Taking Up and Letting Go

A cold sea breeze blew in my face.

Soren stood on the roof of the mountain stronghold, gazing at the distant sea. His expression remained unchanged, as if he were wearing a mask. Only the most observant would notice that Soren's fingers trembled slightly, his index finger constantly rubbing the blade of his sword. He reeked of blood and exuded a dense killing intent—an intent not uttered but emanating from countless dead bodies.

Soren was losing control of his murderous intent!

He's killed far too many people lately. From the moment he met Adele until he conquered Serpent Island, Soren has reaped too many heads along the way.

The repeated Slaughter fueled the violence within him; it was a confrontation of wills.

Sizzle!

A faint rustling sound came from not far away. Soren vanished from his spot, reappearing with a spotted venomous snake in his hand. This was Serpent Island, teeming with venomous snakes. A ring of snake-repelling medicine had been scattered around the stronghold, yet somehow these snakes had managed to sneak in. The snakes here were difficult to eradicate completely, as there was a snake den at the back; clearing them out would undoubtedly result in heavy casualties.

Soren pinched the head of the spotted serpent between two fingers, the venom Constrict around his arm and tightening its grip. A cold sensation spread across Soren's arm. He continued to gaze silently into the distance, as if something in the sea was drawing him in. Only when his gaze left the sea did a hint of hidden ferocity appear in his eyes, and his pupils gleamed with a faint bloodlust. His Slayer Form had dissipated; he had satisfied his Blood Frenzy Change Shape Slayer, but it seemed that even greater desires were being born.

A sharp glint of light appeared.

Soren sliced open the spotted venomous snake's body with a backhand stroke, then pinched out a gall bladder with his fingers. He placed the gall bladder in his mouth and chewed it slowly. An unbearably bitter taste emerged, causing Soren's lips to twitch slightly and his brows to furrow, but he continued chewing slowly until the bitterness subsided before swallowing it.

Snap!

He casually tossed aside the snake's carcass and continued gazing at the distant sea.

"Special Feat: [Thirst for Slaughter], after Change Shape Slayer, you will be affected by Thirst for Slaughter. You will become extremely sensitive to blood, and your perception of anything related to Slaughter will be secretly enhanced. However, after Change Shape Slayer, you must kill at least 4 targets to satisfy your Thirst for Slaughter, otherwise you will enter a state of madness. This Thirst for Slaughter will gradually increase with the number of times you Change Shape!"

This is Special Feat of the Change Shape Slayer.

If he remembered correctly, after his first Change Shape the Slayer and the killing of the Fear God Child, he only needed two more kills to satisfy his Thirst for Slaughter.

One, two, four.

Soren discovered that the number of creatures satisfying his Thirst for Slaughter increased exponentially after Change Shape Slayer, almost doubling at a rate of four. At this rate, the more he Change Shape, the higher the requirements for satisfying his Thirst for Slaughter became, potentially reaching an extremely exaggerated number in the end. This ability greatly enhanced his power, but it also seemed to be bringing him closer to becoming a true Slayer.

Light footsteps.

Adele Isabella appeared not far away. After the battle, she removed her armor, temporarily freeing her full breasts; the feeling of being tightly bound by strips of cloth was extremely uncomfortable. She gazed at Soren in the distance. Her whole body trembled involuntarily, and then her eyes became somewhat dazed, as if she suddenly saw the shadow of her father in him. For a time, her father also liked to stand like this, gazing at the sea, as if the sea held too many meanings.

The sea is a fascinating place.

Her father had spent almost his entire life at sea. He was once a notorious and ruthless pirate, but since the birth of his daughter, he had gradually become much more restrained. It was said that in the past, after killing his enemies, he liked to hang their corpses on the mast or nail them to wooden frames for sea eagles to devour. He almost never left any survivors on the merchant ships he plundered. However, since she was old enough to understand, she had never seen her father do such a thing again.

This change became even more pronounced after the mother's death!

That night, she knew her father had knelt in the temple all night in repentance. He frequented the temple, a follower of the Goddess of the Sea, but in the past, he had only offered Deity and prayed for blessings. In Adele's memory, her father seemed never to have repented in the temple. Her mother must have hated him, even in her dying moments, because he had killed her husband and then forcibly taken her back. However, her father must have loved her, because in Adele's memory, he seemed never to have been intimate with any other woman besides her mother.

From that time onwards.

Her father killed fewer and fewer people. After robbing merchant ships, he would not indiscriminately kill innocent people. Every week, he would go to the temple to repent. No one knew what he repented for, but Adele knew that he would always feel guilty towards her mother.

Perhaps things should just end like this.

Unfortunately, reality dealt them a cruel blow. His repentance and mercy were seen as weakness by the other pirates, and more and more people began to resent him. Eventually, some began to rebel against him and plot to overthrow him. It wasn't until her father was surrounded and killed by hundreds of men that Adele saw his former ferocity and bravery. This man known as the ' Killer Whale ' had not become weak. He fought valiantly in the midst of the crowd, like a fierce tiger, unstoppable, and finally carved a path to survival for her. He did not fall until his last breath!

This is perhaps what fatherly love is.

The father, who rarely killed anyone after his mother's death, truly revealed his strength when he fought to carve out a way for her to survive. He was still the infamous, ruthless pirate. Those who had guessed that he had grown old and weak all recalled his former ferocity and cruelty at that moment!

My father died in battle.

He died protecting her!

Many died that night; wherever her father's blade struck, heads rolled. He was more powerful than ever before, even teetering on the edge of Legendary status. But Adele still couldn't understand his thoughts. She couldn't comprehend why her father didn't reveal his power earlier, why a little Slaughter could have suppressed the rebellious hearts of others, and why he only drew his sword to fight at the very last moment!

Adele couldn't understand any of this.

But she still told herself not to be weak, because weakness would lead to being defeated by Cruelty reality.

I have many memories of my father.

But what she remembered most vividly was her father standing on a high place gazing at the sea. That image overlapped with the image of Soren before her, and she inexplicably felt a similarity between the two.

Perhaps in the heart of this man, there is something he values more than his own Hit Points.

The only difference is...

The father put down the knife, while he picked it up.

Adele still knew nothing about the man before her; all her feelings were merely a woman's intuition.

The man before her seemed to notice her arrival, turning his gaze away from the distant sea. He then turned and glanced at her indifferently, slowly saying, "Finished the statistics?"

"Yes." Adele bowed slightly in respect and said, "Two chests of gold and jewels were found in the stronghold. We've searched almost every hidden compartment. There are quite a few goods in the warehouse, but they need to be shipped out and sold. The total value should be around 23,000 Gold Daler, of which about 8,000 Gold Daler can be spent directly, and the rest are valuables and goods."

Soren nodded slightly.

He glanced at the woman before him with satisfaction and ordered, "Give everyone who participated in the battle fifteen gold Gold Daler. Let them eat as much meat as they want from the stockpile, but no one is allowed to drink alcohol. Take inventory of the goods that are easy to sell, then take five thousand Gold Daler and lead a group of men to Port Tyler first thing tomorrow morning. Sell all the goods, even if the price is low, it's fine. After that, recruit men; this amount of money should be enough to recruit a group of desperados."

"I won't be staying here for long. In three days, we'll wipe out the Sea Wolf of Shipwreck Bay!"

"As for how to control these guys, I think you should know how."

"Go down."

Soren waved his hand lightly and said, "In this world, literate people are still a minority. There are many skilled fighters among the pirates, but few who are literate and knowledgeable. The woman before me is quite good; she received some aristocratic education from her mother, and is stronger than other pirates in terms of knowledge, Trade, and management. Currently, her only lack is strength. As a woman, she needs greater strength to subdue these unruly pirates."

Fourth tier is not enough; you need to reach at least the Quasi-Legendary level!

However, Soren was still behind her. As long as the pirates knew that this mysterious and terrifying figure was behind everything, they dared not act recklessly out of fear.

Because Soren's prestige was built on the blood of his people!

but.

The current headcount is still insufficient.

Soren needed to use even more heads to build his prestige, to make the pirates tremble at the mere thought of him, so that everything Soren had carefully prepared here wouldn't be destroyed after he went to the Overseas Islands.

Adele is only the Boss in name; Soren must use drastic measures to Stun them!

Slaughter and reward.

This is just the simplest control method.

(P. S.: I spent all morning writing this chapter, I don't know how it turned out. I think I did my best. The chapter title is a bit pretentious, but I really thought about it for a long time.) (To be continued~^~)