Joining Forces Against the Enemy

Yinsen pointed at the ship drawing ever closer. By now, both sides could clearly see what was happening on the other vessel. Their ship was taller, though, giving them a better view—and the two of them standing on deck had long since caught the other side's attention.

"Isn't that coward Angus?"

Sean was equally surprised. He had not expected to see two complete strangers, both of whom looked quite young. The black-haired one was a little older, but was the blond one really not just a little kid? Since when could little kids roam the Sea of Tranquility so freely?

His brow furrowed deeper and deeper. The way things had repeatedly developed beyond his expectations irritated him greatly. And whenever he was irritated, someone was bound to suffer. In his heart, he had already sentenced the two young men to death.

"Should we wait until they come alongside before making our move?"

Arthur studied the man standing proudly at the bow. He was tall and powerfully built. Not only was Arthur himself not fully grown yet, but even compared with the adults he had seen before, this man was noticeably bigger and stronger.

"He's a formidable opponent!"

Arthur had followed Yinsen into this world not only to broaden his horizons, but also to fight more people and further improve his strength.

So, faced with a powerful opponent, Arthur felt no fear. Instead, he was slightly excited. His blood boiled, and even his body trembled faintly.

"Don't get too excited. It'll affect the strength and accuracy of your sword."

Being overly excited might let someone unleash greater strength, making their weapon swings faster and more powerful, but it would also greatly reduce their stability. Against a strong enemy, that was actually a negative buff.

"You're right. I should calm down."

Although Yinsen had never received years of formal, systematic training, he had fought to the death against Dark Creatures in the Diablo World for an entire month. He had accumulated plenty of experience through battle after battle, and that was precisely what Arthur lacked.

It could be said that their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other perfectly. Before both of them reached a certain level of strength, working together was a Good Choice.

After taking some time, Arthur returned to normal. By then, the other ship had already pulled alongside Yinsen's vessel and thrown grappling hooks, firmly securing the ship beneath his feet.

One armed sailor after another jumped down from the opposite ship, while the burly man remained aboard his own vessel, looking down at the two young men.

"Where's that coward Angus? Isn't this coward's ship?"

Yinsen had not expected that, rather than demanding he hand over everything he had, they would first ask about some Angus. Who was Angus? Could he be the man Yinsen had killed?

"Are you talking about some scum who liked robbing people of their belongings?"

"Oh?" Hearing that question, Sean became somewhat interested in the Black-haired Young Man before him. "So you're not that coward's subordinate?"

Yinsen curled his lip disdainfully. "How could I possibly be the subordinate of trash like that?"

"Did you take out Angus? You seized this ship from him, didn't you?" Sean pointed at the sailboat beneath Yinsen's feet, then at the forward side of its hull. "Don't deny it. Other than that coward, I can't think of anyone who would name their ship the Mad Dog."

The ship's name had been carved into the forward side of the hull. Yinsen had not paid much attention to it Back Then. When he noticed it later, he had planned to change the name once he returned to Stat Island, so he had simply left it alone.

Still, so what if they recognized it? It was not as though he was someone who dared to act but not own up to it.

"So what if it was that guy's ship?"

Sean suddenly burst into loud laughter. "So what? This ship will be mine soon enough!" Then he pointed at the vessel being towed behind it. "And that one too."

He then looked at the two young men with a teasing expression. "As for you two..." He looked them over from head to toe, then suddenly noticed how eye-catching their equipment was. "Hand over everything you're carrying. If I'm in a good mood, I might let you stay on my ship as servants."

Yinsen raised his head to look at the man still standing on his own ship, hoping to lure the guy down before making a move. To capture bandits, capture their leader first. As long as he controlled or killed this man, dealing with the rest would become much easier.

"And who are you? What gives you the right to make me hand over everything?"

"Who am I? You don't know who I am?" Sean looked as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. Then he realized that these two were particularly young, so it was not strange that they did not know him. "So you're two rookies! You don't even know Sean of the Hand of Flame."

"Hand of Flame?"

Yinsen's first reaction was to look at the burly man's hands. Sure enough, the man wore a strangely shaped gauntlet on his Left Hand, something between an armored glove and a regular glove. Much of it was hidden beneath his sleeve and could not be seen clearly, but Yinsen could still vaguely make out the glow of a Magic Stone.

"A Fire Magic Stone? For combat? Can it use Fire Element attacks?"

Sean could never have imagined that merely announcing his name would allow Yinsen to deduce his greatest advantage.

That was right. His greatest reliance was the Magic Stone Gauntlet embedded with a Fire Magic Stone, which allowed him to Gathered and manipulate Fire Element energy through the gauntlet.

His nickname, Hand of Flame, had mostly come from that piece of Magic Stone Equipment. In the Sea of Tranquility, where Magic Stone Equipment was scarce, he had relied on that gauntlet to run rampant and slaughter his way through countless foes.

Unfortunately, he only had one gauntlet. With his greater understanding of this world, Sean had always hoped to find a high-quality Magic Stone and craft another piece of equipment to make himself even stronger. After that, he could challenge the Sea of Storms and head for the next sea region—one said to have richer Supplies, but also greater dangers.

That was also why he had been so excited earlier when he suspected Angus might have found a high-quality Magic Stone.

But upon seeing these two young men, another thought suddenly arose in his mind. "These two could kill Angus... could they have Magic Stone Equipment on them?"

Lost in suspicion, he stopped talking. Yinsen, who wanted to draw Sean onto his ship, did not speak either. For a moment, the atmosphere became rather strange.

But someone soon broke the silence, jumping out to steal the spotlight.

"Did you hear that, Kid? Our captain is Sean, the famous Flame Lord of the Sea of Tranquility. Get on your knees and beg Captain for forgiveness right now! Hahaha!" A sailor strode forward arrogantly, then lifted a hand and pressed it toward Yinsen's head.

In the eyes of these sailors who had spent years roaming the Sea of Tranquility, Yinsen and Arthur, now heavily surrounded, would not dare resist at all. They could only kneel and beg for their lives. As for their belongings... although many sailors coveted their fine equipment, they knew it all belonged to Sean. Perhaps only what Sean did not care for would be handed out to them as rewards.

But that was fine. Once they finished this job and returned fully loaded, the captain would give them some benefits, more or less. That would be enough for them to enjoy themselves on Stat Island for quite a while.

Never Expected, Yinsen, whom they believed would never resist, suddenly kicked out and struck the man squarely in the stomach.

The sailor was sent rolling across the deck. Not only was he in excruciating pain himself, but he also knocked several companions behind him to the ground.

At almost the same moment, Yinsen shouted to Arthur, "Move!" He was not going to wait for Sean to come down. That guy did not seem to have any intention of coming over.

Besides, enough sailors had already boarded his ship that the other side presumably would not suddenly attack with cannons.

As for being Ganging Up on? In truth, the ship had far less room than one might imagine. With the mast in the way, everyone's movement was restricted. The benefit was that, as long as Yinsen controlled his positioning well, he would only have to face two or three enemies at a time rather than being surrounded by layer upon layer of enemies.

For Yinsen, who had countless items at hand, facing two or three enemies at once was no great difficulty. He held a sword in his right hand and wielded an iron rod in his left. A strike with the rod to the left, a slash with the sword to the right—his opening move alone knocked the two unlucky men who charged fastest to the ground. The one struck by the rod had merely been knocked unconscious and might suffer aftereffects such as a concussion. As for the one he had cut down with his sword, he probably would never stand up again.

To keep anyone from circling behind them, Arthur had to hold the other direction. The two had barely exchanged a word, yet they had arrived at the same idea without any discussion. Arthur moved even faster than Yinsen. Not only did he immediately take up position, he cut down four enemies in one breath.

He might have been young, but his swordsmanship was superb. In a one-on-one fight, not a single one of these sailors could withstand even one strike from him.

Even attacking together, they could only barely preserve their lives amid the vast swaths of blinding sword light. Yet screams continued to ring out, followed by more and more sailors collapsing onto the deck.

Sean, who had been briefly stunned aboard his own ship, was jolted awake by the unceasing screams. Looking down and seeing his men being slaughtered like chopping vegetables, his eyes turned red with rage and veins bulged along his neck.

"Get out of the way, all of you!"

Hearing their boss's order, the sailors who had not yet charged in obediently retreated. But the few who had already reached Yinsen or Arthur found it far less easy to get away.

One sailor tried to take a blow from Yinsen's iron rod and then flee, deliberately presenting his toughest, most resilient back. He had not expected Yinsen to activate the Lightning Power contained within the rod as he swung it.

Dazzling electric light leaped from the rod and struck the sailor solidly along with Yinsen's attack. The current was not especially powerful and could hardly kill someone outright, but it was enough to paralyze him so thoroughly that he could not move. All he could do was watch helplessly as a sharp sword tip burst out through his chest.

"Magic Stone Item!"

In that instant, Sean no longer cared about his subordinate's life. His eyes held only the iron rod in Yinsen's hand, crackling with dancing electricity.