Chapter 82

“Don’t try to set yourself against the sailors on the ship,” Caesar said as he stepped onto the deck, giving a warning pat to the small slave’s buttocks in his arms. “Most of them may seem like they only know how to raise their sabers and muskets to fight the enemy, but that’s because they’re too lazy to think. You should understand that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of it.”

…Does this dog have eyes on the back of his head? Miguel, the navigator, quickly put away the grimace he was making and obediently rested his head on the man’s shoulder. He tugged at a strand of the man’s flaxen hair and asked curiously, “What about those who are diligent in thinking?”

“Most people who bother to use their brains when they wake up have already secured positions on the Wind Fury,” Caesar sneered. “Or they’ve gone independent and taken up positions like mine… And let go of my hair, or I’ll throw you to the ground and let you crawl back yourself.”

Clearly not planning to crawl back on his own, Miguel let go of Caesar’s hair and said with an innocent tone, “They say you’re the biggest pirate in the Mediterranean.”

“Your fake innocent tone is disgusting.”

“…”

“And it’s too late to flatter me now,” Caesar kicked open the door to the Captain’s Cabin and placed the temporarily paralyzed navigator back in the same spot he had been in when they woke up this morning. “If it weren’t for you causing so much trouble last night, keeping us up until late, I wouldn’t have slept so soundly and completely missed what happened in the bilge.”

Yeah, sure, bullshit.

Even if you’re a light sleeper, you’re not some all-seeing, all-hearing deity. The bilge is three decks away from the Captain’s Cabin. Give me a break!

Miguel rolled his eyes in disbelief and leaned back on the bed, watching Caesar busy himself. He wasn’t sure what the man was up to. Caesar opened a cabinet and pulled out another blanket. Miguel glanced out the window. Although it wasn’t as hot as it had been a few weeks ago, it was definitely not cold enough to need an extra blanket. Just as Miguel was wondering about it, he saw the man casually throw the expensive fur rug onto the floor and step on it barefoot.

Then Miguel was dragged off the bed.

Plonking down onto the soft floor, the navigator looked back at his captain in confusion. After a while, seeing the black-haired young man sitting on the floor staring at him dumbly, Caesar finally lost patience, frowned, and kicked him in the waist. “Move.”

Miguel was speechless but did as he was told—he wriggled his hips and stretched out his arms toward the captain, asking for a hug.

Caesar: “…”

Miguel: “…What’s with the look? You didn’t say where to move.”

The man lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, exhaling a cloud of white smoke. Suppressing the urge to grab the smug slave and beat him senseless, he reached out with his strong arms and effortlessly lifted Miguel by the armpits, as if he were a toy. His voice was slightly muffled by the cigarette clenched between his teeth, but it sounded as if it were right by Miguel’s ear—

“If you don’t want to be paralyzed for life, you’d better start trying to use your legs now,” Caesar’s voice was calm. “No one knows when you’ll recover. It could be before dinner tonight, next month, or even next year… I’m sure you don’t want to find out one day that when you can finally stand, your thighs are only as thick as your calves.”

Caesar held Miguel and forced him to take a few steps. Ten minutes later, both of them were drenched in sweat. Miguel’s lower body had no strength, and he was as limp as a rag. Every time Caesar tried to let go, Miguel would immediately drop to his knees. After a few rounds, Miguel’s knees were almost shattered, and he strongly suggested they take it slow and call it a day.

It was at this moment that Caesar realized he definitely didn’t have the patience to be a ship’s doctor. After placing Miguel back on the bed, the captain decided to give Bakir a raise.

He left Miguel and walked over to his desk. In the center of the desk was the wooden box containing the Sinan Fish. The transparent little fish was still bumping into the drop of congealed blood floating on the water’s surface, diligently pushing it in a certain direction—the direction from which they had returned.

Caesar had considered returning to Mermaid Harbor to hunt mermaids again.

The remaining mermaid was timid and mute, unable to write in any human language. Caesar had once carefully examined her hands. This remaining mermaid was clearly a juvenile—the webbing between her fingers was still thin and transparent, and her fingertips weren’t as slender as those of an adult mermaid, indicating she hadn’t yet reached the age where she could write.

Thinking of this, the man’s frown deepened.

Before him was a completed map of the route to Mermaid Harbor. The man’s long fingers traced along the red markings, leaving a faint line on the parchment. He was silent, deep in thought.

“Thinking of going back?” Miguel struggled to turn over and find a more comfortable position. “But Rick told me this morning that last night you received news that the Spanish Royal Navy has been following us. If we turn back now, we’ll definitely run into them—they’re still furious about the last time we caused trouble in their territory. If we meet again, they definitely won’t be setting off fireworks to welcome you… Well, cannons will probably still be involved. If their fleet isn’t too big this time, we could try to face them head-on.”

Without looking up, Caesar pulled over a piece of parchment and quickly wrote something on it—likely in German, to send back to his homeland. Miguel wasn’t the least bit surprised. To become the most powerful pirate fleet in the Mediterranean, it was clear that Caesar couldn’t have done it alone without the backing of his own country.

Even if you were a god, you couldn’t pull that off, let alone Caesar.

After signing his name with a flourish at the bottom of the parchment and tossing aside the quill, the captain let out a displeased snort. “It seems Juan II also dreams of immortality. This time, they’ve invested heavily, hiring old pirates and sailors—some of whom are even my former crew members. Their fleet is massive. Even if I teamed up with that red-haired dwarf, we’d barely stand a chance against them…” Here, Caesar paused and then added, glancing at Miguel before turning his gaze back to the little transparent fish still pushing the drop of blood, “The opponent is Spain. I don’t trust Leoza.”

In a spot where the captain couldn’t see, the navigator’s lips curved into a small smile.

By the time Caesar looked up, Miguel’s expression had returned to its usual impassive state.

An hour later, Caesar convened a meeting in the Captain’s Cabin and announced a decision: they would continue sailing to the next island for supplies, and then see if they could extract any information from the juvenile mermaid. Meanwhile, Leoza would turn back and return to Mermaid Harbor to capture mermaids again.

“That’s your country’s fleet,” Caesar said calmly in response to Leoza’s vehement protests. “If it were a German fleet tailing us, I’d be the one going back.”

Leoza: “…”

Caesar: “Unfortunately, it’s not.”

Leoza bristled, about to say something, when suddenly the window behind the captain was kicked open from the outside!

Everyone turned in shock to see who had the audacity to do such a thing. Backlit by the sunlight, they could only make out a slender figure struggling to climb in through the window, holding up her skirt.

Leoza was delighted: “Wow, a woman’s on board! You’re in big trouble, Caesar! Shipwreck incoming!”

Caesar sneered: “If you don’t shut up, I’ll make sure your Hornet sinks before the Wind Fury—what the hell, woman?”

Faced with the captain’s anger, Zhizhi laughed carefreely, her eyes almost disappearing into crescents. She scratched the back of her head, looking a little embarrassed. “I couldn’t find the door to come in, so I had to climb through the window—”

Just as Caesar was about to throw Zhizhi out, Miguel realized he had to intervene immediately. Clearing his throat, he came to the rescue of his pet at the critical moment: “What’s wrong, Zhizhi?”

“Oh, oh, Xiao Miguel!” Zhizhi’s eyes lit up. Holding up her skirt and barefoot, she dashed toward her caretaker, leaving a trail of dirty footprints on the captain’s pristine carpet. As if completely oblivious to the captain’s face darkening like a storm cloud behind her, she leaped onto the captain’s sacred bed and threw her arms around the waist of the captain’s personal slave. “I missed you so much! I heard you’re crippled. How are you holding up?!”

“…”

What was he supposed to say to that?

Yes, I’m paralyzed, thanks for asking, but I’m doing fine for now?

Miguel suddenly wondered how this girl, who clearly lacked tact, had managed to survive in her previous line of work before meeting him.

Reaching out to ruffle the girl’s messy hair, Miguel gave Caesar a look that said, “Calm down.” Seeing the man’s lips press into a thin line, clearly on the verge of exploding but holding it in, the navigator’s eyes flickered with amusement. His tone became lighter as he spoke to Zhizhi: “What brings you to the Wind Fury?”

Caesar: “Isn’t it obvious? She’s here to freeload.”

Everyone: “…”

Miguel: “…Come on, boss, be a little nicer… Zhizhi, you were saying.”

Caesar: “How long are you two planning to hug? Isn’t it hot?”

Realizing her top caretaker’s displeasure, Zhizhi wisely let go of Miguel. She tugged at her dirty skirt and plopped down on Caesar’s bed—leaving a long streak of mud from her filthy skirt on the captain’s pristine white sheets. A vein throbbed on Caesar’s temple.

Zhizhi leaned in close to Miguel, her eyes wide, and dropped a bombshell: “The mermaid on the red-haired guy’s ship is dying.”

Caesar’s expression darkened, his sharp gaze turning dangerously toward his first mate.

Realizing his salary for the next three years might be at risk, Rick looked shocked: “What?! How is that possible! I had no idea!”

Zhizhi turned to glare at Rick: “You didn’t change her water. Didn’t you see the scales floating on the surface? There’s nothing left in the water to sustain her.”

Rick looked utterly innocent: “The other mermaid didn’t need her water changed!”

Zhizhi giggled, covering her mouth: “Juveniles are always more fragile. So, are you going to change her water or not? Otherwise, she’s really going to die.”

The Captain’s Cabin fell into silence.

Caesar strode over to the bed and hauled the dirty girl up by her thin wrist. His rough hand left a red mark on her delicate skin, showing no sign of gentleness. He shot a warning glance at the navigator, who was about to step in to rescue the girl, and narrowed his amber eyes thoughtfully. “You haven’t been on Rick’s ship. How do you know what’s happening there?”

Forgive the captain’s paranoia, Miguel thought sympathetically as he looked at Zhizhi. He trusts no one these days.

Yet, faced with the Black Sea Wolf’s fierceness, the girl showed no fear. She blinked innocently and said, “I heard it! Didn’t you hear it?—She was crying so loudly, tsk tsk, you could probably hear it from the next coast over.”

For a brief moment, Caesar’s expression froze.

Everyone knew that the sounds juvenile mermaids made were at a frequency humans couldn’t hear, which was why they were classified as mute.

But this woman had heard it?

What exactly was she?

For the first time since Miguel had boarded the ship, the captain found himself wanting to forgive his little slave’s habit of picking up random strays.