Chapter 81

The bilge was packed with a crowd of people, all standing with their heads bowed like dead dogs. No one dared to exchange even a glance with the furious captain, fearing they might accidentally become the scapegoat. However, the tense atmosphere made Miguel and Rick’s entrance seem abrupt. When everyone saw Miguel, they seemed to remember something and shifted their gaze to the dagger in the mermaid’s corpse, then frantically looked back and forth between the navigator and the corpse.

As if they actually knew something.

Throughout this, Caesar remained silent. He merely lifted his eyelids to glance at the first mate and the navigator on his back as they descended the stairs, then stayed quiet—he didn’t accuse or suspect Miguel, nor did he stop others from doing so.

He was a very, very smart leader.

A born leader.

Leaning on Rick’s back, Miguel chuckled, his warm breath tickling the red-haired first mate’s neck, sending shivers down his spine. No one in the cabin dared to speak, everyone exchanging glances while stealing sidelong looks at the navigator. Until they saw the black-haired young man curl his lips into a disdainful, cold smile… a smile they often saw on Caesar’s face. Unconsciously, the sailors who had already made up their minds trembled and lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact.

Miguel, like steering a wheel, tugged Rick’s hair to guide him toward the only chair in the bilge—the chair behind Caesar. Rick pursed his lips and reluctantly carried him over, and without a word, the captain reached out to take Miguel and placed him securely on the only chair.

The entire process was seamless, with no prior communication.

Sitting half-reclined in the not-so-comfortable chair, Miguel suddenly felt like a little giant standing on the captain’s shoulders—the sailors, wanting to speak but not daring to, wanting to accuse but hesitating, looked rather ridiculous. The navigator propped his chin with one hand, his black eyes calmly scanning the silent crowd.

In their eyes, he saw a small amount of trust.

But more than that, there was blatant suspicion.

“What, suspecting me?”

Tsking twice, Miguel finally spoke. He patted Caesar, who glanced at him but said nothing, standing behind him like a subordinate—from beginning to end, the man showed no intention of taking the lead. Miguel understood very well that he had to resolve this matter himself.

“—That’s your dagger.”

From the crowd, a sailor muttered softly, his voice low but audible in the silence of the bilge.

Miguel laughed, “Yes, it’s my dagger.” He spoke slowly, then slightly raised his voice, “Am I so stupid as to use my own dagger to slit the mermaid’s chest? In your eyes, is that the extent of my intelligence?”

“But who else could it be?”

This time, it was Berry, who had always been at odds with Miguel. This kid hadn’t been dragged into the sea by the mermaid a few days ago… The navigator frowned, impatient with this pointless question: “There are so many people on the Wind Fury, of course there are others besides me—Captain, have you asked Leoza?”

In front of everyone, Miguel gave Caesar full respect, always speaking respectfully. He asked, “What if this is just another harmless joke from your brother?”

Rick: “Harmless.”

“Of course,” Miguel replied expressionlessly, “We still have one mermaid left, don’t we?”

“She can’t speak or write,” Rick paused, then shrugged, “And she’s always hiding in the water under my ship. I’ve almost forgotten what she looks like.”

“Then put a chain around her neck and tie her to Zhizhi’s ship. She doesn’t need to speak or write to help us find where the captain wants to go.”

“Enough.” Caesar coldly interrupted their conversation, “I don’t want to waste any more time listening to your pointless arguments. Now, those who suspect Miguel, step forward—tell me your reasons. Berry, you first. You were on duty last night, so I’ll grant you special speaking rights.”

Miguel sneered.

Berry squeezed out from the crowd—this time in a normal manner, not like a bouncing rabbit. Yet he still eagerly answered Caesar’s question, raising his hands, his big eyes blinking with excitement and madness: “I saw it, Captain, I saw it—I’m so sure because I saw it. Last night there was no moonlight, but the Hornet next to us kept their oil lamps burning all night on the side of their ship. So by that light, I saw it—it was definitely Miguel. Yes, I’m sure it was him. He climbed in through the bilge window and knocked us all out!”

Miguel: “Me, a cripple, climbed in through the window?”

Caesar: “Let him finish.”

Miguel pouted, then got a smack on the back of his head from the captain.

“Faking paralysis is easy,” Berry said coldly, “You’re always by the captain’s side, so of course you know where the mermaid is kept. Then you pretended to be paralyzed, and to clear your name immediately, you even used—”

The boy’s words suddenly stopped. He covered his mouth, regretfully widening his eyes as he realized the serious logical contradiction in what he was about to say.

But Miguel obviously wouldn’t let him off so easily.

Sitting like an old man in the only chair, the navigator smiled leisurely, his voice light as he urged, “Go on, why stop?—Can’t finish, huh? Let me finish for you. I used ‘pretending to be paralyzed’ as this ‘ingenious reason no one could guess,’ just to kill a mermaid for some inexplicable reason, willingly living like a pig, eating, drinking, and defecating in bed—and then I used my own dagger, my personal dagger as the murder weapon, and as if I didn’t want anyone to know, I left it in the mermaid’s chest. My brain isn’t working well either—right after the captain told me where the mermaid was kept, I couldn’t wait to sneak in and kill her. And before I knew about it, the mermaid was alive and perfectly fine—”

Miguel paused, curling his lips, “Guess whether I wanted you to know I was the murderer or not?”

Berry was speechless.

Miguel, like a victorious cat, smugly retracted all his bristling fur.

Rick chuckled twice, deeply feeling that he never wanted to cross Miguel.

Just as the entire ship fell into silence, someone spoke. Surprisingly yet predictably, when the man spoke, almost everyone looked up at him, but the man who had gathered all the attention seemed unfazed. His amber eyes were fixed intently on the black-haired young man sitting on the chair beside him.

Miguel raised his face, fearlessly meeting those slightly indifferent eyes.

“What if you’re using reverse psychology?” The man pinched the navigator’s chin, tilting it up slightly. His index finger hooked, the tip pressing against Miguel’s jawbone, causing a bit of pain. His thin lips parted, speaking slowly and deliberately, “What if you deliberately left these things to manipulate our thinking, to make us easily overlook you… the obvious suspect?”

“I didn’t need to take that risk,” Miguel stared into his big dog’s eyes, speaking seriously, word by word, “If I wanted to do it, I could’ve left no trace. You wouldn’t even have suspected me.”

Berry: “But—last night, the one who climbed through the window—”

“I’m paralyzed, thanks.” Miguel raised his voice, not even giving the boy a glance, sternly cutting him off.

“And on my Wind Fury, there are countless people with a similar height and build as you,” Caesar said indifferently.

“Exactly,” Miguel nodded, “I didn’t do it, so I didn’t do it.”

The navigator’s voice was filled with determination and stubbornness.

Yes, stubbornness.

The man realized that when he looked into those black eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

He suddenly realized that his slave’s overly straightforward and strong demeanor had, in some way, struck him deeply—unprecedentedly, Caesar came to the profound realization that, as a master, he had wronged his slave.

He should have trusted him.

So, in front of everyone, Caesar turned and scooped his little slave up into his arms—a scene that felt eerily familiar, just like months ago in that tavern on Djerba Island, when he had rushed onto the stage without hesitation and carried away the stripper who had become the center of attention for the patrons.

The man turned his head, his sharp gaze sweeping over all his crew members.

Then, in a deep, magnetic voice, he calmly announced his decision.

“I believe him.”

As Caesar carried the black-haired young man, deciding to leave the stifling bilge and head up the stairs to the deck, everyone saw the navigator—who had just awoken yesterday after playing a major role in capturing the mermaid—lazily stretch out his pale arm and wrap it tightly around the captain’s neck, like a triumphant pet.

His chin rested on the man’s shoulder, and he smiled. Then, in a place where the captain couldn’t see, he stuck out his tongue and made a face at everyone standing dumbfounded in the bilge.

He had won a remarkable victory.