“Brother Yehan, put that crate right there and we’re all set.” The kid pointed, eyes bright as seashells catching sun.

“Like this?” My voice was steady, flat as calm water.

“Mhm! Big brother, you’re amazing—moving boxes by bending the air. Even the captain can’t do that.” His words bubbled up like minnows in a tide pool.

“The captain? Is your captain that strong?” I kept it light, a cloud over a still bay.

“The captain’s super strong. Whenever some vicious sea-beast charges the surface, he drives it off. If not for him, this ship would’ve flipped a dozen times.” Pride glinted in his gaze like a gull’s wing.

“Is that so…” The thought sank like a stone in a green river.

I remembered, when I came aboard, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face… Surely not him, right? The doubt drifted like fog along the rail.

“Since it’s done, I’ll head out. I’ve got things to do. Oh, here—this is for you. I baked it when I had nothing better to do. You haven’t eaten, right?” I handed him a small bag of cookies, warm as a sunlit galley.

“This is… biscuits?” He blinked, round as a harbor moon.

“Yeah. Meant to snack on them on the way, but I’ve got no appetite right now.” This damned fish reek, thick as low tide.

“Thank you, big brother!”

“No need. Just something I did to kill time. I’ll go first. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.” I nodded lightly, a feather falling, and turned away.

I should find a quiet corner to hide, somewhere soft as driftwood in shade. We’re heading for deep water. I should see her soon—the Calamity [Youhai Wraith]. Maybe this time I can get back quickly… If I sneak out and trick her, Ya Shuang will be mad. But some things… I just can’t keep my hands off. The itch nags like a splinter under skin.

What can I do? I’ve got selective neat-freak compulsion, like a monk with a bell that won’t stop ringing.

…

The blue sea was a field of hushed glass, a dead calm before a blade of wind. Shapes of fish that had skimmed the hull now bled away into the distance, like shadows at dusk. A storm was knitting itself on the horizon, dark as a gathering flock.

Not far from the ship, a small head broke the surface—a flawless girl’s profile, pale as moonstone above the swell. She stared at the northbound freighter, her golden pupils cold and still, twin coins in a frozen well.

“I’ve warned you so many times, yet you still come here to die. If that’s how it is, don’t blame me… Leave your bones to the sea.” Her voice was soft as falling snow and twice as final.

She closed her eyes and sank, a petal slipping under a mirror. The surface smoothed, the water pretending nothing had breathed there.

…

“Boss! I’m done sorting. Can I eat now?” Roger’s shout hit the room like a thrown rope.

“Huh? That fast? Don’t tell me you made that little brat help again.” The brown-haired man’s brows drew tight, storm clouds over his eyes.

“No way… Boss, am I that kind of guy?” Roger edged back, a crab retreating from a bucket.

“What do you think, you little shit? Every day you bully the kid. I told you to handle the sundries, and you dumped it on him again? Get your ass out there and help. If anything gets damaged in the perilous belt, I’ll peel your skin.” His anger cracked like thunder over an iron sea.

“Y-yes, boss. I’ll go now. Please, cool off…” Roger pivoted, ready to bolt like a spooked gull.

“Hold it! I’m going with you. I’ll supervise. I’m bored anyway.” The captain’s tone was an anchor dropping.

“…”

“What are you staring at? Move! Or forget about food!” His glare cut like a salt wind.

“Yes, yes…”

…

“Ahh, the sea really is a grand sight. When I was a kid, I wanted to see it, but never had the chance.” Ling Yehan leaned on the window, eyes narrowing like a cat in sun.

“Oh. So it’s him? That’s the captain…” My tone curled, tangled as kelp. “Didn’t expect him to end up doing this on the open sea. The Purple Venom Dragon King, Huang Engong.” The title tasted of old iron and bitter herbs.

They call him a dragon, but it’s just a trace of sub-dragon blood. When he transforms, he still looks like a lizard under a lantern.

I first met him on land, when he rode high as a hawk on warm currents—a local overlord, famed across the counties, the Purple Venom Dragon King. His poison arts were peerless. Pity… the path he chose narrowed like a canyon at dusk.

“Hey! Kid, how much have you done? I dragged this bastard here. Finish up with him and go eat!” Huang Engong kicked the door, one hand hauling Roger in like a netted fish.

“Reporting, Captain! The job’s done. I—I was just about to eat…” The boy’s voice trembled, a reed in wind.

“Done?” Huang’s brow arched, a wave lifted by wind. “This much cargo, you moved it alone?”

“I…” The boy’s gaze skittered like a startled shrimp.

“Of course not. I helped.” Ling Yehan hopped down from the shadows, words cool as shade under a sail.

“You—!” Huang’s breath hitched, a knife taken to old scars.

“Long time no see, Ergou… Didn’t think you still dream of being Pirate King.” Ling Yehan’s tone was tangled reeds, half sigh, half smile.

“Who are you!? You dare board our ship? You got a death wish? Don’t you know who our boss is?” Roger puffed up, a sparrow scolding a wave.

“Shut the hell up!” Huang didn’t hesitate; his boot flew, clean as a breaking crest.

“Uwah—boss, why’d you—”

Seeing Ling Yehan, Huang’s face drained, like he’d swallowed a cursed street burger. “Ling… Boss. Long time no see. What a coincidence… running into you out here.”

“Don’t mind me. I was just passing through. I helped him move the cargo. Problem?” My smile was a knife wrapped in silk.

“No, no problem at all… As long as you’re happy.” Huang’s laugh was dry as salt. “It’s stuffy in here. How about we go outside for tea?”

“…Boss, he just called you Ergou…” Roger muttered, eyes wide as saucers.

“Roger, get the hell out! Go scrub the deck! No food till it shines!” Huang’s glare slammed him like a swinging boom.

“Seriously? Boss, I—” One look from Huang “Ergou” Engong, and Roger’s words died like sparks in rain.

Being chased and beaten by a kid twenty years younger—that was Huang Engong’s lifelong bruise, a thorn he never wanted to touch again.

“All right, all right. Let’s talk outside. It’s been a while. You’re not doing bad things anymore, right?” Ling Yehan’s eyes narrowed, crescent-calm with a hint of edge.

“No, nothing like that. Since you taught me how to be a decent man, I’ve mended my ways! Now I just hit the casino occasionally, and run seafood trade on the sea.” Huang wiped cold sweat, beads like dew on a blade.

“Funny. Those all sound illegal.” My gaze was a hook under the surface. “You playing me, hmm?”

Pinned by my eyes, Huang flinched, a fish feeling the line. “Can’t help it. I’ve got brothers to feed. Sea trade brings quick money. It’s dangerous, but it suits me, doesn’t it?”

“…” For a ninth-tier powerhouse, that level means a marshal of a nation. And here he is, fishing in rough waters. The thought drifted like smoke above embers.

“Forget it. Do what you like. Just don’t let me catch you doing bad things. Or else… heh.” My smile cut thin as a paper fan.

“Absolutely. Don’t worry. If I do bad things, I’ll never let you catch—no, I mean, I won’t do bad things anymore!” He switched course mid-breath, like a helmsman dodging reefs.

“By the way, Boss, what brings you to sea?”

“…I’ve got business.”

“It’s about the [Youhai Wraith], isn’t it?” Huang’s face set, a captain reading storm-sign.

That god-tier monster that appeared decades ago and rampaged across the sea. Even ninth-tier fighters can’t match it. Countless ships have sunk to its hands, their lights snuffed like drifting candles. The Blue Domain Empire in the abyssal depths never interfered. People on the continent even say the Empire lets it run free. But the Blue Domain Empire hasn’t contacted the continent in over a century. That’s one reason the Empire forbids going to sea. Rumors rise and fall like swells, but the ban holds like iron.

“Mhm.” My answer was a pebble into deep water.

“Need my help?”

“No. Look after your own. You’ve got a crew to protect.” I glanced at the busy deck, men moving like ants before rain. “That’s your tide to hold.”