He suddenly tried to sit up straight but ended up hitting his head on the ceiling of the storage room.
"Ow!" he grimaced.
"Are you ok, Lieutenant?" Light asked.
Scarn wiggled back onto the deck and said in a rushed tone, "forget about me being ok, why are you just now reporting about that damn serpent?"
"Uhh, did you not know about it, sir?" Light asked, but in the next moment answered his own question. "Oh, right! You were hanging on the other side, so the serpent ended up being obscured from your sight."
Scarn shook his head, "Forget that, tell me the important thing first, were his blood red eyes locked onto yours?"
Light furrowed his brows and answered, "Yeah, I guess we did have some eye contact."
Upon hearing that, Scarn violently shook his head. He gritted his teeth and started packing around the ship. Eventually he grunted and kicked the side of the cannon with such force that its screws writhed.
Light quietly watched this unfold, a drop of cold sweat trickling down his forehead. "Captain, is anything wrong?"
Scarn stopped his walk, turned to look at Light and shouted, "Of course it is goddamnit, how uneducated are you? Even a little brat knows not to look into the eyes of the crimson-eyed azure leviathan: Raedron."
Light stayed quiet. Scarn hesitated for a second but then calmed down and spoke firmly, "The serpent follows every man who dares to lock eyes with him till the day he dies. If you don't look away instantly after gazing into the bloody eyes of that thing, yer a dead man sailing."
Light gulped with eyes wide open, he slowly turned his neck and tried to peer through the dark depths of the night sea. 'It's not below us, right… right?'
Scarn took a deep breath in and continued, "But all hope is not lost yet, we flew out pretty damn far, if we wrap this up quick and somehow step on land, we could survive. But forget your promotion to the Marines after that, you won't ever be able to go out to sea ever again.
"What?! I can't sail ever again?"
"Yes, it's not just your life that would be endangered, but every ship you sail would also end up being fish food cause of you."
Light's brows furrowed, he contemplated a bit before asking, "Is there no other way? I don't want to be isolated on a single island for a lifetime."
Scarn shook his head, "The only way to escape Raedron is to kill him. And in all my long years, I have yet to see a man try that without ending up in the serpent's belly."
Light gulped in fear, grimacing while envisaging his future of being stranded on a remote military island. 'It's going to be difficult to maintain the facade of my identity there, and limiting myself to one island in this fantastical world just seems like a bummer. But there is no way in hell I'm killing that thing. What the hell should I even do?… I'll just figure it out later.'
Scarn left the conversation to look for the tool in the storage beneath the deck again.
He finally found the tool and took it out. It was the long monocular. He fiddled with it to see if it still worked. Then he looked back at Light, who was perplexed by the same thing.
To both of their fortunes, it was intact even after their eventful adventures. Scarn nodded and walked to the narrow front of the ship. He wore the monocular on top of his left eye and searched around for something.
While on the other end of the ship, Light lay down on his back.
He relished being on mostly stable ground after such a long time. He sighed with relief and relaxed for a bit.
His gaze wandered into the starry night sky. The tapestry of space was intricately illuminated by twinkling stars.
At rest, Light thought, 'Such a stunning view, loads of people would pay handsomely for it. Yet light pollution in the cities makes it a rare sight.'
He slowly took out his exquisite revolver and observed it for a moment, 'Damn beauty… Going to have to start learning how to use you, though. Today was a close one, I never want to miss again.'
As he was examining his exquisite weapon, he noticed an engraved symbol on it, a wilted rose with a butterfly flying above it. 'That pirate really had a weird taste… Is everyone in this world some kind of aesthete?'
Keeping the gun aside, he let his thoughts wander for a bit. After a while, he looked down at his lieutenant, who stood at the other end of the ship. Then he closed his eyes and whispered to himself, "How was the show?"
There was no one to answer. He was talking to himself after all, but then a raspy voice resounded inside his own head.
[Not bad kid, not bad at all.]
Light smirked, "I'll take that. So, when will I be getting the Death Note?"
There was no answer for a while
Then came a quiet reply.
[You're sure you want it? You know the consequences of using it right? For every person you kill, you'll suffer their death in the afterlife. Or wait, you aren't trying to kill yourself using it again, right? Think you'll get reincarnated into another world again? Wouldn't bet my apples on that miracle happening.]
The curve of Light's smirk flattened. He asked with apprehension, "I am aware of the consequences. No, I'm not suicidal. And why bet with Apples?"
After a long pause, Ryuk answered, [Don't worry about that.]
Light closed his eyes and deeply breathed in before answering, "So, how do I access my death note then?"
["Why are you asking for it now?"]
Light raised his left eyebrow. "Then when should I?"
[Is your plan over yet? Or were you counting on getting the book as the last chance at success?]
Light's lips curled up into an insidious grin. "I guess I underestimated your perception." He swiftly sat up and said;
"Nah, I don't need the Death Note right now, you just enjoy the second half of my plan…"
Just a moment later, he heard Scarn's voice. But something was different. His usual crass speech was gone, and his words expressed a complex emotional weave. "Pirate Ted's ship, The Mother of Blood, has been spotted."
He put down his monocular and looked back at Light with an insidious grin that made his hair stand on end. Then, he realised he was wrong about one thing.
Light smiled and acknowledged his misconception, "I thought you were excited because the flying ship made you forget about your grief for a bit, but god knows I couldn't have been more wrong."
Scarn's smile deepened, almost reaching his ears, then he looked forward and suppressed his smile, and stated in a tone that emanated murderous glee, "As the Lieutenant Navy Commander of the Marines under the absolute justice of the world government, I hereby pass immediate judgment on this wretched demon…
"Tonight, one of the captains in Black Beard's grand alliance, Infamous as The Fiend of Darkness and Light: Terror White. Will be hunted"
…