Higgs's Death

Higgs's Viper still smoked at the muzzle.

With a swish, whether they were Blood Moon Church missionaries or Undead Pirate Crew pirates, everyone drew their weapons.

Higgs directly transformed into a fishman, a pirate cutlass in one hand and Viper in the other.

"Want to fight? I'll go all the way with you."

Higgs bared his fanged maw in provocation. He belonged to the lawless sort—no, more accurately, most pirates belonged to the lawless sort.

They took life and death lightly; if they didn't agree, they fought.

Ever since boarding Yang Mu's ship, what had they done? Robbed large merchant ships belonging to major powers. Ordinary merchant ships weren't even worth their attention.

They had slaughtered other pirate crews, taking out the merchant ships those crews had robbed along with them; intercepted Kingdom of the Netherlands warships and the merchant vessels they escorted; massacred everyone aboard.

He'd heard that one of them had even been a member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands royal family, and had become one of their captain's undead servants.

They had wiped out the Barrel Pirate Crew, plunged Pirate Island into utter chaos, then looted the entire island.

They had come to Shipwreck Island and killed three well-known pirates as soon as they landed.

That string of events had filled him with confidence in his pirate crew and his captain, while his own strength gave him ample confidence as well.

Seeing the transformed Higgs, the missionaries before him hesitated. They were already showing signs of backing down; there was no such monster among the people they'd brought this time.

But just as he was about to tell the missionaries to withdraw, an even burlier figure, like a man-bear, came to their side.

He wore a robe that concealed his face, patterned with a blood-red moon and countless black tentacles.

"The Lord's sacred domain shall not be defiled. Every act of blasphemy will pay the price."

His words were like a shot of adrenaline plunged into the missionaries' hearts, stopping the retreating missionaries in their tracks.

"Religious lunatics like you again. What I hate most are idiots like you."

"If your god is really that powerful, why are you still stuck in this godforsaken place?"

"Blasphemers against the gods, die!"

Higgs's words seemed to sting this Blood Moon Church believer. With a roar, he threw off his robe and charged straight at Higgs.

Bang! Without even looking, Higgs raised his hand and fired.

A tentacle suddenly appeared behind the charging man, grabbed a nearby house, and yanked his body aside, dodging Higgs's shot.

But the right shoulder of a missionary behind him suddenly vanished, turning into a cloud of blood mist that drifted backward.

Higgs raised the pirate cutlass in his other hand and held it upright before him, blade outward, meeting the punch thrown by the tentacled man. An iron gauntlet covered the man's fist.

Clang! With a sharp ring of metal, Higgs felt an immense force travel through the cutlass in his grip. The blade was forced uncontrollably toward his chest.

Bang! The fist pressed the blade into his chest. Higgs's chest tightened, and he was sent flying.

Bang! As the airborne Higgs watched the man continue pursuing him, he fired again, but this shot was blocked by two thick iron plates.

Above the iron plates, two tentacles gripped them tightly. They were precisely the two tentacles growing from that Blood Moon believer's back.

After blocking Higgs's shot, the two tentacles flicked, sending the iron plates flying toward him.

Higgs's toes had just touched the ground. He rolled with the momentum and dodged the two flying steel plates.

Before he could even get up, a punch struck his jaw, launching his whole body into the air. Clang! The pirate cutlass blocked before him again, only to be sent flying by another broad cutlass.

Higgs staggered to his feet. Before he could steady himself, the Blood Moon believer with two tentacles appeared before him again.

Each tentacle now held a heavy cutlass. The cutlasses and iron fist struck at once. Higgs was powerless to fend them off; after barely blocking the cutlasses, he was blasted away by a punch.

The two sides weren't on the same level at all. As the fight continued, even with Viper, Higgs still fell into a disadvantage—and one he couldn't recover from.

Before long, he was knocked to the ground. The scales on his body had shattered, several slash wounds marked him, and he lay there gasping for breath.

He started questioning his life. Why did he get beaten up every time he grew stronger? Last time, it had been a concentrated barrage of muskets; this time, he'd been beaten down by the enemy—and that was while wielding a powerful weapon like Viper.

Had he really become stronger? He questioned himself.

Seeing the tentacle across from him swing its heavy cutlass down at him again, he could only raise his own cutlass horizontally to block, too weak to dodge.

Boom! With a dull thud, both cutlasses slammed heavily into his chest. Higgs's already bulging fish eyes protruded even farther, bloodshot veins spreading across them.

Blood poured from his mouth as though it cost nothing. It flooded into his windpipe, making him cough painfully.

But the enemy's attack clearly wasn't ending so easily. The second cutlass came for his head.

And now, he truly had no strength left to resist. The heavy cutlass grew larger and larger in his vision. A bitter smile appeared on his face. It was over. Was he really going to die just like this?

"How dare you!"

Bang! Fishman Higgs's brain was split open. In his final moments, he heard Jack's furious roar.

Jack had sensed the commotion outside long ago, so the moment he finished engraving, he rushed out.

He happened to see the enemy's tentacle wrapping around a cutlass and chopping toward Higgs's head. Roaring, he hurled one of the cutlasses in his hand, trying to stop it.

But that tentacle was incredibly nimble. With a twist, it actually dodged the cutlass Jack had thrown and split Higgs's head apart.

"You're courting death!!!"

Jack roared furiously. A suit of skeletal Bone Armor appeared over him as he charged at the enemy, intending to ram him aside while collecting Higgs's soul.

But the enemy wasn't sent flying. Two thick tentacles formed a shield before him, dissipating most of Jack's impact. By the time the two truly collided, almost none of Jack's momentum remained.

Just as Jack tried to collect Higgs's soul, a black shadow rapidly filled his vision. One punch sent him flying.

"No!!!"

Flung into the air, Jack let out the most furious roar of his life. He watched helplessly as Higgs's soul gave him a regretful smile and scattered into the air.

He could have climbed to the pinnacle with them and ruled this sea together, but he had died here instead.

Jack's rage had reached a point beyond measure. Four heavily armored zombies appeared before him and picked up the cutlass he had thrown earlier.

"You will die. Your so-called god will die too. I said so!"

Bone Armor Jack