Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 147

No one around who saw it made a sound.

"Any further objections will result in the same fate as him."

The pirate captain coldly lowered his gun, stood up from his chair, and limped onto the deck without the aid of a cane.

"Persistence is the source of a pirate's power; as long as he feels uncontrollably angry, he will no longer feel hungry."

He leaned against the wall and walked all the way to the bow of the ship, looking at the endless black sea.

"If you're looked down upon, you can forget about being a pirate again." He curled his lip and spat into the sea. "Those bastards, this isn't a question of whether it's worth it or not. I'll chase them to the ends of the earth and keep them pinned down until they all perish at the bottom of the sea."

Extortion? Ransom?

These things are no longer important to him.

He wanted to sink the ship and drown all two thousand people on board to fill the void of his resentment.

"But if this continues, we'll all perish at the bottom of the sea..."

"What did you say?!"

The pirate captain turned around sharply, pointing his gun at his men behind him.

"Who said that! Step forward!"

"..."

All of his men fell silent.

Until one of them, the newcomer who had only recently joined them, was pushed out of the crowd.

"Boss..."

"Did you just say that?! If so, I'll send you to feed the sharks right now!"

"No, no, boss! That's not what I meant!" The young pirate's lips and legs trembled as he gripped the railing beside him. "Boss, you should know about the recent rumors..."

"rumor?"

"It's about sea monsters and those things. Lately, everyone's been saying they see something on the sea at night. Rumors are flying everywhere, and everyone's scared."

"Superstition, that's all superstition!"

The pirate captain pounded on the iron wall beside him with a prosthetic leg made of a wooden stick.

"How old are you to still believe in those superstitions!"

"But......"

"Nothing but!"

His men looked at him in horror, as if they had shrunk by several centimeters, huddled together like a flock of chicks cornered by wolves.

The pirate captain looked with satisfaction at his men, who were terrified by his imposing presence.

This is the kind of presence a pirate captain should have!

The pirate captain angrily spread his arms and continued his speech.

"Do you know what? I've been committing all sorts of evil deeds at sea for twenty-five years. I've been a pirate for twenty-five years, robbed countless ships, and killed countless people. And I'm still as lively as ever!"

Saliva and bad breath sprayed from his large mouth, which was covered by a beard. The pirate captain, engrossed in his speech, did not notice that his men's focus was not on him at all.

"If such a thing really existed, I should have been fucking dead long ago!"

silence.

His words were met with silence.

Only then did he see his reflection in his men's eyes, and finally understood that what they feared wasn't him, but rather what emerged from the deep, dark ocean behind him...

The Lost Tale: The Spirit of Youth: Chapter 176 Beneath the Sea Level

Above the vast ocean, an osprey spreads its broad wings, riding the sea breeze, and observes the seemingly calm sea with its eagle eyes.

Millions of years of evolution have given it eyes that can see through the sea. To it, the sea is like skin under the sun, and it can clearly see the blood vessels faintly visible beneath the skin.

Suddenly, it folded its wings, swooped down from a height of 100 meters, and plunged headfirst into the sea.

thump!

The sharp claws pierced the fish's body, and the osprey flapped its wings, its head emerging from the sea surface.

A fat fish—this was an exceptionally sumptuous lunch for it.

Normally, all you need to do next is spread your wings, take off from the water, and return to your nest to enjoy a feast.

However, as the osprey's head plunged beneath the surface of the sea, it saw things far beyond the comprehension limits of its walnut-sized head.

Eyes hidden in the darkness watch it from beneath the sea surface.

Fear at the genetic level made it frantically drop its heavy prey and spread its wings at top speed to carry itself away from the sea.

It took to the skies again, leaving the area, and flew for quite a while.

A small dot appeared in my field of vision.

Those are mobile nests for two-legged creatures, places where they can rest.

The osprey descended, flying towards increasingly larger dots, finally settling near a sparsely populated railing where it preened its feathers.

"Hey, look, there's a seagull perched over there."

Chihaya Aine pointed to the cormorant that had landed on the railing.

"That's not a seagull...it's an osprey, usually people call them cormorants," Gao Songdeng corrected, holding his notebook. "I have a band-aid like this..."

"Eh...is that so?" Aine blinked. "I thought all the birds on the beach were called seagulls."

"..."

The lamp lowered its head, turning its gaze from the cormorant back to the sea.

Normally, Deng would continue to enthusiastically explain to Ai Yin the differences between ospreys and other seabirds, and might even go on to talk about the clumsy penguins in Antarctica.

But recently, the lights have been on for a while now, so I'll stop here.

Aine once again smelled that stagnant air that even the sea breeze couldn't dispel, and she knew very well why.

"It's a pity that Su Shi couldn't come along," Ai Yin sighed. "We haven't been able to contact her for quite some time now."

She took out her phone and opened her private chat with Su Shi.

"When I asked at Moon Forest, they all said she was on leave. She doesn't reply to my messages, even though she usually replies instantly."

"..."

The lamp continued to gaze at the sea, her eyes clearly revealing her thoughts, but she did not respond to Ai Yin.

Aine was used to this, and she knew that the lamp just didn't know what to say.

"I must have a good talk with her when I get back, and I'll ask Lixi to come along." Ai Yin sighed again when she thought of Lixi. "We're all on the ship, but I haven't seen her. The same goes for Le Nai. They just disappeared one by one."

"Ai-yin..."

"What's wrong, Lantern?"

"What is that?" The lamp pointed towards the sea.

Oh, so you had some thoughts to share?

Ai Yin looked in the direction the light was pointing with some disappointment.

"Is there something?" She blinked, her eyes scanning the vast ocean.

"That's all..." the lamp said weakly.

She had just clearly seen something appear at the end of the horizon.

"Maybe you're just seeing things," Aine comforted her. "There are mirages and things like that at sea, so it's normal to be mistaken."

"Maybe......"

The osprey, which was preening its feathers, spread its wings and flew away from the ship.

at the same time.

Lixi leaned against the railing, watching the ospreys fly overhead with nothing to do.

It feels like there's nothing to do to pass the time while on a boat except look at the sea, although looking at the sea for a long time can get boring.

Snapped.

A cardboard box labeled "Melting Milk Jelly! Orange Flavor" was placed on her head.

"The hunt failed?" Hailing stood beside her, one hand on her hip. "Or the live performance failed?"

"What are you saying? Both were clearly great successes."

Lixi turned his head towards Hailing, and the cardboard box on his head fell onto the sea.

Hailing stretched her toes out from the railing, catching the cardboard box while slightly cushioning the fall, then kicked the box up, letting it land steadily in her hand.

She handed the milk jelly to Lixi.

"Then this is a belated celebration," Hailing said casually.

"Is this really not schadenfreude?"

"I really mean it, you can tell."

"I really can't tell anything from your face that never changes." Li Xi pouted, but still deftly opened the packaging and inserted the straw. "Speaking of which, how's your matter going? That thing we talked about before."

Lixi was talking about Mary.

Hailing didn't tell her the specifics of the matter, only that it was some personal, private stuff.

"It's all over."

She turned around, leaned against the railing, half her body leaning outwards, and stretched.

"That's all in the past."

So much has happened lately that it feels surreal to Hailing.

After wandering for so long, Mary and her church truly gave her something she could possess and dedicate her entire life to.

Unfortunately, she was wrong, terribly wrong. She was immersed in a false dream, only to be awakened by Xiangzi in the cruelest way, and returned to the cold reality.

For her, the promise she made to Xiangzi was now the key to whether she still had a reason to live in this world.

It's not because this agreement is so important.

It's simply because this is probably the only thing she can still do.

With her upper body completely suspended in the air, placing herself entirely in the wind, Hai Ling felt light and airy, as if she could be blown away by the wind if she let go of the railing.

"Hey, be careful not to fall," Li Xi kindly reminded him.

Hailing, still leaning outwards, glanced at Lixi.

“Are you worried about me?” she asked.

"No way." Li Xi rested her chin on her hand, pouted, and looked to the side. "You still owe me a meal, remember?"

"When did this happen?" Hailing blinked.

"When we first met, who was it that, like a comedian, solemnly declared, 'I would repay a meal with my life'?"

"Oh, you mean that meal?" Hailing straightened up and then shrank back. "I almost forgot."

"You'll forget? I don't believe it."

"I lied to you."

"Which of your statements was a lie?"

"Guess." A barely perceptible smile appeared on Hailing's lips.

Just kidding, Hailing certainly remembers everything Lixi said clearly.

Aside from the promise he made to Xiangzi, only this sentence could keep her here.

"I can't be bothered to guess." Li Xi waved his hand and sighed.

Just as she was about to say something, the two of them simultaneously felt a fluctuation coming from below the sea surface.