Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate

"So what?"

So what?

Upon hearing these words, Koby felt a chill run through his body, which then gradually seeped into his soul.

At that moment, he suddenly seemed to realize something:

The man in front of him seemed to... have no intention of letting him go at all?

Wu Tong ignored Koby's reaction and continued to press for answers:

"So, just because you were captured by pirates and landed on their ship, do you still consider yourself an ordinary person, a commoner?"

"No, when you work for them, you're already a pirate!"

"But I've never done anything wrong. My job on the ship was just cleaning the deck..."

Koby heard Wu Tong include him among the pirates, he couldn't help but speak up and refute it, even though he was terrified.

This was the first time he had spoken out against someone. This courageous statement stemmed not only from his dream of becoming a naval officer, but also from his desire to save himself.

Koby knew that if he didn't speak up at this crucial moment and let Wu Tong pin the label of pirate on him, there would only be one outcome for him.

That is—death.

So, under the threat of death, Koby finally overcame his cowardly nature for the first time and spoke his mind.

"But isn't cleaning the deck the job of a pirate trainee?"

Wu Tong mercilessly shattered the courage that Koby had finally mustered.

"How could I possibly be a pirate apprentice? I've never been on the ship..."

Listening to Koby's persistent and desperate excuses.

Wu Tong was already somewhat annoyed, and then directly shattered Koby's last hope with a single sentence:

"There are things you didn't do, but that doesn't mean you're not wrong!"

"When you choose to compromise out of cowardice, whether or not it is your own will, you have already made a choice."

"Since you've chosen to work for pirates, what else could you be but a pirate?"

When Wu Tong ripped away the veil of pretense, revealing the bloody reality hidden beneath, the truth was revealed.

Hovering in mid-air, Koby was forced to confront the truth he had been avoiding all along.

'Yes... When I chose to work for pirates, whether it was of my own volition or not, it seems I've already become the kind of person I hate most...'

'But, but I clearly didn't hurt anyone else, and I was clearly forced into it.'

But why... why won't this person let me go?

Koby hung his head, his mind a jumble of thoughts, but the desire to live is an instinct in everyone.

Therefore, even though Koby already understood his current identity, he still spoke with a glimmer of hope:

"But even among pirates, there are those who are forced into becoming pirates, like me?"

Even if I've become a pirate like you say, I haven't done anything wrong. Does that mean I deserve to die?

Faced with this problem:

If he were the protagonist of a shonen anime, he would forgive him on the spot.

If it were a gentle and kind anime protagonist, they would probably hesitate as well.

Even some villains would fall into deep thought because of this.

But as luck would have it, Koby actually asked this question in front of Wu Tong.

Wu Tong's answer to this question was only one: that is... to let the person who asked the question witness the absolute justice of the legendary General Duanmu.

So Koby saw that Wu Tong, upon hearing his question, did not sympathize with his plight as he had imagined, and became conflicted about it.

Instead, he revealed a strange expression, and his first words petrified Koby on the spot.

Wu Tong looked at Koby with a strange expression and asked, "What else? You don't want me to die, do you?"

No, this doesn't seem right.

What's going on with this kind of statement?

However, before Koby could recover from Wu Tong's words...

A string of vulgar and obscure words burst forth from Wu Tong's mouth.

"You just wait and see, you used to be a pirate. If you've been a pirate for even a day, you'll be a pirate for life."

"It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature. A rotten Ju Zi is a rotten Ju Zi. No matter how much you try to disguise it, you can't become an ordinary person."

"Want to repent and reform? I can only give you one answer—dream on!"

Click...

Upon hearing this string of seemingly nonsensical words, Koby suddenly froze, standing there dumbfounded.

... Aren't you a good person?

For a good person to say something like that, aren't you being a bit too extreme?

"Forehead..."

This time, Koby had barely uttered a single syllable when Wu Tong immediately interrupted him:

"Shut up, a pirate is a pirate!"

I'm too lazy to waste any more breath on you; you don't deserve to listen.

Having said that, Wu Tong ignored Koby's dying struggle and immediately took action.

"But you can rest assured that out of humanitarian concern, I will act quickly and without any pain. You will pass away peacefully."

After saying that, Wu Tong put two fingers together to form a sword finger and casually slashed at Koby, who was still in mid-air.

Whoosh...

There's a saying... right. "Sword energy stretches across 30,000 miles, a single sword's light chills fourteen continents."

As soon as Wu Tong made his move, a dazzling, sharp, vast, and Shrouding the Heavens crescent moon sword aura appeared out of thin air in front of Wu Tong.

At the same time, it flew towards Koby with an unparalleled, magnificent momentum that could cut through gold and jade.

"No... I don't want to..."

Koby watched the massive sword energy rushing towards him, the fear in his heart surged like a flood breaking through a dam, quickly overflowing and engulfing his mind.

Driven by his burning desire to survive, Koby struggled frantically in mid-air, trying his best to dodge the attack.

But putting aside whether he has the ability to break free from Wu Tong's restraints, even if he could break free, given the extreme speed of this sword energy, he probably wouldn't be able to dodge it.

In just a moment, the sword energy arrived in front of Koby.

Before it even reached Koby, the extremely sharp energy carried by the attack had already easily torn Koby's body in two.

When the sword energy reached Koby's location, the countless Sword Intent surrounding it easily obliterated Koby, who had been torn in two, into countless blood mists.