"My master wants the merchant ship you captured and all the captives on it, including these four."

The soldier pointed at the merchant, the captain, the first mate and the boatswain who were too frightened to move, and at the same time took out a glass jar that exuded a cold aura.

"In return, you can get this bottle of antidote to treat those men who are suffering from severe pain and will die soon. Of course, you can also try to snatch it from me. But I promise that before I am killed, I will smash this jar so that you will get nothing."

Looking at the jar filled with black and red liquid, Hallett cautiously asked, "Is your master employed by the Roldan Chamber of Commerce?"

The soldier shook his head without thinking: "No! My master is not employed by any organization or individual. He only needs a ship and some sailors who can drive the ship, that's all."

"You didn't accept the offer? Then let's change the terms. You give me the antidote, and I will take your master to wherever he wants to go. Of course, after docking, the merchant ship, the expensive goods, and the sailors on it will all belong to your master. But this young merchant belongs to me."

Hallett tried to bargain.

Because Bernard is more than just a "business".

And it is related to his next series of follow-up plans.

Although the name Captain "Blood Hand" brought Hallett a formidable notoriety, it also brought countless troubles.

After so many years of drifting on the sea, he has become a little tired of chasing prey all day long, or the feeling of being chased as a prey by others. He wants to change his identity, cleanse himself up, and go ashore, hiding behind the scenes to control things.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. My master doesn't accept any form of bargaining. You can only choose to agree or refuse. In addition, I need to remind you that ricin is a substance that can damage and cause many internal organs to fail. If you delay for too long, you may become disabled even if you drink the antidote."

The soldiers continued to exert pressure on the other side without showing any emotion.

He had received instructions from Zuo Si long before he showed up, and the entire process of threats and negotiations was basically foolproof.

"Damn it! Well, you win. These four captives, as well as the merchant ship and the captured human sailors, are all yours now. Give me the antidote."

Seeing that more and more pirates under his command could no longer bear the pain of the poison and took their last breath, Harlett decisively chose to give in first.

He gestured to the unpoisoned earth elf beside him to pick up an oil lamp, and stood on a relatively dim reef, shaking it up and down.

After a while, several small boats carrying a group of humans tied up with ropes and some orc pirates who were responsible for guarding them came ashore on the shallow sea.

Although the pirates who stayed behind were shocked to see their companions lying on the ground and wailing in pain, they wanted to ask their captain what had happened.

But Hallett stopped them with his eyes, and motioned to cut the ropes and hand over all the prisoners to the other side.

In this way, the thirty-eight sailors who survived the disaster were driven behind the soldiers with confused looks on their faces.

With them were Captain Bass, the owner Bernard, as well as the first mate and the injured boatswain.

As soon as the two groups met, the former immediately stared at the latter with anger and hatred.

Because when the senior executives of these four merchant ships encountered danger, they did not hesitate to abandon the ordinary crew members and chose to sneak away.

If there weren't any pirates present, a fight would probably have broken out immediately.

"You all retreat to the bushes immediately. Remember, no matter what situation you see later, stay where you are and don't run around." The soldier ordered in a low voice.

As a participant in the entire plan, he knew very well what would happen next.

These guys who lack combat skills and experience will only become a burden if they stay.

"Understood! Don't worry, sir. We will stay in the bushes as you requested."

A middle-aged sailor who looked very prestigious took the initiative to step forward and express his attitude, then disappeared into the dark woods with other sailors.

After all the captives had left the beach, the soldiers handed the jars filled with the so-called "antidote" to the hobgoblins who had been waiting for a long time.

After getting the captain's approval, the latter immediately began to give a sip of the liquid to those unfortunate guys who had been wailing for a long time and now had almost no strength left and could only hum.

The effect is immediate!

Every poisoned person who drinks it will immediately show an expression of relief, as if the pain has disappeared.

But no one noticed what happened in the next half minute after drinking the "antidote".

Their skin would be an unhealthy pale color, and their pupils would emit a chilling glow.

If there were a spellcaster present, he would be able to immediately recognize that these poisoned people were not really cured, but their bodies were transforming into undead.

When the body loses its vital characteristics and dies completely, it will naturally no longer feel pain.

This means that the negotiations and transactions just now were actually all smoke screens deliberately released by Zuo Si to confuse the enemy.

From the very beginning, he had no intention of letting the other party go, but to kill all these pirates without leaving a single one alive.

The reason was simple! Zuo Si felt that he was too weak and there was no way he could defeat a pirate ship carrying more than 200 people in a head-on battle.

The habits he developed in the tower of the floating city determined that he would never rely on the other party's kindness or keeping their promises for his own safety.

Therefore, taking advantage of the advantage to eliminate all pirates once and for all naturally became the only option.

Seeing his pirates being "cured" one by one and slowly climbing up from the beach, Hallett's anger and murderous intent subsided a little. He narrowed his eyes and asked again, "Who is your master? Why did he appear on this deserted island? And what does he want to do with that merchant ship and the captives?"

"You want to know the master's true identity?" The soldier suddenly showed a mocking smile on his face, then raised his head to look at the eyeball floating above his head, and replied meaningfully: "Then try to survive first. Because the master has prepared a grand welcome ceremony for you as a guest. What will be staged next is the midnight carnival of the dead. I hope you can enjoy it."

When the last word fell, the eyeball suddenly seemed to be activated, releasing a creepy green light.

Immediately afterwards, bursts of low roars came from the dark woods, grass and bushes behind him.

In less than half a minute, the pirates who were transformed into zombies by the [Manipulate Corpses] magic surrounded the entire camp from all directions.

Although there were not many of them, only about twenty or so, they made Hallet's heart sink.

He was not sure how many such undead creatures were hiding in the endless dark jungle.

Especially the "evil wizard" who has not yet appeared always makes the pirate captain feel extremely uneasy.

As for the hobgoblins and ogres who were not poisoned, although they were frightened by the terrifying scene before them, they still drew their weapons and prepared for battle.

Just when Hallett was about to order all his men to rush forward and kill these low-level undead, he suddenly discovered that the pirates who had just completed detoxification behaved almost indistinguishably from zombies.

They were all equally slow and dull, with red light in their eyes that symbolized death.

Damn it!

What he had just drunk was not an "antidote" at all! Hallett finally realized that he had been fooled...

(End of this chapter)