Chapter 77

Once upon a time, there was a man who told his lover: “Wait for me to return victorious, and I will marry you.”

Later, that man died.

Once upon a time, there was a man who told his wife: “When I return victorious, our child will be running all over the place. Remember to teach them to call me Daddy.”

Later, that man died.

Once upon a time, there was a man who told his childhood friend, the one closer to him than a brother: “Wait for me to return victorious, and we’ll become sworn brothers.”

Later, that man died.

Once upon a time, there was a man who told the village chief: “When I return victorious, I’ll build roads for our village.”

Later, that man… well, he still died.

…

Caesar thought he had uttered the most romantic line of his life, but when he tilted his head and stared expressionlessly at the navigator, waiting for a response, Miguel instead solemnly reached out to cup Caesar’s face and earnestly told him, “Don’t say such unlucky things.” In an instant, the man’s arrogant and domineering expression, along with his “praise me” look, shattered into pieces, replaced by utter confusion and a deep sense of offense.

The next day, the sun rose and set, and night fell once again.

The moon finally peeked out from behind the thick clouds, just as Caesar had said—tonight was a perfect full moon. The layers of fog surrounding the island had thinned slightly, and when looking out, the endless expanse of black sea surrounded the Mermaid Harbor. During the day, the clear waters shimmered under the sunlight, but under the moonlight, they turned into a deep, ink-like blue. The sea, calm during the day, now rippled with waves as the night breeze swept across.

Caesar personally led a group of seven or eight men onto a small boat, among them were the first mate of the Hornet and the charge captain—Rick was forcibly left on shore by Caesar, who had declared, “If I die, the Wind Fury is yours.”

As for inheriting the largest fleet in the Mediterranean, the red-haired first mate responded with a disdainful curl of his lips. However, under his command, a long row of torches was lit along the rocky shore. The pirates stood with their torches, thousands of eyes fixed on their leader as he rowed a simple wooden boat slowly out to sea. The torches swayed in the sea breeze, and from a distance, they looked like a long, undulating dragon of fire!

Caesar himself took the oars, steering the boat into a wide expanse of water. At first glance, the location seemed randomly chosen and unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that Caesar had positioned the boat at the mouth of a rocky area. Behind him lay a stretch of black, jagged rocks with no retreat—

Miguel thought about it and realized the terrain was like a “leather trap.” In his past life, Miguel had seen such a thing in his hometown. It was an old hunting tool used to trap foxes—a specially crafted leather bag with a hexagonal opening that could only be entered, not exited. The outer opening was round, allowing foxes or weasels to slip in, but the hexagonal shape of the bag would catch their bones. These animals could contract their bodies, but they couldn’t escape through the hexagonal hole. Once they tried to leave, the opening would tighten, trapping them until they died.

As Caesar rowed the boat past the mouth of the rocky area, the first mate of the Hornet stood at the stern, holding a large barrel of kerosene. As Caesar rowed, the first mate poured the kerosene evenly across the water’s surface—

The kerosene, mixed with fish oil and fish liver to mask its scent, blended seamlessly with the damp, briny sea breeze, making it nearly undetectable—

The mouth of the rocky area was like the hexagonal opening of the leather trap.

Hidden among the rocks around the captain’s boat were pirates ready to cast their nets. As soon as the mermaids surfaced to seize the man, Caesar would give the order, and the sailors would light a match to ignite the kerosene, creating a line of fire at the mouth of the rocky area. Mermaids, naturally afraid of fire, would panic and inevitably swim into the trap, where the waiting sailors would capture them in their nets.

As the centerpiece of the entire plan, the captain stood on the boat with his hands behind his back, expressionless, tall, and powerful. He was like the secret lure in the leather trap, designed to attract the mermaids that had been starved for who knows how many years.

He held a cigarette between his teeth, the tip glowing faintly in the darkness, a stark contrast against the night. The sea breeze tousled his flaxen hair as he turned slightly, flicking the cigarette into the sea. Then, in a nearly imperceptible motion, he cast a warning glance toward the rocky area behind him.

No one noticed this small detail.

Except for a certain navigator who hadn’t taken his eyes off the captain the entire time and accidentally locked eyes with him.

Yes, Miguel, suffering from a temporary bout of thalassophobia, had chosen to stay on shore rather than board the boat. Caesar seemed to approve of this decision, as he believed Miguel, though “a bit dumb,” was at least agile. Thus, the crucial task of igniting the kerosene line was entrusted to him and Rick—

“I thought you’d go on the boat.”

As a bystander, Zhizhi chuckled softly beside Miguel.

The navigator glanced at her but said nothing, then returned his gaze to the captain.

“Those mermaids have been starving for so long. If I were them, I’d grab onto a catch like Caesar and never let go,” Zhizhi murmured with a smile. “Expecting them to fall into your trap is like expecting them to fight over him and let you pick up the scraps—”

“Anyone who tries to take him from me, I’ll kill one by one, two by two.”

“That’s easy to say, but didn’t you just develop that deep-sea phobia?”

“Shut up,” Miguel said calmly. “Your voice is so loud, you’ll scare the mermaids away.”

“Ugh! How rude! Saying my voice is loud, heehee. Isn’t that what you want, though—?”

Zhizhi’s words were cut short by Miguel’s calm gaze. She pouted and hugged her knees, squatting obediently beside the navigator. She tilted her head and noticed that his eyes never left a particular spot—following his gaze, it inevitably landed on the man standing on the boat in the distance. The pretty girl pursed her lips but didn’t voice her complaint. Instead, she sighed deeply and fell silent.

Meanwhile, out on the water—

After waiting quietly for a while, the calm sea remained undisturbed, and Caesar’s already thin patience ran out. He kicked the first mate of the Hornet in the rear, asking arrogantly, “Hey, sing a song.”

The first mate, who had been leaning over the side of the boat staring at the water, was caught off guard and nearly fell into the sea. He clutched his rear and turned around, shouting hoarsely, “Hey—what—what song? Why the hell would I sing a song now?!”

“Anything,” Caesar said, his gaze sweeping over the distant sea. He looked the first mate up and down, giving the order as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Just don’t make it too horrible—consider it a way to pass the time.”

If you’re bored, why didn’t you bring that woman you bought from Menorca? You could’ve had all the entertainment you wanted. The frustrated first mate tugged at his beard, looking around and realizing everyone on the boat was watching him with amusement. He glanced up at Caesar, who was staring at him intently, as if genuinely waiting for him to start singing—

What the hell is this?

Completely baffled, the first mate was embarrassed beyond belief and, in a moment of desperation, began humming a tune he barely remembered… The first mate of the Hornet was utterly miserable. He was a rough man who knew nothing about singing, and those two lines were something he’d overheard sailors from another fleet singing in a Spanish tavern. Those sailors were relentless, singing the same song over and over all night, making it so catchy that when Caesar told him to sing, he instinctively started with it—

He fully expected to be booed off, but instead, the Black Sea Wolf standing in the center of the boat quietly curled his lips into a smile.

Someone died young,

The half-mast flag no longer flutters.

As is the sailors’ custom,

The body was wrapped in a sail—

A more accurate and gentle melody, hummed from deep within his throat, rose from Caesar’s direction. The first mate of the Hornet was momentarily stunned but didn’t stop his off-key humming. Against the backdrop of the first mate’s discordant tune, Caesar’s singing was low and husky, each note familiar and moving. It wasn’t the kind of beautiful voice a woman might have, but it seemed to blend with the whistling sea breeze, carrying far into the distance—

It was a slow, mournful German song.

The lyrics spoke of how a pirate’s life would one day wither—he might die of illness, be hanged for desertion, or tortured to death on the mast. He might fall in battle to an enemy’s blade or be swept away by the rolling waves. Whenever this happened, his comrades would wrap his body in a canvas sack, attach weights to his feet, place him on a plank, and push him into the sea.

And so, a life would vanish silently from the world—

His friends, his family, his wife or lover, like all the wealth of his short and lively life, would remain behind, unclaimed in death.

The men on the boat were drawn in by Caesar’s humming, and soon they joined in, singing the ancient maritime song. The melody was carried by the sea breeze, resonating with those on the rocky shore. The pirates held their blazing torches, one by one, then in pairs, until the low hum grew into a mighty chorus—

Tie him up tight with rope,

Push him over the side.

We cannot give you a cross,

There are no flowers on the sea,

Above a sailor’s grave, there are only waves, only the glow of sunset!

Some of them were off-key, but they sang with great sincerity. Their different skin tones, hair colors, and eye colors flickered in the torchlight, their voices weaving together into the grandest symphony, echoing into the heavens as if each man were praying to his god and longing for his homeland—

Far out on the sea, a glimmer of silver appeared.

On the boat, Caesar continued to hum his song softly. Only those who were paying close attention could notice that every muscle in his body had suddenly tensed, his domineering aura impossible to ignore even from a distance. Under the moonlight, he slowly curled his lips into a smile—

The vast sea seemed to have been enchanted, suddenly becoming eerily calm.

On the surface, countless ripples moved rhythmically toward the boat!

The men’s singing was suddenly joined by a soft, feminine voice, sounding as if it came from the heavens—

On the rocky shore, the pirates exchanged bewildered and fearful glances, but they didn’t dare stop singing—or perhaps they simply couldn’t. The enchanting melody seemed to lure the sailors into singing forever… They turned their heads, staring at the sea, their hearts pounding in their chests. As the torchlight illuminated the waters closest to the rocky area, they could clearly see dozens of women emerging from the surface—

They had the most beautiful faces in the world, with delicate noses and snow-white skin. Their eyes sparkled like the most precious gems, glowing brightly even in the darkness.

They swam gracefully toward the boat in the center of the sea, their silver and golden fins occasionally breaking the surface, translucent and shimmering with water, like the finest fabric from the ancient East—

Almost everyone was captivated by their beauty.

Behind Caesar, one of the sailors had already placed his hand in the cold, wet grasp of a mermaid, but in the next moment, the boat swayed slightly, and a dark shadow flashed by. Green, sticky, foul-smelling blood splattered across the sailor’s face, the cold stench snapping him out of his daze—

The mermaid, who had been on the verge of success, twisted her face in pain and rage. Her once-beautiful features turned ugly, like a demon from hell. Clutching the stump where her hand had been cleanly severed, she bared her sharp fangs at the cold, handsome man on the boat—

“Light it.”

In the cold sea breeze, Caesar’s voice was low and magnetic, but it thundered like a bolt from the heavens, jolting all the sailors out of their mermaid-induced trance.