Speaking of which, I suddenly thought of "One Piece," the manga that had been running for over thirty years and still hadn't ended.
I liked that manga, so maybe I'd unconsciously put myself in the captain's shoes... Luffy's, right?
"I respect your decision. Since you don't want me getting involved, I'll leave this matter to you."
As I spoke, under Ning Jing's astonished, slightly moved gaze, I stood up and brushed the dust from the fight off
my clothes, then struck a match,
pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.
"Puff..."
I started toward the door. I didn't know what had led up to this, but since Ning Jing didn't want me to know, there must have
been a reason. Since she hadn't
reported it to me, she must have been confident she could handle it.
If that was the case, I shouldn't keep interfering.
"Yuxuan..."
Ning Jing's voice came from behind me, hesitant, almost as if she wanted to stop me.
I paused and waited, but Ning Jing didn't say anything else.
"Don't... Ning Jing."
I picked up the raincoat hanging on the rack, swung it over my shoulders, then raised my right hand and took the cigarette from
the corner of my mouth,
exhaling a long cloud of smoke.
"If you can't handle it, come to me. At least for now, I'm still the boss of this ship."
I turned my head slightly and glanced behind me. Ning Jing stood frozen, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know
where to begin. I didn't know when the relationship between us
had changed into this.
Perhaps... it had been inevitable from the moment I became the one at the helm.
Was this what I had to give up to become a hero?
It was... surprisingly hard to