Captain – Chapter 539

Just like the calm before the storm.

When the frequency of ripples and bubbles appearing on the sea surface reached its peak, and even the entire ocean seemed ready to dance along, everything suddenly fell silent.

The wildly dancing waves disappeared, the fierce winds ceased.

Even the boiling sounds grew gentle and peaceful as the bubbles emerged more slowly, until they completely faded away.

The waters before the waterfall were left with only that dull, rhythmic “drumming.”

The increasingly powerful, approaching heartbeat.

“Thump-thump, thump-thump…”

In this moment, all sounds in the world yielded to this immense life force. Even the pirates returning to their posts couldn’t help but stop and hold their breath, peering through every gap in the warship toward the source of the heartbeat.

They couldn’t help but wonder – how great and beautiful must that creature be?

For even the sea itself to hold its breath.

As people’s thoughts wandered, imagining countless forms that heartbeat’s owner might take, the distant sea surface that had just calmed down became violent and turbulent once more.

Snow-white spray flew, countless chaotic currents surged, as if in an instant, this moonlit, lonely and quiet sea area was once again shrouded by endless storms.

“CRASH!”

The dull heartbeat faded away, replaced by thunder-like, deafening sounds of breaking water.

Then, people finally saw…

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“Its” true form.

It was a ferocious giant serpent, its body width alone approaching that of a three-masted warship’s keel.

Its entire body was covered with pitch-black, metallic scales, but when moonlight fell upon them, no light reflected back, like a bottomless abyss.

Most terrifying was not its unimaginable size, nor its armor-like fine scales, but those eyes – those sun-like eyes glowing with an eerie light.

In those giant orbs, green light flowed and churned like a strange sea, and at their center were the dark gold vertical pupils that marked its serpentine identity.

“Oh, my God…”

When that specter appeared, countless pirates unconsciously murmured in amazement.

Though the creature was far from the warship, though after breaking the surface it didn’t cast them a single glance, cold dread and fear still surged forth uncontrollably like a tide, instantly occupying the pirates’ minds.

They even began trembling uncontrollably, their minds filled only with the word “retreat.”

This wasn’t cowardice, but an uncontrollable fear stemming from blood and instinct toward that monster that was born with the world and had dominated the seas for countless ages.

“CRASH! CRASH…”

But before the shock and terror brought by that specter’s emergence could fade, ear-splitting sounds of breaking water appeared on the sea surface once more.

No, it should be said again and again.

Seawater splashed, mist dispersed, and when people could see that scene clearly again, only dullness remained in their eyes, and some kept trembling as they muttered “this is impossible,” as if unwilling to believe their own eyes.

Because under that lone moon, before the waterfall, the number of giant serpents had changed from one… to nine, or rather, those mountain-like evil pythons had always been one entity.

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One body with nine heads – if in mythology, this eternal specter should be called…

“Hydra.”

On the deathly silent deck of the Ghost Scythe, Enzo’s gentle whisper rang out, awakening the stunned pirates, seeming like a sigh, yet also like a summons to that monster.

“Captain, that is…”

Wyatt, the first mate usually known for his solemnity, was also involuntarily shocked upon witnessing that specter’s emergence. Only when he heard the captain’s whisper did he come to his senses.

He suppressed his natural fear of that monster and asked with rather rapid breathing, but before he could finish, the Night Curtain captain answered first.

“Yes, that’s what we’re going to face.”

As Enzo’s words fell, the deck returned to deathly silence.

The crew members looked at each other, and without speaking, they could see each other’s disbelief – both at the monster that appeared out of nowhere, and at the captain’s casual words.

Face that thing… what kind of joke was that?

That wasn’t a thing of this world at all!

“Captain, forgive my bluntness, but this is no different from suicide.”

Even Wyatt, who respected and revered the man before him immensely, even willing to be his shadow, couldn’t help but speak directly at this moment, his expression extremely serious.

Though they hadn’t yet engaged, though they were still very far from that existence.

But after feeling the fear in their hearts, anyone could tell how terrifying that thing was, especially the crew of the Ghost Scythe – who among them hadn’t personally experienced wars with ghosts? By comparison, they knew even better the danger level of that giant serpent.

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Broken ghost ships, undead who felt no pain, and those so-called immortal water ghosts on accompanying warships all seemed like jokes before that specter.

Like children who had just learned to walk, or even insects.

After reciting that monster’s name, the Night Curtain captain had fallen silent again, only watching that moonlit specter with indifference, but his thoughts weren’t on it.

Instead, he was thinking of the one seated on the throne of the islands, wondering what his mood might be at this moment – relief, liberation, or perhaps a bit of guilt?

No, you probably wouldn’t feel any of those…

“Captain?”

Only after his deputy called out for who knows how many times did Enzo finally snap back to awareness. He turned around, resting his arms on the ship’s rail, surveying the uneasy people.

His gaze seemed to have the magic to calm hearts. The crew gradually settled down. In this moment, at least in this moment, their trust in that Night Curtain overcame the fear brought by that giant serpent, dispelling the weight of life and death.

Just like every time before.

“Gentlemen, return to your posts.”

Without explanation, the Night Curtain captain only said this calmly.

But surprisingly, after a brief silence, those people who had been somewhat thrown into disorder by the giant serpent’s emergence and had gathered on deck actually began to move.

Enzo gave an order, and so the Ghost Scythe, this world that belonged to him, danced for him.

No longer disturbed by outside forces.

This was because of his unique charisma, because of the crew’s unconditional trust in him, like in the holy books, those warriors willing to die for the Goddess of Auran.

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Faith was an extremely strong binding force, but it was hard to imagine it directed toward a single person.

The pirates each returned to their positions, silently and stoically waiting for orders, but Wyatt still stood in place, rarely seen standing in opposition to the Night Curtain captain.

He had always been the only anomaly on the Ghost Scythe.

He was this legend’s shadow, and also a mirror that allowed the other to distinguish between madness and foolishness.

In Wyatt’s view, battling that mythological creature clearly leaned toward the latter. Though the Ghost Scythe had promised in the captain’s meeting to intercept enemies for Roy, that definitely didn’t mean they should die meaninglessly for it.

This had exceeded the scope of a “transaction.”

He couldn’t just watch as the captain pushed everyone into a fire pit for a personal obsession.

Though the Ghost Scythe valued alliances highly, the people on it were ultimately pirates – a shameless group capable of backstabbing for profit and betraying for survival.

The two didn’t speak, but invisible wills constantly clashed.

Perhaps at any moment, the unity that formed this death scythe of the Western Seas would silently collapse.

There would be bloodshed, and there would be death.

Enzo knew this, so he didn’t speak casually as before, but pondered and deliberated, his fingers tapping the ship’s rail intermittently.

After a long while, he finally spoke his “opening words” in a heavy voice.

“We’re already in the web, Wyatt.”