Pirate Queen

The cheerful singing on the ship stopped abruptly, and everyone's attention was drawn to the cries for help.

On the sea, a group of dolphins were playing and frolicking around a red-haired woman who was floating on the surface of the sea while clinging to a plank. A smaller dolphin was even nudging the plank with its snout, which made the red-haired woman scream in fright. Not far away, two triangular red fins were approaching her.

"Quick, quick, save them! That's a triangular blood shark!" The captain's face changed drastically when he saw the blood shark, and he hurriedly called on his crew to prepare for a rescue.

However, due to the fearsome reputation of blood sharks for devouring everything in the ocean, no one on the ship dared to approach.

The woman's blood stained the surrounding sea crimson. The blood shark, smelling the blood, became even more excited and approached the red-haired woman. Sensing the blood shark's approach, the playful dolphins scattered and fled. The slowest dolphin was bitten in the jaws of the blood shark and torn in two.

This scene was savage and violent, but it was the survival of the fittest in nature. Even though the demon pigs were cute and affectionate, no one could interfere with this battle.

The demon pig was devoured almost instantly, and the blood shark moved even closer to the red-haired woman, circling around her.

Sorea knew that Blood Shark was ferocious and brutal, but the scene before her made her feel that something was wrong. However, she didn't have time to think about it, so she quickly signaled to Arlene with her eyes to go and save people.

Although blood sharks are ferocious, they are just ordinary animals, not monsters, and have no magic or intelligence.

Arlene, who was already prepared, received Soraya's signal and instantly cast several low-level inscription totems. She quickly leaped off the ship, easily dodging the Blood Shark's attack, reached the woman's side, put her arm around her waist, and jumped back onto the ship.

Arlene moved so fast that the red-haired woman didn't react until she was on the deck. She glanced around instinctively, then burst into tears. "I'm Lillian. I live on Galle Island. My father took me out to sea to fish, but we encountered a tsunami. I accidentally fell off the ship and was swept here by the sea. Thank you for saving me."

The frail and pitiful girl easily aroused people's protective instincts. A lady on the ship quickly took her back to her room, changed her into dry and warm clothes, and the kind captain also offered to take her home by taking a slightly longer route.

To comfort the poor girl, the captain took the pipe from his lips and added with a smile, "My Hero and I welcome all guests."

Lillian bowed again to everyone around her to express her gratitude once more.

The blood sharks, having discovered their prey was missing, began to leave.

Sorea felt she had overlooked something, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she could only remind Al:

"Al, we still have three days on the ship. Keep an eye on the surroundings and tell me immediately if anything seems amiss."

After receiving Al's reply, Sorea returned to her room to rest.

Nights at sea are very dark, and usually only the moon and distant lighthouses provide direction.

The moon was obscured by clouds tonight, and there wasn't a single star in the sky. The captain smoked a cigarette, looking seriously at the compass and nautical chart.

The first mate, who could barely keep his eyes open, slammed his head on the table again to wake himself up and said sleepily, "I'm so sleepy. We've never been to Galle Island before. It's so dark tonight, I don't think we'll be able to find our way."

The captain exhaled a smoke ring, interrupting the first mate, "Since we're already here, let's head in this direction first. If we really get lost, we'll figure something out tomorrow morning." Then he continued to put his pipe in his mouth.

While the captain was distracted talking to the first mate, he didn't realize that their ship had entered a fog.

The fog made the sky even darker, and people could no longer see anything through it.

The Hero sailed through the seawater, which had turned black at some point, and no one noticed that a ship emitting a green light was gradually approaching behind it.

With a bang, the Hero came to a stop.

"Your Highness, wake up!" Arlene, who was sleeping on the floor in Solaya's room, woke Solaya the moment she heard the sound. Jack also crawled out of the wine bottle in the room and onto Solaya's shoulder.

There was a knock on the door, and Al's voice came from inside, "Arlene, protect His Highness. I'm going to see what's going on. Don't open the door until I'm back."

Sorea frowned; she felt that nothing had gone smoothly for her since leaving the Emerald Sea.

Ten minutes later, Al knocked on Solaya's door again.

"It's pirates. All the crew members have been forced onto the deck, and the pirates are knocking on doors in each room to drive the passengers away."

Sorea looked at Al in shock. "Father, how is this possible? This place is close to the Sea of ​​Death. My elder brother would never allow pirates to run rampant here."

"This is even worse, Your Highness. It seems we have entered an unknown space. It is possible that we have stumbled into the broken kingdom of an evil god."

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Solaya. “Arlene, go check if Lillian is there. Tie her up and hide her. Then we’ll meet on the deck.”

Arlene was reluctant to leave her family, now that the princess no longer possessed divine power, but sensing the seriousness of the situation, she immediately went outside.

“Your Highness, we are still in the sea no matter what. Under the light of our Lord’s authority, we can leave directly from the sea. Why do you risk going to a place with pirates?” The little octopus disagreed with Solaya’s adventure and tried to persuade her.

Sorea shook her head. "I can leave safely, but I can't stand by and watch hundreds of people on board perish. They are all believers of the Father, our people."

Al said he would stay behind to fight the pirates and asked Arlene to escort Soleria back to the Osenia Palace.

Sorea looked at the dark sea outside and said firmly, "If this place really is a fragment of a divine kingdom, and those pirates are favored by some evil god, only if I stay here will they have any reservations."

She then left the room first and walked towards the deck. As she reached the corner, a knife came slashing at her and stopped right in front of her eyes.

Al instantly pulled Soraya behind him.

"Damn man, you're blocking my view of the beauty." The knife was sheathed, and a beautiful woman dressed in pirate clothes with red hair tied in braids held the knife to her shoulder, glaring at Al.

Sorea pushed Al aside in disbelief, smiling as she looked at the knife in the woman's hand.

Seeing her smile, the woman felt as if she had drunk honey; she tossed her head and spoke:

"Beautiful little lady, I am Lilith. You're not afraid of me at all? I am the Pirate Queen!"

Sorea smiled and spoke in a sweet voice, "That mighty pirate queen, I think your sword is so beautiful. Where did you get it? It makes you look so majestic."

"Call me Your Majesty, little beauty. You stay here and wait for me. I'll clean this floor and then we can have a proper chat." Lilith said, raising her knife as she walked towards the room ahead.

Al's face had reached a certain level of sullenness. "Your Highness, what are you doing..."

Sorea put her index finger to her lips. "Shh, don't call me Your Highness outside, call me Young Lady. I'm really curious about that knife, why does it have both my mother's power and the power of the God of Forging?"

Then, ignoring Al's rejecting look, he smiled and walked towards Lilith as she returned:

"Sister Queen, can you tell me where this knife comes from?"

Lilith was captivated by Solaya's sweet voice. "Sure, sure, let's talk as we walk." With that, she sheathed her knife and hung it on her waist, then took Solaya's hand.

"I inherited this knife from my great-great-great-grandfather, whom you should have heard of, the famous pirate king Arthur. Legend has it that this knife was forged by the god of blacksmithing."

After Lilith finished speaking, she looked at Sorea with bright eyes that seemed to be seeking praise.

Of course, Sorea wouldn't go against her wishes and started praising her as mighty and handsome.

Upon reaching the deck, Captain John and his crew were found tied together by pirates, while the other passengers were surrounded by pirates wielding knives. Several pirate ships bearing the skull and crossbones flag were located next to the Hero.

Although the Hero was large enough, it couldn't withstand the impact of several pirate ships.

Sorea noticed that some of the pirates weren't carrying knives on their waists, but rather iron pipes that the evil god's chosen ones had used to attack them—things the townspeople called guns.

"Why is that woman not surrounded?!" The kind lady who had taken Lillian to change clothes earlier now shouted at Sorea with a twisted expression.

"Fool, shut up!" The pirate closest to her lashed his whip beside her, and seeing her pale face fall silent, he bowed and scraped before Lilith.

"Boss, you've arrived. A seat has been prepared for you. Please take a seat."

Lilith rolled her eyes at him. "How many times have I told you? Call me Your Majesty." Then she sat down on the chair that the pirates had brought from the captain's room.

"Leave all your belongings, along with the ship and its cargo, and I can give you a few small boats to let you go."

Captain John roared in fury, "You damned pirates! The navy of the Osenia Empire will not... Waaah!"

Before he could finish speaking, the pirate next to him stuffed a sock into his mouth.

Lilith didn't even glance at them, looking at the pirates beside her chair as she spoke, "Didn't you see my stupid sister?"

"I didn't see Lady Lillian. I guess she was afraid you would scold her, so she took Blood Shark back with her."

Lilith scoffed, "She's been raised by my good-for-nothing father to be utterly useless. Go back and tell my grandfather to stop letting those two people onto my ship."

Upon hearing this, Solaya finally realized that she had overlooked something. Given the frenzied nature of the blood sharks, it was impossible for them to simply circle around Lillian instead of devouring her in one bite when faced with the smell of blood. There was only one possibility for this: those blood sharks were domesticated.

Then she subtly glanced at Arlene in the crowd, who nodded slightly to her, indicating that she had hidden Lillian away.

"Sister, save me, please save me!" Lillian hopped out, her hands and feet bound.

The moment Al saw her, he immediately stepped between Sorea and Lilith, separating them, and then glared fiercely at Arlene.

Arlene was shocked to see Lillian, who had actually run out. She glanced at Soleria and Al, then lowered her head in shame.

After being freed, Lillian rushed in front of Lilith, pointing at Solia, "Lilith, you must avenge me! It was this woman's maid who knocked me unconscious and tied me up. If I hadn't been able to teleport to your side, I would be finished."

Lilith glared at Lillian first, "Grandpa gave you a teleportation totem to save your life, and you just used it like this?"

He then looked at Sorea, "Little beauty, I never expected that someone who looks so well-behaved would have the guts to kidnap my sister."

As soon as Lilith finished speaking, the pirates around her gathered around with smirks, pointing knives and guns at Sorea and Al.