Captain – Chapter 98 – Old John

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After understanding the complete situation, much of Cecilia’s resentment dissipated. Before beginning to formulate a plan, exchanging intelligence was an essential step.

“After that little bastard took over Yadris, everything changed. No one cares about the rules you established anymore, and those protection certificates have all become worthless.”

The protection certificates were proof of payment for those who had paid protection fees, and their invalidation meant that preferential treatment for the weak had completely disappeared. Yadris had reverted to a chaotic place where greed and violence ran rampant.

This was evident from the conflicts that occurred in the Banshee’s Eye.

“Except for the very few who have good relationships with Richi, the other merchants and residents are having a very difficult time. In just these few months, many… atrocities have already occurred in Yadris.”

Cecilia didn’t specify the details of these atrocities, but Roy didn’t need to guess to know—they were inevitably acts of violence motivated by greed and lust.

“Many who could leave have already gone. Those who remain are people with nowhere else to go.” Cecilia lowered her eyes slightly, her hand clutching the blanket gradually tightening.

During this period, Yadris could truly be called hell. Except for the Horn of Plenty and a few other areas, thugs and ruffians could be seen committing evil acts with impunity everywhere.

They plundered the silver and gold that artisans had painstakingly accumulated, smashed shops that didn’t pay enormous protection fees, and even stripped girls of their clothes in broad daylight…

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Although she was the proprietress of the Banshee’s Eye and controlled Yadris’s extremely important smuggling economic lifeline, in the storm created by that captain, she still struggled to protect herself, let alone stop these evil acts.

“Oh, so it seems everyone misses me quite a bit?”

Knowing the captain was deliberately diverting her attention, Cecilia gave her a sidelong glance. “Can’t you be serious?”

“Yes, yes, yes, my dear proprietress.” Roy responded with a smile.

With this interruption, the proprietress recovered from that heavy mood. “Besides that, I also learned from my sea informants that the Mermaid’s combat style has changed dramatically. It’s no longer restrained as it was under your leadership, but rather leaves no survivors in each operation, killing everyone.”

“Purging those loyal to me, overturning Yadris’s rules, ruining the Mermaid’s reputation—what exactly is that little bastard doing? Does he want everyone to firmly remember the infamy of Richi Quake?”

Hearing this, Roy narrowed her eyes, analyzing her former first mate’s actions.

The new captain of the Mermaid was going against her past principles in almost everything. Apart from wanting to erase all traces of her existence and reestablish the Mermaid’s reputation, there was another explanation…

Roy exchanged a glance with Cecilia, then smiled and said, “He’s afraid.”

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Yes, using nearly exhaustive means to plunder gold and silver, ruling Yadris with a violent and cold-blooded posture—all these were caused by a certain kind of unease in the Blood-Eyed Butcher’s heart.

He feared that the Golden-Eyed Devil would rise from the dead, feared that the true captain of the Mermaid would appear before him again.

This irrepressible anxiety and fear tortured him day after day. Only through limitless killing and plundering could he temporarily forget, only the fear and despair on his enemies’ faces could slightly dilute it.

This conjecture was certainly not unfounded, but based on Roy’s understanding of Richi.

That introverted young man, though named the Butcher and known for his ruthless methods, was not a murderer who enjoyed evil deeds or killed indiscriminately. He had kindness toward the unarmed and weak. Even when Roy initially established the protection fee regulations, it was he who proposed the “charge according to the person” policy.

For such a young man, who in the past only followed the captain’s orders and never meddled, to suddenly change his interests so dramatically and regard human life as worthless like the Black Emperor—this obviously wasn’t without reason.

“Children always like to wear adults’ clothes. It makes them think they’ve become adults and have the privilege of not having to go to bed early. That little bastard is the same way.”

Roy spoke unhurriedly, wearing a relaxed and comfortable smile on her face. “He thinks that by wearing the captain’s clothes, putting on that tricorn hat, killing more people, breaking some rules, and joining forces with my former enemies, he can become another me, but obviously… that’s delusional.”

Seeing the captain’s confident appearance, Cecilia frowned slightly. “Your analysis isn’t unreasonable, but I’ve told you more than once, never be overconfident or underestimate your enemies. You should know better than I do how dangerous that little bastard is, and with the Black Emperor added…”

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“Don’t worry, darling, everything will be resolved, whether it’s the traitor or my former defeated opponent.”

After reassuring the young woman, Roy continued, “Of course I’m not stupid enough to confront them directly. I just need to find an opportunity—an opportunity to return to the Mermaid—and everything will naturally return to normal.”

Cecilia reminded her, “There’s no one left on the Mermaid who supports you.”

“Little Ceci, you still don’t quite understand us pirates. For us, loyalty is a very luxurious thing. Even the person you trust most might betray you because of profit or violence, which is a completely normal thing.”

“Therefore, I generally don’t give the crew too much trust. So on the Mermaid, all members except myself need to be guarded against. There’s no distinction between my people and his people.”

Roy paused, then added with a sigh, “Of course, this doesn’t include Alfie and Richi, but facts have proven that humans are never as loyal as animals, which I find deeply saddening.”

Hearing the rare dejection in the captain’s words, Cecilia reached out and touched her cheek, comforting her. “I will never betray you.”

“Yes, I know, that’s why since arriving in Yadris, the first thing I did was come find you, right, darling?”

Roy held the young woman’s soft hand, speaking tenderly while leaning toward that pretty face.

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“Let’s talk business.” Cecilia’s hand, which had been caressing the captain’s cheek, stopped her advance, while her other hand pressed down on Roy’s mischievous paw as she spoke seriously.

“Alright, alright, let’s talk business.”

Both released each other’s hands and sat back in their original positions.

Roy held up one finger and said, “The only thing I need now is the Mermaid’s route trajectory, or in other words, when it will return to Yadris.”

Knowing that when it came to matters concerning the Mermaid, the captain always preferred to make her own decisions, Cecilia sighed lightly. Although she had some concerns, she still spoke without concealing anything: “No one can know the Mermaid’s route. Even I can only occasionally hear about its movements from people who come to Yadris, and I can’t risk angering the little bastard by using my agents.”

Obviously, this proprietress with numerous methods had also planted some personnel on the Mermaid, but had no opportunity to use them in the past. Now that the Mermaid was at sea, contacting that undercover person was clearly not an easy task.

Thinking of this, Roy’s eyes revealed a hint of disappointment, but that dejected emotion was quickly washed away by Cecilia’s next sentence.

“Who?”

“Your former bosun, Old John.”