Elias stood on the dock.
In the distance, the skiff lowered from the schooner was breaking through the waves, swaying as it approached.
A familiar figure stood at the bow.
Captain Crowley puffed on his pipe, his shrewd, triangular eyes staring intently at the figure on the dock through the swirling smoke, as if he were looking at some impossible creature.
"You're actually not dead?!"
Before the skiff had even come to a full stop, and even before the mooring rope was thrown out, Captain Crowley couldn't help but shout in surprise.
"Hey! White-bearded captain."
Elias grinned, revealing a row of pearly white teeth.
He even made an exaggerated gesture of spreading his hands and spinning around to show off his intact limbs.
"As you can see, I'm doing great!"
This old man's skin was even thicker than Edmond's.
Looking at Crowley's old face, which was written all over with disbelief, Elias complained wildly in his mind.
In the original body's memory, the revolver in his bag that had accompanied him through so much was personally issued to him by the old captain.
Of course, the current Elias had reason to suspect that the gun was something the old man had scavenged from the corpse of the previous keeper, or the one before that.
In short, it was likely taken from some generation of unlucky keepers, wiped of its bloodstains, and handed over to the next piece of expendable material.
Thud.
The skiff gently bumped against the dock.
As the boat docked, Captain Crowley was the first to jump down.
Following closely behind was a somewhat cowering young man.
This lad looked to be in his early twenties, about the same age as Elias.
He wore a coarse cloth coat that was clearly a poor fit, with cuffs worn white, and his face carried that clear-eyed naivety of someone just entering society.
He was looking at the lighthouse, isolated overseas, with a gaze that was both curious and fearful.
"Elias, this is Jack."
Crowley pointed at the young man behind him, then at Elias.
"Jack, this is Elias."
"Elias, this is the newcomer who will be rotating with you."
The introduction was brief and clear, even carrying a sense of perfunctoriness that suggested names weren't important.
"Hello! Mr. Elias."
Jack reached out a hand somewhat stiffly.
"Hello, Jack."
Elias shook the slightly rough hand, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
After the two exchanged a few perfunctory pleasantries, Jack began busily moving supplies from the skiff.
Captain Crowley, as if remembering something, grabbed Elias by the shoulder and led him away from Jack's line of sight.
"Let's talk, kid."
Captain Crowley exhaled a smoke ring, his face bunching into a smile full of wrinkles.
"Look, you're heading back for a vacation, so the dangers on this island no longer have anything to do with you."
"Since you won't be needing it, how about you leave that revolver for this lad?"
"?"
Elias was stunned.
He blinked, making sure he hadn't misheard.
How could a person's skin be this thick?!
I still have to come back, buddy!
Is this how a human acts?
The company hid the actual situation of the lighthouse and tricked people into coming here to die, and that was bad enough.
I finally managed to survive in the cracks between these Lovecraftian creatures, and you want to snatch away my only self-defense weapon?
"Whitebeard, isn't that a bit unfair?"
Elias immediately put on an expression of deep suffering, his acting skills instantly coming online.
"You have no idea what I've been through!"
He began to play the victim, his voice full of emotion.
"You don't know... first this island was haunted, then there were giant bugs, and there were even mermaids in the sea—the singing was nice, though..."
"In short! To stay alive, I fired until the barrel turned red!"
Elias slapped his thigh and said with a look of anguish:
"When I went into the sea to fix the buoys, the gun was ruined by the seawater long ago; even the firing pin broke!"
"The fact that I'm standing here talking to you is purely due to my great luck, and you're still asking me for it?"
These words were half-true and half-false.
The monsters were real, the combat was real, but the part about the gun being ruined was pure nonsense.
Captain Crowley clearly hadn't expected this once clear-eyed college graduate to turn into such a glib-tongued old soldier after a month.
Last month, he had looked half-insane.
How did he seem more normal now?
He was momentarily stunned by Elias's rapid-fire words, and the pipe in his mouth almost fell out.
However, the old fox was still the master.
The old captain's gaze swept over Elias, faintly revealing a beast-like sharpness.
"Hehe..."
Crowley suddenly started laughing, his voice sounding like an old bellows.
"Not bad, kid."
He patted Elias's shoulder meaningfully, his grip strength terrifyingly high.
"Become a transcendent, have you?"
Elias's heart skipped a beat.
Although he had long guessed this old man wasn't simple, he hadn't expected the other party to see through his background at a glance.
Since he had been called out, there was no point in playing dumb anymore.
Elias shrugged, neither admitting nor denying it, just maintaining a faint smile.
"It's alright, just good luck."
"I figured as much!"
Crowley didn't press for details, nor did he dwell on it any longer.
It was obvious that this old man really wasn't an ordinary person!
"Fine, if the gun is lost, it's lost; if it's broken, it's broken."
Crowley waved his hand dismissively.
"I'll just apply to the company for another one for you when the time comes; it's just a consumable anyway."
"But..."
The old captain's tone shifted as he lowered his voice, his eyes glancing toward Jack, who was busy moving things.
"Keep those things you said about monsters down."
"If that kid hears it, we'll both be in violation of company regulations."
Elias frowned, not quite understanding.
"What? You've already tricked him into coming, and the contract is signed. Why can't I say anything?"
"Mainly because..."
Crowley nonchalantly tapped the ash out of his pipe.
"If he gets scared and starts crying and screaming that he has to leave, I'll have to kill him myself."
"Too much trouble."
He said those last few words lightly.
It was as if killing a person was truly no different from killing a chicken in his eyes.
In that moment, Elias felt a chill run down his spine.
During this month, although he had experienced many horrors, he hadn't truly encountered pure malice on a human level.
Even when he saw Edmond's mummified corpse, even when he was tricked by the old ghost into facing monsters, Elias hadn't been truly afraid.
Because that was for survival.
But the cold aura radiating from this old man—who seemed even more shameless than Old Ed—was many times stronger than that of the carapace husk.
It was a complete disregard for life.
Elias suddenly thought that if he had insisted on resigning and leaving back then...
Perhaps what he would have faced wouldn't have been the monsters in the sea.
Instead, it would have been the flintlock pistol that was always hanging from Captain Crowley's waist, looking like a mere decoration.
This old man was a truly ruthless character.
"Forget it then."
Elias took a deep breath, pretending not to care.
"For the sake of this kid's life, I'll keep my mouth shut."
He paused, and to ease the heavy atmosphere, he asked casually:
"By the way, old captain, isn't issuing guns to the keepers the company's business?"
"What, are guns really that scarce?"
"Scarce? Not really."
The atmosphere relaxed again, and Crowley turned back into that shrewd old sea dog.
He took a puff of his pipe, then led Elias to the side of the skiff, stooping down to open a hidden storage compartment at the stern.
Click.
The wooden lid lifted.
Elias's eyes instantly widened.
Inside that storage compartment, six brand-new revolvers were neatly arranged!
Every single one was much newer than the one in Elias's hand; even the anti-slip patterns on the grips were clearly visible.
And next to them were several unopened boxes of brass bullets.
"So many?!"
Elias almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
So you're a freaking armory!
And here I thought you were really short on supplies and wanted to reclaim my broken gun!
You're just pure stingy!
You just didn't want to issue new equipment to the newcomer!
Is this the face of a capitalist?!
In an instant, Elias felt this old man was incredibly cheap!
A total jerk of a captain!
"These are all the latest models, they're treasures! Each one costs several gold crown!"
Captain Crowley looked at the row of guns, a pained expression of a miser appearing on his face.
"Look, I can't even bear to use them; I keep them well-maintained."
"Giving them to you greenhorns is a complete waste of God's gifts!"
"You'd just ruin them!"
Sure, human lives aren't as important as a gold crown, right?
"It's not a waste!"
Elias waved his hand, refuting him righteously.
"Look, at least I put mine to good use!"
Captain Crowley's mouth beneath his white beard twitched, as if he didn't quite agree with that viewpoint.
Once Jack had finished moving the last box of supplies, panting for breath, Captain Crowley very reluctantly picked out a revolver from the storage compartment and handed it to the young man.
"Take it. Use it carefully, and don't misfire and blow your toes off."
"Thank you, Captain! Thank you!"
Jack received the gun as if it were a precious treasure, his eyes sparkling with gratitude, as if he were holding some legendary divine weapon.
Witnessing all this, Elias couldn't help but mourn for Jack.
Too tragic.
This clear-eyed lad had no idea what kind of horror he was about to face.
The skiff's engine began to hum, preparing for the return trip.
Elias took one last look at Jack, who stood on the dock looking somewhat lonely and helpless.
The sea breeze ruffled the young man's hair as he stood there foolishly waving goodbye to the skiff.
In that moment, an inexplicable emotion welled up in Elias's heart.
It was pity for the fate of a fellow human, and the sigh of someone who had already been through it.
Before boarding the ship, Elias stopped, turned around, and shouted loudly at Jack, who was still watching them leave:
"Hey! You, Jack!"
Jack was startled and immediately stood at attention.
"Yes! Sir!"
"Remember a few things!"
Elias yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice piercing through the sea breeze.
"Remember to check the lighthouse lamp and the buoys before bed!"
"And—"
"Don't stay up late at night!"
"Don't go wandering around for no reason!"
Seeing Jack nod in confusion, Elias sat back in the boat and let out a long sigh.
He suddenly felt... why was he acting like a nagging old mother?
The next step would be telling him to remember to wear long johns when it gets cold.
Great, I've become my mother?!
Rate on N.U.
