Pero

Kendi found Big Beard's corpse and pulled the warehouse key from his neck. In the basement of the room, he found the warehouse door. When he opened it, he was stunned by what was inside. There was only one reason: it was poor! Far too poor! The entire warehouse contained just one chest of Gold Coins, and only a few Mauser Guns sat among the firearms. The most valuable thing in the warehouse was a box holding a tattered scroll. Kendi knew the box was made from the dried trunk of an Ionian Magic Tree. He shut the box and cursed, "The Iron Anchor Gang is ridiculously poor. This is all they have? What a disappointment. Count the Gold Coins. We'll take thirty percent, and use the rest to buy food to hand out to the people in the Slums."

Malzi asked in confusion, "Captain, even if it's not much, it's still money. Isn't it a waste to give it away to those people?"

Kendi shrugged. "It's the President's order. I'm puzzled by it too, but all we have to do is follow orders."

Malzi asked doubtfully, "Is the President trying to recruit people? Those Slum dwellers aren't even as strong as a fish. What could they do?"

Bruno counted the spoils as he spoke. "Who knows? If we could figure out what the President was up to, he wouldn't be the President."

Kendi cradled the box with the tattered scroll in his arms. "Stop speculating and focus on your work. I'll take this back to the island and show it to the President."

Kendi took the box and returned to the island with the Heaven's Punishment Squad. He and Kate went to Jiang Chuan's office, where Kendi placed the box on his desk. "President, the Iron Anchor Gang mission went smoothly. But they were so poor that we found only one chest of Gold Coins and a few guns in their warehouse. We also found this box."

Jiang Chuan took the box. "Good. Did you handle the money the way I told you to?"

Kendi asked, puzzled, "President, we took thirty percent as you instructed and used the rest to buy food for the Slum dwellers. Isn't that a bit of a loss? Those people are completely useless."

Jiang Chuan smiled. "I said to distribute the food in two ways. First, give it to the children for free. Second, sell it to the Slum dwellers. When you hand out the food, tell them it isn't free—it's a gift from the Dark Sea Throne. If they follow the Dark Sea Throne's orders from now on, they'll have a full meal every day, and might even get to drink wine."

Kendi asked, "And the children?"

Jiang Chuan said to Kendi, "Set up a place for the children in Caro's house and give them food every day. Try to bring those under sixteen to Bloodfang Island to study. Those over sixteen can come work on Bloodfang Island. If anyone tries to steal the children's food or someone else's, then—anyone who's insatiably greedy gets a bullet. We can't tolerate that kind of thing, not even once."

Kendi smiled. "I understand, President. Leave it to me."

Jiang Chuan nodded. "Good. I trust you with this. Kate, how did the Heaven's Punishment Squad perform on this mission?"

Kate considered for a moment. "President, the squad didn't perform very well this time. Because of Red Hat, we didn't get a chance to act. But Jenny, York, and Joe showed much more awareness than before. They stayed calm under pressure during the mission and did a commendable job."

Jiang Chuan smiled. "This mission was just practice. There'll be plenty more ahead. Find your weaknesses and work on improving them. What's the story with this tattered scroll?"

Kendi said, "We found it in the Iron Anchor Gang's warehouse. I can't make out what's drawn on it."

Jiang Chuan unrolled the tattered scroll. It showed a map of Bilgewater and the surrounding waters. Though it was in poor condition, it was clearly a map of Bilgewater. To the east, Jiang Chuan spotted a symbol that thrilled him—the insignia of the Precision rune path from the game!

The location marked on the scroll was east of Bilgewater. The Serpent Islands lay to the east of Bilgewater, and were home to the native people who worshipped Naga Kaboros. They were the true masters of Bilgewater, with a systematic and effective way of life. Snatching the World Rune from the Serpent Isles wouldn't be easy...

Jiang Chuan set the scroll on the desk. "Did Red Hat also choose to attack the Iron Anchor Gang tonight?"

Kendi smiled. "Yes. They wanted to sneak into the Iron Anchor Gang, but something went wrong within their own ranks. Caro found out about their mission ahead of time. Those poor fools who were betrayed were chopped into mincemeat."

Jiang Chuan frowned. "Keep a close eye on Red Hat at all times. Their mission definitely isn't as simple as it seems."

At Red Hat headquarters, Pero smashed the glass in his hand on the floor and roared at the subordinate before him, "What did you say?!"

The wretched man before Pero trembled as he spoke. "Boss, the mission failed. Everyone who went to steal the map is dead, and the Iron Anchor Gang was taken down by a mysterious organization. I only managed to escape in the chaos."

Pero forced himself to calm down. "A mysterious gang? You'd better tell me everything you saw, or you know what will happen to you!"

The wretched man knelt on the ground. "Boss, Big Beard knew about the plan from the start. His men chopped them to pieces. But that mysterious gang ransacked the Iron Anchor Gang's warehouse. There were only a hundred or so of them, all wearing terrifying Sea Monster Masks. Each one carried a Mauser Gun, and some also had strange-looking firearms. Those guns were like enraged sea serpents, spitting bullets endlessly from their barrels. They could also throw little round objects that exploded in the crowd like cannon fire. And they didn't say a single word from beginning to end. They were like an Undead Army!"

Pero kicked the man to the ground. "Bullshit! Do you think this is Soul Night? There's no such thing as an Undead Army!"

The man clung to Pero's leg, his face pale. "Boss, it's all true! I haven't lied about a single thing. Those strange weapons they carried were real!"

Pero cursed, "Drag this rumor-monger out and throw him into the sea!"

The men lifted the poor wretch and dragged him away. Still struggling, he shouted, "Boss! It's all true! Boss! They're an army from the deep sea! They're Evil Spirits without a shred of feeling!"

Pero took another glass and poured himself some rich wine. But from his trembling hands and the cold sweat on his forehead, it was clear he believed everything the man had said.

While that squad was in action, Pero had stood on the balcony, watching the Slums. When he saw the glow of torches, he knew the mission had failed. Just as he was about to go inside, he heard explosions and rapid gunfire. Judging by the sound, at least eight hundred people were firing over there—and someone was even shooting cannons! Pero had scoffed, "Do they really need that many people to take down a little gang like the Iron Anchor Gang?"

But it was only after hearing his subordinate's account that he understood where the rapid gunfire and explosions had come from. As one of Bilgewater's major gangs, Red Hat was under Gangplank. Pero would have heard at least a hint if cannons had been fired over there. Those explosions and gunshots had left him in a panic. He didn't know whether his enemy's weapons were on the same level as his own!

The unknown was often the most terrifying enemy, wasn't it...?