Escape

The naga assassin and Roy locked eyes...

Roy's bedraggled appearance truly startled him.

No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why these human sailors had hung one of their own companions here. Not only were Roy's hands and feet bound tightly, even his mouth had been stuffed shut...

The naga assassin tightened his grip on his dagger, twisting his body as he swiftly swam toward Roy, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

He stared at Roy. His body, over three meters long, was as supple as a sea eel in the water, and he moved without making a sound.

Then he stretched one arm out of the seawater and grabbed Roy by the ankle.

That icy, wet touch made Roy feel as though the entire world had abandoned him...

Other than closing his eyes and waiting for death, he had no room to struggle at all.

His only hope was that the naga assassin's stab would be quick and clean.

Despair, fear, resentment, anger, pain, and hatred—countless negative emotions wrapped around Roy's body like venomous snakes, making him instinctively want to break free.

Unfortunately, ropes bound his hands and feet. Even twisting his body took enormous effort.

What was more, the fishhooks had left tiny wounds all over him. Once they came into contact with seawater, they felt like swarms of ants gnawing at his flesh...

Jasper was struggling desperately beside him as well. He could see that the naga assassin was hostile, but he was in even worse shape than Roy and could not help at all.

The naga assassin's body slowly rose from the seawater...

When his upper body completely emerged from the water, the dagger in his hand was pressed beneath Roy's left ribs.

The sharp dagger made Roy feel an icy sting...

"Xu, is that you?"

A sentence in Naga Language drifted over from behind them, its voice weak and exhausted.

To Roy, it was another string of incomprehensible words, though the voice itself was exceptionally gentle.

The dagger against his abdomen immediately withdrew.

The naga assassin released Roy and swiftly swam toward the rear.

Only then did he see that the Bottom Cabin behind Roy was packed with Naga merfolk imprisoned in the darkness.

He suppressed an enraged roar in his throat...

He swam over at once and used his dagger to cut the ropes binding the Naga merfolk's hands.

Then he grabbed one end of the chain attached to a collar with one hand and tugged hard. Finding the chain hanging from the vertical beam to be extremely sturdy, he clenched the dagger between his teeth and tried to snap the iron chain with both hands.

"Don't. That will trigger the alarm here."

Another sentence in Naga Language rang out, spoken in a pleasant voice.

The naga assassin could only cut the ropes tied around the Naga merfolk's wrists.

As the ropes were severed inch by inch and fell into the seawater in the Bottom Cabin, the Naga mermaid grabbed the naga assassin's powerful arm. Flicking her long tail, she asked in a trembling voice:

"Xu, how many Naga came this time?"

Some of the other imprisoned Naga mermaids in the Bottom Cabin had been awakened by the noise.

When they discovered that one of their people had infiltrated the Bottom Cabin, they immediately became alert and began waking the unfortunate companions around them.

Some Naga mermaids were even so excited that they let out muffled sobs, and the sound of splashing water rose from the Bottom Cabin from time to time.

But the naga assassin's next words once again plunged the Naga mermaid girls, who had believed they were about to be rescued, into despair...

"For now, it's only me."

"I got separated from the search party. They continued chasing south."

"I happened to swim into this bay of the Elven Kingdom along the current. I wasn't sure whether they would replenish supplies here, so I wanted to catch some human sailors and ask them. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what they were saying. One Sailor pointed toward the city, and I thought he was lying to me, so I came to the harbor docks to try my luck. I didn't expect to actually find you."

The naga assassin spoke a long string of Naga Language that Roy could not understand at all.

The naga assassin was somewhat agitated. As he spoke, he continued cutting the ropes binding the other Naga merfolk's hands.

The Naga mermaid's upper body rose above the water. Her mind was remarkably clear as she said to the naga assassin, "You alone can't possibly rescue us."

"Once these chains are cut, the bandits above will quickly notice. You can't defeat them."

"What you need to do most is gather the others quickly. Have everyone lie in wait in the waters outside the harbor, then attack as soon as this Great Sea Ship leaves port."

"This is an elven harbor. We only recently agreed to a truce with the elves, so don't cause trouble here..."

But the Naga assassin said with a gloomy expression, "There isn't time. They're leaving tonight. All preparations before departure are complete. Once this ship returns to the open sea, it may use the monsoon to escape into the Twin Seas. By then, even if we chase them, we may not be able to catch up..."

"I'll break through this place first, then rescue all of you. I can't worry about that much. We'll save whoever we can, and I'll hold them off."

As he spoke, the naga assassin swam back from the rear.

He began inspecting the structure of the Bottom Cabin, intending to use his dagger to carve a hole through the side wall.

However, the only tool he had was a dagger. The idea of cutting a round hole through the Bottom Cabin wall with it was good, but carrying it out would likely be extremely difficult.

The Naga mermaid who had spoken first was clearly the Chieftain.

Roy secretly studied her and saw that she indeed had a Tricolor Tail Fin.

The naga assassin's rescue of his companions had unfolded before Roy and Jasper's eyes.

They guessed that the Naga merfolk wanted to escape this Great Sea Ship as well...

Roy knew this was their last chance.

Otherwise, once the Naga merfolk all escaped and only the two of them remained in the Bottom Cabin, what good end could he and Jasper possibly expect when the crew discovered that the Naga had fled...

But they did not share a language, creating a barrier to communication...

Roy intended to use gestures, movements, and his eyes to convey some information! He kept shaking his body, trying to draw the Naga mermaid's and the assassin's attention...

Unexpectedly, this immediately enraged the naga assassin, who swam toward Roy with his gleaming dagger in hand.

"Xu, rescue them first. I want to speak with these two elves!" the Naga mermaid behind him said.

Roy had no idea what the mermaid had said, but the naga assassin stopped and turned to reply:

"I don't trust them!"

The Naga mermaid considered it before saying, "There are elves among them. If they escape, they might be able to summon the elven army. Remove the things from their mouths first, and I'll speak with them..."

The naga assassin did not object this time. He merely swam to Roy's side and glanced back at the Naga mermaid.

"I'll have my companion untie your ropes. Can you promise not to shout or run around?" Her voice was extremely weak, but her Elven Language was very fluent.

Roy and Jasper, hanging in midair, exchanged glances and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

The Naga mermaid urged the naga assassin once more before he reluctantly rescued Roy and Jasper from the hooks.

The two had been bound differently from the Naga merfolk.

The Naga merfolk not only had ropes binding their hands, but also iron collars around their necks, connected by chains to the keel overhead.

Roy and Jasper had their hands and feet tied, and the sailors had directly hung them from iron hooks. They had only been added temporarily and were not restrained with the linked slave chains.

That was why the Naga mermaid had told the naga assassin to free them from the hooks...

Roy's eyes had already adapted to the darkness in the Bottom Cabin, and he could now clearly see that the cabin behind them was densely packed with Naga mermaids.

The Naga mermaid who had just spoken Elven Language swam out with her chain attached. She could move within a space of less than two meters.

"Which port of the Elven Kingdom is this?" the Naga mermaid asked. Her lower body was submerged in seawater, and an occasional flick of her tail fin kept her upright on the surface.

"Castleton." Roy and Jasper answered almost at the same time.

"Are you residents of Castleton?"

"I'm a Half-Elf, and he's a Half-Elf. We're both residents of Castleton, and Novice Priests of the Goddess of Freedom Temple..." Jasper answered seriously.

The Naga mermaid had a beautiful face. The fine scales covering her body made her look as though she wore a fitted garment covered in sequins. Her eyes were lovely, though filled with exhaustion.

"If you get the chance to escape, can you tell the elven army that this ship is illegally imprisoning members of the Naga Sea Clan? Can you have them come to the docks and rescue us?"

Jasper hurriedly said, "We can. This kind of slave ship has already violated our laws, but we need evidence. Otherwise, the Elf Rangers generally won't board to inspect it. If we seek their help and report it, the Elf Rangers will definitely investigate this ship."

The Naga mermaid looked at Roy first, then Jasper, and said softly:

"However, only one of you can leave."

"Then I'll stay, and Roy can go!" Jasper blurted out almost immediately. Then, without waiting for Roy to speak, he continued, "Someone here needs treatment. I know the Healing Spell."

Those words completely left Roy speechless. He said worriedly, "Jasper..."

Jasper leaned weakly against one wall of the Bottom Cabin and said with a bitter smile, "Roy, let's not waste time arguing. Once you get out, find the Elf Rangers at the docks. Tell them an elf has been captured aboard the ship, and they'll definitely intervene. Then go find Priest Theodore. He knows many Elven Nobles in the city. Have Priest Theodore think of something. Only with the influence of those Elven Nobles will it be possible to mobilize Castleton's city guard. Do you remember what I said?"

Seeing that Jasper insisted on staying behind, Roy could only answer, "I understand."

"Follow our companion. He'll take you out," the Naga mermaid whispered to Roy.

Roy nodded and waded through the water after the naga assassin toward the cabin door.

"Go quickly! I'm sorry, Roy. I never expected to bring you into such danger." Jasper leaned against the wall and spoke softly...

"Jasper, make sure you wait until I return with the Elf Rangers..."

Perhaps because Roy was making too much noise while wading through the water, the naga assassin, though unable to hide the disgust in his eyes when he looked at Roy, still had Roy climb onto his back. After pushing open the cabin door, he gently flicked his tail and swam out.