The power he possessed had also been condemned as "demonic."
But his was bloodier, fiercer, and far more undeniable.
He did not pray. He did not atone.
He simply used that power… to kill, to destroy, and then… to take her away.
Everything she believed in had been completely overturned.
Power… could it really be used like this?
Running away… was not shameful?
Living… was not about sacrificing yourself for others, but about… enjoying life?
Confusion wrapped around her like a dense fog. And yet, it was that same blood mist that had torn apart her so-called "peaceful" life.
She looked at Reid beside her. He had already finished humming a tune and was now experimenting with more functions of the ship.
Her lips moved slightly, as if she were asking him, and also asking herself:
"You… also use… demonic power… so why…?"
Why are you so confident?
Why can you be so… free?
Reid seemed to catch her faint whisper. His hands paused on the controls.
Conclusion: this ship sucks.
He turned to look at her.
In his crimson eyes, there was no mockery, no preaching. Only a kind of absolute, almost pure arrogance.
"Demonic?" he scoffed, casually tapping the control panel with his finger.
"This power lets me go wherever I want, beat up anyone I don't like, and even run away when I can't win."
He paused.
Looking out at the endless sky and the distant blue horizon, a stubborn smile curved on his lips.
"That makes it… the strongest power there is."
"As for why?" he continued, as if thinking of something amusing.
"Probably because I never once thought about atonement."
He spoke each word clearly, and they struck deeply into the girl's confused heart.
"From the moment I came into this world, I've lived like this. I only think about how to make myself happy, how to live freely."
The girl fell completely silent.
She stared at his profile, then at the clouds rushing past the window, and the vast blue ocean below, connecting countless islands.
A world she had never known unfolded before her in its entirety.
Reid was nothing like the Queen.
He was reshaping her values, her understanding of the world, and her view of life itself.
Turning her into someone he would approve of.
The ship gradually left Piruka's waters. In the distance, the outlines of islands became clearer.
Reid suddenly seemed to remember something and glanced at the still-silent girl.
"Hey, do you know how people usually trade things? Like exchanging goods, or using currency… wait, no, maybe that kind of system doesn't exist in this era anymore? Ugh, this is giving me a headache."
The girl looked at him blankly and instinctively shook her head. She had no idea what he was talking about.
"Captain… I don't know."
Her voice was soft, but clear, repeating the new title she had just been given.
"Captain… I don't know."
Reid nodded in encouragement. "Yes, that's it."
"Say it again."
She looked at him and raised her voice slightly. "Captain… I don't know."
"Perfect!" Reid snapped his fingers, clearly pleased.
He suddenly pulled the control lever, and the ship dove toward a bustling port island below, filled with ships and activity.
"If you don't know," he said, stretching out his tone with playful excitement, "then we'll go see for ourselves!"
Live teaching. Guaranteed results.
The ship barreled straight toward the busy harbor without any concern for the commotion it would cause.
Reid thought: Who cares, I'm not stopping anyway.
The hatch opened. Before Reid could even step out with the girl, a group of locals quickly surrounded them.
They held crude weapons like spears, stone axes, and primitive firearms even older than flintlocks. Their faces were filled with caution and hostility.
At the front stood a burly man with painted markings on his face. He pointed his stone axe at them and shouted in a heavy accent,
"Get off our land! You invaders! We will never leave!"
Reid raised an eyebrow.
Instead of surprise, his expression clearly said: just as expected.
"Now this feels right. This kind of backward setup fits my expectations of this era perfectly," he muttered casually to the girl beside him.
Looking at their primitive weapons, then recalling Piruka's advanced technology, he immediately understood.
These so-called natives were likely the original inhabitants, driven out and oppressed by the technologically advanced settlers.
A civilization capable of draining an entire world's energy and forcing mass migration was unlikely to be benevolent. This contradiction made perfect sense.
"Got it."
The blood mist around Reid began to spread slowly, carrying a dark red hue and an ominous presence. He was ready to "teach" these ignorant locals a lesson and casually "develop" this territory.
Reid: time to swing the whip.
But in the very next moment, just as the mist was about to expand
The tense, defensive locals suddenly froze.
They stared at the swirling crimson mist, then at Reid and the girl beside him. Their expressions shifted rapidly from anger… to something like mild disappointment.
"Tch…"
"So it's not them…"
"Alright, break it up. False alarm."
The burly man at the front even yawned, waving lazily for everyone to lower their weapons.
He spoke to Reid in an almost annoyed tone, as if this had been a waste of time.
"Tch. So you're one of those with 'magic.' You should've said so earlier. You scared us."
"We thought you were those tin-can guys again… or their lackeys."
"Why would we fight each other? That's just boring."
After saying that, he actually turned around, hoisting his stone axe over his shoulder as he walked off, muttering to himself.
"I was hoping this brave stand would finally impress my girl… guess I'll have to wait."
Reid: …
Even the blood mist around him paused awkwardly.
His enthusiasm for a fight vanished instantly.
He stared at the locals, who had completely lost their hostility and even seemed disappointed. For a moment, he did not know how to react.
Hold on… this script is wrong.
Where's the heroic resistance against invaders?
You just surrender when you see "demonic power"?
Who said we're on the same side?
If you act like this, how am I supposed to loot anything?
This doesn't even count as self-defense anymore!