Captain – Chapter 573 – Battle Begins

Finally, that worn warship broke through the sea fog and entered the sight of everyone on the Nightmare King. It charged straight toward them through wind, rain, and massive waves.

No hesitation, no trickery—so magnificent and heroic it didn’t seem like a pirate ship at all.

At the same time, people on deck could faintly hear the chilling sounds of claws and giant pincers piercing the hull, along with the commotion from the ship’s cabins.

Those water ghosts that had come to scout had already boarded the ship.

Even though the captain’s orders had revealed this impending surprise attack, suddenly encountering these supernatural creatures amid thunder and torrential rain still left everyone panic-stricken.

Of course, this didn’t include the sinister man standing at the ship’s rail.

“Richi Quake…”

Through the occasional flashes of lightning, the Deep Sea Captain almost immediately caught sight of that blood-red figure standing alone at the helm high on the Taranhof.

Thanks to the devil’s blessing, he could clearly see the youth’s clear blood-colored pupils and discern the provocative meaning within them, knowing the other party was also watching him.

Muttering the visitor’s name under his breath, Talin squinted his eyes and sneered to himself: “You abandoned mad dog, are you trying to vent anger for your former master?”

“Just with… you?”

His grip on the ship’s rail gradually tightened. The usually calm and cautious Deep Sea Captain was surprisingly furious at this moment, whether because he hadn’t felt such contempt for too long, or because the youth’s identity stirred up shadows in his heart.

The stare-down with Roy across the sea and gunpowder smoke from days ago was still etched in his mind.

Or rather, it had become his inescapable nightmare.

Rеαd оո КatRеαԁiոɡCαfе

No one could understand his loyalty to that being in the Cursed Sea, his awe and… greed for that noble bloodline and immense power.

So when he saw Roy’s brilliant golden pupils and “smelled” the aura surrounding her that he desperately craved but could never obtain, Talin’s first reaction was disbelief, followed by his body and mind being consumed by jealousy and fear.

Those intense emotions, now provoked by the youth, could no longer be suppressed.

So he decided to use that youth as a sacrifice to erase that shadow.

“Have all the gunners prepare. As soon as we’re in range, fire with everything we have and sink that broken ship. Also, pass on my order—before that happens…”

With his back to the signal man, Talin said expressionlessly: “Whoever can shoot that kid’s head clean off gets the vacant bosun position.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Hearing this, the signal man responded loudly, his eyes constantly shifting as he turned to relay the order while secretly wondering whether he should grab a musket or curry favor with certain people.

Accompanied by muffled sounds, the Nightmare King’s gun ports opened in unison, and black cannon muzzles emerged one after another.

The panicked atmosphere on deck also turned to frenzy due to that earlier order, since the bosun was the most powerful position after the captain and first mate.

This was a chance for these people who could be replaced at any time to rise to the top in one step.

Before long, nearly every pirate on deck had grabbed a musket, either adjusting equipment and taking waterproofing measures, or staring intently at the distance.

Staring at that old ship drawing ever closer.

What was surprising was that those water ghosts that had climbed up the hull and drilled into the cabins hadn’t caused much of a stir—even the sounds from below deck had stopped.

Rеаⅾ οո КatReadіnɡСаfe

So quiet it was chilling.

“Come on, boy.”

The corners of his mouth twitching slightly, the Deep Sea Captain grinned, adding an even more sinister look to his already fierce face as his hand slowly reached for his waist.

Then he grasped that strangely-shaped curved blade.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the moment he gripped the curved blade, this patch of sea along with the raging wind, rain, and thunder all eerily froze for an instant.

An invisible wave, originating from that blade, spread out in all directions.

Propagating all the way to dozens of nautical miles away.

“Come and pay the price… for your foolishness.”

With those words, Talin drew the blade and pointed it straight at that boldly charging warship. The crystal-like cracks on the blade began to shine brilliantly!

Countless bubbles surged up from below, bursting on the sea surface with disturbing cracking sounds everywhere, as if this cold and violent sea had suddenly begun to boil.

“BOOM!”

The next moment, accompanied by a deafening roar, a “sharp” surge rose and exploded without warning. Its position was directly below and to the side of the Taranhof—just this one strike nearly caused it to completely capsize.

And this was merely the beginning.

Reаԁ oո КаtRеаⅾіոɡСαfе

The sea had come alive.

However, its target of fury was only that somewhat overambitious old ship and some of the water ghosts that had dived into the sea and were swimming toward the Nightmare King.

Surging undercurrents were everywhere, sometimes like cannonballs, sometimes like massive stones pressing in from all sides, smashing those creatures of resentment to pieces.

But despite this, many water ghosts still jumped into the sea without hesitation.

“Dead ahead, twenty meters.”

“Right front side, thirty meters.”

“Port side, directly below…”

On the Taranhof’s wheelhouse, beside and behind that originally solitary blood-red figure, a girl had appeared at some point, constantly reporting positions without pause.

These were the locations where surges would appear, bought with the “lives” of water ghosts as the price.

Thus an extremely strange scene appeared on the sea. Although surges shot up like sharp peaks, except for the first few that successfully damaged the Taranhof heavily, the subsequent attacks proved less effective, avoided by that old ship as if it could predict the future.

But this still greatly delayed its forward progress.

Watching this scene, the Deep Sea Captain wasn’t surprised—instead, a cruel look arose in his eyes.

This curved blade, though it couldn’t match the legendary trident of the sea god and only contained part of the devil’s great power, could do far more than just this.

It could not only raise surges but also summon towering waves dozens of meters high and vast whirlpools deep as abysses, turning this place into a living hell.

Rеaⅾ oո КatRеαdіոɡСаfе

Crushing that broken ship would be child’s play.

But he didn’t want that.

Though he seemed to dismiss that youth, in reality, the Deep Sea Captain had never once underestimated his opponent, because that person was also among the legends, and more importantly, his current identity could be counted as a follower of the Lady.

Therefore, he couldn’t be certain whether sinking that person into the sea would be a good choice.

Even if that Lady’s divine grace was no more, who could say whether this sea might resist the devil’s will because of her, allowing that person to escape to safety?

So in his view, rather than gamble that the Lady could no longer influence the sea, it would be better to use what pirates were best at—guns and cannons—to solve the problem.

He wanted to personally watch that kid fall under gunfire and smoke before he could feel at ease.

Come closer then, and meet your death.

Watching that old ship struggling forward through the surges, the Deep Sea Captain thought coldly. As he slowly lowered the curved blade, cannon fire had already begun from the warship beneath his feet.

Gunshots also rang out successively from the deck and mast platforms.

The firearms symbolizing the era and humanity’s great power burst forth with flames that tore through the dark rainy night, their roars drowning out wind and waves as they mercilessly pushed those guests from the old era toward hell. But at the same time…

They also masked certain changes that should have been quite conspicuous.

Such as the sound of wingbeats from the sky above.