"Bloody Hand" Harlett

Without the captain, first mate, and boatswain giving orders, the remaining illiterate sailors, who likely couldn't even recognize letters, were naturally incapable of organizing any effective resistance.

Forget organizing resistance; many were so terrified they leaped directly into the sea, hoping to swim across the shallow waters to reach the beach.

But without exception, they were shot down by crossbow bolts.

The swimming speed of ordinary humans in the sea rarely exceeded the limit of 100 meters per minute.

In one minute, enough time for several volleys of crossbow bolts to be fired.

What's more, with the tide currently receding, bodies and dark red blood quickly stained the sea surface.

As for the rest who didn't jump into the sea and attempted to resist, after several were killed, the rest promptly knelt on the ground and surrendered.

After all, the pirates numbered over two hundred, and included ferocious and terrifying monsters like hobgoblins and ogres.

The former, unlike their relatives, goblins, were not a horde of chaotic, foolish, cowardly, and destructive pests.

Instead, they were about the same size as humans or slightly taller, skilled in various weapons and armor, and capable of enforcing strict discipline among their subordinates – militaristic fanatics.

Hobgoblins possessed a very strict internal hierarchy.

Some rulers of evil human factions would even recruit them as officers to improve their soldiers' combat effectiveness and obedience.

As for the latter, ogres, their sheer colossal and robust build, comparable to giants, was enough to make any human facing them despair.

These creatures, who treated any living thing they encountered as food, stood three meters tall and weighed over 150 kilograms.

The destructive force generated by simply swinging their clubs could easily kill a strong horse.

Looking at the young sailor on the merchant ship's deck, whose limbs were all that remained, his torso a pulpy mess, with only a single expelled kidney still relatively intact, one could tell that the strength of an ogre was absolutely not something an ordinary person could contend with.

Just as the captured sailors were huddled on the deck, trembling and awaiting the judgment of their fate, the pirate captain, "Bloody Hand" Harlett, finally appeared.

Contrary to the rumors of a ferocious and hideous appearance, he looked quite handsome, around forty years old, with neat short hair and a goatee.

His overall demeanor exuded maturity, world-weariness, and intelligence.

Harlett wore a white shirt produced in Amn and a dark blue captain's coat.

His legs were clad in black trousers of an unknown material.

On his feet, he wore a pair of brown waterproof leather boots.

A tricorn hat adorned his head.

Most importantly, the two weapons hanging from the pirate captain's belt were quite distinctive.

One was a scimitar that looked incredibly ornate, its hilt end inlaid with a sparkling blue gem the size of a quail's egg;

The other was a stark contrast, an unremarkable short sword, entirely black and non-reflective.

If nothing unexpected occurred, they should both be magical weapons.

The moment Harlett stepped onto the merchant ship's deck with one foot, all the pirates, whether human, half-orc, hobgoblin, or the less intelligent ogres, raised their hands and shouted loudly in the common tongue.

"Welcome, great Captain Bloody Hand!"

"Under your leadership! We have once again successfully captured prey on the sea!"

"You are the supreme ruler of these waters! The uncrowned king!"

"Ooooooh!!!!!"

Undoubtedly, this man had completely won the loyalty of his subordinates.

Some even worshipped him fanatically and took pride in obeying his every command.

Harlett, accustomed to such minor displays, immediately nodded with satisfaction. "You've done well! Now, bring forth the son of the Roldan Merchant Guild's master. I can't wait to hear his pained and desperate wails when he learns the truth."

"Uh... Captain, we've searched the entire ship and haven't found the son of the Roldan Merchant Guild's master. Let alone him, even the merchant ship's captain, first mate, and boatswain have vanished without a trace." a hobgoblin explained cautiously.

"What? You mean they escaped!" Harlett's eyes flashed with a chilling light.

The hobgoblin didn't answer the question itself but instead yanked a captured sailor from the crowd, grabbed him by the hair, and threatened him ferociously, "If you don't want to die, repeat what you just said. Remember, if there's even one mistake, I'll cut out your tongue."

"Don't... don't kill me! And don't cut out my tongue! The ship owner, captain, first mate, and boatswain abandoned us and fled in a small boat when the ship ran aground. They should be hiding in the island's bushes now."

The human sailor was clearly terrified and blurted out everything he knew.

Especially when mentioning the captain, his face was filled with anger and hatred.

"Abandoned the merchant ship and valuable cargo to escape to the island? It seems our target this time is smarter and more decisive than we anticipated," Harlett remarked, stroking his goatee.

"Captain, what do we do now? Board the island to search?" the hobgoblin asked with an uncertain tone.

After all, the cargo on this ship alone was worth a fortune.

He would rather take the ship and cargo back to sell to black market merchants and then get his share to drink and enjoy himself.

If they were to search the island, with only over two hundred pirates, finding four hidden people would be incredibly difficult.

They might search for days without any results.

But Harlett replied without hesitation, "Of course, we're boarding!

Do you know how vast the assets of the Roldan Merchant Guild, passed down through generations, are?

Do you know how many merchant ships they own, and how many trade routes they control?"

The profits from this job were far greater than a mere ship's cargo.

A portion of the men were left to guard the prisoners and the ship, while the rest went ashore.

"Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find Bernard."

At the command of Captain "Bloody Hand," the pirates jumped into the small boats and rowed with all their might towards the nearby beach.

No one realized that they were not the only ones on the island, nor the four who had escaped from the merchant ship.

There was also a traveling mage and the creatures he had summoned.

"Merchants? Pirates? Chases and battles at sea? How interesting..."

Zuo Si, hidden in the bushes, had witnessed everything that had just happened. A look of interest appeared on his young face.

He didn't rush to make contact with the four men who had landed first in the small boats, nor did he rashly attack the pirates. Instead, he planned to first uncover the truth behind the events.

Simply put, he intended to hide in the shadows and watch the show.

When the time was right, he would decide whether to reveal himself to help one of the parties and then hitch a ride off this desolate, uninhabited island.

With his plan in place, Zuo Si reached out and gently stroked the leopard lying behind him, speaking in a clear voice, "Let's go, Raid. It's time to hunt. Let's capture a few prisoners first and figure out the identities and objectives of these two groups."

"Roar!"

The leopard let out a low growl, its two amber eyes revealing excitement and anticipation.

Although it didn't understand the full meaning of the words, it understood the word "hunt."

The man and the leopard quickly disappeared into the dense trees, weeds, and bushes.

Before long, three human pirates gathered together, searching the area, were targeted.