My Bride

The sailor realized that even if he shouted himself hoarse, no one else would hear him. He immediately let go of the rope in his hands, stumbled into the cabin, and headed straight for the boatswain's room.

Inside the captain's quarters, Jordas was carefully polishing the scimitar in his hand.

This scimitar looked less like a weapon meant for battle and more like an exquisitely crafted work of art. Its golden hilt was studded with all kinds of gemstones, while the blade was covered in countless golden tracings. Looking closely, one would find that all those tangled lines ultimately formed the figure of 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, someone knocked on the door. He frowned slightly, sheathed the scimitar, and asked displeasedly, "What is it?"

"Captain, Son of Pirates has escaped!" The boatswain scarcely dared to breathe as he delivered the report nervously.

When the sailor had found him, he had discovered that his keys were missing. He had hurried to find the first mate, whom he was close to, only to find him already dead drunk 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 noble, unlike everyone else aboard the ship.

The boatswain knew full well that Jordas had the authority to put him to death.

The captain's door opened, and Jordas stared at the boatswain with a grim expression. "What did you say?" he asked sternly.

"R-Report, Captain. The two naval soldiers guarding Son of Pirates were bribed. With their help, Son of Pirates escaped!" the boatswain answered, trembling all over.

Jordas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he opened them and glared at the boatswain. "Where's the first mate?" he growled.

"The first mate is drunk," the boatswain answered, shaking in terror.

Jordas did not like losing his composure. He did his utmost to remain elegant and calm, then swung his hand and slapped the boatswain across the face. "There's a storm raging outside. Son of Pirates must be trying to escape back to the Black Knife. Gather some men and come with me," he said coldly.

He strode out at once, while the boatswain covered his cheek and hurried off to gather men.

Meanwhile, Hawkins and the others reached the stern. A thick iron chain connected the Vidalya Glory's stern to the Black Knife, but the chain was swaying wildly in the storm. At times, the two ships even drifted so close that part of the chain sank beneath the seawater.

Hawkins climbed onto the railing and smiled. "If you don't want to be hanged, follow me. If you don't want to drown, remember to hold on tight. Let's go!"

He jumped down directly, landing squarely atop the chain. Then, like a tightrope walker, he slowly made his way toward the Black Knife.

The others gritted their teeth and jumped down after him. The boatswain and second mate had terrible luck and fell straight into the sea, vanishing as the waves rolled over them. First Mate Jon was luckier. 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 precisely on the chain and followed him step by step.

"Captain... I... I..." The boatswain wanted to say, "I can't do it," but under Jordas's piercing gaze, the words would not leave his mouth. In the end, he answered despairingly.

He shakily climbed onto the railing, then cautiously lowered himself down. The moment he landed on the chain, he clung to it as tightly as Jon, hunching his head like a quail.

"Idiot!"

Jordas could not help cursing. Seeing Hawkins getting farther and farther away, nearly back aboard the Black Knife, he drew his scimitar and roared, "Hawkins!!!!!"

An ordinary person would never have heard Jordas's voice amid the storm, but Hawkins vaguely sensed someone calling him from behind. He even had the leisure to turn around and look. Upon seeing Jordas, he smiled faintly and waved at him.

"Hawkins, do you really think you can escape? I originally wanted you hanged before everyone, but since you're so eager to die, I don't mind sending you on your way early!" To Jordas, Hawkins's wave was pure provocation. Fire blazed in his eyes as he roared.

Hawkins had not heard what he said clearly at all. After greeting him, he was about to turn and leave when he saw Jordas raise his scimitar.

"Come forth, my beloved Bride!"

Jordas gave a low shout. The scimitar instantly emitted a pure white radiance, 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. After living for so long, this was the first time he had ever seen something supernatural.

Although his consciousness possessed many strange and bizarre abilities, each of them could ultimately be explained through science. But Bride's appearance was completely beyond science.

"My Bride, kill him for me."

At Jordas's command, Bride opened her eyes and locked onto Hawkins.

Hawkins instinctively sensed danger, but danger came in many forms. He had encountered plenty of dangers in the past, yet the concept of danger he felt now was entirely different.

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.

Yet at this moment, Hawkins discovered true danger—danger that meant 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 handful of existences were fated for certain death, because that too was one of the countless possibilities.

Just as some people could find the sole correct answer among countless wrong ones, others could choose the sole wrong answer among countless correct ones.

It was like an exam. Even if someone filled in the answers at random, the chances of scoring zero were extremely low. After all, with multiple-choice questions, they would always have a chance of getting one or two right.

But 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 block the space between himself and Bride.

At that moment, Hawkins's brain had entered an overclocked state. The entire world seemed to slow down, and even the swaying wind and rain became crystal clear. He looked toward the sea on his right, where the firelight of a storm lantern reflected Jordas and Bride upon the water.

Aboard the Vidalya Glory, the floating Bride moved.

Her trajectory was too fast to see. Blood holes appeared in Tom and James's chests almost simultaneously.

Their consciousnesses were annihilated!