Captain – Chapter 736 – Burned in Furnace Fire

Night curtain fell again, shrouding sky and sea.

So the world quieted down.

The first to change were the lightning serpents in the sky that had been savagely fighting since the battle began. They were either merciless or fearless, divided into two factions biting endlessly.

Whenever lightning serpents collided, they would explode like fireworks, making the night sky bright as day.

But when night gently brushed past, the chaotic sea-like horizon was instantly calmed of its mad waves.

The storm continued, thunder rumbled low, but lightning was no longer seen.

As if the battle of devilish great powers had thus ended.

But the truth was not so.

Quite the opposite – it wasn’t that invisible magic had dissipated and the blazing sky returned to gray darkness, but because that originally evenly matched, indecisive bloody battle…

Had tilted to one side with the arrival of a third party.

When night came like a tide, in an instant it touched the iron will of Captain Gerard that shrouded the seas outside the fog, then joined hands without any resistance.

No communication needed, not even a glance – twenty years apart yet their coordination remained as before.

Because they were originally teacher and student, magnificent back and shadow-chaser, each the acknowledged first among pirate legends of the previous and current generations.

When they reunited, when their wills converged, even the Pirate King had to give way.

But the problem was, that lord of the old world couldn’t retreat.

To prevent the seal’s breaking from being affected, to prevent the present world’s fleets, especially these two near-divine beings, from personally reaching the solitary island, he had to withstand such an offensive.

So inevitably, a great portion of power and thoughts would be entangled here.

Rеαԁ οn ΚαtRеαⅾіոɡСαfe

If that devilish great power was like a boundless sea, then facing these two united, more than half that sea would be invaded by night and blocked by lightning.

Though such methods couldn’t achieve what Gerard had told Roy – dragging the ancestor into the mortal world – they could at least greatly limit him.

Making that decisive battle lean more toward the girl.

At the bow of the Goddess Hestia, Gerard gazed at the mist, worry long gone from his eyes, replaced by reminiscence and comfort at an old friend’s growth.

That youth who once followed his every step, learning from him, had now reached this stage.

And that piece he’d laid – truly ingenious to the extreme, turning the unclear situation in one stroke.

Truly remarkable.

The man smiled nostalgically, thinking thus.

Similar feelings appeared in many hearts when they saw the night.

“Cease fire.”

On the Pilgrimage, after confirming the night curtain had fallen and those old ships and ghosts had all ceased fire and truly turned to gaze toward the night’s source like pilgrims, Caine gave the order in a deep voice, notifying all ships to maintain formation while rescuing the wounded.

After that, he looked toward the night’s source, silent for a moment before finally breaking into a smile.

His emotions were somewhat complex, but all good.

“I told you so – that guy isn’t so easily killed.”

On the Nightmare King, Richi leaned against the figurehead smiling, settling “old scores” with Vivian, while on the nearby Ark, voices had long been boiling with excitement.

The Ghost Scythe’s former crew members were all extremely agitated.

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Looking at the approaching night curtain, feeling the familiar darkness, they either cheered or wept, loudly shouting “Captain!” Even the cold Wyatt’s eyes reddened.

Night continued spreading, even covering the blazing sun further south.

In the gentle night, on the Victoria’s deck, Victor was somewhat stunned, instinctively stepping forward, while the Lady remained calm and tranquil as before.

No one saw that on the face of the person in the throne, shrouded by night and shadow…

At some point, the faintest smile had appeared.

In the pale fog, after the girl left and Enzo spoke, the sky just darkened like that.

The omnipresent “black silk” didn’t just drift toward nearby seas, brushing toward blazing lightning and battling ships and people, but also shrouded the nameless island hidden in the depths.

Night covered the about-to-shatter seal, looking like black silk curtains covering a birdcage.

At this time, the “caged bird” still looked up at the sky, gazing at the freedom he hoped for.

But under the dancing “black silk’s” cover, that starry sky was no longer so clear and bright, but much more hazy and illusory. Though more aesthetically pleasing…

It was somewhat farther from him.

Seeing this scene, even the usually composed devil couldn’t help but furrow his brow. In his noble, majestic dark gold pupils, rare bewilderment appeared.

Even with his divine calculations, at this moment he was somewhat puzzled about how the situation had developed this way.

That light stroke creating an unsolvable situation, a puzzle that even that sole divine being couldn’t solve, had actually been broken by another impossible situation.

Where exactly had things gone wrong?

Why would that person awaken, and at this very moment?

Rеad οո ΚatRеаԁіոɡCafе

Why could that night affect the rules?

There were many seemingly unreasonable questions, but for the devil they weren’t too difficult to solve.

Death Silence Triangle, Hydra, the raven’s death, the symphony of night and fire…

And most importantly, because time was short, his early decision to bring back from the underworld that night blade originally meant to temporarily block the girl by destroying the present world’s fleet – important nodes appeared one by one in the devil’s mind.

In just a few breaths, he calculated forward and backward, determining every detail of this situation.

Then he sighed lightly, both praising and lamenting.

Praising that young man’s madness, lamenting that he seemed to have another oversight.

Since the Ancient Auran calendar, no, since the old calendar, he had clearly been faultless in every step, calculating that human leader, deceiving the Lady with thoughts like the sea, using his own first mate, crew members, and even the entire world.

Through conspiracy, trickery, betrayal, and cruelty, step by step he had walked to the edge of the other shore.

Walked to where no one could be found to play against him.

But… why had he been winning without defeat in chess games from ancient times to now? Even the world war hundreds of years ago could hardly be called his defeat in terms of results.

Yet he could never achieve perfection? At the end, there were always slight errors and omissions.

He considered himself forever the final victor, considered himself to have coldly severed all cause and effect.

But going round and round, they all fell upon the descendant he viewed as a killing piece. Those “people’s” wishes and thoughts were all inherited by that girl.

Whether the old calendar’s leader, the Lady and first mate he faced in the Ancient Auran calendar, the siren and dragon egg he later left as hidden pieces, or the Siamese cat that turned against him after giving up on him – all were like this, with all cause and effect falling upon her.

And then what? Then using her hands to repay him?

Rеаⅾ oո ΚаtRеaⅾiոɡCafе

How troublesome indeed.

Thinking this, the devil sitting on the brilliant throne showed a slightly bitter smile, yet not much suffering, only sentiment, because even at this moment…

He remained as confident and composed as before.

Because… it was still too late.

Any bonds and the complex, interwoven omissions that rolled in couldn’t beat time.

During the man’s reminiscence and sentiment, his fingers that had been tapping the armrest like playing piano hadn’t stopped, the intervals growing longer with time.

Until the moment he showed that slightly bitter smile…

His slender, well-defined fingers stopped.

Time seemed to stop with them.

“Tap.”

In the stillness, the final tap sounded, awakening the painting-like world.

Then came a crisp sound, ethereal and traceless, unknown where it started or if it even existed. It rippled through rain curtain and night, then swiftly departed.

Landing in who knows how many hearts.

“Crack.”

That light straw finally fell upon the back of the collapsing thin camel.

The seal shattered, just before dawn.