Captain – Chapter 583 – Lone Figure at the Bow

Yes, too late.

Not long after the light mist dissipated, the moment those words fell, the fog came.

Just like when they had sailed the merchant ship toward the islands and been “followed” by the Victoria, the eerie white fog appeared without reason in the distance.

Then it swept over them like an overwhelming tide.

Finally enveloping the Nightmare King on all sides and above. When the pirates looked outward, they discovered in horror that their vision could extend at most less than ten meters, and beyond that was an unchanging pallid white.

A gloomy and cold atmosphere gradually spread, and even the originally violent thunderous roar of the tide became much more muffled, as if someone had covered it with a curtain.

What made people feel even more eerie was that the previously sudden and omnipresent wind and rain stopped without warning—no, it should be said they were heavily blocked by the fog.

Now they were like victims of a strange curse, completely isolated from the world.

They had become exiles with nowhere to go.

Though they didn’t know what would happen, that hollow yet real terror had already firmly gripped everyone’s hearts, making them breathe heavily with pale faces. If not for being watched by the water ghosts, someone would have already jumped ship.

Because it was obvious that this eerie fog was coming for the Nightmare King.

Faced with such a situation, Richi, who had been somewhat heavy-hearted, instead calmed down. He glanced at the panicked pirates and warned them in an ice-cold tone.

“Listen well, staying on the ship you might still live, but once you go into the water, no one can escape that thing’s hunt, not even me.”

“So all of you stay put and don’t be stupid, because you can rest assured—if anyone isn’t obedient enough, I don’t need them to jump themselves, I’ll personally throw them overboard.”

Threats always had more power than temptation, especially when they came from the young man’s mouth.

Sure enough, after hearing Richi’s advice that didn’t involve the truth but was extraordinarily direct, as well as his methods for dealing with those who disobeyed, although the people on board still weren’t very stable, no one else thought about or tried to throw themselves into the sea.

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If even the Blood-Eyed Butcher didn’t dare have such thoughts, what qualifications did they have?

After suppressing the initial signs of chaos, Richi had no more patience to deal with those captives and ordered the water ghosts who weren’t responsible for surveillance: “Lower the sails and stop the ship immediately…”

“Prepare for battle.”

The water ghosts naturally wouldn’t question his decision.

But when the pirates heard this, they immediately became somewhat agitated. They looked at each other, all seeing each other’s fear, and finally turned their gazes to Ferguson.

Seeing this, the former first mate of the Nightmare King had no choice but to walk out under the seemingly man-eating gazes of the supervising water ghosts, steeling himself to approach the three.

Watching the young man who had turned around and was about to walk back to Caine and the other, Ferguson swallowed and carefully inquired: “Captain Richi, didn’t we agree to retreat? The ship has recovered power, so why…”

“It’s already too late.”

Hearing the questioning voice behind him, Richi paused his steps, turned his face slightly with unreadable emotions, and interrupted, then added: “Also tell those idiots…”

“I’m keeping them because they can still pull sails and raise anchors, and can at least shed some blood for me. Anyone who can’t or won’t do so can leave.”

“I absolutely won’t stop them.”

Hearing the young man’s gentle yet chilling declaration, Ferguson shuddered all over, agreed, and immediately returned the way he came to do his proper work.

He didn’t have the courage to explore whether that word “leave” referred to the ship or this world.

Perhaps they were the same thing to begin with.

Glancing at Richi who had walked back, Caine continued to focus his gaze on the eerie fog ahead of the Nightmare King. The flames in his pupils burned bright and brilliant—clearly he had activated his great power, but even so, his expression still didn’t look good.

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Because he discovered that even using the devil’s eyes, he couldn’t see through that fog.

All he could do was see twenty or thirty meters farther than those pirates. Presumably Richi and Vivian, who also had extraordinary vision, couldn’t see much deeper either.

But… at most forty meters?

This distance might be sufficient or even excessive for brutal close combat, but at sea, in naval warfare between ships, it would disappear in an instant.

In other words, if there was currently a warship charging toward them at full speed ahead, they might not even have time for the most hasty response.

And if what was charging at them was that skeletal giant ship, the Nightmare King would very likely be instantly defeated.

Therefore, when he discovered the eerie white fog surging in with no chance to escape, the young man had already decided to stop the ship and prepare for battle, hoping to gain that pitiful amount of time.

At least you wouldn’t have to worry about colliding head-on with that ghost ship while moving forward.

Caine understood the current situation and could guess his thoughts. He had no objection to this, only saying in a deep voice: “It seems even following your advice, we can’t escape this ordeal.”

“Then we can only ‘crash’ into it.”

This word “crash” naturally didn’t mean steering the ship forward and then shattering against that solid wall, but rather using the power in their hands to break through a gap in it as much as possible.

To crash through a path to survival.

Hearing the fighting spirit in the young man’s words, Richi lightly hummed in agreement, looking toward the front like him, his blood-red pupils terrifyingly calm, as if certain that was where the enemy would come from.

That death ship was the devil’s most terrifying claw. Not to mention in the present world—even in the early days of the old calendar when those great beings still existed, it was nearly invincible. Naturally it wouldn’t and didn’t need to use any surprise attack methods.

It only needed to reveal its true form, and any who stood in its way would wither in the death knell.

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Perhaps it was coincidence, or perhaps it truly heard the young man’s thoughts, for suddenly a crisp sound rang out from the fog ahead of the Nightmare King, sometimes distant, sometimes near, its source unknown.

“Clang.”

That was a death knell, destiny’s ordained death.

At this moment, everyone on the Nightmare King, even the sea creatures hiding in these waters no matter how deep they dove, all heard this bell toll.

What followed was boundless fear from the bottom of their hearts, even from the depths of their souls.

If the giant serpent that broke through the water brought an oppressive feeling from the bloodline, a natural fear of life toward destruction, then this nearly sacred bell toll was reading out your inescapable fate.

From this moment on, everything about you no longer belonged to you.

It belonged to that chaos, to the aggregate of countless flesh, blood, bones, and souls…

The Drowned Captain.

Suddenly wind arose—just a breeze blowing from the mist ahead of the Nightmare King, stirring people’s clothes and the flag that hadn’t yet been changed.

Then the eerie fog began to twist and tangle, gradually creating a sense of illusion due to changes in thickness and the refraction of dim light, like a mirage.

And in that extremely unreal scenery that seemed shattered into countless mirror fragments…

A ship’s shadow appeared from nowhere, slowly approaching.

Accompanied by the second bell toll, that massive warship that was as huge as a castle compared to the Nightmare King finally cast a stable silhouette in everyone’s pupils.

They could even faintly hear countless vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts shrieking, innumerable bones grinding and sounding, and even violent, ancient dragon roars.

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The giant dragon on the Nightmare King was also roaring.

When the first bell toll sounded, it had come to the bow, staring fixedly at that fog, as if seeing through the threads of fate to that ship.

Upon hearing that dragon roar, the giant dragon could no longer suppress the hatred and rage in its heart. It stepped forward and roared with unprecedented fury, its wings rising high.

Fortunately, someone stopped it.

Richi was right beside the dragon’s head. He gently patted its cheek, still looking at that ship while muttering: “Calm down, calm down, child.”

“Now is not the time, far from the time.”

Though the two weren’t making eye contact, feeling his soothing and hearing those last words, the dragon, though its eyes remained no less violent, truly calmed down.

Its wisdom far exceeded ordinary spirits, so naturally it knew that its current self couldn’t possibly be a match for that thing. Rashly engaging in battle would very likely bury everything.

But at some point, the young man’s hand that had been gently patting the dragon suddenly froze in mid-air.

Not because the giant ship had arrived with attacks surging like a tide, but because he saw… an absolutely unimaginable scene that plunged him into irrepressible shock.

Caine and Vivian had the same reaction at this moment. Their vision was far superior to ordinary people, so naturally they saw more before the pirates did.

The reason why all three of them, despite their strong minds, fell into inescapable shock was because at the bow of that giant ship, beside that seemingly “living” figurehead of a skeletal giant holding an iron anchor and torch…

Stood a lone figure, stood…

A person.