Chapter 302: Chapter 3: The Evil of Pirates
Stepping onto the deck, Su Xiao held the Dragon Slash and stared at the pirates in front of him.
Dozens of pirates gathered around; it was a medium-sized pirate group. From their tattered clothes and sallow faces, it was clear these pirates weren’t faring well at sea.
"Drop your weapons and lie on the deck."
A pirate pointed a flintlock gun at Su Xiao, subconsciously swallowing. There wasn’t much ’meat’ left on the ship, and the remaining companions all had weapons, so they couldn’t become fodder.
Su Xiao glanced around, the strong smell of sweat wafting over, indicating these pirates had been at sea for at least a month.
A one-eyed man wearing a black headscarf stepped out from the crowd, and the pirates made way for him; that’s the captain.
The One-Eyed Captain sized up Su Xiao, and his gaze finally rested on the Dragon Slash in Su Xiao’s hand, with a hint of barely noticeable greed in his eyes.
"What are you doing? Our Wavebreak Pirate Group never hurts innocent people. Put away your weapons."
The One-Eyed Captain scolded, and those pirates immediately put away their weapons, trying their best to show friendly smiles. Their Hungry Wolf Pirate Group had become the Wavebreak Pirate Group again. This had happened several times before, and these pirates had some experience.
"Sorry for scaring you earlier. The ship’s damaged and we can’t control the direction. Did it hurt you?"
The One-Eyed Captain said, untying a small barrel from his waist and throwing it to Su Xiao; it contained fresh water.
"Have some water, rest a bit. We are heading to the City of Seven Seas."
Bang, the barrel hit the deck, and Su Xiao didn’t even glance at it.
"Don’t be ungrateful; it’s rare to find pirates as reasonable as us."
A pirate looked displeased.
The One-Eyed Captain turned his head, and when his eyes fixed on that pirate, they became extremely cold. The pirate quickly gave a radiant smile and apologized.
"Caution is good, but we really have no malice."
The One-Eyed Captain waved his hand, signaling the pirates to retreat.
Bullying the weak and fearing the strong is a pirate’s habit. Su Xiao’s Sharp Blade and Dragon Slash were clearly extraordinary, which was why the One-Eyed Captain acted this way. Actually, he was eyeing the Dragon Slash, and Su Xiao was very young, easily seen as a newbie who had just set sail. Ships being destroyed by storms happened all the time.
"Is that so? I just happen to be going to the City of Seven Seas too."
Su Xiao pondered on how to deal with this captain; he had long determined the other party harbored ill intent.
"Then we share the same destination. Meeting on this vast sea is fate, but..."
The One-Eyed Captain changed his tone, eyes slightly squinting.
"While we don’t actively harm civilians, taking our ship also costs money. How about this: you pay us 1 million Belli, and we’ll take you to the City of Seven Seas. Don’t think the price is high; this is your life-saving money. Without a ship, you can’t possibly swim to the City of Seven Seas, and who knows how far that is."
Su Xiao sneered inwardly; he’d already guessed what the other party would say. If he said he had no money, they’d suggest using the sword as collateral or paying and then turning hostile.
"Unfortunately, I don’t have any money on me."
Su Xiao tightened his grip on the Dragon Slash’s hilt, preparing to take action.
"This is troublesome, how about using your sword as collateral..."
The One-Eyed Captain stopped mid-sentence, staring dumbfounded at the bone in Su Xiao’s left hand, eyes seemingly glowing green.
Su Xiao held a meat bone in his left hand; it was a snack for Bubute Ni.
"Hand it over, now!"
The One-Eyed Captain no longer hid his intentions; under the lure of food, his fierce nature surfaced.
"So they’re truly starving."
Su Xiao tossed the meat bone away; dozens of pirates’ gazes followed it.
Thud, the meat bone fell onto the deck in the distance, and a swarm of pirates rushed towards it, the deck creaking underfoot.
"Out of the way, it’s mine."
"Vanter, do you want to die?"
"Ah!! Don’t bite my hand."
The pirates turned into a chaotic mess, like a pack of hyenas frenziedly snatching for meat, biting and kicking each other, with some even unsheathing knives.
The One-Eyed Captain’s face changed dramatically. Though he craved food too, he valued stature even more.
"Stop it, whoever moves again gets a bullet in them!"
The One-Eyed Captain roared, but to no avail.
Bang!
A dull gunshot sounded; one pirate was directly headshot, the splattering brains sobering the rest.
A cloud of smoke was blown away by the sea breeze, and the One-Eyed Captain raised a very thick flintlock gun, which had been modified for great power.
"Have you rebelled, still want to snatch?"
The One-Eyed Captain waved the gun angrily, the muzzle sweeping across the dozens of pirates’ heads.
"Captain, behind you!"
A pirate’s face showed fear, but it was already too late.
Thud, the One-Eyed Captain’s body leaned forward, eyes widened, pupils constricted, mouth gasping in pain.
He lowered his head to see a blood-stained knife point protruding from his chest, blood dripping from the tip.
"When did you..."
The One-Eyed Captain fell onto the deck, Su Xiao withdrew the Dragon Slash, stepped on the captain’s head, and slit his throat open with the Dragon Slash.
Blood spurted several meters away; Su Xiao sidestepped it, looking around at the pirates while standing on the One-Eyed Captain’s head.
"Who wants to be next."
The pirates fell silent, all lowering their heads.
"Brothers, we..."
A pirate pulled out a Sailor’s Knife from his waist, but at that moment, a dozen knives stabbed around him.
Thud, thud...
The sound of knives piercing flesh was exceptionally clear; ten seconds later, the speaking pirate was already covered with wounds, unrecognizably mangled.
"Young swordsman, we won’t cross each other’s paths. We’ve been wanting to kill this damn captain for a while."
"Yes, he chopped off my arm just for bumping into him while raiding a village."
"You’re heading to the City of Seven Seas, we have the same goal. Even if you can kill us, you can’t sail the ship alone."
Unlike brainless grunts in anime, these pirates weren’t strong, but each had their own thoughts.
After pondering for a while, Su Xiao nodded.
"Alright, you steer the ship, and we won’t cross each other’s paths."
The pirates made a point; without them, Su Xiao couldn’t sail this three-masted ship, let alone this kind of ship that could fall apart at any moment.
The pirates sighed in relief but didn’t relax, still wary of Su Xiao’s presence. Su Xiao could silently get behind their captain, proving his strength.
The pirates threw the One-Eyed Captain’s body into the ship’s cabin, some going in to kick it a few times. As for the stabbed-to-death one, he was the deputy captain, usually siding with the One-Eyed Captain, not weak, but today got backstabbed by his own crew.
This is the downfall of ruling through brutality; the fall of the tree scatters the monkeys, the collapse of the wall is pushed by everyone.
Su Xiao no longer paid attention to the pirates; this broken ship could fall apart at any moment, and he didn’t believe the pirates would steer in another direction. The direction was determined by the ’Eternal Pointer,’ a specialty of the Pirate World, similar to a compass but only pointing to a fixed location.
The pirates returned to their posts, controlling the sail and rudder. The pirate group slowly set sail, moving only slightly faster than Su Xiao swimming.
Su Xiao headed toward a cabin with a large hole in it. The hole had been clumsily patched with wooden boards. This was the captain’s quarters, and he intended to loot.
Upon entering the captain’s quarters, a pungent, burnt smell greeted him. The room wasn’t large, at most ten square meters.
One wall of the captain’s quarters was scorched black, and the floor was very damp; there had likely been a fire, which they extinguished with seawater.
The layout of the captain’s quarters was simple: a display stand, a wooden table resembling a desk, and a bed.
Su Xiao first searched the display stand, only to find bottles of poor-quality wine. One bottle stood out, a transparent bottle with some kind of animal member soaking inside.