Captain – Chapter 566 – Like a Lifetime Apart

Before his eyes was boundless darkness, while the sound of water beside his ears became blurred and gradually inaudible as consciousness scattered. Caine felt himself returning to that dream once more.

That great dream separated from the captain by life and death.

Only this time, he didn’t see the girl upstream, nor did he have her divine incarnation to guide him back to the world. He simply drifted aimlessly.

Until… he drifted to the “shore.”

That was the end of this dream, the most appropriate moment in the long passage of time.

The moment of awakening.

So consciousness returned to his body, and the young man’s fingers, stiff from prolonged hypothermia, moved slightly, touching straw and hard wooden bed boards.

“Ugh…”

His throat let out a slight groan. Caine felt pain throughout his body, as if countless wooden hammers had pounded him from head to toe, leaving not a single bone intact.

But in truth, this was more of an illusion.

After receiving the girl’s “divine grace,” even while unconscious, the great power within him continued flowing, raising his physical strength to its current limits while constantly carrying out processes of repair and healing.

Without this, even if he were truly made of metal, he would have been crushed by the seawater long ago.

So aside from the lingering sensation of bone-crushing pain, Caine’s body was nearly intact, except… the bed boards beneath him were truly too hard.

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This caused his entire body to feel stiff in addition to the pain.

Struggling to open his eyes, the swaying scenery with double vision gradually cleared, finally forming into a pale gray arm that looked like some kind of crustacean’s giant pincer.

Apart from the pervasive fishy smell, it was even constantly dripping seawater.

Carefully turning his face to prevent seawater from falling into his eyes, the young man thought expressionlessly for a while, then determined that the owner of this thing probably wasn’t an enemy. Only then did he abandon his ambush plan and simply raised his hand to move it aside.

“Oh, be gentle, can’t you be gentle?”

Startled by the sudden tremendous force from the arm, the monster sitting by the bedside jumped up abruptly, raising its pincer that had been pushed to make “creaking” sounds high up, saying painfully: “This was so hard to get. Where would I find another one if it breaks?”

Looking at the ceiling above, the young man thought this was what he should see upon opening his eyes, though it was a bit old… Then he propped himself against the bed frame and sat up with some difficulty.

Turning his face to look at that monster with a fierce appearance and a gray crab embedded in its face, Caine frowned and thought for a while, quickly searching his memory for a candidate that matched its remaining half face, asking softly.

“Longfellow?”

Forcefully straightening the somewhat deformed pincer, the water ghost glanced at him sideways, while the gray crab on its face kept extending its pincers to snap at the air, as if wanting to give him a few hits.

Still seeming dissatisfied about the earlier incident, Longfellow ultimately didn’t respond to him, only snorted coldly, pushed the door open and left, leaving behind the words to go find the captain himself.

Not minding the water ghost’s attitude, Caine looked at his hands, silently guiding that invisible magical power to calm down, a flash of light in his eyes quickly dimming.

Not realizing that during his unconsciousness, the great power within him hadn’t stopped for even a moment, which caused what he thought was a light push to nearly dislocate one of the water ghost’s arms.

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Anyone suddenly subjected to such treatment wouldn’t have a good temper.

Only after his body returned to ordinary state and the lingering intense pain faded did the young man breathe a slight sigh of relief. But soon, his azure eyes suddenly focused again.

Because he discovered that he was currently wearing a crimson cloak, while the shirt and trousers underneath were all a size smaller than his original clothes.

Naturally, they couldn’t be called comfortable to wear.

More importantly, the shield that had been firmly fastened to his left hand, obtained almost at the cost of his life… was gone.

Just as Caine was desperately trying to recall his experiences before losing consciousness, attempting to figure out whether that shield had been lost in the sea, two sets of approaching footsteps sounded beside his ears, and the next moment the wooden door was pushed open.

“Don’t worry, that thing is still here.”

Looking at the two people who entered the room one after another, hearing that familiar slightly hoarse voice, Caine remained silent for a long time before snapping out of the daze of escaping death.

The moment he recognized Longfellow, he had determined that he was currently aboard the Taranhof, and the captain it sought would naturally be Roy’s former first mate.

Yet despite this, when he actually saw the young man’s face, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

Compared to opening his eyes and breathing after escaping the problem of life and death, seeing the faces of old friends again and hearing their voices made him feel even more like a lifetime had passed.

Made him feel even more that he was still alive.

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“Then…”

His lips moved slightly. When Caine spoke his first words, he discovered his voice was terribly hoarse. At Richi’s indication, he took the fresh water from the bedside to moisten his throat before speaking again: “What about Nidhogg? How is it now?”

“It’s on deck. You know, that little guy grew a bit too fast.”

Sitting by the bedside, the young man looked at that clean face that he usually disliked, his tone unusually frivolous and relaxed, no longer containing the hostility of the past.

Perhaps because they had both walked through the gates of death, they felt some sympathy for each other?

“The fact that you could return alive is truly a very surprising thing.”

Spreading his hands, Richi smiled and said: “Even more surprising is that you actually obtained that shield. This might be the only good news so far.”

Keenly catching the word “only,” Caine discerned the barely concealed gloom beneath the other’s smile. After moving his body and getting out of bed, he asked in a deep voice: “What exactly happened during the time we were away?”

Standing up together with the young man, Richi sighed lightly, his smile no longer present at the corners of his lips. After making a gesture of invitation, he led him and Vivian out of the room.

“Many things happened, like a complete tangle.”

The young man’s tone was heavy: “Let’s go get that shield first. We’ll talk about the rest later.”

Looking at Richi’s thin silhouette after removing his outer garment, and this severely damaged corridor that had been almost completely “refilled,” Caine felt an ominous premonition and could no longer maintain patience: “What about her? How is her situation now?”

“You mean Roy? She ‘returned’ earlier than you, and should still be relatively safe…”

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“For now.”

Walking through the corridor and climbing to the upper deck, the three quickly came to a wooden door and pushed it open. This was the long-abandoned conference room on the Taranhof.

The room was filled with water ghosts, no fewer than thirty, standing in strict formation guarding the conference table, while that magnificent small round shield lay quietly on the table.

“This thing is very sinister. Even now when I look at it, I still have trouble looking away.”

Squeezing through the array of water ghosts, Richi stopped in front of the small shield, was briefly stunned, then quickly came to his senses, picked it up and tossed it to the young man, saying with lingering fear.

“So this cursed thing is better off with you.”

Catching Aegis and fastening it to his left hand as usual, Caine finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward the young man asking: “So now can you finally tell me what changes occurred during this time, and what does ‘for now’ mean?”

Without answering immediately, Richi first clapped his hands lightly.

The water ghosts standing guard here immediately understood the meaning, walking past Caine one after another and streaming out of the conference room, finally remembering to close the wooden door.

“I think we need to hold a meeting and properly discuss each other’s experiences…”

Richi gestured toward the tables and chairs, indicating for the two to sit.

“Although there are only the three of us left.”