Chapter 11 Pirates
The waves roared and rolled, as if to swallow the whole world.
A nearly disintegrating boat was thrown into the sky by the crest of a wave, then crashed back into the sea. The people on board were ragged and dirty, cursing each other in fear and despair.
"The Sea of Death! This must be the Sea of Death! You f*cking brought me to the Sea of Death—" The rough-looking bald man grabbed the collar of the old one-eyed man tightly, and the saliva in his mouth sprayed on the other's face.
"Poseidon, it's over, it's all over——"
The old one-eyed man was trembling and couldn't speak clearly. The bald captain slapped him hard and knocked him to the ground.
The old immortal told him that he had overheard a conversation among the mercenaries at the port and learned about a route that could make him "rich". It was said that the end of the route was a long-abandoned dragon's nest, which was full of gold and silver treasures without any dragon guarding it.
As low-ranking pirates, they didn't dare provoke the wealthy merchant caravans that could add advanced magic arrays to their entire ships, nor did they dare to join forces with their peers to rob each other. They could only rob poor fishermen and play with the women in the village. But recently, a great man arrived at Huiqiao Port, and the port navy was on high alert, patrolling 800 times a day, forcing the brothers nearby to starve.
Seeing that his pirates were about to leave the group and seek their own way out, the bald man gritted his teeth and simply took all his belongings and went out to sea to search for the "Dragon's Nest Treasure" mentioned by the mercenaries.
Who would have thought that the route overheard by the old one-eyed man was so unreliable, and it actually led them to the famous "Sea of Death" in local legends.
Several pirates were thrown out by the huge waves, and one died instantly after being pushed aside by the bald man to block the broken mast. But the sea god Odileus seemed to have no intention of showing favor to his greedy and ferocious followers. With a violent jolt, the hull, already overwhelmed by the weight, screamed and was completely torn in two.
The pirates desperately tried to grab onto anything they could, but it was all in vain. The dark sea water poured in from the damaged hull like a swarm of snakes. Just as they were about to fall into the deep and cold sea, an invisible force suddenly fixed the two halves of the hull at an angle that was about to break apart.
The waves and sky were pitch black, with only the moon shining brightly. The newcomer hung in the night sky, waves towering like mountains behind him, his golden hair dancing wildly in the wind. His meticulously carved face, in the moonlight, was so beautiful it seemed beyond human form, revealing a strange and eerie power.
The pirates were stunned, but the pirate captain was the first to react. He shouted excitedly: "Sir! Sir Warlock! Please save me. I am willing to give you all my treasures——"
The pirates now came to their senses and immediately began to beg for mercy.
A warlock who could appear out of thin air above the Sea of Death, one could easily tell that his level was definitely not low - perhaps an apostle, or even an honorable Lord. Who knows, maybe they could really be saved!
"Treasure? Your ship is already in such a state, where can there be any treasure?"
The other party chuckled softly, like a smooth feather touching the broken deck. The bald man saw that the waves couldn't even wet the hem of the visitor's clothes. He immediately swallowed his saliva and smiled cautiously and flatteringly, "My lord, I don't have it now, but I know a top-secret route that leads to an abandoned dragon's nest. There are gold, silver and treasures everywhere there. If you are willing to save my life, I will give you this route and all the treasures in the dragon's nest!"
The warlock pondered for a moment, then raised his eyes slightly. "That sounds good, but I can only take one person with me. Do you all know this route?"
The bald man shouted quickly: "No, no, no, I am the only one who knows, you take me away——"
"Bullshit! I told you that!" The old one-eyed man screamed, "Sir, please take me with you. I know more than he does. I'll be the one to show you the way!"
The bald man immediately flew into a rage: "You old man, you still have the nerve to say that! If it weren't for your nonsense, how could I have ended up like this!"
"You were the one who said it yourself. The information from the Port Mercenary Group couldn't be wrong. They forced us to go out to sea together—"
"Shut up."
The visitor said softly.
That sound should have been drowned out by the sound of the waves and wind, but it reached every pirate's ears very clearly. Then they discovered with horror that no matter how hard they tried to breathe, they couldn't get any air, as if some invisible existence was strangling their necks.
As the feeling of suffocation gradually intensified, the pirates began to collapse to the ground one after another, twitching violently like dying frogs. However, during the whole process, no one could make any sound. The visitor seemed to be very satisfied in this absurd and terrifying pantomime, and nodded slightly, looking at the bald man and the old one-eyed man, the only two people who could still breathe, but were scared to the point of peeing their pants.
"Okay, it's much quieter now."
He smiled gently and kindly. "It seems that only you two know how to find the 'Dragon's Nest Treasure'. Who should I take with me then?"
The bald man's lips trembled a few times, and then he realized that the person who came was not a kind savior at all, but the crazy and bloodthirsty devil himself.
He was about to open his mouth to beg for mercy when his chest suddenly felt cold. He lowered his head, and a broken wooden spike appeared in his field of vision. The old one-eyed dragon's only remaining bloodshot eye gradually overlapped with the eyes of those he had killed. Then, amidst the excruciating pain, he heard the old one-eyed dragon's excited and distorted voice: "Sir, he can't survive. Now I am the only one left!"
Azuka stared blankly at the one-eyed pirate before him, carefully observing his ugly, filthy face shift from ecstasy to confusion, then to utter terror and despair. He gasped loudly, then, in a grotesque, grotesque manner, knelt before him and begged for mercy. When that failed, he frantically scratched at his neck until his feces and urine flowed all over the floor. After several minutes of agonizing struggle, he died, along with the bodies lying beside him.
It's these fragile, dirty, and despicable things.
A group of greedy and foolish pirates, because of an unrealistic rumor, attempted to obtain the so-called "Dragon's Nest Treasure".
The other party should have died in the ruthlessness of the ocean, but due to the collapse of the Wall of Sighs, the mad dragons and the blessing of the damn god of luck, he came to the Asachi Valley, which had been isolated from the outside world for three hundred years.
The pirates lied to the Natalin people that they were shipwrecked merchants. The deceived Natalin people did not kill them, but provided food and shelter to the outsiders. However, these scum stole the ship and escaped while the Natalin people were fighting a group of dragons invading the valley. They sold the news of the so-called "Dragon's Lair" to the mercenary association in the port for a high price, thus leading to the origin of all the tragedy.
Those collapsed houses and charred soil, those human wails and blood and flesh, those fires, those corpses, endless corpses… The tears in the blond boy’s eyes were evaporated by the fire. He wanted to rush out and die, die together, die with his enemies, his tribe, and everything he hated and loved—
The moon was obscured by clouds. In the darkness, a bright shadow disappeared like a shooting star, and time seemed to resume its flow around the ship that was broken into two pieces. It collapsed quietly and silently, and sank into the sea, leaving no trace behind.
…
The dragon nets and relocated trebuchets worked better than anyone could have imagined.
A few dragon riders, whose own dragons weren't out looking for mates, happily flew into the air to help clear the scales and limbs caught in the nets. Smaller dragons invading the valley were blinded, their feet or wings entangled in the nets. The clan's lightning sorcerers added to the power of the nets. For the first time, everyone experienced the joy of "assembly line operation"—the professor's words, though no one knew what they meant.
The professor himself seemed dissatisfied. He kept mumbling some incomprehensible words like toughness ratio loss, and then began to write furiously.
Lamina wordlessly pulled the person aside. The black-haired young man, whose train of thought was suddenly interrupted, frowned and wanted to scold him, but the corpse of a small feathered dragon happened to fall at his feet.
He swallowed back the harsh words that almost came out of his mouth: "...Thank you."
The female warrior glared at the reckless dragon knight, then snorted softly, "No need to thank me. The God's Chosen One told me to keep an eye on you, to prevent you from dying somewhere 'out of curiosity'—don't look at me, those were his exact words."
"...I won't do such a stupid thing. Please don't define me with inexplicable adjectives. You can't 'stare at me'."
"Whatever you say, you can't beat me anyway, you poor cripple." The red-haired girl curled her lips. Basa had woken up, and she was in a rare good mood today. She also liked the way he looked at her, so she didn't bother to argue.
Then those grey eyes suddenly turned to her and gave her a quick, uncomfortably quick glance.
"You went to see Basa again this morning and brought a bunch of wildflowers, which you must have picked behind your house. Then you ate the breakfast you brought with you. It was made by your brother Lambda, stewed silverback fish with mum nut. You didn't like it very much, but you still finished it and accidentally spilled the soup on your sleeve. Before leaving, he kissed you on the cheek, and you didn't refuse - oh, you like him - then you were going home to change clothes, and on the way you went to the barter station and bought some mum nut and silverback fish. Honestly, why did you buy them if you didn't like them - do I need to continue?"
Lamina stared at him blankly, a hint of embarrassment and anger slowly flowing from the tip of her ear to her face, and then slowly turned into a clenched fist.
"A little trick, detectives back home love to do that." The black-haired bastard raised his chin slightly and said arrogantly, "That's called 'keeping an eye on you,' ma'am. You're right, I have to stay away from falling objects, so there's no need to worry about being crushed to death by a few dragons. Now please do your work and don't disturb my thoughts. Thank you very much."
Just when Lamina couldn't help but smash her fist into that hateful face, a giant dragon suddenly descended from the sky, triggering a burst of joyful cheers.
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A Tribute to Sherlock Holmes
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