Encountering Pirates on the Way

Two days later.

A merchant ship sailed across the sea.

Suddenly, a pirate ship flying a pirate flag approached from the distance.

The people aboard the merchant ship panicked when they saw it and began shouting:

"Ah! Pirates!"

"They're coming this way!"

"It's fine, it's fine! We hired fighters for this ship. We're not afraid of them!"

A sailor stared at the flag on the pirate ship, his face filled with terror as he said, "C-Captain, that's the pirate with a 35 million Beli bounty, 'Force King' Bolton! What do we have to fight them with? We can't possibly be their match!"

The panicked crowd on deck froze as though someone had pressed a pause button when they heard the name "Force King." The next moment, terror filled every face!

"What?" Even the merchant ship's captain turned pale, despair creeping into his heart!

"Force King" Bolton was a powerful pirate in these waters. Every ship that encountered them had been destroyed, its treasures plundered clean.

If he was in a good mood, he might spare those aboard and merely rob them of their possessions. If he was in a bad mood, he would basically kill everyone he had robbed before taking their treasure!

Especially beautiful women—their fates were never good...

Weren't they being pursued by the Marines and heading for other waters? Why are they here? The merchant ship's captain gritted his teeth, his face full of endless terror!

"W-What do we do!?" Some young and beautiful women began to panic, completely at a loss. They had heard of Force King Bolton's pirate crew as well. They could be said to commit every evil imaginable, and they especially loved targeting beautiful women!

They were terrified, their faces pale with fear, but there was nothing they could do. They could only pray that the fighters hired by the ship could drive these pirates away...

"Now, we can only fight with everything we have! Ladies, go hide in the back! Men, fight with me! We absolutely cannot let the pirates get close to us!" The captain took a deep breath and shouted loudly!

For the sake of their lives, they had to resist!

There was no other choice. For their own survival, they had to unite. Perhaps then they would have the slightest chance of living!

Very quickly, the pirate ship drew close, stopping less than ten meters away. From that short distance, the people aboard the merchant ship could see the pirates wearing vicious grins on the pirate ship!

Then, many grappling hooks were thrown from the pirate ship, catching onto the merchant vessel as the pirates climbed across the ropes...

"Hahaha, what luck! I didn't expect to run into a merchant ship. Now we have food and women!"

"Hehehe, this batch is pretty good. There are even such beautiful women!"

"We struck it rich!"

The pirates laughed wildly as they jumped aboard the merchant ship!

A battle soon broke out on the ship as the merchant vessel's hired fighters clashed with the pirates.

Both sides exchanged blows fiercely.

Blood splattered across the deck...

But before long, the ship's fighters were defeated...

The pirates were a vicious bunch who lived with blades at their throats every day. Their strength was on an entirely different level from the people aboard the merchant ship!

It did not take long for the battle to be decided. Many of the merchant ship's fighters were killed, their bodies mangled beyond recognition as blood streamed across the deck, staining it red!

The dead were piled together by the pirates. The injured survivors crouched on the ground with their heads in their hands. Even the passengers had been called out and made to squat there, trembling...

"Hahaha, what a huge haul!! I never thought there'd be so many beauties on this ship!!" Bolton was a muscular man with a broad patch of chest hair, looking exceptionally fierce!

With a large saber in hand, he walked up to a beautiful woman and reached out to stroke her face. Feeling her smooth skin, he laughed heartily in delight!

Bolton sheathed his saber and shouted, "Men to the left, women to the right!! Neither men nor women in the middle!"

Hearing Bolton's words, no one dared disobey. Those who had refused to listen were already dead beyond death...

The originally chaotic crowd quickly split into two groups, trembling in fear.

A little girl clung to her mother's chest and sobbed. Tears fell in large drops from sheer terror!

"Shut the hell up!! What are you crying for!" Bolton roared, startling everyone. The mother hurriedly covered the little girl's mouth to keep her from making another sound...

Bolton nodded in satisfaction. Like a king surveying his domain from on high, he swept his gaze over everyone and slowly said, "Which one of you owns this ship?"

"I... I do..." The captain answered timidly, not daring to look Bolton in the eye. His gaze kept darting away, while terror filled his heart.

Bolton looked the captain up and down, a wicked smile appearing on his face. "Oh? You? Can you tell me what your merchant ship is carrying? What's valuable?"

The captain answered truthfully, "Some daily necessities, as well as timber being transported from Billy Island to Al Island..."

"That's all?" Bolton frowned, somewhat dissatisfied. If that was all, then this haul was a little too small. This was no fat sheep!

"Y-Yes, sir. Our merchant ship is rather small, so we can only carry common goods..."

"What useless trash!" Bolton narrowed his eyes and cut down the captain with a single slash, cursing him as useless.

There were gains, but they were far too little... not nearly enough for his brothers to squander!

The others became even more frightened at the sight, crouching on the ground and shivering...

"What the hell are you making all that noise for!! Can't a person get some proper sleep!!"

Just as everyone was trembling in fear at Bolton's brutality, a voice came from inside the cabin. Then, a figure dressed in white walked out.

He yawned as he walked. Seeing the scene before him, he froze slightly, unable to understand what had happened.

That person was none other than Ian, who had just woken up and still looked half-asleep!

"..." Everyone stared blankly in Ian's direction.

Bolton was the first to react. He glared viciously at Ian and said, "Brat, have you not figured out the situation yet?"

"Ah... what is it..." Ian let out a huge yawn, looking as though he had not fully awakened.

"Heh, good! Very good!" Bolton was so angered by the brat before him that he laughed. Did this brat even understand the current situation?

They were in the middle of a robbery!

Bolton even wondered whether something was wrong with the brat's head!

"Oh? Did we run into pirates?" Ian tilted his head and looked over the situation, roughly understanding what had happened.

If he had not heard all the commotion outside his room, he would not have woken up yet.

"Hahaha, that's right, you ran into pirates! Brat, are you scared?" A teasing expression appeared on Bolton's face as he waited to see Ian's reaction.

"They're just pirates. It's not like I haven't seen them before..." Ian shook his head and laughed.

"Hm?" Bolton narrowed his eyes. Seeing Ian's calm expression, he felt that something was off. Normal people did not react like this...

Could he be some kind of strong fighter?

No, impossible.

This brat was at most in his teens or twenties. How could he possibly be strong!

He must have something wrong with his head... Bolton took Ian for a fool. If he were not a fool, he could not possibly react like this...