The sailor realized that even if he shouted himself hoarse, no one else would hear him. He immediately let go of the rope, staggered into the cabin, and rushed straight for the boatswain's room.
Inside the captain's cabin, Jordas was carefully polishing the curved blade in his hand.
This curved blade did not look like a weapon meant for actual combat. Instead, it resembled a finely crafted work of art. Its golden hilt was studded with all kinds of gems, and the blade was covered in countless golden lines. Looking closely, one would find that all those tangled lines ultimately formed a human figure—a bride at prayer.
"My bride, we'll be together forever, won't we?" Jordas gazed obsessively at the blade, then finally could not resist kissing it tenderly.
At that moment, a knock came from outside the door. His brow furrowed slightly as he sheathed the curved blade and asked unhappily, "What is it?"
"Captain, the Son of Pirates has escaped!" The boatswain barely dared breathe as he reported nervously.
When the sailor found him, he discovered that his key was missing. He then hurried to find the first mate, with whom he was close, but the first mate was already drunk senseless in his room. Left with no choice, he could only steel himself and seek out the captain.
If Jordas was a wolf, then everyone below the first mate was nothing but sheep. Jordas was a nobleman, unlike the others aboard the ship.
The boatswain knew very well that Jordas had the authority to execute him.
The captain's cabin door opened. Jordas looked at the boatswain with a grim expression and asked sternly, "What did you say?"
"R-Report, Captain... the two sailors guarding the Son of Pirates were bribed. With their help, the Son of Pirates escaped!" the boatswain answered, trembling all over.
Jordas closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. Then he opened them, glared at the boatswain, and growled, "Where is the first mate?"
"The first mate is drunk," the boatswain answered fearfully.
Jordas did not like losing his composure. He tried his utmost to remain elegant and calm, then swung his hand and slapped the boatswain across the face. Coldly, he said, "There's a storm raging outside. The Son of Pirates must be trying to escape back to the Black Knife. Gather the men and come with me."
He quickly headed outside, while the boatswain clutched his cheek and hurried off to gather men.
Meanwhile, Hawkins and the others reached the stern. A thick iron chain connected the stern of the Vidalya Glory to the Black Knife. The problem was that the chain was swaying wildly in the storm. At times, the two ships drifted so close together that part of the chain sank beneath the seawater.
Hawkins climbed onto the railing and smiled. "If you don't want to be strangled, follow me. If you don't want to drown, remember to hold tight. Let's go!"
He jumped straight down, landing right on the iron chain. Then, as though walking a tightrope, he slowly made his way toward the Black Knife.
The others gritted their teeth and jumped down after him. The boatswain and second mate were unlucky, falling straight into the sea. One roll of the waves and they vanished without a trace. First Mate Jon had slightly better luck. His left hand caught the chain, and he clung to it like a koala, wrapping both arms and legs around it for dear life.
Tom and James were both Hawkins's puppets. Like Hawkins, they landed squarely on the chain and followed him step by step.
"Captain... I... I... yes." The boatswain desperately wanted to say, "I can't do it," but beneath Jordas's piercing stare, the words would not come out. In the end, he answered in despair.
Trembling, he climbed onto the railing and carefully made his way down. The moment he landed on the chain, he hugged it as tightly as Jon did, hunching his head like a quail.
"Idiot!"
Jordas could not help cursing. Seeing Hawkins getting farther and farther away, about to return to the Black Knife, he drew his curved blade and roared, "Hawkins!!!!!"
An ordinary person definitely would not have heard Jordas's voice amid the storm, but Hawkins vaguely sensed someone calling his name from behind. He even had the leisure to turn around and look. When he saw Jordas, he smiled faintly and waved at him.
"Hawkins, do you really think you can escape? I originally wanted to have you hanged before everyone, but since you are courting death yourself, I don't mind sending you on your way early." To Jordas, Hawkins's wave was a provocation. Flames burned in his eyes as he roared.
Hawkins had not heard what the other man said clearly at all. After greeting him, he was about to turn and leave when he saw Jordas raise the curved blade in his hand.
"Come forth, my beloved bride!"
Jordas gave a low shout. The curved blade instantly radiated pure white light, and then a translucent woman in a wedding dress floated above its tip.
"A ghost? A Stand? A guardian spirit? What the hell?"
Hawkins's eyes widened at once. Despite having lived for so long, this was the first time he had seen something supernatural.
Although his consciousness possessed many strange and bizarre abilities, those abilities could all be explained from a scientific perspective. But the appearance of this bride was completely unscientific.
"My bride, kill him for me."
At Jordas's command, the Bride opened her eyes and locked onto Hawkins.
Hawkins instinctively sensed danger, but danger came in many forms. He had encountered plenty of danger in the past, but the concept of danger he felt then was different from what he felt now.
From the perspective of the Final Anthropic Principle, consciousness did not truly die. Among countless parallel worlds, there would always be one possibility in which consciousness could continue to survive.
But at this moment, Hawkins discovered true danger—a danger of certain death.
Wait!
If everything was possible, did that mean the possibility of certain death truly existed as well?
Not every life-form had the chance to attain immortality. At least a very small number of beings were destined for certain death, because that too was one of the countless possibilities.
Just as some people could find the one correct answer among countless wrong ones, others would choose the only wrong answer among countless correct ones.
It was like an exam. Even if someone filled in answers at random, the possibility of scoring zero was extremely low. After all, there was always a chance of getting one or two multiple-choice questions right.
But likewise, the possibility of scoring zero still existed. That was an objective fact.
In an instant, Hawkins controlled Tom and James to leap from the chain and place themselves between him and the ghost.
At that moment, Hawkins's brain had entered an overclocked state. The entire world seemed to slow down, and even the lashing wind and rain became crystal clear. He looked toward the sea on his right, where the reflections of Jordas and the Bride could be seen in the light of a storm lantern.
On the Vidalya Glory, the floating Bride moved.
Her trajectory was too fast to see clearly. Blood holes appeared in Tom and James's chests almost at the same time.
Their consciousnesses had been annihilated!