Captain – Chapter 74 – Encountering the Ghost Ship Again

So you were the treasure I was seeking all along.

Enzo gazed at the bright, steady light in the moonstone skull’s eye sockets and smiled silently.

The crystal skull hadn’t lost its way earlier because it couldn’t locate the Victoria’s exact position, but because it had sensed a subtle change in the captain’s innermost desires.

Enzo the Night Curtain had never cared about immortality. He only wanted to find… a way to recover that man.

Now, the answer seemed to be right in front of him.

“Ilias, wait.”

Hearing the call from behind, Red Beard sighed resignedly. He turned around with a serious expression and said: “Enzo, there are many things I can comply with, but not this time.”

“You misunderstand.”

The matte leather boots made a dull sound as they stepped on the deck. Enzo approached the pair and smiled at the old captain: “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to snatch your treasure. I just want to give him something.”

Hearing this, Roy—who had been tense, worrying the two captains might clash—brightened up. He immediately cast aside his previous concerns and stared at Enzo without blinking.

Meeting Ilias’s slightly surprised gaze, Enzo knelt down on one knee and dangled the faintly glowing pendant before the boy’s eyes: “Do you want it?”

“Yes,” Roy nodded eagerly, answering without hesitation.

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“Good, then it’s yours from now on.”

Enzo reached behind the boy’s neck, carefully fastening it for him, then patted his little head and softly cautioned: “Be careful, don’t let others know about it.”

“Mm-hmm.” Roy obediently acknowledged, clutching the pendant tightly in both hands, as if to say, “You can have my life, but not this treasure.”

“But…”

As the captain stood up, Roy looked at the moonstone pendant in his hands, then raised his head curiously and asked: “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because it can lead you to the treasure you desire most, and that just might be…”

Enzo exchanged a glance with Red Beard, who seemed to understand what he had in mind. The two shared a knowing smile, then spoke in unison.

“The very thing we’re looking for.”

The captains’ laughter seemed to linger in his ears, though their unforgettable faces were no longer before him. Roy pulled himself from his memories with a soft sigh.

Enzo had long since returned to the other side of the ocean, while the kind-hearted Captain Red Beard had closed his eyes forever, resting eternally somewhere along the shores of the unnamed Southern Islands.

And the pendant? Well, it was now in that devil’s possession, no longer able to guide her to the treasure she yearned for.

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“Damn devil.”

Roy muttered hatefully, resolving to win the bet against the devil and make that malicious Pirate King lose everything, right down to their pants.

“What devil?”

The First Mate’s calm question suddenly sounded in his ear. Roy jumped in fright, then glared fiercely at the young man who had appeared beside him without warning: “Can’t you make some noise when you walk?”

Seeing the captain’s unfriendly tone, Caine was confused: “I’ve been standing here for quite a while. Usually you’d notice me from three steps away, but this time you were so lost in thought. What were you thinking about so deeply?”

Realizing he had indeed wrongly blamed him, the captain stubbornly refused to admit the mistake, merely answering in a muffled voice: “Thinking about the last time we entered this damn fog.”

It was rather curious—in matters of life and death or significant interests, Captain Roy always acted shamelessly, but when it came to minor, trivial matters, she refused to yield even slightly, considering her face more important than anything.

Well aware of this, the First Mate shook his head helplessly, not taking the girl’s willfulness to heart. He looked ahead and asked gravely: “So, my dear captain, have you devised any escape plan?”

“No strategy needed. Just close your eyes and sail forward. Unless you’ve been chosen by the curse, even if you exhaust yourself deliberately searching, you’ll never see that filthy thing the priest spoke of.”

The scene of Enzo commanding the Ghost Scythe to crash through the Eternal Ship was still vivid in her mind. Roy smiled indifferently at her First Mate and answered with the voice of experience.

“But…”

Seeing Caine’s gradually furrowing brow, Roy clicked her tongue and waved her hand impatiently: “What ‘but’? Don’t tell me you actually believed that priest’s nonsense, Caine. Are you scared?”

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Caine’s eye twitched a few times, then he placed his finger on the captain’s cheek, turning her face toward the bow: “Captain, you’d better see for yourself.”

Startled by the First Mate’s sudden impudence, by the time Roy reacted, she was already facing the direction of the Osprey’s bow.

Hearing the sailors’ panicked shouts and witnessing that shocking sight deeply etched in her memory, Roy blinked in bewilderment, momentarily forgetting to settle scores with the young man.

Everything seemed like a replay of that encounter from many years ago.

The dense white fog ahead of the Osprey gradually thinned, as if cut open by a knife from the middle, slowly parting to both sides. Behind that blinding curtain lay a stage forged from desolate moonlight, and at the center of the stage stood that majestic, grand vessel in silent solemnity.

The Eternal Ship, Victoria.

“When did it appear?” Roy turned her head stiffly, instinctively lowering her voice to ask the First Mate.

“Just a minute ago, while you were absent-mindedly fiddling your necklace.” Caine looked at the silver necklace with brilliant pearls around the captain’s neck, his expression impassive.

That was the necklace they had purchased with public funds allocated from the Frans Island garrison to attend the ball.

“I… I see.”

Roy smiled awkwardly, then drew in a sharp breath with frustration: “Damn it, I never thought we’d actually encounter this wretched ship. What do we do now? We can’t just crash into it. This captain isn’t a madman like Enzo.”

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Even after so much time had passed, Roy still felt a lingering fear when recalling the sight of the Ghost Scythe ramming into the Victoria. She admitted that when it came to madness, she was far inferior to the Night Curtain captain of the Western Seas.

After listening to the captain’s musings, Caine looked up at the increasingly near massive vessel and asked: “Captain, you’ve seen this ship before?”

“Of course, the eternal Victoria. Not only have I seen it, but I also personally watched it get shattered by the Ghost Scythe. But now isn’t the time to tell you stories…”

It didn’t take long for Roy to regain absolute composure. She spun the helm sharply to the left and issued a loud command: “Gentlemen, hoist the sails! We’re going around it!”

Under the captain’s orders, the sailors suppressed their inner fears and quickly sprang into action.

The Osprey sailed into the Victoria’s shadow with full sails and, with the help of a fortuitous strong wind, successfully changed course. It sped past, grazing the giant ship’s black reflective hull, and soon left the lifeless cursed vessel behind.

“Hey, this captain isn’t going to crash. Who knows if it’s solid this time?”

The captain felt her decision was absolutely correct. Since the Victoria wasn’t after her, why not just avoid it? There was no need to show off by ramming into it.

But what she didn’t expect was that this wasn’t the end—merely the beginning.

Just as everyone sighed in relief, thinking they had escaped disaster, the white fog ahead of the Osprey suddenly churned violently. That massive ship, which should have been left far behind them, once again loomed directly in their path.

Like a nightmare they could never shake off.