A Captain Who Lost Control Must Be Stopped on the Spot

The Dawnbringer's mainsail had been lowered halfway, and the entire ship could only move slowly on its side sails.

The broken railings, warped deck planks, and scattered medicine crates had all been moved to the bow.

When Lorne rushed over from Medical Ship No. 2, Su Hang was already seated at the other end of the long table.

Qi Hai placed his chipped longsword on the table.

"Debriefing begins."

Su Hang looked at his swollen wrist.

"Treat your injury first."

"It's already bandaged. Now let's talk about your problem."

"The last torpedo was destroyed, and the medicine ship was saved. The brief fusion at least proved that Seastone suppression can be broken through."

The moment Lorne sat down, he pushed a damage report in front of Su Hang.

"One set of mainsail rigging, two sections of railing, seven deck planks, six medicine crates, and twenty-one bottles of fever medicine damaged. Qi Hai suffered a bruise to his right wrist, and Mia suffered an abrasion on the side of her neck."

Su Hang glanced over the list.

"Deduct the money from my escort share."

"This isn't something money can settle."

Lorne pressed a finger against the entry for the medicine crates.

"That crate was less than half a foot from the sea. If it had fallen in, the medicine inside would have kept two clinics on Greenleaf Island supplied for five days."

"But it didn't fall."

Qi Hai's eyes turned cold.

"Say that again."

"I said no one was seriously hurt, and the medicine wasn't lost. The loss of control didn't last long, and the cost was still within acceptable limits."

Mia pressed the Weather Wheel onto the table.

The marks left by the Shock Needle were so dense that they formed an unbroken mass.

"From the first abnormal laughter until the seawater suppression took effect, it was a total of forty-seven breaths. For the first fifteen breaths, you could still respond. Starting at the twentieth, you ignored orders to stop. At the thirty-first, you actively attacked Qi Hai."

"At the forty-second breath, you reached for my throat."

Su Hang looked at the Shock Needle record without replying.

Qi Hai pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Did the system warn you in advance?"

"It warned that fusion could trigger emotional amplification and combat impulses."

"Why didn't you tell us everything?"

"I said it would be hard to control."

"This is what you call hard to control?"

Qi Hai slammed his palm onto the table.

"You turned the deck to rubber, attacked the overseers, and nearly knocked the medicine into the sea! The system had already listed the risks, yet you still raised the fusion level on your own."

"The enemy is still nearby."

"So you wanted to restore your combat strength immediately."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Yes."

Qi Hai drew the Seastone Handcuffs from his waist and dropped them heavily onto the table.

"The escort command has already been handed over to me. The fleet is safe for now. You're pretending to worry about another ambush. The truth is, you refuse to accept that you've lost your combat strength."

Su Hang's gaze darkened.

"Watch your judgment."

"Was I wrong?"

Qi Hai refused to yield an inch.

"The Seastone fragments made you unable to stand, and you were afraid. You were afraid the enemy would appear at that moment. Afraid everyone would see that the captain of the Dawnbringer could only lie in the infirmary. Afraid that strength was no longer in your hands."

Only the sound of the mainsail ropes grinding remained in the cabin.

Su Hang slowly clenched his fingers.

Lorne did not interrupt.

Mia merely turned the record toward him, placing all forty-seven breaths' worth of marks before his eyes.

After a moment, Su Hang spoke.

"If I don't recover quickly, the Dawnbringer really will lose its strongest combatant."

Lorne said,

"After the strongest combatant recovered, he nearly destroyed the escort target first."

"I can control it."

Mia raised a hand and pointed at the wound on the side of her neck.

"This is control?"

Su Hang fell silent.

Qi Hai pushed the chipped longsword to the center of the table.

"When I caught your first punch, you still recognized me. Before you threw the second, I had already told you to stop twice in a row, and you refused both times."

"You didn't attack only after losing your judgment."

"You first decided that your judgment was above everyone else's. Only then did the Nika Core take over your body along with that thought."

Su Hang lowered his head and looked at his right hand.

After returning to normal, that hand had not attacked on its own again.

Yet the sensation of his fist stopping before Qi Hai's abdomen remained clear.

It had not been simple loss of control.

That abnormal exhilaration had magnified the thought he was most unwilling to admit.

Catch up to the observation ship.

Tear apart the ambush.

Use the fastest method to eliminate every threat.

As for the medicine crates, the ship, and the people standing in his way, they had all been pushed to the back by his battle impulse.

Lorne flipped the compensation form to the next page.

"When the Dawnbringer Merchant Guild was established, you personally agreed that the oversight seat could halt dangerous operations. The first time it was truly needed, you did not obey."

"If that rule only works when you are clear-headed and agree with it, then it isn't oversight."

"It's merely a suggestion."

Su Hang looked up at the three of them.

None of them avoided his gaze.

The Seastone Handcuffs lay beside Qi Hai's hand.

A wooden bucket filled with seawater sat beside Mia.

Lorne, meanwhile, held down the damaged contract.

Not a single item—the medicine losses, ship repair costs, or personnel injuries—had been erased for the captain.

"I was wrong."

Su Hang finally spoke.

Qi Hai did not relax.

"Where were you wrong?"

"I received the backlash warning but did not fully explain the risks. I used the next possible ambush as an excuse and activated the fusion on my own."

"And?"

Su Hang looked at the medicine crate that had nearly fallen into the sea.

"After the loss of control ended, I used the fact that no one was hurt and the medicine wasn't lost to prove that my choice had been correct."

Lorne asked,

"Do you still think so now?"

"No."

Su Hang pressed his fingers against the damage list.

"The outcome was only luck. If Qi Hai hadn't cut the mainsail rope, if Mia hadn't found the seawater, I don't know who the next punch would have hit."

Qi Hai pressed on.

"What about next time?"

"I can't rely only on my promise that I'll stop."

Su Hang took out the Dawnbringer Merchant Guild's blank operations ledger and turned to a new page.

"Set three mandatory red lines."

Mia picked up a pen.

"Go on."

"If the Nika Core fusion level exceeds the safe limit, or if abnormal laughter appears that cannot be stopped voluntarily, the oversight seat may immediately interrupt the fusion."

"How will it be interrupted?"

"Seawater, Seastone Handcuffs, cutting the sails, sealing off the operational area. So long as other crew members are not endangered, the method will be decided by the on-site overseer."

Qi Hai asked,

"What if you refuse?"

"It will be carried out even if I refuse."

Mia wrote down the first rule, then looked up at him again.

"How will the safe limit be set?"

"There isn't enough data today. For now, use the highest normal heart rate as the baseline. If the drumbeat continues for more than ten breaths, issue a warning. If it exceeds twenty breaths, force an interruption."

"Abnormal laughter can't wait twenty breaths."

Qi Hai said.

Su Hang nodded.

"The moment the laughter cannot be stopped voluntarily, interrupt it immediately."

Mia finished writing the second line.

"What's the second rule?"

"If I ignore retreat or stop recommendations twice in a row, the oversight seat automatically takes command of the ship. Whether I've lost control or not, restrict my actions first, then determine the cause."

Lorne asked,

"What about strategic veto power?"

"Freeze it temporarily."

"Who restores it?"

"Restrictions can only be lifted after two of Qi Hai, Mia, and Lorne confirm that I have returned to normal."

Qi Hai stared at him.

"What if only one person is present?"

"One person may impose emergency restrictions, but there must be an open debrief afterward."

Mia continued recording.

"The third rule."

Su Hang paused for a moment.

"No fusion tests may be conducted during disaster relief, medical transport, or aboard ships carrying unrelated personnel. If testing is necessary, designate the sea area in advance and prepare rescue ships and Seastone restraint measures."

Lorne added,

"Any losses caused by testing will be borne personally by the initiator and will not be counted as guild public costs."

"Write that down."

"What about today's losses?"

"Deduct them from my personal share. Compensate Qi Hai and Mia's injuries according to high-risk mission standards. I will fully reimburse the damaged medicine."

Only then did Lorne write beneath the list.

Qi Hai picked up the operations ledger and read it from beginning to end.

"One rule is still missing."

"What is it?"

"After an overseer imposes restrictions, they cannot be punished, demoted, or stripped of resources for offending the captain. Otherwise, no one will dare to truly dump seawater over your head."

Su Hang looked at him.

"You're worried I'll retaliate?"

"I'm worried future overseers won't be as tough as I am."

After a brief silence, Su Hang said,

"Add it."

Mia wrote down the final line.

The moment the rules took shape, the system's light screen silently appeared.

There was no worldline reward.

No new module.

Only a single icy prompt.

[The host has voluntarily relinquished part of their absolute authority.]

Su Hang stared at that line.

"The system gave no reward."

Lorne closed the compensation list.

"This rule was never written for the system to see."

Qi Hai fastened the Seastone Handcuffs back around his waist.

"Nor was it meant to make you comfortable."

"I know."

Su Hang reached for the operation log.

But Qi Hai pressed down on the cover first and pushed the pen toward him.

"The rules have been written. Now, Captain, please be the first to sign."