fog?

Rеаd on ΚаtRеaԁіnɡСafе

As this thought flashed through his mind, the first mate suddenly felt a sense of unease. He quickly climbed the ladderway back to the deck and hurried to the captain’s cabin.

By the time he pushed the door open and forcefully closed it behind him, that invisible, reality-distorting fog had already enveloped the deck and the entire world at an unimaginable speed.

But it hadn’t entered the room, as if this place was the only sanctuary in this false world.

Breathing heavily, Caine felt as if those few short minutes had been as torturous as thousands of years. When he came to his senses, he realized that the back of his shirt was soaked with cold sweat.

Having finally caught his breath, the first mate turned around, intending to check if the captain’s outer coat was hanging in its usual place in this dream world. But as soon as he shifted his gaze, he suddenly froze, only now noticing that the candle in the room was burning silently.

Its warm light illuminated the familiar figure sitting behind the desk.

“I mean, what’s going on with you today?”

The slightly high-pitched, melodious voice reached his ears, and Caine awoke from his daze. He hurriedly stepped forward to the desk, placed both hands on the tabletop, and leaned forward slightly to examine her.

“What, do I have something on my face?”

Instinctively wiping her face, the girl suddenly realized something was off and moved her wooden chair backward a bit, distancing herself from the strangely behaving young man: “No, I just washed my face. What’s the matter with you? You left without a word earlier, and now you’re acting all startled?”

She paused, pinching her chin thoughtfully: “Could it be that Bivis has fooled you silly?”

Reαԁ oո КаtRеаⅾіոɡСаfе

“Silly, silly.”

The raven on its perch echoed teasingly, while the young dragon on the bed swished its tail, growling in support.

Everything seemed normal, just like any ordinary day in the past.

But it was precisely this familiarity that gradually brought Caine back to his senses, reminding him that this was just a dream, a mortal’s illusory dream. The girl before him and all the beautiful things were false.

They were nothing but his illusions.

Thinking this, the first mate suppressed the excitement in his heart. Meeting the puzzled gazes of everyone, he walked around the wooden table, sat on the bed, and in a rare show of dejection said: “I’m fine, just a small problem.”

“A small problem?”

Hearing this, Roy raised an eyebrow, rolled up the sea chart in front of her, tied it with a red cloth strap, then left the desk to sit beside him, deliberately tilting her head to observe his expression.

“Really?”

The girl’s tone was full of disbelief. Seeing that the young man still just nodded, unwilling to reveal what the so-called “small problem” was, she sat up straight with a light laugh and exposed: “Come on, first mate, can you hide those little thoughts from me? If nothing’s wrong, why do you look so miserable?”

“I…”

Rеаⅾ on ΚаtRеаdiոɡСafe

Caught off guard, Caine suddenly realized that since entering the dream—no, since the girl had uttered those words “Who are you?”—his emotions had been off. Although he had tried his best to control them, successfully deceiving the sailors and the scholar, how could he fool her, with whom he spent day and night?

“Tell me, we’re not strangers. What’s your ‘little trouble’ exactly?”

Nudging the young man with her elbow, the captain spoke like a mischievous child with ears perked up, waiting to hear an embarrassing story. That wicked smile seemed ready to transform into unrestrained mockery at any moment.

“It’s hard to explain in a short time.”

With her teasing, even the despondent first mate couldn’t help but sigh helplessly: “And although it’s a small matter, it’s quite urgent, so Captain, please don’t distract me.”

“Alright, I understand.”

Roy dragged out her words, responding perfunctorily. She grabbed a feather pillow, placed it behind her back, and leaned against the bed screen, telling him to hurry up and deal with it, while muttering pointedly that he now had secrets too.

Her grumbling demeanor was like a child who’d had a toy snatched away.

Normally, faced with the girl’s reproachful act, even if explaining was terribly troublesome, the first mate would have patiently explained. But the current situation was different.

Although the all-devouring fog was blocked outside the room by the wooden door, no one could guarantee it would remain so “obedient” forever. If it suddenly surged in, causing everything here, including the pocket watch, to vanish, the consequences would be unimaginably severe.

Having finally found a glimmer of hope, he was unwilling to take any risks.

Rеaԁ oո КаtReαԁiոgCαfе

Therefore, even knowing that without satisfying the captain’s curiosity she would hardly cooperate willingly, Caine still forced himself to say: “Captain, I remember when we left the Victoria, you brought back a pocket watch, which you’ve kept on you ever since, right?”

Seeing the urgency in the first mate’s eyes that didn’t seem feigned, the girl put aside her “pitiful” expression used to “evoke sympathy” and became serious, asking: “Yes, what about it? Is there a problem with that thing?”

From her perspective, Caine had first gone to invite the scholar, and after bringing back that cryptic sentence, he had left without a word. Now he was suddenly mentioning the pocket watch. Coupled with her suspicions about the scholar’s identity, she could deduce that he had gone to see Bivis again.

Could it be that the man had revealed his identity, or at least disclosed something about the pocket watch?

“It’s not that there’s a problem, it’s just… important to me.”

Hearing the first mate’s carefully chosen but still completely illogical words, Roy couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “So in the end, you’ve had your eye on that broken thing all along.”

“Fine, it’s of no use to me anyway, so you can have it.”

Meeting the first mate’s ardent gaze that almost seemed like he wanted to devour her, the captain pursed her lips, reached into her coat, and rummaged through the hidden pocket, her eyebrows gradually rising as time passed.

After a moment of rigidity, Roy sat up straight, withdrew her hand, cleared her throat, and apologetically said:

“Uh, it seems… to be gone.”