That sick freak!

A few minutes later, Raine stood obediently before Ling Chu, both hands pressed neatly against his trouser seams. Even the black scorpion tattoo on his back seemed desperate to shrink into his skin.

Ling Chu got straight to the point. "The Nautilus has been taken over by the Ghost Ship. You were their informant for so long, so you must know Black Reef Island and the nearby islands pretty well, right?"

Raine was practically crying with fear. "I-I-I'm not with the Nautilus! I'm just a middleman making a little profit on the side! Really! I barely know Lucas!"

"Enough. I never said I was going to kill you. Where's the nearest Tide Hunters outpost?"

"The Tide Hunters?"

Raine froze for a moment, his gaze instinctively sweeping over the prisoners nearby.

As an information broker who made his living on Black Reef Island, he was quick on the uptake. He understood almost instantly why Ling Chu was looking for them.

She was planning to trade the Nautilus crew for bounties!

Raine swallowed.

Ruthless. She'd taken their ship, stolen their equipment, and still wouldn't let the men off. She was going to bundle them up and turn them in for bounties, too.

When pirates ran into her, who was robbing whom?

Of course, he would never dare say that aloud.

"There is! There's one!"

Raine nodded immediately. "The nearest Tide Hunters outpost is on Gray Bay Island. It's not too far from here. They have a permanent office in the harbor district. They're the ones who issued a lot of the bounties on pirates around Black Reef Island."

Ling Chu's eyes lit up. "Do they take them alive?"

Raine said, "...Yes. They're usually worth more alive."

Ling Chu nodded. Even better. No need to chop off any heads; they could just haul