Chapter 154 Aye Captain (2)

Even though Jerry left, the room was still devoid of any sounds as he just stood there contemplating what to do next.

Then doubt began to seep into his thoughts.

Immediately, he shook those triggering thoughts away and walked back to his other chair behind his work table.

"He might just come back to his right senses" Captain Crimson eye muttered. Regardless, a part of him wondered how much of his words was true, and how much of it wasn't.

He laughed "This should be nothing". Yes, this shouldn't be something he should be seriously concerned or worried about. He has done it a hundred times, surely doing it again wouldn't matter.

He thought. Yet, something bitter stuck at the back of his throat.

He has already done so a thousand times, surely doing it again wouldn't matter, he repeated….. For goodness sake, he repeated.

"Bam!" His books and documents fell to the ground after he had angrily swept his table clean with his hands. His arm also touched the inkstone, and mistakenly spilt it to the other side, staining both his arm and a part of his clothes.

"Damn it!" Captain Crimson eye scowled. In this part of the sea, inks were very expensive and the next batch won't be here for a few months.

Furiously, he tried to rub away the ink from his skin, but he failed miserably. A thought sprang into his mind, and he activated his aura.

A crimson bright hue covered his skin and spread outwards, unsurprisingly, it carried the ink alongside, casually separating it from his skin until he deactivated his aura. The ink trickled down to the floorboard away from his skin.

He looked down to look at his shirt and groaned irritably. This has already turned into an annoying night.

Without pause, he turned around and walked back to his seat. He stretched his left hand below his desk and brought out a paper parchment from one of the drawers. His scowl vanished and was replaced by a gaze of indifference.

He delicately lifted the pen from its inkstone and began to write on the scroll.

"Prepare the Dipper Snake, be at the ready for my commands. Chaos shall soon be upon us...."

He paused, lost in thought. He dipped the pen back into the inkwell, gazed into its depths and sighed, raking his fingers through his locks. Refocused, he continued his letter,

"In just a few days, the storm of chaos will arrive. Brace yourselves, my crew, the winds of change are coming".

With a sense of finality, he set the pen down beside the inkstone, carefully folding the scroll and imprinting it with his personal seal.

Captain Crimson eye murmured, "This will suffice." He sprang into action, flicking the scroll into the air with a flick of his wrist. In a flash, it disappeared before it could touch the ground.

He leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. That was it. He needed to do what needed to be done. With a steely resolve, Captain Crimson eye plotted his next steps, ready to set his plans into motion.

Suddenly, he snickered. A soft, faint-hearted snicker. He couldn't help it.

"Oh well..." He shook his head tiredly. The accumulated stress finally got to him. "What was that phrase from the story? It seems I've lost it... Hmm... How did it go?"

A glimmer of recollection ignited within him. He inhaled deeply, held his breath for a moment, and then exhaled with a smile.

"Devoid of grace, far from the heavens, man proposes, heaven disposes".

Oh yes! That was how it went.

….....

There was no man better than his Captain.

His Captain was smart. Dangerously and irrefutably wiser, than people gave him credit for. He was competent, and effortlessly graceful even as he steered his mighty vessel through the tumultuous swells, against the backdrop of the tempestuous ocean.

A master of the high seas, a Pirate, a symbol of resilience and indomitable courage in the face of adversity.

There was no man better than his Captain.

He believed. Yes. He utterly believed and strongly affirmed such statements without a doubt. Even though some of it were through his erudite tutelage, that he had come to grasp the nuances of life on the high seas, and gained the knowledge and fortitude necessary to claim his place among the fabled Pirates of the ocean.

He knew.

There was no man better than his Captain.

Walking through the hall, he didn't know at he had arrived at his destination until he was in front of it. Since his Captain has decided to put such a difficult task upon his shoulders together with his grand expectations, then it was his task to make sure that such a thing does come to pass.

Even though what he wanted was far from his grasp, he has. For his Captain, he has to. For a King, he toiled day and night for, a King he serves but has never seen or met...

Those statements struck him.

His hand which was about to 'Knock' on the door in front of him, laid dormant on the door's wooden surface.

"A King he serves but has never seen or met" He repeated. His face fell in wonder as he pondered.

He sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere with this. He shook his head and clashed his knuckles against the door.

"Knock" "Knock" "Knock".

"Who's there?"

Good, he was still awake. "Come out, it's time".

Silence. And then, the door swung open a light 'bang'.

"That fast!" The man in front of him widened his eyes in disbelief. "Did you manage to make the Captain let you handle this matter the way you want?".

He wasn't happy to hear that "Yes". Yet, that was all he could say.

"Marvellous news, it brings me joy to learn that our captain has finally granted you your heart's desire!" The man beamed, his yellow-stained teeth shining in delight. "One moment, let me slip into something more presentable." He sauntered back into his quarters, emerging a few moments later in a resplendent yellow linen shirt, sleek black pants, knee-high boots, and a sharp dagger tucked neatly at his waist.

"Are you ready?" Jerry asked.

Bostan responded with a salute. "Yes, Sir Jerry".

He nodded his head. "Let's go". He turned around and walked ahead with Bostan following beside him.

"Are we still going to make use of the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd fleet" Bostan questioned.

"Yes, we are" He paused, and then continued. "But we will also be taking the 24th and 25th fleet".

Bostan gave him an understandable sidelong glance. "Six fleets... Sir Jerry, isn't that too much? Will we be able to manage them".

He nodded. His steps did not falter as he walked forward. "Yes, it is, and we will".

Soon, they reach the end of the hallway, and he pulled the door leading to the upper deck open. The moon was still there, unmovingly. His eyes were alight with wonder as he gazed upon the magnificent vista. The briny sea air wafted around him, invigorating his senses, and filling his lungs with the crisp and rejuvenating essence of the ocean.

He closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled deeply before his eyes snapped open. "Let's go" He commanded.

Bostan hurriedly ran towards the davit where the longboats were packed to get one ready for their sail.

He followed behind him.

After a few minutes of setting and properly checking the things they needed, Bostan said "We are ready to set sail, Sir Jerry".

"Alright, let's go to the 22nd fleet first, before we reach the others". He boarded the longboat and watched as they descended into the sea, drifting away on the waves.

"Sir Jerry" The words were filled with curiosity and confusion. "I know that we were confident in your plans, but since we are talking about Captain Crimson eye, surely, there is something else that made him change his mind".

"What do you mean?" He rose a brow. "Are you saying our Captain is easily swayed in his decisions?".

"No… Everyone knows that the Captain is clever enough to properly carry out difficult decisions by himself" Bostan stammered. He cleared his throat and continued. "What I meant is that, even though I have been with Captain Crimson eye for several years, sometimes, there are times when I feel like I have never met this man, and he is not my Captain."

Bostan chuckled., "A shape-shifting chameleon leading our ship with cunning schemes. Relaxed now, relentless later. A competent yet peculiar captain," he shook his head in wonder. "But, I guess that is how all Captains should be. He's a role model, isn't he?".

But no response came out of his lips. His mind was a turmoil. He repeated that sentence, again.

A King he serves but has never seen or met ---

A cunning chameleon --

Jerry shot up from where he was seated and turned around, setting his eyes on the radiant beautiful vessel -their ship.

How could he not see the answer to the simple question that troubled him?