Captain – Chapter 498 – The Beginning of the Search for the Divine Object

“Oh… the Northern Sea Monster.”

After a slight pause, Roy understood that the name the first mate abruptly uttered was the meaning of the characters on the stone tablet, as well as the identity of the “mountain” before them.

The Kraken, a northern sea monster that only appeared in mythology and fantasy novels.

After exclaiming in wonder, Roy leaped down from the stone pillar, slowly retreated to the side of the crew, and gradually raised her head to join them in looking up at this legendary monster—once the nightmare of pirates, now turned to stone remains.

She murmured, somewhat entranced: “Gentlemen, it seems we’ve not entered a strange burial island, but rather something more like an ancient battlefield described in holy texts.”

The battleground where gods fought against those aberrant creatures.

Could it be that the so-called Death Silence Triangle was the main battlefield of that decisive war between civilization and taboo from ancient history—the beginning of the human era?

With this speculation in mind, Roy’s group set off again, following the path between the layered mountains, stepping briskly forward, occasionally stopping before various stone tablets.

Thus, one by one, names derived from mythology, symbolizing various taboos and calamities, emerged from the first mate’s lips. By the end, not only Roy but even the most superstitious and excitable pirates in the group had become somewhat numb from the shock.

“Nidhogg.”

Looking at the giant dragon before them, its head still held high even in death, terrifying and oppressive enough to make breathing difficult even as just a stone sculpture, the captain gently patted its claw and smiled bitterly: “Now we’ve met the real deal.”

Rеαԁ оn ΚаtRеаdіոgСаfe

This beast, with wings spread wider than an ordinary three-masted warship, was incomparable to the gluttonous, sleepy little creature still growing on the Mermaid.

“I wonder how many years it would take for our little one to grow to this magnitude.”

Squinting at the drooping wings before her that still blocked the entire view, Roy said with a hint of aspiration: “If it could grow to this size, no, even if it were just a third as large, it would be enough to help us sweep across the seas.”

Hearing this, Caine shook his head helplessly and calmly interrupted her “daydream”: “Stop dreaming, Captain. At Nidhogg’s growth rate, it might take several decades to grow to the size you’re imagining.”

Several decades might just mark the beginning of adulthood for a dragon, but for humans, it represented a vast span of time, like seas turning to mulberry fields.

By then, everything might have changed.

Giving her first mate a sidelong glance, the captain couldn’t help but mutter: “You’re such a killjoy. Can’t I even think about it? Besides, what if there’s some kind of spell…”

Gently pushing Roy forward, interrupting her complaints while indicating that they should continue their journey, the young man said softly: “Captain, you understand the relationship between gain and cost better than anyone. Even if such a spell existed, it might not necessarily be a good thing.”

There’s no such thing as a free lunch—this principle never becomes outdated anywhere, especially when affecting time, which is infinitely more difficult than bestowing power.

Even the gods might not be able to accomplish it.

Knowing that comparing her young dragon to the black dragon that gnawed at the roots of the World Tree in holy texts was rather fanciful, Roy felt somewhat dejected and reluctantly abandoned the thought.

Rеad οո KatRеаⅾiոgCαfе

It seemed that trying to counter her ancestor with external forces remained highly impractical.

The girl thought with mixed feelings.

Adhering to the principle of “to come is to go, to go is to come,” everyone briefly determined the direction and headed toward the outer beach while “appreciating” these ancient remains, expecting to see the Mermaid again before long.

If the expedition ended here, it could be considered a satisfying sightseeing tour.

The strangely shaped skeletal remains seen upon first entering the island, and the mythological battlefield-like scenery seen after leaving the passage, had been quite a feast for everyone’s eyes.

Of course, most importantly, it had satisfied Captain Roy’s intense curiosity.

That was their original purpose for landing on the island.

Unfortunately, perfect endings are rare. After stepping on that passage that reversed space and perhaps the flow of fate, they ultimately couldn’t escape the uninvited guest who had arrived earlier and had been waiting at the destination for a long time.

The stone tablet behind the mountains seemed exactly like a signpost pointing toward him.

After managing to leave that silent burial ground with a rough memory of the terrain, what appeared before them was the beach where they had initially landed.

Rеαⅾ оո ΚαtRеαdіոɡCαfе

The daylight remained dim. Looking across the stone ground with scattered skeletal remains, on the dark sea that had somehow become slightly foggy, the silhouette of the Mermaid gently rose and fell, everything just as it had been when they arrived.

However, there were some differences.

For instance, numerous ancient stone tablets had inexplicably appeared on the deep gray beach. They were either intact or broken, made of different stones and eroded to varying degrees. The only similarity was that they all bore the same message.

All were written in that never-before-recorded, mysterious, and arcane Mourning Tongue.

Standing at a higher point and looking down, those hazy, phosphorescent passages were like someone using the beach as a canvas, adorning it with cool starlight, forcefully depicting a path between reality and fantasy.

A hidden path leading to the deepest part of the Death Silence Triangle, to the place where Aegis was buried.

Arriving at the nearest stone tablet, after hearing the first mate say “This is the end, and also the beginning of the search for the divine object,” Roy thoughtfully held her chin and said: “No wonder Vivian set the meeting point here.”

“So there are signposts all over the place?”

This strange, isolated burial island in the middle of the Triangle was indeed the starting point for finding the divine artifact. But contrary to Roy’s expectation, what was written on the stone tablets they subsequently decoded wasn’t the coordinates of the burial site, but rather…

Chilling warnings.

After translating several stone tablets, Caine frowned, organized his thoughts, and said to the girl in a slightly somber tone: “Captain, according to these stone tablets, there is actually no path that leads to what we’re seeking.”

Rеaⅾ оn ΚаtReαdіnɡСafе

The age of these stone tablets was difficult to trace, and none in their group was an expert in stone transformation who could determine how much time had passed.

Nevertheless, the captain still discerned from the subtle changes in the interpretation of those passages and the emotions they contained that they were not from a single person or faction.

Reluctance, despair, satisfaction…

From these different, even diametrically opposed emotions, it was clear that among those who had stepped onto the burial island intending to find the divine object, there were both the devil’s fervent followers and madmen who hated him and were willing to risk their lives to prove a theory.

As for that theory…

“So, those great individuals, after burying Aegis, didn’t intend to leave any way back, directly cutting off all possibilities of finding it.”

“They were truly decisive… and cold people.”

Following Caine’s judgment, the girl sighed lightly and said, feeling that those legends who dared to defy her ancestor and completely seal him were, in terms of ruthlessness, perhaps not much better than the devil.

This meant the path ahead would not be easy.

Without that crystal skull, who else could find a way out of this impossibility?