The Divine Armor of the Old Century（Book 1）

Chapter 76

"It was truly a moment of despair. You finally grew up, but you would never again set sail."

Another bolt of lightning tore through the night sky. Out of the corner of her eye, Eve saw the others—led by Voll—busily working on the ship, silently braving the storm.

"For a long time, I lived in a daze. Though I grew old, I never forgot my childhood dreams. But they remained just dreams, relics of a bygone era with no place in the new world."

"I never married or had children. I spent all my savings on the Silverfish and gathered a crew of youngsters who, like me, yearned for the age of pirates."

With a mix of nostalgia and sorrow, the captain slowly turned around. His weary body was drenched, scales like those of a fish covering his skin.

"Child, do you know what it's like when, after dwelling in darkness for so long, you suddenly see light? That overwhelming rush? No reason, just the desire to escape the darkness, no matter what horrors the light might bring."

"That's how it was for me."

Eve edged closer to the side of the ship, minimizing her blind spots, staying focused despite the captain's words.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Just the confession of a pitiable man. Someone needs to know, right?"

His murky eyes, like swirling storm clouds, held a glimmer of dreams.

"I always hoped someone would hear this, so my death, our deaths, would have meaning. But no matter how much I called out, no one responded—until you came."

That eerie call had come from this very man. From the moment the Radiance had been halted, he had been summoning Eve.

Whether it was fear or a strange sense of honor, Eve hadn't expected to become part of such a unique tale.

"So you called me here just to listen to your ramblings?"

"Perhaps. People are like that—born in loneliness but unwilling to die alone. Even a funeral is held to show they weren't alone."

Clutching the helm, the captain spoke slowly, revealing the start of the tragedy.

"It all began months ago when someone called the Mentor approached me. He said he could give me everything I ever hoped for—vast wealth, high status, even a return to the forgotten era."

"He promised to fulfill each of our dreams if we helped him retrieve something."

"You might not understand the feeling. You've lost all hope in something, but then one day someone tells you there's still hope. Faced with such temptation, anyone would lose their reason, and that's how the tragedy began."

The wind and rain seemed to quiet as if the whole world was listening to his tale. He was the storyteller, doing all he could to avoid being forgotten, regardless of whether the story was good or bad.

"You're here to investigate this, aren't you? To be honest, the first time I saw those monsters, I realized how complex the world was. That guy, the Mentor, made us take something we shouldn't have. But by then, there was no turning back."

"Three of my crew died at sea, hauling that thing up from the deep. I don't know what they went through, but they lost their minds, became incommunicable, and then their bodies began to rot... It's hard to imagine. They were alive, breathing, talking, even moving, but their flesh just decayed grotesquely until they twisted into a heap."

His voice carried remorse and hatred. In the darkness, Eve heard the sound of monsters writhing. Turning, she saw the grotesque flesh crawling on the deck, the sight nearly making her retch.